“You know I don't believe in Fate, Melody.”
“Wasn't it like this when you fell in love with Mattox? Didn't you know long before you ever touched each other that you belonged together? Didn't you know long before you ever did it with him? When you finally did it with him, you were only completing something that started long before you two ever met. How do you think I know this if it hadn't happened to me?”
Lyric glared at her. “If you're telling the truth…”
Melody waited for her to finish. There was nothing more to say. She'd said it all.
Lyric walked a few paces away and glared across the fields at the sun sinking toward the horizon. She muttered under her breath and shook her head. Melody waited for her to come back.
When she did, Lyric did not look happy at all. In fact, she looked about as unhappy as Melody herself. “This is pretty serious. This is just about as bad as it can get.”
“I know. What can I do? Please help me, Lyric. I don't know what to do.”
“There's only one thing to do. We have to tell Mattox.”
Melody shot forward and seized Lyric's hand. “Don't do that. Please don't tell him. There must be another way to do this.”
Lyric's face hardened. “How exactly do you propose to do this—whatever you're talking about? First of all, Mattox is your Alpha. He's responsible for you. He has a right to know about something as serious as this. It affects our whole tribe—maybe even all Bruin kind. Do you realize that?”
Melody moaned in misery. “Of course, I do.”
“Second of all, this match is totally impossible. You're not biologically compatible with Riley. You could never have children with him. He could never live here, and you could never live in his world. You would both be outcast. You shouldn't even be interested in him.”
Melody wrung her hands. She searched her sister's face for some sign of hope. “I know all that, Lyric. Do you think I want this? I can't help it. I wouldn't be talking to you if I wasn't already in way over my head. I've already fallen for him, and he's fallen for me.”
“Are you sure about that? Are you sure he feels the same way you do?”
Melody nodded. “I'm sure.”
Lyric sighed. “All right. I'll help you. I don't see how I can help you without Mattox finding out, but I'll do my best. What exactly do you want to do—take him home to Papa?”
Melody couldn't stop herself grinning. “Come on, Lyric. Don't joke around. Can't you see I'm dying over here?”
Lyric put her arm around Melody's shoulder. “All right. Let's think about this. First of all, there's the problem of getting him out of the basement. Even if you two go off somewhere alone and are outcast for the rest of your lives, you can't be mated with him as long as he's down there.”
“Yeah, but Walker's on the warpath. He'll kill Riley if he sees him walking around free.”
“Even if Mattox and Brody convince Walker to let Riley live, they'll never let him stay on Bruins' Peak. They'll send him home, and that's a darn sight better than he deserves.”
“I know.”
“Do you want to go with him back to his home? Do you want to spend the rest of your life around these panthers?”
“I don't see how I can. They would kill me or throw me in their bear-baiting ring, as sure as anything.”
“Probably. Even if you're right and Riley loves you as much as you love him, he probably wouldn't be able to stop his friends and family from attacking you. You'd be better off staying here.”
“But that means I would never see him again.”
“That's right. Are you ready to face that to see him free?”
“But that would mean death to me. Bruins can't survive without their mates. If I can't be with him, I might as well be dead.”
Lyric pulled Melody down next to her on a rock between the SUVs. She hugged her around the shoulders. “I'm sorry I can't make this situation better for you. I'm sure this isn't what you had in mind for finding your own mate, but this is the situation in which we find ourselves. If Riley leaves the basement alive, he'll leave here and you'll stay behind.”
Melody hung her head. “Yeah. I know.”
“What does he say? Does he know the situation's hopeless?”
Melody nodded down at the ground. “He knows. He won't say it out loud, but he knows as well as I do there's no future for us outside that basement.”
“Well, none of the guys will let you release him. The only way out is to help him escape.”
Melody gazed across the fields. Bruins' Peak angled high into the deepening sky. It loomed black and solid over the wedding, but it could never take the place of Midnight blackness. That alien blackness supplanted Bruins' Peak in her heart. She could never call this place home again.
“All right. I'll do it. I'll help him escape, even though that means I'll never see him again.”
Lyric stood up. “All right. The only way to get him out of here is to stop the guys from recognizing him. I think I can sneak up to Marla's room and steal one of the spare bridesmaids dresses. We'll dress him up so no one can tell who he is. You're the only one who's gone into the basement all day. If you keep pretending to take Riley food and water, he'll be long gone by the time anyone realizes.”
“Are you sure that will work? He's got dark skin and hair. Someone's bound to recognize him even in a pink dress.”
“Do you have another plan? Do you think he can just waltz out of here with his head up and his shoulders out? Walker would be on him like a shot.”
“Yeah, but do we really need to dress him up as a girl? What if someone finds out the dress is missing? What will he do once he gets out of the basement? If he runs off to the woods, the dress would flag down anyone hunting for him. Besides, he could never get off the Peak on foot. The guys would track him down and bring him back.”
Lyric waved her hand. “Let's just go ahead with this plan. You go back to the marquee. I'll go up to Marla's room, and when I have the dress hidden inside the house, I'll come and get you.”
