S. Yule - Lycan Christmas

The wolf in him howled in pain, and he hung his head in sadness, regret, and frustration. After he got home, he stripped off his clothes in the bathroom, turned on the shower, and stepped under the hot water.

He propped his hands against the shower wall and leaned under the spray, letting it plaster his hair to his head as it ran in rivulets over his body.

He’d been through a bunch of shit in his short life—a short life that seemed to stretch forever under the circumstances he’d existed in—and knew without a doubt, the war he was about to wage against himself where Melony was concerned was going to be the biggest battle of his life, one he’d probably lose.

The memory of her kiss assailed him once again. Son of a bitch. He reached up and flipped off the hot tap and hoped like hell the cold water would curtail his sudden hard-on.

“How was your afternoon with Lorent?” Shannon asked while mixing stuffing in a huge glass bowl.

Melony looked around the amazing kitchen. It was modern and the stuff a chef’s dreams were made of. Granite countertops, hand-carved wooden cabinets, and stainless steel appliances were complemented beautifully by the dark hardwood floors and soft lighting.

Everyone was here. Karen, Rindy, Janine, Sherry, Rose, and Shannon were busy preparing food, while the men were outside trying to figure out where to set up the extra tables that would hold the monstrous portions of food being prepared for Thanksgiving. She liked being with the women. It felt homey.

She’d learned Janine owned a cupcake shop that she ran out of her house in the city, and that Sherry had lived with her and helped her out until she’d met Piers. Now Piers and Sherry lived a short distance from Sanctuary, but had chosen to stay at the encampment once Sherry got close to her due date—which was sometime in January—until after she had the baby. Melony looked at the girl who stood in the corner mixing some frosting and smiled when she placed a protective hand over the bump on her belly.

She didn’t miss the way Karen would gaze at Sherry longingly when she thought no one was watching. It made her wonder if Karen and Anthony were trying to have a baby, and might be having problems doing so. Melony hoped if that were the case it would happen soon because she thought Karen would be a great mother. Anthony would be a good dad too if he didn’t scare the crap out of the kid.

A giggle nearly escaped her. She was being unfair. Anthony was imposing, true, but all of the men were in some way or other. It was just that Anthony seemed a bit less approachable than the others, not unlike Lorent.

Anthony, on the other hand, didn’t seem shy. He simply seemed distant, unreachable. Still, all that gruff exterior couldn’t mask the way she’d seen his eyes light up when he looked at Karen.

“Well?” Shannon continued mixing the stuffing while tapping her foot in what could only be construed as an impatient manner.

“It was fine.” Melony didn’t want to talk to Shannon about Lorent. It didn’t feel right, and she had the urge to tell the girl to mind her own business, but bit her tongue before doing so.

“Did you learn anything from him today?” Rose asked as she dipped her finger in the frosting on the beaters Sherry had just removed from the bowl.

She put it to her mouth and groaned. “That is soooo good.”

“It’s a secret recipe of Janine’s.” Sherry smiled at her big sister.

“Yes. He taught me a bit,” Melony said before Rindy slid her a bowl of freshly peeled potatoes to wash and cut up.

“I’d like him to teach me a bit,” Shannon said under her breath.

“Hmmm, what was that?” Rindy looked at the girl with a raised brow.

“Oh. Nothing,” Shannon said.

“Shannon, you know he isn’t for you.” Rose gave Shannon a sardonic smile.

“How do you know? I could be. Maybe he just hasn’t said anything because he’s shy.” Shannon’s cheeks turned pink.

“Believe me. You’d know if you were his.” Janine laughed. “It’s not like the males aren’t obvious about it or anything when they find their mates.”

All the ladies giggled. Melony’s stomach churned at the prospect of Shannon being Lorent’s mate.

But why? Yeah, that’s the million-dollar question now, isn’t it? It shouldn’t bother her if Lorent liked Shannon, but it did. In fact, it bothered her to think of him being interested in any other girl, even though she really had no business feeling such things. She liked Lorent. Yes, he was shy, but who cared? She was willing to bet that once he came out of his shell, he’d be one hot, dominant man—one she’d like to be the center of attention to.

Well, he was already hot, probably dominant too, as she figured it was in a male lycan’s nature to be. He just didn’t seem to portray it as the other men around here did. Did she really want him to come out of his shell, though?

He was already sexy as hell. She might pass out if he decided to exude his dominancy. Damn, but fainting would be a small price to pay to witness that.

“Your laundry is done, by the way, Shannon,” Melony said as she sliced the potatoes in chunks and put them in the boiling water on the stove.

Shannon’s cheeks turned pink again.

“Why is Melony doing your laundry?” Rindy asked Shannon.

“My washer isn’t working right,” Shannon mumbled while she furiously stirred the bowl’s contents.

Rindy rolled her eyes and looked at Karen. “Next time that happens, bring your laundry here and do it, and let one of the guys know so it can get fixed. Melony is not here to do your laundry.”

“Okay.” Shannon glared at Melony from under her lashes, and Melony found it hard to keep from smirking.

She hadn’t realized saying something about the laundry would get Shannon in trouble, but on the bright side, maybe it would keep her from trying to saddle her with future chores. Not that she would have let her get away with it again anytime soon, but it had probably saved her from many headaches that she had no doubt would be coming her way. Although now that Shannon probably felt as if she had ratted her out, Melony was sure those headaches would still be coming, just not in the form of chores.

“I was thinking about what Knox said to me the other day about being able to earn my keep around here. I’m really good at cutting hair, and I was wondering if I might be able to help with that around Sanctuary.”

She hadn’t been sure if the idea would be welcomed, but she needed something to do. The thought of twiddling her thumbs all winter was not appealing. She liked to relax and enjoy downtime just as anyone else did, but she wasn’t one who could spend days on end idling her time away doing nothing. She preferred to keep busy.

“Hmm.” Rindy’s forehead wrinkled in thought, and Melony held her breath waiting for a reply. A big smile broke on her lips. “Are you kidding me? That is an excellent idea. We have to travel over two hours to get our hair done now. What do you think about it, Karen?”

“Oh! That is an excellent idea. Do you do coloring and perms too?”

“I do. I’m not a professional, but I’ve always loved doing hair. I’ve done lots of friends’ hair, my own, my mother’s, and some of her friends as well.”

“That would be heaven, Melony.” Rindy tapped her foot in what Melony took as excitement. “In fact, I think we could all use some hair attention.

We’ll talk about setting something up after Thanksgiving.”

Rose stepped closer to Melony. “You can trim all the men too. They get scruffy quick.”

“Agreed.” Rindy, Sherry, Janine, and Karen answered at the same time.