“But I can’t deny what I feel for you any longer. There has to be a reason we were brought together, even if I’m not your mate. Please, Lorent, can’t you open up to me about your past?”
“I’ll think about it. There is so much I want to tell you, so much I need to tell you, but I’m not proud of a lot of it, and it won’t be easy for me. In fact, I should probably just tell you all of it, because once you hear, you won’t want to have anything to do with me anymore anyway.”
“Lorent! Whatever you did and whatever happened in your past is just that. In your past. I promise I will not judge you for the things you’ve done. We’ve all made mistakes.
We all deserve to be forgiven, and we all deserve a second chance. I don’t know how to show you I mean that unless you trust me enough to share with me.”
He shook his head. “It’s not that simple. It’s not like I was the school bully and was mean to some kids and then grew up. The things in my past are horrible.”
She reached up and framed his face with her hands. “We all have things we are ashamed of. You’re no different than anyone else. The only thing that makes you different is your obvious refusal to forgive yourself for your past. If you can’t forgive yourself, you couldn’t possibly think anyone else could, right?”
He nodded in agreement.
“Oh, baby.”
Hot tears spilled down her cheeks. He had so much pain, so much guilt, so much regret locked up inside him, eating away at him. She wanted to help him, to comfort him, to take some of the pain away from him if he’d just let her. She placed her hand over his heart. “You’re a good man, Lorent. Trust me. Let me help you heal.”
And just like that, he was gone.
She opened her eyes, surprised to find her cheeks wet with tears. Most of her anger had drained away, and her heart ached for Lorent, and flip-flopped when she realized that she’d already fallen in love with him. There was no going back now. Not for her. She’d love him forever, even if he chose not to love her back, even if they ended up going down different paths in life.
“Great.” She cuddled against Puss. “How am I going to get him to open up to me, Puss?” The cat started purring against her, and she smiled.
Suddenly, she knew she had to get him to trust her, because the dream had not just been a dream. It had been a message. She had to help Lorent.
The only way they could possibly have a future together was if she could find a way to make him understand it was okay to forgive himself.
“How in the heck am I supposed to get him to do that?”
The next few days flew by. The snow continued to fall, although it had slowed in pace and mostly fell lazily. Melony had never seen such huge snowflakes, and the longer she was at Sanctuary, the more she liked it. She’d lucked out in getting a connection on the Internet to check her order status, and was pleased to see that her supplies would be delivered in town later in the week.
She sat at her table sipping a hot cup of coffee while Puss ate breakfast at her feet. It was Monday, and she hadn’t seen Lorent since Thanksgiving.
Their lessons were to continue this afternoon, and while she was looking forward to seeing him, a part of her was hesitant about their meeting. Would she be able to convince him to talk to her? She had a plan, but there was no guarantee it would work.
She sighed and got up to pour the remaining coffee in her cup down the sink, washed it and set it in the strainer on the counter to dry.
“Well, Puss, you have a good day, and be a good kitty.” She bent and gave the cat a gentle rub before gathering up her things and heading for the door. After pulling on her coat, she buttoned up before stepping outside and closing the door behind her.
She took a deep breath of the cold air and tilted her face up toward the sky. She barely felt the soft white flakes when they landed on her cheeks, but the light caresses of each brought a smile to her face. She sighed again. No time to dawdle. She had several errands to run before she was due to meet Lorent.
Fifteen minutes later, she was fortunate enough to find all of the women, with the exception of Sherry and Shannon, gathered at Rindy and Brent’s cabin. After exchanging hellos, she was seated at the wooden table in the kitchen and was now drinking another cup of coffee with the girls.
“Is Sherry doing okay?” Melony asked.
“Yes. She’s been a bit tired and trying to take it easy since she’s getting closer to her due date,” Janine answered and then frowned.
Melony thought it seemed Janine was worried about her sister, but she didn’t want to pry. She hoped nothing serious was going on, as Sherry’s son would be the first baby born at Sanctuary. She understood what he would mean to Sherry and Piers, but also he’d mark a new beginning for the encampment. He represented what everyone had worked so hard for: a new family, a new bloodline that would uphold and protect the laws of the lycans and play an integral part in assuring their future survival.
She supposed that more than likely created extra strain on an already anxious first-time expectant mother.
“Do you think it would be all right if I stopped by for a quick visit after I’m done here?” Melony sipped at her coffee, making a mental note to ask Rindy what kind it was. It was some of the best she’d ever drunk.
“I think she would like that very much. Your visit might take a bit of pressure off Piers as well, let him get out of the cabin for a while. She’s been making him dust and vacuum since he’s forbade her to do any cleaning until after she has the baby.” Janine laughed. “Can you imagine Piers with a vacuum?”
Everyone chuckled, and Melony found the image quite amusing. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe men should take their turn cleaning—after all, it wasn’t a woman’s job just because she was a woman—but the thought of Piers with a vacuum was just funny. Melony started laughing.
“What’s so funny?” Karen asked before taking a bite of thick toast slathered in what appeared to be peach preserves.
“I was just imagining Piers in an apron, holding a duster in one hand and trying to vacuum with the other.” Melony gave a sly smile. “A pink apron.”
“Oh my! That is an amusing picture for the brain,” Rindy snorted.
“Although I will tell you, while I do most of the cleaning most of the time, Brent has scrubbed a toilet or two.”
“Wow. How did you get him to do that?” Karen stopped midbite to ask.
“I threatened bodily harm first. When that didn’t work, I threatened no sex.” Rindy raised a brow and looked around before saying, “After two days of marathon sex, and Brent’s quite convincing speech on how no sex is not, and never will be, a possibility, he kissed me, got up, and went and scrubbed the toilet.”
“Oh my goodness! I wonder if that would work on Anthony?” Karen whispered before a sly grin crossed her lips. “And really, does it matter if it works or not if I end up getting two days of marathon sex?”
“I just threaten to kick Knox’s ass when he doesn’t help.” Rose stared off into space for a moment before a smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
“Then he gets turned on by my threats, we have marathon sex, and I forget what we were discussing and end up doing it myself anyway.”
Melony laughed until tears streamed down her face. After sharing a few more stories and drinking another cup of coffee—she was going to be wired for her first self-defense lesson—she set up some times to do some haircuts.
She stood and walked to the sink to place her empty cup in the bottom.