Held In Contempt (Of Magic and Contempt Book 2) Page 14

  “She thinks she deserves it,” he whispered. “Like it’s the least of the punishments she deserves for all the shifters that she bound to them.”

  Oz glared at her and shook his head slowly. “Mel, how fucked up is that? How do you think Nick and Jus would feel, knowing that they were being used to punish you? You think they deserve that?”

  Her head dropped in shame, and her voice was so low that even his shifter hearing barely caught the anguished ‘no’ that fell from her lips.

  There were gasps from the others, but the largest reaction came from the councillor. He stood abruptly, like someone had jerked a string inside him, pulling him upright. Behind him, his chair clattered noisily to the ground, making everyone jump.

  He took several steps away from her, the back of his hand across his mouth, as if he was afraid. Oz could smell bile on the air and knew the man had almost thrown up. Just as fast, the man spun and dropped to his knees in front of her, taking her hands in his where they rested on the other men’s laps.

  “If I may, please allow me to help you to draw strength from your bonded familiars,” he said quietly.

  With that statement, Oz knew that they had at least convinced Councillor Argrum of her innocence. Nick looked at Oz, lifting his chin in acknowledgement of what he’d just achieved. Ryan came up and put his arm around Oz, and even Dean and Asher looked at him gratefully before their attention was claimed again by the process taking place in front of them. Both men finally relaxed as the colour returned to Melody’s face and her posture straightened.

  “Thank you,” said Melody, claiming her hands back and folding them in her lap. The gesture didn’t go unnoticed by the shifters, nor by Mrs Hardinger who tutted under her breath.

  Oz bent down and picked up the fallen chair, just as the councillor reached for it. He nodded his thanks before sitting.

  “Melody, I can see that I was wrong, and for that I offer my profound apologies and my sincerest condolences. The provost was a remarkable woman and the world is that much darker a place without her.” He cleared his throat uncomfortably and shifted in his chair. “I would also like to congratulate you on joining Coven Canticum. I only wish that Coven Aer had heard about you, I’m sure we could have convinced our coven mistress to accept you.”

  He smiled ruefully at Melody’s startled look. “Argrum may be my sire’s name, but my dam was Aer. Provost Aer-Canticum was my cousin. We were very close. I called in a lot of favours to be the one allowed to question you. I can see now that I was very wrong to do so. I allowed my grief to colour my opinion of you, and my bias to skew the interview.”

  He sighed heavily and stood. “I think that I have all of the information that I need for now, although I may have to return with more questions, depending upon the needs of the High Council. This will need to be brought to the attention of the World Council as well. If your aunt’s ambition extends that far, then they need to be informed. It may be that she will ignore America for now and focus more on them.”

  Melody simply sat there, frozen to the spot. Oz could see that she’d reached her limit, even with the strength that she’d drawn from the others, she was beyond a coherent response now that the pressure to continue performing had been taken from her.

  “Gentlemen, if you intend on bonding this woman, then I suggest you do it sooner rather than later. While you have convinced me of her innocence, the ripples from these events will spread far and wide. There will be those who do not believe her, and they will do everything they can to stop her from gaining any further shifters or power. The sooner she graduates and joins her coven in blood as well as name, the better.”

  There was a flurry of movement and suddenly Trent was there, naked and proud. “Melody Canticum, I challenge you,” he declared loudly, and then he shifted and waited for her.

  Melody stared at him in horror, but before she could say anything, Mrs Hardinger spoke up. “Melody, do not deny him this. The man hasn’t eaten in three days, he’s yours whether you want him or not, and I rather think that deep down you do.”

  Oz had forgotten just how much larger Trent’s fox was, although he shouldn’t have. It was easily a match in size for an Alsatian dog, his fiery coloured hide sleek and glossy. Trent dropped his head into her lap and sniffed, whining quietly.

  “Melody, you need all the help you can get, I suggest you accept this man before the option is taken from you. He’s easily the weakest of the shifters gathered in this room, despite his obvious strength. Of them all, he’ll be the most vulnerable to the opinions of others. Even those who support you may consider him not strong enough for you.”

