Chasing Melody
NINE

~Chase’s POV~

Alpha Hunter wants to know if her daughter encountered rogues in our small outing. She did but that wasn’t my fault. She went to them willingly. I lied to my alpha and said it was only I that saw them and their scent must have rubbed off on Melody. I swear this girl is going to kill me or be the reason why I get killed.

This girl attracts dangerous like a magnet. Even in her own home, her cousin tries to inflict some serious damage to her.

What the hell was Madison thinking? What would she tell the alpha? Sorry, Auntie, I beat the crap out of your daughter.

The vibration in my pocket brings me out of my thoughts and I answer without even glancing at the caller ID.

“What?”

"Chase?" Her voice stops me in my tracks as I was heading to my motorcycle.

“Melody,” my voice is laced with worry but I quickly clear my throat.

"Can I talk to you in person?"

What does she want to talk about?

“I can talk to you tomorrow in the morning,” she sighs into the receiver.

"No, can I talk to you tonight? It's important."

“It’s late your parents are not going to let you out,” I explain.

"I wasn’t planning on going out."

Then how the-“You’re crazy Melody I’m not going to sneak into your room,” I snap at my phone.

"Come on what if someone tried coming after me in my room you wouldn’t -"

“That’s different you needed me I would be there.” That is why I am here, to keep her safe.

"I need you now. I have to talk to you I’ll leave my window open for you."

She hangs up and I turn to face her house. Her bedroom is on the other side of the house.

Do I go? Do I leave her waiting? My heart raced at the thought of the adrenaline that will cause when I am in her room.

You know you want to see what she wants. My wolf is awakened from his slumber. He wants some action since there appears to be none in a while.

Do you want action? Where were you when Mack was around?

Mack wasn’t going to do anything and even if he tried you can take him on your own.

You think so too.

Don’t get cocky now. You can easily beat him when you’re not distracted.

Shut up! I shoot my wolf down and contemplate if this is a good idea.

“Oh why not,” I walk around the house and notice that the living room light is still on. Rushing to the other side of the house I see that Melody did leave her window open and there is a flickering light in her room so I know she’s awake.

There is no tree close by, no ladder, but there are the vines that cling to the side of the house like moss to a tree. Grabbing a handful I pull it as hard as I can it is sturdy but can it hold my weight?

We’re about to replace out! My hands grip the vines and I jump up as my feet press against the wall. With every push up I am expecting to hear a snapping noise or at the very least someone yelling at me asking me what I am doing.

Melody’s window is a bit off to the left the vines do not connect with it. Swinging my body side to side I thank god for my wolf instincts. When I give myself one last hard swing my feet push against the wall and I fling my body towards the window sill where my hands cling on to the edge with all my strength.

I lift myself with ease and peer into Melody’s room. The emitting light cast across her face as she is lost in her world. She probably thinks that I am not going to come after all. Her laptop rests on her bed as she sits cross-legged on her bed eyes look upon the ceiling as if lost in thought.

I watch as she swallows down as if swallowing down a lump in her throat, her lips move but no noise comes out of her lips, and she takes in a shaky breath. Lifting my legs I ease my way into her bedroom I notice the thin white wires hanging from her ears and I realize that she is listening to music.

“Melody,” I whisper and quietly walk over to her, her eyes level with mine and she does not seem surprised to see me there. She gently pulls her earphones out and stares at me as if I were here from my own accord. “What did you want to talk about?”

She looks at the edge of her bed, “Take a seat,” she looks up at me as I walk over to her taking a seat at the edge of the bed.

“So?”

“I wanted to apologize,” she whispers to me and I know that apologizing for Melody is a hard thing to do, admitting she was wrong is something that she has not had to do before. Well, not to me at least.

“That’s unexpected,” I lift my leg on her bed and rest my arm on it, “what do you want to apologize for exactly?”

She sighs and tries to hide her smile behind a scowl, “if you must know I want to say that I am sorry for being an ass all the time and for putting myself in danger. You’re not that bad of a shadow, I guess.”

You should tell her before she replaces out some other way.

No. I don’t her to know just yet.

Her mother will tell her in the morning.

I sigh in defeat, “I’m being put up for evaluation.” She gasps as her eyebrows pull together.

“What?” She stammers and looks towards the door. "What does that mean?"

“Your mother thinks I might have too much on my plate with training the newbies, my training, rounds, and shadowing you. She feels like she needs to replace someone more suitable.” I stare at her as her eyes go through a range of emotions-anger, sadness, and the last one hits me— regret.

“It’s my entire fault!” She yells my reflexes kick in and my hand shoots to her face covering her mouth. She pushes herself away from my hand. “Soundproof,” is all she says. I nod lowering my hand.

