Melt - Rique and Miranda (Complete)

10 - Home

Rique

"So I hurt her, sí?" I sit up, rolling my hands together, over and over. Therapy. It's a pussy move, and my wolf is acting like a pendejo, sitting slumped with his back turned on the tiny female I've decided to spill my guts to. I need this. We need this. We're fucked up and losing Miranda because I can't handle my shit isn't something that my wolf and I can handle. So he's here, ears pricked forward despite pretending he can't participate.

My luna purses her lips in thought. "I think, Rique, that you need to approach your relationship with Miranda slowly while you unpack what damage males in your life have caused. She may need time, regardless, to recover from... the incident... but you definitely need time."

"I don't want to wait," I tell Cassie desperately. My wolf's fur ruffles. He doesn't like the scent of pain from his luna. She's sad for us. "There's a stink of sorrow around the females we love. Too familiar. It clings to us. Stains us."

"That's beautiful, Rique."

I look up, startled that I spoke outloud. Cassie's eyes sparkle with tears, but she's smiling. My wolf peeks at her, before slowing standing and spinning, before settling back down, facing her now. His forced, reluctant attention doesn't fool me. An omega luna, capable of pulling even his ass around. Sweet, delicate, easy prey, but so fucking powerful she can send him to the ground with just a glance. Having two omegas to protect has pushed every one of Carm's wolves into a state of such protective frenzy that it's shattered and rebuilt us all in one swoop. No wonder omegas are seen as a curse in so many traditions. Maybe for Lobo, too, but we were already broken, so who gives a fuck?

Cassie wipes her eyes, clearing her throat and nodding as she pulls herself together. "The problem here is that your wolf is seeking, desperately I think, to prove that you can provide for Miranda. It's causing this internal conflict because you also want to care for the pack, which is already conflicting with your desire to care for your mama. You can have all of these things, I think, but not all at once."

"I can't leave Miranda," I warn her.

Cassie nods. "If you had to prioritize, what you would do?"

I stand up abruptly. "Fu-Chale!" I can't even think about it without my wolf howling and a cold sweat breaking out on my forehead.

"I know what that means. Carm doesn't really hide his cursing very well," my luna says primly as her eyes twinkle at me.

Her sweet joke breaks me out of the sudden burst of fear and helplessness I feel. I choke off my laugh. Sobering, I look at Cassie and tell the truth, "Miranda. She's first." My wolf buries his snout under his paws, but he doesn't snap, doesn't argue.

Cassie agrees, "you need to show her that."

"How?" I ask quietly. Miranda is first, but if I put her there I may as well paint a target on her back at the same time.

Her head cocks to one side as she frowns, clearly thinking. When she smiles, it's like the sun coming out. "Talk to Carm!"

My luna is adorably loco.

---

I cut the engine of my bike as I take in the shack my alpha has led me to. In every direction is nothing but road and desert. All that exists is this building in the middle of nowhere. It is made of mostly rusted metal, with large panes of glass plastered over with old posters that have faded to a dull kaleidoscope of meaningless color.

"We bought this?" I ask Carmichael.

"Sí."

"It's a shithole."