  Melody’s grey eyes snapped to Trent’s chocolate brown ones. “Shift,” she said quietly, but even Oz could feel the force of her magic behind it as it blasted the fox. Immediately, Trent knelt up and kissed her gently with his very human mouth. Her arms clamped around him as he gathered her in his and held her there.

  “Dude, cover that shit up, come on, we just ate!” snarked Justin, easing the tension of the moment. Nick simply reached up and cuffed the back of his head, making the others laugh.

  “And with that simple claiming, I can assure anyone who asks that all of your bonds are legal. There is no doubt in my mind that you could defeat any shifter in this room. No wonder your aunt tried to control you, Melody, your power is phenomenal.”

  Melody looked up at him over Trent’s shoulder. He still hadn’t moved, his nose now buried firmly against her neck as he inhaled her scent. Any moment, Oz expected Dean or Asher to throw him off, but instead the two other linked familiars sat with goofy smiles on their faces, watching as Trent bonded with her.

  Dean looked up at Oz. “That’s what my bonding should have been like. Not the crap with that bitch, Shawna, or the geasen hitting her so hard, but this. Holding her, feeling that fucking relief, knowing she was finally mine, and I was hers. That’s what we should have had, instead of all that pain and fear.”

  Asher got up and disappeared into his room, the moment apparently too much for him, but the asshole wolf surprised Oz when he returned with a blanket, draping it over Trent and tucking it around them both. Melody smiled up at him, as her hands gently stroked the back of Trent’s head, and Oz could see the effect of her approval upon the arrogant wolf shifter. Right in front of their eyes, Asher melted a little more.

  “On that note,” said the councillor quietly, “I think I shall make my move. Mrs Hardinger, would you care to accompany me to the gates?”

  “The wards are down, Councillor, you can portal from the lawn out the front of the cottage if you like,” she told him. “I’m happy to walk you out the front, but I’m not keen to leave them all alone just yet.”

  Mrs Hardinger rose stiffly, the events taking their toll on her physically as well as mentally. “I won’t be far, please see if you can get Trent to eat something, I’m sure his common sense will return with a little food in him.” She linked her arm through Councillor Argrum’s, walking him out the front door, Toby closed behind them.

  “What did she mean, ‘the wards are down’?” Oz asked the room in general.

  “Most of the wards around the school are tied to the current provost. When there’s a change, there are several days of spells while the wards are transferred over to the new one,” Nick told him, pausing so long that Oz realised he was trying to pick his words carefully.

  “With an abrupt change like this, there wasn’t time to transfer the wards, so they broke. They will have to be recast when the new provost is inducted. I’d say the American High Council will get onto that asap, but I’m willing to bet they’ll ask Jus and I to do something temporary with the staff members until that’s sorted.” Nick sighed and scrubbed his hands across his face in fatigue.

  It was something that Oz could empathise with, now that Melody was awake again and the interview was over, Oz felt like he could finally relax. He could breathe knowing that right now, nothing was coming for him. Suddenly he felt as exhausted as Nick looked.


  “Dude, come on, take a bite,” Ryan cajolled. “You’re all over her, she’s not going anywhere, and I’m sure she won’t mind you chewing in her ear. In fact, I bet she’s waiting for you to start chewing on it.”

  Ryan smirked at Trent who was refusing to move from her neck to take the hamburger that was being held out to him by the teasing wolf.

  Melody scowled at him, but she nudged Trent. “Come on, if you haven’t eaten in three days, I need you to eat something now. We’re not safe until those wards are back up, and if she comes for us, I need you fighting fit.”

  Trent’s head jerked up, and then he grabbed the burger and started devouring it, his eyes blazing as he stared at Melody.

  Nick snorted. “He just said ‘I’d like to see her fucking try’ over the link to me.”

