Melonee Bracs Mistletoe Madness 30 (2 page)

Maverick was so flustered that he wished he had duct tape in his hands right now. Panahasi had talked him into letting the keeper of the underworld place spells around the Den to warn him when anyone was popping in or out. Maverick had agreed, and was thankful for that decision because Melonee had set off the alarm more times than he could count.

It seemed lately that every time he turned around she was trying to shimmer out to go meet…that…that…fucking fey. Maverick clenched his jaw so hard he swore he heard his back molars cracking. Call him an overprotective asshole, but he wasn’t ready to let his adopted daughter go, especially not to that…that…fucking fey.

He wasn’t ready to let her be the grown woman that she was, and he damn sure wasn’t ready to accept the fact that she was…mated to that asshole.

He knew pack law prohibited him from interfering in any kind of mating—but this was Melonee, his little girl. Let anyone stand in his way, and he was going to crush their bones to a fine powder.

Maybe he could duct tape her to his office chair.
“You are being so unreasonable!” Melonee shouted as she paced his office, her hands balled into fists and a look on her face that should have killed Maverick on the spot. “I’m a grown woman, Dad. You can’t keep me locked up!”
“Watch me,” Maverick countered. He wasn’t ready to let his daughter mate. He wasn’t ready to acknowledge that she was a fullgrown woman. He wasn’t ready…period.
And Ruttford? Really? Why in the hell did she want to mate that havoc-causing dipshit? Maverick only wanted to kick Ruttford’s ass from one end of the Den to the other. He could envision his hands wrapping around the fey’s neck as he slowly squeezed the life out of—
“You’re doing it again,” Cecil warned as he smacked Maverick’s arm. “Stop looking as though you are dreaming of gutting the man.”
“I am,” Maverick admitted through clenched teeth. “If he touches one hair on her body I’m going to make him—”
“Oh, stop it,” Melonee said with a growl. Maverick had taught her well. Too well. “If you hurt him, I’ll never forgive you.”
“I can live with that,” Maverick admitted. He couldn’t help being a prick. He still saw Melonee as the sweet little five-year-old girl who had stolen his heart on sight. And now she had a mate? No fucking way. Nope. Not a chance in hell Maverick was allowing her to run to Rutt
fucking
-ford.
Just the thought of Ruttford touching her—okay, he was officially going to turn the bastard into a eunuch. Then Melonee could see him all she wanted. Hell, he would even let them be alone together after he took care of that little problem.
“Maverick,” Cecil said in warning as he patted Maverick’s chest. “Breathe.”
“I. Am. Breathing.”
“Fire from your nostrils!” Melonee shouted as she stopped pacing and gave him her full glare. “Face it, Dad. I’m a grown woman, and I have a mate. He’s going to claim me whether you like it or not.”
“Don’t use that word when talking about Rutt—” Gods, he couldn’t even say the man’s name out loud without seeing red.
“Ruttford,” Melonee finished for him. “Ruttford. Ruttford. Ruttford.”
“Oh, jeez.” Cecil rolled his eyes. “Are you trying to piss Maverick off so he will kill your mate?”
“Cecil!” Maverick growled.
“Sorry,” Cecil said as he dropped onto the leather sofa in Maverick’s office. “I forgot you refuse to let her grow up.”
Maverick loved his mate more than his own life, but between Cecil and Melonee, he was dangerously close to tying them both up and tucking them in a closet…for the next hundred years or so. “You’re not leaving the Den,” he commanded as the anger boiled up and flowed over.
“Watch me!” Melonee shouted as she spun around and stormed out of Maverick’s office, slamming the door behind her so violently, the walls shook.
“I’ll be watching you, all right!” he shouted at the closed door. “Watching you do nothing!”
“Very smooth,” Cecil said as he sat back on the sofa and tossed an arm over the back. “I feel goose bumps running up my arm from your threat.”
Maverick growled at his mate. “Not you, too.”
Cecil threw his hands up in front of him. “I’m staying neutral. She’s our daughter, but sooner or later you are going to have to let her go. She is a grown woman with a mate who has patiently waited for your approval. But I have a feeling he is at the end of his waiting with you.”
“That’s not staying neutral.” Maverick slumped back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose as he blew out a long breath. Why did he go nuts every time he thought of his little girl and Ruttford— “Damn it!”
Cecil stood and strode over to him, sliding into Maverick’s lap and pulling at his chin until Maverick looked Cecil in his beautiful amethyst eyes. “Face it, babe. She’s all grown up now. You have to let her go and let her live her own life. If you don’t, she will grow to resent you. What would you do if someone tried to keep me from you?”
Maverick hated when Cecil tried to talk sense to him. He didn’t want to be sensible right now. He wanted to be a raving lunatic who kept his little girl from leaving him. Maverick laid his forehead against Cecil’s and sighed, feeling as though he were fighting a losing battle.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want his little angel to be happy. It was just that letting go was one of the hardest things he ever had to do. What father thought any man was good enough for his daughter? And Ruttford of all men? It was going to take a miracle for Maverick to see him as anything other than an immature fuckup.
“I’d kill them.”
“Exactly,” Cecil replied as he smoothed his hands up Maverick’s chest. “You can’t hold on to her forever.”
Watch me.

