Melt - Rique and Miranda (Complete)

14 - Witchy Calm

A/N - Just an FYI - I changed Chapter 13 just a bit to reflect what happens in Carmichael's Omega a little more clearly. You don't have to re-read, but it did change.

Miranda

"A brothel?" Rique repeats Luis's words blankly. An icy-cold rage has settled over my man, sending corresponding shivers down my spine. I want to glue myself to his lap, to offer what scant comfort I can, but I'm afraid that any movement from me will send Luis scurrying away to hide. The younger wolf is wound tighter than a noose, ready to split at the first sign of aggression from his big brother.

"And you... you were brought there?" Rique asks. "How old were you?"

Luis mutters, "sixteen."

"Just after you shifted," Rique comments flatly. The sick feeling in my mate grows. The evil males who did this to Luis didn't want to destroy his ability to shift. The brothel, for Luis at least, was a twisted rite of passage, a hazing, a mercilessly cruel introduction to adulthood.

"They wanted to toughen me up. Especially because..." Luis's voice trails off.

"I left for Carmichael, to Caluna," Rique spits out. He stands abruptly, sending his chair flying backward into the wall. "They are dead wolves, sí?" is all he says as he stalks from the house.

I wander over to the window and watch Rique slam his fist against the rickety door two houses down. I hope the porch doesn't give way under his feet. It looks rotted enough to crumble apart at any moment.

The door opens a crack. I can hear my man's voice from across the street, "Keys to that piece of shit, Ricardo. ¡Ahora!"

The door inches closed. A few moments later it reopens to an even smaller crack. A wizened old hand extends a set of keys. If the older wolf says anything to Rique, I can't hear it from here.

"That must hurt," Luis says quietly, "that truck is Ricardo's pride and joy. Never mated. Lives with his sister," he adds.

"A good male?" I guess.

"Don't know," he replies shortly. I can hear his sad, mellow tone fading to the snarky teenager again. He truly doesn't know what a good male is. He has Rique as an example, but my mate has been gone at college for four years, leaving Luis here to be abused. This won't do...

I look into his dark eyes, "did your father like him or belittle him?"

Luis grows a little wary. "He mocked him all the time," he admits. "Called him a weak culero. He didn't... I never saw him there."

"Then he's one of the good ones," I reply a little coldly.

Luis swallows, nods, "sí, Bella." He's quiet as we watch Rique jog around to the side of the house, his bare, muscled ass flexing with each stride. For a brief moment, I contemplate how sexy that ass is both in and out of his worn-out jeans.

"It was a joke, sí?" Luis asks in a whisper as the sound of an engine slowly turning over echoes down the quiet street. "About mi hermano and breaking your bond? You love him?"

"Of course I do," I say blandly as Rique drives around the corner in an utter rustbucket.

"You look at him as if you own him, Bella," Luis remarks casually.

I raise an eyebrow in his direction, "I do."

Luis nods. I think he's working through the relationship in his head, trying to make the pieces fit. Rique and I love each other, but he shared me with Luis and spoke about a harem. It must be so confusing to a young wolf who has seen so much abuse. The world of sex seems so black and white to him.