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"Melody, I had no idea you were struggling that badly!" she gasped. "If I had known I would have helped!"
"And that's exactly why I didn't tell you," Melody said. She struggled against the grim feeling of defeat in her gut. "I…I wanted to be independent."
Tara laughed at that and shook her head. "Melody, you're a werewolf. We don't do independence well. We all need the help of our pack sometimes."
Melody cringed. What had she expected? If she truly wanted to be independent, she'd have never entered Silverdale. She'd have headed out into the human world to truly go it alone.
She shrugged and looked down at the ground. "I guess I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do it, but I can't. I'm at the end of my rope."
"Melody, all you had to do was speak to me, or even Max or—"
"Do not say Dash," Melody protested. "I will not go to the alpha and show him what a weak, insignificant she-wolf he allowed into his pack."
When she looked at Tara again, she saw sympathy burning in her eyes. Her stomach clenched. That was exactly what she didn't want.
"None of us would ever think that," Tara sighed. She frowned hard. "We all know what you and your pack went through. Me most of all."
Melody cringed as she remembered how Tara had been kidnapped and held hostage by Mario and his goons, how she had been the one to help Max get her out, and how that was the very reason they were such good friends today.
"I guess you do," Melody said, blushing. "I just…I don't like the thought of being indebted to anyone ever again."
Tara growled. The sound made Melody's gaze snap to her face. She scowled so deeply that Melody guessed it was taking a great deal of effort not to bare her fangs. "This pack doesn't work that way."
Melody's throat constricted. She was just beginning to think they were in for an argument when they were both distracted by the sound of Jake's back door opening.
Melody's heart raced at the sound, and instinctively, she looked up just in time to see the raven-haired wolf step out into his back garden. Her skin crawled when Tara followed her gaze.
"Well, well, how can you be so glum when your next-door neighbor looks likethat?"
Melody shrugged. "He only moved in yesterday."
Tara looked at her with interest. "With eye candy like that, a day should be all it takes to put a smile on that face of yours!"
Melody bit back laughter. There was no denying that Jake was drop-dead gorgeous. Not to mention the fact she had seen him in all his naked glory, and jeez, it was exceptionally glorious. She quivered, remembering his muscular physique, his strength and charm, and his huge manhood that had her feeling all kinds of things she had never felt before.
It was even more infuriating to remember, knowing that it had been a one-time thing, and since then he'd never called or texted, only to turn up one day as her new neighbor. Not to mention the fact that he had been so aggressive since he turned up that she wanted to claw his hide.
"He's kept himself to himself," she said, deciding it was best not to open that can of worms.
Tara sighed and stared out of the window at Jake as he wandered up and down the path, clearly trying to reach someone on the phone.
"It's a shame really. He's always been a favorite with the ladies of the pack," Tara said, a reminiscent look on her face. "There were several who'd have taken him back in the day, but he went and chose Miranda."
Melody cringed at the name. She hadn't remembered it from the call until just then, but the woman who had answered Jake's phone had most definitely identified herself as Miranda.
"She…she's his wife?" Melody asked.
"Was," Tara said sharply, as though it would have been a grave insult to suggest such a thing. "Until she went and fucked it all up. She never deserved him, anyway. The way I saw her treat him and that poor kid."
Melody saw Tara visibly shiver. Her heart raced at her friend's words.
"How do you know so much about it?" she blurted.
Tara offered her a pointed scowl. "I'm the wife of the alpha's second-in-command. It's my job to know everybody's business."
Good point,Melody thought, blushing.
"From what I know, Miranda left him almost a year ago for some warlock, and she drops that poor kid on his doorstep every chance she gets to go swanning off with him."
