“Good. If you don’t mind, come a bit early and help set up the chairs?”
“Sure. I’ll be there.” What else did he have to do?
Karen smiled and gave him a sisterly pat on the shoulder before leaving.
Yeah, now that he thought about it, she was more like a big sister than a mother. He’d give his life for her, for all of his family here at Sanctuary, without a thought. They’d given him a second chance, and he would never make them regret it. He’d try his damndest to be the man they all expected him to be, the man he strived to be one day. He just hoped when he screwed up, he didn’t do it in epic proportions, and he would screw up here and there as he’d done on other occasions.
Those screwups had been valuable lessons. No matter how much he’d messed up, like the time he nearly burned down the learning center when attempting to do some minor electrical work, the others had been there to guide him. Those at Sanctuary never condemned him, but instead helped him understand what he’d done wrong. Hell, he hadn’t even minded the times Brent or Anthony or Knox or one of the others had razzed him over his missteps. He’d been told time and again that everyone makes mistakes, but in the past, mistakes had been costly. In the past, mistakes had gotten him beaten or in some instances nearly killed.
He shuddered. He’d taken his lessons seriously, and the ancients had taught him to fight well. The next time someone decided he’d be an easy target, they’d get a surprise, possibly a deadly surprise. For once in his life, he could proudly say that he was on the good side, the right side, the side with a cause, and if a pompous-assed rogue attempted to lay a finger on him again, the fucker would be pulling back a nub.
He walked to the bathroom, stripped off his clothes, and stepped under the hot spray of the shower. If muscles could sigh, his would do so now as the warmth soothed the knots from his earlier workout. After he’d dried and dressed, he stepped outside of the cabin, into the unseasonably warm afternoon.
He made his way down the main path in the opposite direction of where the others were probably still hanging lights, and hadn’t gone far when he saw a familiar SUV heading down the lane. Knox and Rose.
He’d grown to like and respect Knox, and although it had taken time, he and Rose had developed a friendship as well. He still felt guilty about what he’d done to her, even though she’d assured him on more than one occasion that it was in the past and to let bygones be bygones. But that’s where the problem lay, the past, the one thing that proved elusive time and again where his own forgiveness was concerned.
He’d not met one of the lycans’ mates who wasn’t beautiful in her own unique way. Rindy was gorgeous, petite, and fiercely protective of Brent. The two could practically start a fire with the intensity with which they looked at one another. Karen was earthy, intelligent, compassionate, and when she touched Anthony, it was with a gentle kindness that could make any man jealous.
Janine was curvy, funny, and baked like an angel. Raze was one lucky son of a bitch because she could cook as well. Sherry, Janine’s sister, was cute, spunky, and loved Piers with an enviable passion. And Rose was simply gorgeous in every elegant way one could be beautiful, although the woman had a mean streak. He’d learned that firsthand, hadn’t he? He rubbed at the bridge of his nose again, remembering the crunch of cartilage as it had broken under her fist of fury, and smiled at the memory.
While he could appreciate all of the women, none of them sparked any sexual desire in him, only love that one would feel for family. He considered all of the men his brothers and was confident they all had each other’s backs.
As he walked toward the approaching SUV, it came to a halt on the hard, dirt-packed road. He was only a few feet from the vehicle when Knox stepped out of the driver’s side. Shortly after, the passenger door opened, and Rose got out. She smiled and waved at him.
He started over to them to see if they needed help with anything, but froze in his tracks when the back door opened and a tiny girl with spiky pink hair hopped out. Her scent washed over him, but it didn’t elicit the same friendly feelings from him that the others’ did. Her scent enveloped him in warm honey, his body grew tingly, and his cock jumped in interest.
A sudden and overwhelming urge to scoop her up and take her back to his cabin nearly drove all hint of common sense from his brain. He’d even taken a few steps toward her to do just that before he realized what he’d been doing and abruptly halted. Confusion washed through him a split second before full realization and understanding stabbed him as sharply as a double-edged sword. She had the main scent, but she had another scent as well. She was his mate.
He turned and practically ran back into the woods, fully realizing that Knox and Rose would view his actions suspiciously. After all, what normal person would do a one-eighty and flee from friends with no obvious provocation?
Chapter Two
Melony gingerly slipped her numbed rear out of the backseat of the SUV and rolled her shoulders, trying to persuade the cramped-up muscles to relax.
The journey from Knox and Rose’s place to Sanctuary hadn’t been all that bad, was actually scenic, but the overall trip from Maine to here had been excruciatingly long and tedious.
She cringed inwardly. The last six months of her life had been challenging, to put it mildly—very mildly. She was sure that the things she’d seen and learned since meeting Knox and Rose had most likely turned her hair gray under all the pink color.
At twenty-two years old, she was just starting the prime of her young life, when she’d been yanked into a cacophony of events that had led her to this place and these people. She’d grown up in a small but friendly town, and the thought that the reality she knew could easily be shattered within a few short years had never once crossed her mind.
Rose’s existence had been unknown to Melony until six months ago, when Rose and Knox had shown up at her apartment door. Once she’d learned Rose’s relation came from her father’s side—a second cousin to her father—it had explained why her existence had been alien.
Melony’s father had left when she was two years old. She barely remembered him and, quite frankly, had no desire to find him once she’d learned of the abuse he’d inflicted upon her mother. Melony never asked about him, knowing it would only dredge up painful memories for her mom.
It had taken Rose two months to convince her that lycans were real. She had honestly believed the woman to be a complete nutcase, had insisted, on several occasions, that Rose and Knox leave, but they’d refused—even upon threat of notifying the police. She didn’t want to think about the night that they’d finally pulled out all the stops and convinced her they were telling the truth.
That night had consisted of a remote location and Knox going through a partial change in front of her. It had scared the shit out of her, and she’d just recently gotten over the nightmares, but Knox’s transformation had sealed the deal, put the final nail in the coffin, as she couldn’t argue that something didn’t exist when she’d witnessed it with her own eyes.
When she’d learned about the rogues of their kind and how she’d be hunted, fear had instantly embedded itself deep in her bones even though she sensed Knox and Rose had tried to sugarcoat things as much as possible—
which by the way, was fine with her, thank you very much. She had no desire to hear the uncut version of lycans, rogues, and what would happen to her if she were ever apprehended by one, at least not at this point in time. She had been sufficiently convinced that she needed the protection they offered, and after some soul searching, had agreed to go with them to Sanctuary.