Page 31 of Out of the Darkness

Melanie studied her for a moment, a look of pure confusion on her face. “Alright. While I’m not fond of the idea of you dating someone that you claim is ‘all sorts of wrong for you’, I am glad that you are getting back out there again. I was worried there for a bit after David. But, I still don’t see what the big deal is. Why did you assume that would be difficult for me to understand?”

“His name is Xavier, Mel,” Madelyn added quickly, knowing she needed to get it out before she chickened out.

It was almost comical how Madelyn could pinpoint the exact moment that the dots connected together in Melanie’s brain. Her eyes widened, and her face turned a shade of pink that Madelyn had never seen before. Whether it was surprise or anger, she didn’t know.

“Xavier,” Melanie said slowly. “As in…”

“As in my… my stalker,” she finished for her.

Melanie was on her feet so fast that Madelyn flinched in response. That was nothing compared to the anger in Melanie’s voice as she completely went off on her.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” she exclaimed loudly. “What the hell are you thinking? Or are you even thinking at all?”

“Melanie, I?—”

“No, just stop. I don’t want to hear how you are fucking rationalizing this shit in your head. He’s your fucking stalker, Madelyn. He put David in the hospital just for talking to you! He’s a monster. Who knows what else that guy has done?” Melanie paced in front of the coffee table, the vein in her temple throbbing. Madelyn had known that she wasn’t going to take the news very well, but she didn’t expect her to blow up like this. “I mean, the guy should be in prison! And there was a time when you agreed with me on that!”

“That was before I knew him, Mel,” she tried to explain, though her voice was soft. “He’s really not that bad of a guy, and I?—”

“Oh, you think you know him now? You think you know everything there is to know about him? About his past, his likes, his dislikes, how many people he’s killed?”

Madelyn sighed heavily. “No, I don’t know everything about him, but I know enough. Look, he may have gone about this the wrong way, but I wasn’t lying about the connection that?—”

“Oh, for God’s sake, Madelyn, there is no fucking connection!” Melanie screamed at her. “There can’t be. And you are delusional if you think there is.”

Melanie’s words felt like a punch to the gut. She never expected to hear something like that from someone she considered to be her best friend. Especially someone she had confided in about her past.

This time though, Madelyn knew she wasn’t delusional. She knew what she felt, and she was fairly confident in her decision to let it play out. She was a bit ashamed to admit it, but she wanted to see if there was anything to the whole fated mate thing. It sounded way too good to be true, but she had thought shifters were fictional too. Her being his fated mate would explain why she was so drawn to a guy like him.

“Are you going to let me explain things, or are you just going to keep freaking out on me?” she asked pointedly.

Melanie spun on her. “Explain what, exactly? This guy is going to end up killing you, you know, and then I am going to be the one who has to solve your murder. But hey, at least, it will be an easy close.”

“Come on, Melanie,” Madelyn tried again.

Melanie laughed and shook her head. “Nope. I’m not doing it.”

Madelyn jumped to her feet as Melanie slid on her shoes and stormed toward the door. She snatched her jacket off the hook and yanked it on.

“Mel, wait. Please,” Madelyn pleaded.

“No, Madelyn. I’m done. I can’t do this.” She turned to Madelyn as she entered the foyer. “I am not going to stand by and watch you get yourself killed. I can’t. And I suggest you go and get your head checked out because there is something seriously fucking wrong with you.”

Madelyn’s heart plummeted into the pit of her stomach as she watched Melanie leave. Her best friend, who had sworn that nothing she told her would change things between them only days before, had essentially just ended their friendship. She had done so without letting Madelyn try to explain how she felt or why she had made the decision to give Xavier a chance. It had been all too easy for Melanie to turn her back on her. While she had expected some resistance, expected her to be angry and upset, and maybe even try to talk her out of it, she never once thought that Melanie would do this.

Madelyn closed her eyes, a few tears rolling down her cheeks as she turned and reluctantly set the alarm.

“You didn’t tell her the truth,” the now familiar voice stated from behind her. “About what I am or what you are to me.”

Madelyn turned to see Xavier leaning against the door frame leading into the kitchen, a full duffel bag on his shoulder. She wasn’t surprised he was there as he seemed to like to randomly appear wherever she was. In fact, she was kind of grateful for that now as it made her feel less alone.

“No, I didn’t,” she replied, going back into the living room to grab the glasses and the wine bottle to take them back into the kitchen.

Xavier followed, dropping his bag by the chair. “Why?”

“It’s not my secret to tell,” she said honestly, tears still stinging the backs of her eyes. “Besides, you said no one is supposed to know. I didn’t want to break some kind of sacred shifter rule.”

Massive arms wrapped around her waist as he pressed a kiss to the curve of her neck, right over the bite mark he had left on her. “Yeah, well, I seem to be breaking all kinds of rules for you, little dove. What’s one more to add to the list?”

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