Wolf Mate (9 page)

“
Oh. Really?”
Melynda pretended to look shocked.

“
It's just...it was a
really bad experience. I was young, and she used me, used my
feelings, used my wolf. It's a really horrible memory.”

“
Poor Dax,” she
deadpanned.

“
I...you are right,
Melynda. I shouldn't have taken my pain and anger out on you. It's
just that the way you make me feel...”

Melynda held her breath and
waited.

“—
reminded me of
what she did to me. I thought she was my mate, and...”

“
Ugh!” Melynda
wrenched her arm away. “Just stop, Dax! You sure know how to
make me feel real good about myself,” she sneered.

She turned and yanked the door
open. Without looking back, she went to her desk and dragged her bag
out of the drawer. She just couldn't bear to be near him another
minute.

She walked briskly past the
cubicles, keeping her head down so no one could see the mess she was
in. Rushing to the lift lobby, she stabbed urgently at the lift
button, wishing the lift doors would open and swallow her up right
this instant.

At the sound of the lift door
sliding open, she pushed in blindly and bumped into Matthew Wells.
The handsome young lawyer stopped whistling as he strolled out of the
lift.

“
Whoa, what's the hurry?
Melynda? You okay?” he frowned, his megawatt smile
disappearing. “What's wrong?”

Matthew was the managing
partner of the firm, and the face of Ferro, Wells and Robertson. He
handled most of the interviews and publicity for the firm. He was a
great spokesperson and was a natural in front of cameras and
microphones.

“
Morning, Mr Wells.
I...I have to go,” she stuttered.

Before Matthew could question
her further, Dax marched past him and stormed into the lift. Melynda
tried to get out, but Dax put out an arm to block her and pressed the
button to close the door.

Matthew shook a finger at Dax.
“I knew it had something to do with you. Scoundrel...”

“
Not now, Matt.”

“
Geez, Dax, you really
shouldn't...” The lift door closed, cutting off Matthew Well's
admonishing words.

Dax turned to face her.
“Melynda, I know you're angry...”

“
Damn right I am.”

“
I'd hoped that you
would just tell me the truth. And—you have, Melynda,” he
added quickly. “You've spoken the truth...about yourself, and
about me. I'm an ass. The worst kind of ass. I messed up, I did
and I'm sorry. I...I am sorry, Melynda.”

Melynda wrapped her arms
around herself, keeping her distance from him. She sniffed loudly.

“
Asshat,” she
muttered.

Dax smiled. He seemed happy
to have gotten a response from her, even if it wasn't the most
flattering response.

“
I...know what you can
do, Melynda. I don't really care what you did to me last night using
your Emotional magick, though—I am a little curious,” he
admitted. “I know you didn't harm me or hurt me. I didn't
feel any pain or danger, unlike..." He swallowed and shook away
the memory.

“
I know you can pull a
person's emotions out and give it a tangible form,” he said
looking at her with a mix of revulsion and respect.

“
Yeah. So?” she
answered petulantly.

“
You can help Levi.”

“
What?”

“
Levi's life is on the
line here. And you can help him, Melynda. You can help Levi and
Rebecca.”

“
Levi didn't kill that
man,” she said immediately. She had read Dax's notes on his
meeting with Levi that morning. As his secretary, she had access to
all his online folders so she could retrieve them and organize them
as necessary.

Melynda had met Levi a couple
of times. Jasynta had dragged her along to the Madden family
barbeques and gatherings. The Madden werebears were all blond,
blue-eyed and easygoing. She got along with the whole clan and she
quite liked those big bear shifters. She didn't believe for a second
that Levi had murdered the man in cold blood.

But she knew that the bears
were fiercely protective and possessive of their mates.

Would they kill for their
mates?

The answer was yes.

Melynda sighed heavily. Had
Levi killed a man for Rebecca Rose?

She wanted to believe that he
was innocent. He had to be. Blake would be devastated if Levi was
convicted of murder. And Jasynta definitely didn't need a rampaging
wreck of a bear at her side right now. Her pregnancy was stressful
enough, and she needed her mate to be strong and steady for her,
supporting her, seeing to her needs. She needed her mate to be a
rock, not a wreck.

Melynda rubbed her nose. She
knew what Dax was saying. Dax always put his clients' interests
first, before his own issues and problems. It was one of the things
she admired about him. His selflessness and sense of duty towards
his clients.

Hopefully Rebecca could show
them something that would help Levi clear his name.

“
Rebecca Rose is...in a
coma,” Melynda said at last, recalling what she'd read in his
notes.

“
Yes. She suffered
severe head injuries in the course of the altercation.”

Melynda mumbled, “Lawyerlese.”

Dax raised a brow at her.

She cleared her throat. “You
didn't say she was injured when Phin Lester attacked her.”

“
We don't know that.”

“
Yes we do! Levi would
never hurt her,” she answered hotly. “And he didn't kill
that man either.”

“
That's what we hope to
prove.” He paused, letting her digest the full import of his
words. “You can help him, Melynda.”

She hugged herself tightly.
“Are you asking me to do what I think you're asking me to do?”

“
Yes.”

“
I...I've never done
this before...”

“
Really? I have a
feeling...” He narrowed his eyes. “I'm sure, yeah I'm
pretty sure you did this to me last night.”

“
Did what to you?”
she asked defensively.

“
Manifested my feelings
for you.”

Melynda gasped as Dax slammed
his hand against the stop button. The lift jerked to a halt and if
the display panel was to be believed, they were hovering somewhere
between the ninth and tenth floors.

Dax braced both palms against
the wall. Melynda whimpered as her back pressed hard against the
wall of the lift. She squirmed as Dax slowly lowered his face to
hers. There was nowhere to run. She was trapped.