Melonee strode angrily to her bedroom and slammed the door. She was so angry right now that she screamed at the top of her lungs. She knew her dad cared. He had proven over the years that not only was he willing to go above and beyond to keep her safe, but that he truly did love and care about her.

She just wished he would stop seeing her as his
little
girl and recognize her for the woman that she had blossomed into. Everyone else in the Den treated her like a woman and not a child. Why couldn’t her dad do the same?

Plopping down on her bed, Melonee dropped to her back and stared up at the wooden canopy above her. She was tired of waiting to be with Ruttford. She was starting to forget what he looked like, and that only pissed her off even further.

She cut her eyes to the door when it cracked open. She already knew who it was. “Come in, Taylor.”
As much as they picked on each other, Taylor was her best friend. The half demon had spent so many nights with Melonee trying to devise a way for her to escape to Ruttford that his mate, Dagon, had started complaining.
But Melonee was grateful for Taylor. When she first met him, they were more liable to throttle each other than hang out, but he turned into a gem of a friend over the years.
“I heard the storm downstairs,” he confessed as he closed the door behind him and walked over to her bed, taking a seat on her soft, lacey comforter. “You okay?”
“No,” Melonee admitted. “I understand where Maverick is coming from. I honestly do, but I can’t keep allowing him to dictate my life. I’ve followed his rules”—Melonee smiled—“most of them anyway. But Ruttford is my mate. How much longer does he think he can keep us apart?”
Taylor lay back on her bed. “You could always just leave.”
“I could,” she admitted as she chewed her lower lip, “but I don’t want to do things that way. I don’t want to be on the outs with my dad. I want his blessing.” And that seemed like the last thing he was going to give her. She understood her dad’s love, she honestly did, but he was going to make her resent him if he didn’t let her go.
“Well,” Taylor said as he blew out a long breath. “I think it’s boiled down to picking either your mate or your dad.” His tone was sad, and Melonee knew he was right. But she didn’t want him to be right. She didn’t want to have to choose. It was breaking her heart to even consider turning her back on Maverick—the man who had raised her selflessly and had loved her unconditionally.
The tears sprang to her eyes as she thought about never seeing her dad again, but Taylor was right. It was time Melonee embraced her destiny and found her future with her mate. She didn’t want to put it off any longer. A part of her was dying without him. “I’m going to do it,” she said with a hurting heart. “I’m going to go to him tomorrow night.”
Taylor turned, patting her on her knee. “You know I’m always here for you, Mel. Even after you leave, call me, even if it’s just to talk.”
Melonee fought to hide the tears. The decision hadn’t come easy, but she couldn’t deny Ruttford and live under Maverick’s roof for the rest of her life. No, she had to live her own life—even if it was without her dad.
“Come on,” Taylor said as he stood and held out his hand. “Let’s go get some hot chocolate from the kitchen.”
She didn’t feel like going anywhere, but Melonee gave Taylor her hand and allowed him to pull her from the bed. As soon as she was on her feet, he embraced her in a brotherly hug, smoothing his hand down her back. “It’ll be okay, I promise. Maverick will be mad, but trust me, he won’t turn his back on you. You’re his little princess.”
Melonee reached up and wiped at the tears as she laid her head on Taylor’s shoulder. “I hope you’re right.” She wished her brother Tangee was here, but he and his mate, Loco, were at the Manchester place helping the new shifters with some problems they were having with a leaky roof. Even though it was great having her best friend help her, Melonee needed a hug from her brother. He always chased away her bad moods.
But then again, Melonee knew there would be no chasing this away. She wanted Ruttford, craved him, and was slowly withering on the inside without him. Pulling from Taylor, she gave the half demon a wobbly smile and then followed him from her bedroom.
She knew he was right, but it didn’t make the decision any easier. This was her home and she had dreamed of having her mate under the same roof as everyone else, but it didn’t seem she was going to have her dream. Although living outside of the pack would kill something inside of her, Melonee was tired of waiting.
