Lycan Christmas, S. Yule [best book club books of all time TXT] 📗

say good-bye to Sherry. She looked exhausted—rightfully so after giving birth and being attacked—but healthy.

When Melony returned to the living room, Knox and Rose were waiting for her. By the look on his face, things were about to get nasty.

“What the hell were you thinking, Melony?” His voice thundered.

“Quiet. Don’t you dare disturb Sherry and that baby,” Rose chastised him.

Melony sighed. “I’m sorry. I made a bad decision. It won’t happen again.”

“No. It won’t,” Knox said sternly.

“Look.” Rose glanced at Knox. “You made a mistake today, but you are not a child. We can’t punish you or ground you. But I’m disappointed that you didn’t stop to think about the danger you were potentially placing you and Sherry in.”

“I did think about it. But when Sherry asked me to take her two weeks ago, it had seemed so important to her. I felt uneasy about it, but I couldn’t refuse. I’m sorry. It was extremely bad judgment on my part. Believe me when I say that no one can feel worse than I do. If anything had happened to Sherry or the baby . . .” She wrapped her arms around her middle and fought back a sob that suddenly threatened.

“And what about you? Don’t you think we would be devastated if something happened to you?” Rose said.

“I didn’t think about myself,” Melony whispered.

“We love you, Melony. You must know that by now. But I do believe you just made a stupid mistake. We all do at times.”

Knox groaned and pushed his fingers through his hair. Rose gave her a hug, and when she scowled at Knox, he did the same.

“You scared us,” Knox said.

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“I really am sorry. I swear I will never do anything that stupid again.

Please forgive me.” Melony hugged them back and felt relief intermingle with a sense of belonging.

“We do forgive you.” Rose pulled back and laughed. “But don’t cut yourself short, girl. You’re still young. You’ll make many more stupid mistakes. Let’s just make sure they aren’t life-threatening ones, okay?”

Melony nodded. “Um, I have something else to tell you both.”

“Now what?” Knox said. “Oomph. Hey!” He rubbed his ribs where Rose had just poked him. “What was that for?”

“Take it easy, and have an open mind. Remember everything we went through when we met.”

He scowled and shrugged, clearly not understanding quite yet what their relationship had to do with the situation.

“I’m Lorent’s mate, and I’d like your blessing on our relationship.”

Knox’s hands clenched into fists. “What?”

“Settle down, babe.” Rose patted Knox on the chest. “I’ve had a hunch about that for a while now. Besides, what’s the harm? You can’t change the fact if it’s so.”

“Why hasn’t he claimed her?” He turned to Rose. “And why the hell didn’t you tell me about this hunch of yours?”

“Good grief, Knox. Cut the kids some slack. You know Lorent is shy.

He’s had a tough past. He’s trying to fit in here, meet with everyone’s approval, and then his mate shows up. It’s a lot on his plate.”

“You sure are the generous one.” Knox raised a brow at her.

“And as for the me-not-telling-you part, I was going to a while back, figured you needed some time to get used to the idea, but after thinking about it, I decided not to. What if I had been wrong? I would have gotten you all worked up over nothing.”

Knox yanked her to him. “I like when you get me all worked up.”

“Ew.” Melony rolled her eyes, and Rose smiled.

“Melony, do you love Lorent?” Rose asked.

“Yes.”

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“Then that’s that. If you want him, go after him.” Rose unwrapped herself from Knox’s embrace and hugged her. “Now, let Knox walk you home.”

Knox looked from Rose to Melony then back at Rose with his mouth open. Finally, he shrugged and muttered, “Women. Okay. Let’s go. But if he hurts her, I’m kicking his ass.”

“If he hurts her, I’ll kick his ass,” Rose said with a fierce scowl marring her pretty features.

“Let’s compromise.” Melony held her hands up. “If he hurts me, I’ll kick his ass.”

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Chapter Nineteen

Lorent finished putting the clothes on Piers had brought him, and stared down at the mangled body of Rufus. He cast a surreptitious glance at Piers when he sighed.

“It was necessary, but I still hate it every time we lose one of our own.

It’s a damn shame.” Piers squatted and hauled Rufus over his shoulder. “You all right, kid?”

Lorent cringed at the “kid” label, even though he knew Piers didn’t mean it as an insult. He was, after all, an ancient, which definitely made Lorent a kid in his eyes.

“Yeah.” Lorent nodded.

Lorent had nearly killed Rufus by the time Piers had intervened and swiftly broken the rogue’s neck. While he had felt a shudder of disappointment at the time that he had not been the one to end the life of the bastard who’d tried to harm his mate and who he’d personally witnessed perform countless acts of cruelty and brutality on others—himself included—he wasn’t sure how he’d feel about taking the life of another.

He accepted that there would come a time when he had no choice but to kill a rogue, and he would do what had to be done when it came to it. Had Piers not stepped in, he would have, without hesitation, put Rufus out of his sorry-ass misery. But he couldn’t deny that a part of him felt relief that that time was not today. Death might be easy, but it wasn’t pretty.

He followed Piers deep into the woods and helped him build a fire so they could dispose of Rufus’s body. After the flames had done their job, they dug a hole and buried the bones. When they were on their way back to Sanctuary, Lorent knew the time had come to claim Melony as his mate.

“Melony is mine,” Lorent said to Piers, holding his breath as he waited