Chapter Twelve
Who Are You?
“You need to leave now,” August told Cara urgently after he got off the phone. “Both of you.”
He looked pointedly at his sister. Neither argued and were headed to the door before he even had time to collapse onto the couch with relief.
“Is she okay?” Cara wanted to know as she cast him a look over her shoulder. “I mean, how did she sound?”
“She’s fine. She’s on her way over here now. Cara…”
He met her eyes.
“Thank you. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“I know,” she chirped, her eyes narrowing. “But now that you know what I’m capable of, I suggest you be good to my friend.”
Amber snorted and took her arm.
“I assure you, hon, Melissa has never been safer than she is at this moment.”
The women disappeared out into the hall and August exhaled, wiping his palms on his jeans as he waited for Melissa to arrive.
What Louis had told him about the blackmail had enraged him enough to blow his cover with the slimy club owner but August wasn’t concerned about him speaking to anyone.
If he and his brother don’t close up Portia and leave Chicago in the next week, I’ll be shocked. Now he knows that the CPD is more dangerous than anything he could ever imagine.
Still, August knew if word got out to the members in his sleuth about what he’d done, he’d be in trouble. It was an unspoken law that he not expose himself to civilians unless he was in mortal danger. It wouldn’t be well regarded that a sleuth leader was flexing his muscles for information.
But I’d do it again in a heartbeat, he thought. Melissa is my mate and it’s my job to keep her safe.
He rose and paced the living room, knowing that they had only solved one issue.
How do I tell her, after all this, that she’s a shifter too?
He’d decided to wait. There was no rush on the issue now. He’d need to do more digging, with Cara’s help, and find out about Melissa’s father.
Amber’s words echoed through his mind, the idea of opening the proverbial Pandora’s box, but before he could let himself delve into it with any real depth, there was a loud knock at the door.
August hurried to answer it and Melissa almost fell into his arms.
“You’re—” He didn’t have an opportunity to finish his thought, her lips crushing onto his as they fell back into the apartment. There was an urgency in her, almost a desperation which both alarmed and aroused him simultaneously.
But whatever wariness he was experiencing was overcome by the need to have her finally, his arms wrapping around her to sweep Melissa off her feet and bring her into the bedroom to lay her gently onto the bed, their mouths still locked.
When they finally parted, he opened his mouth to tell her how beautiful she looked but she shook her head wildly.
“Don’t speak,” she ordered him, her voice husky. “Just take me.”
A fire ignited in him and in seconds, he had her naked body arched up against him, his mouth meeting every crevice like he’d known it a thousand times. Melissa’s tiny cries fuelled the heat growing inside him and when he flipped her onto her stomach to sink his teeth into her shoulder, he knew she was exactly where she belonged—with him, flowing into his body.
They joined together in a sinful union, their bodies locking to meet one another as Melissa’s hands reached up toward the headboard, her face deep into the pillowcase.
Her skin was slick with sweat, her breath escaping in small gasps as she closed in around him, sucking him inside her like their flesh was that of one.
August’s lips quivered, his tongue jutting out to lick the salt from her, and it was all Melissa could take, the two of them reaching their point of no return in unison.
In harmony, they quivered and shook, his body flexing and spasming against hers and then, as quickly as it had started, they fell silent into a sopping, wet pile of limbs, still connected.
He swept a short, blonde strand of hair out of her face and studied her expression lovingly but when she looked back to him, the desperation he had seen in her before remained.
“Melissa,” he murmured. “What’s wrong?”
She closed her eyes, blocking him from her sight, but she didn’t respond. He placed a sweet kiss on her forehead and sighed, thinking he knew what was on her mind.
“Louis and Andrew Wayland won’t bother you again,” he swore. “I promise.”
She nodded, her lids still pressed together, and concern flooded him.
“Melissa,” he breathed, propping himself up to look at her more closely. “What happened? Are you worried about work? I’ll take care of everything.”
“It’s not work,” she choked, turning away. He slid out of her and she showed him her back but he wasn’t letting her shut him out, not again.
His strong arm snaked around her naked hip and he drew her close, nuzzling his nose into her neck.
“Talk to me,” he begged her quietly. “I thought we agreed that you would tell me anything now.”
“I… I don’t know what to tell you,” she muttered. “I… I just don’t.”
He turned her toward him, their eyes meeting.