As they reached the foyer, the doorbell rang. She waved Taylor on. “Go make our hot chocolate while I answer the door.”
Taylor nodded and went on to the kitchen as Melonee walked toward the door, her thoughts deep in her problems. There had to be a way to mate Ruttford and still live with her pack. She may not be wolf, but ever since she was five, this had been her home.
Melonee grabbed the handle and opened the door, her mind elsewhere until she noticed the man standing on the front step, gazing at her as if he was in a trance.
She knew how he felt.
It was as if the air was punched from her stomach as she stood there struggling for breath. Her mind couldn’t process the implication standing right in front of her. Her brain was reeling with the impossibility.
“Hello.”
Melonee just stood there blinking at the man, unable to respond. Her heart was beating overtime as she stared into his pale blue eyes. They reminded her of eyes on a Siberian husky, so light, so crystal in color.
“Do you mind if I come in? It’s only getting colder out here.” His voice it was warm, rich, and slid over her like soft fur.
“Of course.” Melonee stepped back, drinking in his short, dark hair, his pale, pale blue eyes, and an expression on his face that said he was enjoying the open stare she was giving him.
Human.
He was human. God, she was so screwed. If she thought Maverick blew a gasket over Ruttford, wait until he found out fate wanted to torture that alpha into insanity by giving Melonee a second mate.
A second mate.
Maybe it was she who was going to be tortured into insanity because she had no idea how she was going to handle two gorgeous mates. God, she had been fretting over one as it was.
“Can I help you?”
Melonee briefly closed her eyes at the sound of Maverick’s voice. It seemed he had a radar when it came to anyone who had the capability to take her away from the Den. But she knew letting the alpha know who this man was couldn’t be allowed. He would be tossed out on his rear before she even learned his name.
His name.
“Dad, this is…” She turned to look at him. “What is your name?”
There was a low and feral growl from behind her, telling Melonee that her dad was pissed that she had let someone into the house without finding out who he was first.
With a devilish smile, the stranger lifted his hand, his strong fingers surrounding hers as he gave her a light handshake. As soon as their skin touched, Melonee felt as if her knees were going to buckle.
Get it together, damn it. If Maverick suspects anything, he’ll kick your mate out.
“Adam Nyte.” He gave Melonee a very charming smile, all white, straight teeth and…damn, he had dimples. But she quickly removed her hand from his lest her dad have a coronary.
“I’m Melonee Brac. What brings you here, Mr. Nyte?” Melonee asked, unable to tear her eyes from his. Never before had she seen eyes like his. They were so pale they almost lacked color.
“He’s here to see me,” Lewis said as he trotted down the stairs. “Good of you to come, Adam.” The two men clasped hands, giving a quick pump before Lewis turned and slapped Adam lightly on the back. “We went to school together, and I ran into him in town today.”
Well, at least Melonee knew she had someone she could torture for information about Adam once he left for the night.
“Sorry for coming by so late. I had no idea you lived with such a large family.” Adam cut his eyes at Melonee for a second and then glanced back at Lewis. “From the looks of all the vehicles outside, I would say this place is filled to the brim.”
“Come on into the kitchen. If you’re hungry, I’m sure we can find something for you to eat.” Adam began to walk beside Lewis, but glanced over his shoulder at Melonee, a puzzled look in his eyes.
She knew he felt the connection, but being human, there was no doubt he didn’t understand the pull.
“There’s something about him I don’t trust,” Maverick said as he walked back toward his office.
Melonee closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, wondering if she was going to survive this in one piece or if fate was going to add another wicked twist to an already twisted situation.

Ruttford paced back and forth under the large tree, waiting for Melonee. She was supposed to meet him tonight, and she was all that he had thought about the entire day. His fingers itched to touch her warm, silky skin and caress his hands through her long hair.