Chapter 13
Melody sat in the same chair in the marquee and waited. Lyric took a long time coming back. When she did, she glowed with excitement and mischief. She sat down across from Melody. “I got the dress. It's stuffed down the back of Beatrice's sewing chair. No one will look for it there. I also stole a spare veil Marla didn't use. We can use that to cover Riley's head so no one sees his hair or his face.”
“I really appreciate you doing this, but I don't think this will work. Getting Riley dressed will take too long. Someone is bound to notice.”
Lyric waved her hands. “I've got it all worked out. We'll wait until tomorrow morning. Jasper and Beatrice are giving Walker and Marla a big fancy brunch. All the guests will be there. No one will notice if we're gone for a while.”
“What about when Riley comes out of the house? Don't you think someone would think it kind of strange if an unknown figure in a frilly pink bridesmaid's dress with a veil over their head came out and ran for the woods in broad daylight? Come on. This plan is ludicrous.”
Lyric frowned. “If it's so ludicrous, why don't you come up with your own plan?”
Melody caved. “I'm sorry. I guess I'm just worried.”
Lyric pressed her hand. “Try not to think about it, and for the love of God, don't go visit him between now and then. If you spend too much time down there, someone will get suspicious.”
“I'll have to brief him on the plan first. We can't just show up and say ‘put on this dress’. He'll never accept that.”
Lyric stood up. “You've given him his last meal of the day. If you keep going down there, someone will start wondering why. Just sit tight, and everything will work out in the morning.”
Lyric bustled away, and a few minutes later, she and Mattox reappeared in each other's arms on the dance floor. They swayed in an intimate embrace and whispered in each other's ears. They kissed in front of everybody.
Melody couldn't help getting lost in the romance of
their love. No one deserved happiness more than Lyric and Mattox, and they found it in each other. The fairy tale mystery of Bruin love stabbed Melody's heart with a pang of longing, but that blessed union reserved for all Bruin kind eluded her. She would never dance with her mate at a big Bruin wedding. She would never whisper in his ear or nibble his neck in front of everyone.
As soon as Riley left, her life would end. She could never live on Bruins' Peak again, whether she got to keep Riley or not. People would whisper about her behind her back. Parents would warn their children not to end up like her. She was already outcast. She would find relief only in death.
Hours passed. She couldn't wait until tomorrow. Too many problems and complications flawed Lyric's plan. If it failed, the very Bruins Melody called family would tear Riley apart.
She waited a long time. More people came down to the marquee, and the activity around the dance floor sizzled to a fevered pitch. Foicks Dunlap started break dancing, and the other dancers cleared the floor to give him space. They clapped along with the music and shouted encouragement.
In the middle of the show, Azer dove into the ring and started break dancing, too. The two young men competed to outdo each other. Hoots and cheers echoed around the tent. More people crowded around to watch.
Lyric and Mattox clapped along with the rest. Their faces flushed, and Lyric couldn't stop laughing at her brother's antics. Melody couldn't help but smile at her family's happiness. Who would ever believe they could experience such joy?
Melody stood up and circled the crowd. She inched around behind Lyric and Mattox where they couldn't see her. All their attention fixed on Foicks and Azer. Foicks went into a shoulder spin, and Melody slipped out into the dark.
Once the night swallowed up the light and music, she broke into a run. She ran up the porch steps, but she slowed to a crawl at the door. She eased the door open and crept into the house.
She stopped on the staircase to listen. Darkness enveloped the house. Everyone was down at the marquee. She snuck up the stairs and down the hall. She hesitated with her hand on a door knob and held her breath. She hadn't done anything wrong—not yet. If she crossed this threshold and got caught, she would get in big trouble—life-destroying trouble. Mattox would never trust her again.
She turned the knob and pushed the door open. She was already in life-destroying trouble. She was already staring death in the face at the prospect of losing Riley. Nothing Mattox or Walker could do to her could be worse than that.
She moved into the room. She couldn't see in the dark, so she trained her Bruin senses to find her way. The room smelled of Bruin, but she knew those scents like her own. Lyric's and Mattox's scents mingled into one heady, bodily scent. She snuck around the bed to the window. Just enough starlight came in to show her where she needed to go.
Mattox's suitcase lay open on the dresser. Something metallic gleamed on the bedside table. Melody put out her hand, and her fingers closed around his key chain. Did she dare? Had her life really descended to this—to stealing from her own brother-in-law?
She would never get a better chance than now to help Riley escape. The noise and commotion in the marquee covered her tracks. Mattox and Lyric would stagger up here in a few hours and collapse into slumber.
Her fingers tightened around the keys. She had to do this. She had to do this for Riley, but also for herself. She couldn't stand by and wait while someone else decided her fate. Once she got Riley out of the basement and out of Dunlap territory, at least she would know he was alive somewhere. He would go home to his own people, and she would love him forever.
She dashed out the door and down the stairs. The keys burned a hole in her hands. She would let Riley out and put the keys back before Mattox came back. He would never know they were gone—at least, not until someone found out Riley escaped. Then it would all come out and she would face the music.
