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As if he sensed her turmoil, Jake reached for her. She growled low in her throat, warning him off, and snatched her hand away. The hurt look in his gaze barely tempered her anger.
"Dash, I think these things are best left until morning," Jake pointed out. He glanced at his cousin, and Melody thought she saw something unspoken pass between them. "Melody is still very weak."
Weak?She bit back another growl. How dare he call her weak? After all she had been through! There were many more who had been in her shoes over the years who hadn't survived. She had watched far too many in Mario's pack die.
Dash sighed and dipped his head. He half-pushed the door back open as if to leave, pausing only to add, "Wewilltalk about all of this when you are stronger."
"I am fine," Melody grumbled low in her throat. The two male wolves seemed not to hear her. If they did, they ignored her entirely.
"Feel better soon," Dash said, though he offered no smile. He slipped from the room as if he had never been there, though what he had left in his wake was a veritable storm.
Almost the moment he had gone, Jake turned to Melody with a relieved expression on his face, but Melody was far too wound up to share it. He looked quite unprepared for what came next.
"So all of this is my fault?" she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. She stood, head held high, meeting his gaze. Had she not been quite so infuriated, she might have calmed at the panicked look in his eye.
"I didn't say that," Jake protested. He took a step toward her, clearly trying to close the distance between them, but Melody stepped away. If he touched her now, her anger would lose its edge, and she wasn't prepared for that.
"Yes, you did, you said my actions caused all of this!"
Her hands dropped to her sides, tightening to fists. Claws dug into her palms, but she was too angry to feel the sting.
"That isn't what I said, and it isn't what I meant, either," Jake protested, his blue eyes filling with pleading. "Please, Melody, calm down and let me take you home. We can talk about this on the way."
He offered her his hand again, using his free one to pick up the plastic bag of clothes she had left on the bed.
"You know what, I am fed up with male werewolves and their constant need to dominate," she declared, remembering all too well how Mario and his minions had been just the same. Back then she had been forced to bite her tongue or risk punishment, maybe even death. "Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll walk home."
With that, she turned and barged right past Jake, storming her way out of the room before he could say a word.
So much for him coming to apologize,she thought with a snarl as she slammed the door shut behind her.
Chapter 19 - Jake
Slamming the driver's door of his truck shut, Jake realized he wasn't sure who he was angrier with, Melody for storming out the way she had or himself for speaking without really thinking.
Either way, it was clear to him what she thought. She could have stayed, talked things out, listened to him. But no, she had left, clearly angry and without giving him a chance.
He drove home, even angry with himself that he hadn't managed to say more before his cousin interrupted them. Hell, he was mad at Dash for that, too.
His entire body was in turmoil. Perhaps he shouldn't have even been driving in the state he was in. But all he wanted to do was get home and forget about it all. His mind wouldn't seem to let him.
First, he went over and over what had happened in the infirmary, unable to think how it could have gone any differently. He slammed his palm angrily on the steering wheel.
Then he thought of how he hated to think of Melody walking home so late at night. Even in Silverdale, even a she-wolf could find herself in some kind of trouble. And she was in no fit state to protect herself. His only relief was knowing that Miranda and Kai were still locked up in the Silverdale manor dungeons until Dash had questioned them further and decided what to do with them. Then Jake would know whether or not he really had to take his ex-wife to court again or not. Causing such unrest in Silverdale wouldn't be taken lightly.
If she hadn't caused him to hate her so much, he might actually have felt sorry for Miranda.
Then, halfway home, he found himself thinking of Sally. She would be tucked up in bed right now with no clue at all of the huge mess her father had made. He imagined going to her in the morning to tell her that things hadn't worked out how they had hoped after all, and that they probably wouldn't be seeing Melody much anymore other than in the next-door neighbor sense.
That was, if she decided to stick around. And that thought, the fear that maybe she would up and move just to get away from them, from him, made him slam his brakes on.
He couldn't allow that to happen, not without trying to fix everything he had so stupidly broken. For just a second, he imagined all the times Lewis had tried to encourage him into interacting with members of the opposite sex, all the times he had practically tried to force him on someone, and how the one time he had let him it had turned out to be the best thing that had ever happened to him.
It had been Melody. All along, it had been her.
Taking a fast turn in the road, he flipped the car around and headed back the way he came. As he did, tiny raindrops began to fall on the windscreen, and his stomach clenched as he thought of Melody walking home in the rain.
When, finally, he found her, she was walking as expected in the opposite direction. Speeding past, he turned aggressively and pulled the truck up beside her. Idling along, he dropped the window and called, "Get in."