“Why don’t you try, then? Do you see how easily I dealt with Louis? If you’d told me earlier, we could have saved a lot of time.”
“This is different,” she replied shortly, trying to shift her gaze, but he wouldn’t allow it.
“How?”
“Please, August… I really don’t know…”
He fought the desire to let her go, knowing that her stubbornness was going to be endless.
You best get used to it, he thought with grim amusement.
“Where were you today?” he asked gently. “And don’t forget, I can find out if I need to.”
He was only half-joking but it seemed to be the motivation she needed to open up.
Abruptly, she pulled herself up against the pillows and stared at him.
“You’re going to think I’m crazy,” she mumbled. “I don’t even understand it myself.”
“Try me,” August replied dryly. “I’ve heard a lot of stuff in my life.”
My very, very long life.
Melissa nibbled on the corner of her lip and exhaled deeply before starting.
“I think I told you before that my mom and I were always on the run,” she said quietly. “My mom never really talked about it but I got the impression my dad was abusive.”
August waited, his pulse quickening.
“I stopped thinking about my dad after my mom died,” she continued. “I just kinda forgot about him. I don’t know, I didn’t remember him and it seemed like disrespect to look for him, knowing that my mom…”
She inhaled sharply.
“Take your time,” August advised, pulling her closer. Her heartrate matched his and he knew that she was about to disclose something he already knew.
“He found me.”
That, I was not expecting.
He drew back and looked at her in shock. “Your father?” he gasped. “When? Where? Who is he?”
His flurry of questions stunned her and she cocked her head to the side to stare at him in confusion.
“D-does it matter?”
It was August’s turn to bite on his lower lip and look away.
“It might, Melissa. What happened?”
“He… he called me today. Just out of the blue, on my landline at home. It was just after I returned from the station and… well, I guess I was feeling vulnerable so I agreed to meet him.”
August’s body was so tense, he felt like one move might lead him to crack in half.
“What did he have to say?”
Melissa adjusted herself, pulling the sheets up to conceal her nakedness as if she was suddenly shy, but August knew that wasn’t the case.
She’s feeling exposed.
“I don’t really know,” she confessed. “I got out of there before he could explain it, like I didn’t really want to know.”
She looked at him with wide eyes.
“I know this doesn’t make any sense to you, August but… there’s something not right about me, something that I’ve known for a long time.”
“Let me stop you right there,” he told her gruffly. “Whatever it is you’re going through, you’re right. Everything is exactly how it’s supposed to be, I promise.”
“You don’t understand,” she sighed, shaking her head. “It’s more than just a feeling and Paul… well, he confirmed it.”
“Paul is your father? Is Stark his last name too?”
She nodded, lowering her eyes again.
“I think he was going to explain why I always felt different and why my mom was so afraid of him. I don’t think he abused her in the traditional ways. I think something much darker was happening and I ran away even before he could tell me what was going on. What is wrong with me? Will I keep running? Is this just in my nature now?”
“No,” August sighed, yanking her back into his arms. “Your nature is exactly the opposite of that.”
“How can you say that when you’ve seen me do nothing but take off?” she demanded, resisting his embrace. “You don’t even really know me.”
“I know you better than you might think, Melissa.”
She eyed him without conviction.
“If you say so,” she sighed. “I think you might be wasting your energies on someone not worth it.”
“Hey!” he protested gruffly, seizing her arms and staring directly into her face. “Don’t you ever say that again. You’re my mate. I’ve known that all along and I think you have too.”
“Your mate?” she laughed but there was little mirth in her tone. “I wouldn’t have taken you as someone who believed in soulmates.”
“No, Melissa, you’re my mate. It’s different than what the mortals call soulmates.”
“The mortals?” A half-smile formed on her lips and she let a giggle escape but something in his eyes caused her beam to fade.
“W-what are you talking about, August?”
“I know what you’re feeling because I feel it too, Melissa,” he said, gauging her face for terror. “We’re the same.”
She shook her head again but August didn’t let her protest.
“The aching in your bones, the inherent desire to prowl and roam, particularly when the moon is full,” he started. “The constant yearning, the taste of blood lingering in your mouth for days sometimes?”
Her eyes widened to the point of popping.
“H-how do you know that?” she gasped but her words were barely audible.
“Because I’m just like you, Melissa. You, me, Amber, your father…”
“What?” she choked. “What am I, August?”
“You’re a bear, Melissa. You’re a bear shifter.”