  “I wouldn’t,” snapped Melody. “I’m weakened, none of you are much better. The provost is gone, and quite a lot of students were injured if I guess right. The wards are down, and right now everyone is too shocked to act. My aunt, however, has lost forty shifters, she and the other coven members who came will be healed by now. They’ve got forty more where that came from, if she came at us now, she’d win. So no, I don’t want to see her fucking try.”

  Immediately, all three of her familiars wrapped her in their arms, soothing her with soft noises and promises of safety and devotion. Trent’s continuous apologies louder than the other two combined.

  “It’s okay, I’m okay.” She looked up at Trent and caressed his cheek. “We’re okay. I’m sorry I snapped. I know you didn’t mean it like that. I’m tired and afraid. It’s going to come out in a bit of snark.”

  “Feel up to another challenge then? The more of us you have, the safer you are,” Ryan asked her, and Melody blanched.

  “Uh, no, actually. I think I um, I need to get used to having three of you first. It’s quite different to having one. Each of them are pulling me, it’s alright while you’re close, but when Asher went into his room, it felt like there was a hook inside me tugging me to him, and two more holding me on the couch,” she shuddered. “That’s going to take a while to get over. It wasn’t as strong with the two of them, but it seems that adding more familiars only emphasises it.”

  “Then it’s more likely to be generated by those three idiots than the bond,” Mrs Hardinger said tartly, entering the room. “And if I’m not mistaken, it’ll be something to do with their cocks. It always is for the males.”

  Melody snorted, and then she giggled. “Well, I’ll uh, let you know how that pans out. Maybe I should bond some strong females.”

  Immediately the three of them growled at her, and she flinched. “Or maybe not.”

  Oz had barely held in a snarl from his own beast. No, Melody wouldn’t be bonding any more shifters, not unless it was one of the four who were eagerly waiting for her signal. She belonged to them, the seven of them. It wasn’t a number that he’d ever considered, five had been a big enough leap for his wolf to accept, but with the addition of the asswipe and Trent, the sense of pack that he’d used to encourage his wolf had expanded. She was theirs, and nobody else was going to interfere with that!

  21. Melody

  None of them wanted to go back to their dorms that evening, but Mrs Hardinger had been adamant, insisting that Melody and her familiars needed time alone to adjust to the change in dynamics. She told them that they would get the same treatment when it was their turn, and asked them how they could deny their future bondmates such a luxury.

  It worked. Melody hadn’t expected it to, but it had, the two dragons and two wolves left soon after, grumbling quietly and giving her doleful glances over their shoulders. Melody almost laughed aloud, it was all an act and most of it was their beasts, sulking. She wouldn’t, however, damage their human pride even if she was amused.

  Trent wouldn’t let her go, even when she made a move for the bedroom. Dean growled at the fox shifter, but pushed past him to grab his pyjamas and pillow before lugging them out of the room.

  Melody watched in surprise as he stomped across the living space and into Asher’s room. The arrogant wolf watching warily but saying nothing. Trent’s fox heaved a sigh of relief, even as Trent followed her into the room and closed the door behind them.

  “Just for tonight,” Dean called out through the closed door.

  She could hear his voice and Asher’s rumbling in the other room, probably arguing over who slept on which side of the bed. The thought nearly made her giggle, but the fatigue coursing through her swept it from her lips before it could escape.

  Trent crawled onto the bed, still clutching her hand as he crossed it to the side where Dean normally slept. There was no pillow there now, so Melody smiled and shoved hers to the center so they could share it. A moment later, however, the door swung open and Dean stood there with the blanket and pillow that Trent normally curled up with in front of the fireplace. Without saying a word, he dropped them at the foot of the bed before spinning around and closing the door behind him as he left.

  “Is he… okay?” she asked, tired and hesitant.

  Trent shrugged. “Seems to be. Pretty sure he could kick my ass out of here if he wanted to. I think … Neither of them got the bonding experience with you that all shifters dream of. That moment of connection where our beasts are first touched by your magic. It’s supposed to be a joy, a relief, a moment of oneness. Instead, they had Shawna’s shit and your injuries and spending their first days as yours, wondering if you were going to live. I think they’re still grieving that.”