Slowly, he leaned in and
whispered in her ear, “It wasn't just a dream. I was in your
bed last night. And I did take you, didn't I, Melynda?”

I don't know what you're
talking about.

Melynda squeezed her eyes
shut. She did know what he was talking about. The image of her
naked on her bed, her legs spread wide as Dax entered her flashed in
her mind. She began to pant at the erotic image, and she heard
herself cry out.

It was real. His feelings
were real. He desired her and wanted her so badly.

He wants me. And he hates
that he wants me.

Melynda opened her eyes to
meet Dax's blazing gaze. “Yes. I did manifest your emotions
and I did take you to my bed. But I...I never thought I would
succeed. It was...my first time. I never tried using Emotional
magick before. I always tried to get my Elemental magick right. But
I always made a mess of it. Last night was the first time that
everything felt...right.”

She blinked repeatedly,
expecting him to laugh at her or make a derisive comment. Instead,
he growled and pressed his lips to hers in a bruising, burning kiss.

She gasped into his mouth, her
eyelids fluttering shut as she surrendered to the pleasure and the
passion.

Dax kissed her fiercely,
angrily, his mouth demanding that she yield to him. She moaned
against his lips as he sucked her plump lower lip and flicked his
tongue over her lips.

Melynda speared her fingers
through his dark hair and kissed him back with all her pent-up
passion and frustration. Dax could hurt her, but he could also heal
her.

When he kissed her like this,
she literally saw stars and she couldn't think straight.

“
Stop, Dax...please,
stop,” she panted.

He gave her one last lingering
kiss and pulled back. Resting his forehead against hers, he closed
his eyes and murmured, “Tell me.”

“
Tell you what?”

“
Tell me that this is
real.” His voice was strained and tortured. “Tell me
this isn't magick.”

Melynda pressed her shaking
hand to his cheek. “There is no magick, Dax. I never used any
magick to make you want me, to make you feel anything for me.”

A look of pain crossed his
face.

That was what she said as
well.

No magick, just love.

Dax sighed and opened his eyes
slowly. He smiled at her, but she saw his struggle and his sadness.
He so wanted to believe her, but...he just couldn't.

Never again.

Damn him. Damn that witch!

With a huff, Melynda shoved
him off her and punched the button to restart the lift.

As the lift whirred back to
life and began its descent, she straightened her clothes and hair,
and spun round to glare at him.

“
I will help Levi. He's
a good man. I will do everything I can to get the truth out of
Rebecca.”

He stared at her for a while.
“Can you draw out her emotions even though she is in a coma?”
he said at last.

“
It's not too different
from drawing out someone's emotions while they are sleeping,”
she said pointedly. “As you said, I've done it before. Last
night. But I won't do it again. Not with you,” she said
emphatically.

Dax's gray eyes darkened, but
he said nothing.

“
We'll go to the
hospital now,” was all he said when the lift door opened at the
ground floor.

There was a human police
officer standing guard outside the ward. Dax showed the police
officer his identification. The officer squinted at the official PAC
badge that was issued to its members, Enforcers and its appointed
legal counsel.

“
So you're the PAC
lawyer,” the officer sniffed. Melynda sensed that he was about
to say more, but fortunately for him, he held his tongue and waved
them in.

“
The police don't seem
to like you,” Melynda commented wryly as they entered the room.

Dax shrugged. “At this
moment, I've defending the bear shifter accused of killing a man and
wounding a helpless woman. The woman is in a coma. She can't speak
up for him. A whole squad of police officers saw Levi attacking the
human male. It's their word against his.”

“
But they didn't see the
body...”

“
Shifters are incredibly
fast. They assumed Levi flung the body into the sea the split second
he heard or saw or smelled them.”

Melynda fell silent, listening
to the soft beep of machines and monitors in the room. Rebecca Rose
had suffered severe trauma. There were massive, terrible injuries to
her head and there was a risk that she might never regain
consciousness.

Melynda took a painful breath
as she stepped up to the bed. Rebecca was swathed in bandages from
head to toe. She had been brutally assaulted, and Melynda knew that
even if she survived her physical wounds, her mental and emotional
wounds might take much longer to heal. The scars left by her ordeal
would stay with her for a long, long time, perhaps forever. No
wonder Levi had been so enraged. Seeing his mate so violently and
viciously attacked by a brute would awaken every protective and
killer instinct in the shifter. In his bear form, Melynda had no
doubt that Levi could kill the human male with just one blow. But
she believed that Levi didn't kill him. He wasn't a killer. He
couldn't be.

“
Can you read her?”
Dax said, staring down at Rebecca's bruised, swollen face.

Melynda touched Rebecca's hand
lightly. A tingling sensation crept up her arm, and swirls of colors
flashed on the back of her eyelids. She saw images, snapshots and
heard whispers and echos in her mind. Melynda gasped. “Yes!
I can. I...I believe she's trying to reach out. She might be in a
coma, trapped in an unresponsive body, but she is here. And she
knows we are here...for Levi.”

Melynda bent forward and took
Rebecca's cold hand in hers. “Rebecca, I know you can hear me.
My name is Melynda Morgan. I'm here with Dax Ferro. Dax is Levi's
lawyer, and we are here to help you and Levi. I...I am Dax's
secretary, and I am also a witch.” Melynda paused and
swallowed nervously. She sensed no shock or fear from Rebecca. “I
am an Emotional witch, Rebecca. I can draw out people's emotions and
see them. If it's okay with you, I'd like to see your emotions,
Rebecca. Show me what happened that night through your emotions, so
we can help Levi. Will you do that?” she asked softly.