She turned the key to the basement door and climbed down into the dark. She didn't dare turn on the light. The cat smell set her nerves zinging, but she pressed forward.
Riley's voice thundered out of the dark. “Who's there?”
Melody fought for every breath. “It's me, Riley. It's me, Melody. I'm getting you out of here. I'm gonna let you out and you can get away. Once you get into the woods in the dark, they'll never be able to catch you. You beat it back home, and you'll be safe.”
His hand groped through the bars to find her. “You shouldn't have come, Melody. It's not safe. If one of them caught you…”
“I had to. I can't let you rot in this basement any longer. I love you. I love you more than anything, but we can't go on like this. You have to get out of here. That's the only way I can be sure you're safe.”
His hands touched her body and drew her toward him. His breath warmed her lips. “I love you, too, Melody. I love you more than my own life. I can't live without you. Don't make me leave here without you.”
“I have to, Riley. I have to set you free. You have to go home, and I have to stay here. It's the only way.”
He groaned. “Don't do this, Melody. I don't want to part from you, not now, not ever.”
She choked down the lump in her throat. “You know as well as I do we can't be together. You're Midnight. I'm a Bruin. There's not a place on God's green earth we could live together. It's hopeless.”
“Come back to Midnight Moraine with me, Melody. We can run away together. I'll make 'em accept you. I'll kill anyone who tries to hurt you. I'll make 'em understand we're together for life. They'll have to accept that.”
She shook her head under his constant caresses. “That would never work. You know your people would never tolerate a Bruin living in their territory, just like my people would never tolerate a Midnight living here. You have to go. I don't want you to, and I don't know how I'll live without you, but you have to go.”
She tore herself out of his hands and groped her way to the cage door. She fumbled with the keys until she found the right one. She slipped it into the lock, it turned, and the door clicked open.
An unbridgeable gulf opened between her and Riley's Midnight presence. He stood just a few feet away, but such a massive charge of dangerous, volcanic energy crackled between them Melody didn't know what to do. She couldn't move toward him and she couldn't move away.
All of a sudden, his voice hit her in the face from an inch away. “I'm not leaving, Melody. I won't leave without you. I can't live without you any better than you can live without me. I never thought I'd say this about a woman, but I would rather die than live without you. We're mated. We're mated for life. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's real.”
“Run away, Riley. Get as far away from here as you can. I don't want you to leave, but I can't stand knowing you're in danger. I would rather lose you forever than run the risk of Walker and his friends killing you. The longer you stand around here, the more danger you're in. Run away. Run away now.”
His arms closed around her. “I won't run away. I can't. I have to have you. I have to kiss you and touch you. I have to live with you. These last few days without you have been torture worse than death. If I'm gonna die, I'll die right here with you. I can't think of any place I'd rather die.”
His lips landed on her mouth. She panted for air, but she couldn't give in. “Don't do this. I risked everything to get you away. Run now while you have the chance.”
Chapter 14
With the bars gone, Riley couldn't hold back any longer. He swept Melody off her feet and lifted her fragile frame against his chest. He devoured her mouth in ravenous kisses. His hands balled into two fists against her back.
He couldn't get enough of this woman. She exploded into his brain and devastated every thought he ever had. His instincts abandoned him. Where once they warned him of impending danger and told him to shy away from these bear-people, they urged him now toward her, toward her to his doom.
Her scent filled his mind. Every other Bruin on the place revolted him with their bear scent, but not her. That d
usty smell, that bear essence, drove him wild. He had to have her. He would give anything to have her, but not just for one night. Not just to touch and kiss and hold. He had to own her, to possess her and take her home. He had to belong to her the way she belonged to him. Life wasn't worth spit if he couldn't have that.
She offered no resistance. The passion and might of their attraction through the bars paled in comparison to this. Nothing held them apart anymore. With the bars gone, every objection vaporized into thin air.
As long as he remained locked in that cage, a hunted animal, he knew their love could only end in heartbreak. Maybe the sheer hopelessness of the situation fired his interest in her in the first place.
Now, with the door standing wide open, a new madness seized him. Nothing would stop him from taking her. Nothing would ever stop him ever again. He grabbed her with both hands, and he'd be damned if he ran away. Not a chance!
Her breath came out in little mewing sighs. Her body quivered all down its length to her thighs brushing against his pants. Every puff of air from her nostrils filled him with unstoppable insistent desires. Those sighs shot straight to his crotch, and his prick tightened against his zipper.
Her head fell sideways to meet his mauling kisses. Her mouth opened to let his tongue inside. Not a trace of objection or tension bothered her now. She melted into his arms, and her tongue met his in matched ardor.
His heart leapt into his throat. She was his! He had her at last, and nothing would stop him from taking her. If the men burst in right now and shot him dead in her arms, he would die happy. He would die in completion with her.
How could one woman obsess his nights and days with such all-consuming passion? How could a cat like him want someone for life? He did, though. He would throw away everything to keep her and never part from her.
He lifted her higher until she lowered her head to keep contact with his lips. He mouthed down her neck to her chest and rubbed his black head against her breasts. She seethed under her dress. Her whole body shimmered with beautiful, powerful energy.
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