Melt - Rique and Miranda (Complete)

3 - Two Deals

Miranda

Our path back out of the Triple-D's house is a hell of a lot faster than the confident saunter we walked in with. Cassie's hand is tightly entwined with mine as I pull her toward the door. I can feel her body trembling. My necklace is like wearing lava, it's so damn hot.

My magic stirs. Angry.

I suck in the fresh air thankfully as the necklace cools. I weave in and out of the stragglers to the party, snapping at one drunk freshman, "get the fuck out of the way, Bozo."

"Whatever, bitch," he sneers, swaying towards us.

I kick him in the shin with my stilettos. He's not a wolf, thank goodness, and goes down to his knees, howling in pain. "You left your nose on the ground, clown," I call out as I rush past him.

"Miranda?" Cassie whispers. Her voice is thready but strong.

"Hold on, Cass. We're almost back," I tell her desperately. We turn the corner down the block onto Greek Row. The street stretches out in front of us, dark because the alpha-holes like to break important shit like street lamps.

"Who was he?"

"Carmichael Reyes," I spit out. "The Alphason of-"

Cassidy grinds to an abrupt halt that spins me around. "Cass?"

"He's an alpha?" her wide, brown eyes meet mine. She's not crying. I cannot believe she isn't crying right now. Her eyes are a little watery, true, but I expected her to be hysterical.

"Of the LoboGris," I finish.

"The pack from Mexico?"

"Texas, I think," I correct her.

"He's handsome," she says quietly.

I barely resist rolling my eyes. "He's a jerk," I tell her bluntly.

She nods, slowly, then starts to walk again. We end up side-by-side as we enter Greek Row, then turn down the smaller street toward the LaNu House.

"I can prepare something," I tell her quietly as I open the door to my private staircase. Fiddling with the keypad, I change the code.

"Prepare something?" she asks as we climb the stairs.

I swallow the lump in my throat, "so that you don't feel the mate bond so acutely. So that he can't... hurt you."

She frowns. "He sleeps around, doesn't he," she states, instead of asks.

"He's a hoe," I tell her bluntly.

She nods. "But, we haven't done anything... you know... so I probably won't feel-"

"-you're an omega, Cassie," I remind her. "Your wolf is sensitive to her mate's feelings even if you haven't started the mating process." We enter my room and I toss my tiny shoulder purse to the side. I'll probably burn this entire outfit so it doesn't remind me of tonight.

She's quiet for a moment. "She's hurt," Cassie says softly, "but... I don't want to mute my connection to Carmichael. Not... not yet, OK?"

I hope Carmichael's dick rots off. I can probably cast a spell that would do it. Highly frowned upon. Illegal, actually, but oh gods it would so be worth it.

"OK," I say through my teeth. I look at her standing lost in the middle of my room. "Why don't you take a shower? You can sleep in my room tonight."

She looks at me and smiles gently. Smiles. Gently. As if I'm the one hurting. "I'll be fine. The girls won't come back for a while. I think I'll just call Mattie. He'll make me feel better."