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Malia hesitated just a little more.
Melody was about to offer another protest when the sound of her phone ringing in her pocket caused her to jump. For a second, she thought to ignore it. Then, she decided against it. And when she pulled it out, she was glad to see Jake's name flashing across the screen.
"You found your phone, then," she answered, her skin crawling with the fear of what he might have to tell her.
"Yeah, but I lost Sally's scent," Jake admitted. "I'm starting to think splitting up was a bad idea."
Melody looked pointedly at Malia. Tara instructed the witch, "Do it."
"We think we know where she is, Jake," Melody said, reeling off the warlock’s address. "There's a protection spell on the place."
"Wait right there. I'm on my way!" Jake said, and then the line went dead.
Melody should have listened, but when Malia opened one eye to say, "I've put a crack in the spell, but it won't hold for long," she knew there was no time to lose.
"I'm going in," Melody said. They were so close. Sally might be just on the other side of that door. And after all that had already happened, there was no way she was going to leave her with Miranda and Kai for a second longer than necessary.
Tara grabbed her arm before she could. "Are you sure about this? Your head still isn't fully healed."
Melody shrugged her off and shook herself. "I have to do this."
No matter what Jake had said, she still felt guilty for having lost Sally in the first place.
She stepped up to the front door and tried the handle. It didn't budge. Instead, she tried knocking. Though there was no answer, with the protection spell cracked, she could just make out the sound of fluttering hearts.
"Miranda, Kai! We know you're in there," Melody yelled through the door, hammering her fist on it. "Let us in and we can talk about this!"
"Go away!" Miranda's voice sounded through the wood. "You won't take my daughter from me again!"
Next came the sound of Sally's screaming, and Melody could take the tension no longer. Without thinking, she threw herself at the door. It didn't budge again, and so she continued to batter herself against it until she heard the wood splintering.
"Do something, Kai!" she heard Miranda yell.
"I can't," came Kai's response as if through gritted teeth. "The witch…she's too powerful."
Melody was more than a little grateful that Malia was on their side.
And with one more shove, she broke her way through the door to find Miranda and Kai standing at the other end of the short hall. The she-wolf had Sally behind her, pinned against the back of her leg with an arm while the little girl fought in vain to get away from her.
Kai's face was creased with concentration, his eyes half-closed to slits though glowing with a silver hue, and it was clear he was attempting to counter Malia's spell. The vein popping out of his head suggested it wasn't going very well.
"Miranda, stop this," Melody urged. "All of this arguing and confrontation is no good for Sally."
Miranda bared her teeth. "You don't get to tell me what is and isn't good for my little girl. She would have been fine if you'd just left us alone. We'd have left and she'd have forgotten Silverdale even existed after a couple of years."
So that had been their plan. Melody cringed. She felt Tara coming up behind her, but she brushed her back with a hand. This was her battle.
"And what would you have done out there as a single werewolf mother when she starts her shifts?" Melody asked, her insides twisting at the thought. "We both know it takes years of training and an entire pack to help young wolves through that kind of thing."
"We have Kai!" Miranda threw the words at her before she shoved Sally back again. "Stop now, sweetie. The adults are talking."
But when she looked back at Melody, there was nothing but hatred in her gaze. It was clear the last thing she really wanted to do was talk.
"You and I both know a warlock could only suppress her nature, not nurture it," Melody said, cringing to imagine all the horrid spells Kai might put on Sally just to keep her in check for an easy life. "You're an adult wolf, Miranda, you could probably make it very well out there on your own, but Sally… she needs her pack."
She took a half-step forward, holding out her arms. "Please, just give her to me. I'll see she gets what she needs."
Miranda shoved Sally behind her then, so far back that she disappeared. It was only the thud and Sally's subsequent scream that told her what had happened. She caught only a glimpse of the little girl sitting in a heap on the floor before Miranda squared up to her.