  Oh goddess! Was there anything her aunt hadn’t destroyed in her life? But Trent’s next words dispelled her fears.

  “Then they see me. We’re bonded, and okay, that asshole was here, but I was able to be with you immediately. They’re giving this to me, this moment to connect with you, to start our bond off the way it's meant to be. Dean laid beside you while you were injured. Asher hasn’t had as much one on one time with you. But they’re allowing us this moment to achieve what they weren’t able to, and they’re not being assholes about it.”

  “But it’s still hurting them,” she whispered.

  “No, sweetheart,” Trent said gently, stroking her face. “They’re grieving what was lost, and enjoying what I’m experiencing. This isn’t hurting them. I’m just saying, they were in pain anyway and could have been real dicks about this, and they’re not. So, you know, hats off to them.”

  His touch was soothing, hypnotic, and despite herself, her worries and her fears, Melody found herself relaxing, her eyes sliding closed. Although she had slept a lot, her body was still depleted.

  One more night, she told herself. One more night to rest, and then she needed to get back on track. She needed to face the world and own the life that she was beginning to carve out for herself. At least she could do that.

  22. Trent

  Waking was something that came to him slowly, despite the urgings of his fox to open his eyes and fucking get on with the day.

  It was hard. Trent’s body was so exhausted, that even finding the energy to move was an effort, add that to the fact that he was so deliciously relaxed, he found himself inclined to just lie there and enjoy it.

  Something inside of him purred, thrumming on a deep level that made him feel content and smug all at once. It wasn’t his fox, so what the fuck was it?

  The presence of that something other, was enough to finally kick his languid brain into gear. Was it a threat?

  Somehow, he didn’t think so.

  Trent was the largest fox shifter ever recorded, and that wasn’t in his human form. Some said he wasn't a pure fox, that he was part dog, but they were way off track. It wasn’t so much that he was half fox and half something else. It was more that he was part fox and part more than fox.

  His grandfather was a kitsune.

  Of course, he was too much of a fox for the kitsune part of his family, and too much kitsune for his fox family. So, Trent had spent most of his life on the sidelines, nothing to be ashamed of,
yet nothing to be proud of either. He was used to being a wallflower, skulking in the shadows, listening and observing.

  The skills he had picked up as a pup, avoiding awkward situations with his extended family, had come into play later in life. They had allowed him to find her. Melody.

  Melody!

  Trent jackknifed upright, looking around him wildly. He was in a bed. A fucking bed! He didn’t sleep in a bed, he slept on a rug on the floor in his fox form. The rug that she had provided. The rug and pillow that smelled of her—the one his fox had chosen.

  It was true what the others said, foxes didn’t have alphas, and they didn’t have fated mates. Kitsune, however, were a whole different ballgame.

  It took him half a second to spot her in the bed beside him, still sound asleep. Melody. His Melody.

  The thrumming inside him increased tenfold.

  That’s what it was. Her. Their bond. The newly minted connection vibrating with life and vitality. It was also gently drawing on his strength.

  Slowly, Trent lay back down again, revelling in her nearness. She’d never ignored him outright, she’d always made a point of acknowledging him with a glance, a smile, a touch. The truth of the matter was, however, her other familiars were just so demanding. Larger predators usually were. They were the attacking kind, not the ambush kind.

  Trent knew how to bide his time. How to wait for what he wanted. It was how he ended up where he was. First, he had snuck in and challenged her while he knew she was open to it. The trauma of the last few days having left her vulnerable both physically and emotionally, he knew that she was more open to bonding with them then, than at any other time. There was a chance that she wouldn’t bond any more of them, and Trent had no intention of missing out.

  While the bond was a lot to get used to, she was already balking, talking about needing time and space.

  He smiled to himself and spooned up against her back, burying his face in her hair and inhaling her scent deep into his lungs. Only then did his fox relax, now happy to lie beside his chosen and bathe in her scent. For the rest of the day, she would smell of him, and he of her, no matter how many times she showered.