“It’s not a sure thing,” I’m not sure if I’m trying to convince her or myself.

“It’s not?” She looks up at me hopeful I shake my head.

“If you promise that if I’m still your Shadow you’ll try, and I mean try, to behave. I know you’re going to get into trouble it’s in your nature but don’t go looking for it.” She pulls her lower lip into the captivity of her teeth and tries to stop her smile.

“I’m a trouble maker?" I roll my eyes, "I promise you that I will try,” she lifts her hand and her pinky is out. I stare at her hand as she nudges it closer to me my eyes go back to her my eyebrows pulling together. “Pinky promise,” she says and I keep staring at her confound.

She laughs and grabs my hand gently wrapping her pinky with mine, “Pinky promise?”

“Yep,” she laughs and then drops her hand onto her lap. I look around her bedroom this is the first time I have stepped inside of her room. I spot an acoustic guitar in the corner.

“You play?” I nod to the corner of her room her eyes go to that direction and she nods.

“It was my father’s,” her eyes soften, “he taught me how to play when I was younger and now, well, it just sits there collecting dust bunnies.”

“Would you mind playing something for me?” A normal Shadow wouldn’t ask that!

Well, I’m not a normal shadow.

I have caught glimpses of Alpha Hunter playing and he is good. Now, did he pass down his talent to his daughter?

“I was listening to a song that I used to play with my father, maybe I can,” she pushes herself off the bed and walks over to her guitar that is placed neatly on a guitar stand. She grabs it and strums a couple of strings, “it’s still in tune.”

“What song are you going to play?” I stare intently at the guitar as she makes her way back to the bed.

“Where are we gonna go from here,” she states nonchalantly. She starts streaming her fingers over the guitar strings.

"I don't know if I've heard that one."

She concentrates hard on the strings as she runs her fingers over them.

“All of your ways and all your thunder

Got me in a haze running for cover

Where we gonna go from here

Where we gonna go from here,” she closes her eyes as if she knows the song by memory and her voice is angelic. She puts so much emotion into the lyrics that I fall into a trance watching her.

“Car lights in the driveway

I wonder who’s going coming my way

Tomorrow we’re turning down the highway

With another bright stage on a weekday

Green grass and a radio

Watching it fly past and away we go

Seven hundred places seven hundred faces more,” she continues streaming her fingers over the strings as she slowly opens her eyes and mine are locked on hers and she holds my gaze.

“All your ways and all your thunder

Got me in a haze running for cover

Where we gonna go from here

Where we gonna go from here

The back of your eyes look like my mother’s

When we talk you’re like my brother

Where we gonna go from here

Where we gonna go from here,” Melody looks down at her fingers as she suddenly she forgot how to play it.

“Time is moving on our side

How could I miss you to another guy

Pull of the ocean and the roaring tide

Is bigger than my eyes or my design

Father got a best plan

Saving his daughter for the best man

Seven hundred places seven hundred faces more,” I watch as the moonlight radiates off of her face as her pale pink lips resonate the words. Her hair falls across her face as she lowers her body down to have a better view of her guitar.

“I’ve waited and I’ll wait some more

Won’t see me knocking on another door

But all this is crazy and amazing

There’s only one half of us that I’m saving

So I’m praying just to let it go

Watch from a distance just to see you glow

Seven hundred places seven hundred faces more,” she holds the last note and gently puts her hands over the stings stopping their vibrations.

We sit there is silence Melody not looking up at me. I feel as if I have to say something but I am speechless.

“That was—” I pause and I hate that she is feeling unsure of herself, “amazing.” She finally looks up at me, “now I understand what your mother and father brag about you.”

“They what? Well, not my mother!” Melody does not believe me. Her mother loves her more than she knows.

“Yes, your mother! Why do you think she is not proud of you,” her gaze turns intense. This is me overstepping my boundaries and I know it.

“Because she treats me like I am incapable of doing anything on my own. Like I am one huge screw-up,” she rolls her eyes and then looks at me.

“Is that what you think,” there is a lump of emotion rising my throat as she shrugs.

“Can we just drop it? So you’re staying as my Shadow, right?” I relax into her bed and let my body drop onto her mattress. I need to cool it for a moment.

“I’m going to try but that means no more hassling me about training and you will be good.” She nods, “oh and I have to pass your mother or father’s test, and not replace my mate while the time that I am following you.”

When someone hires a young wolf to Shadow their children, or spouse it is usually a young mateless male wolf. Young because we are faster, stronger, and they have less responsibility than the older wolves. Being mateless is the best for ‘The Shadow’ since once you replace your mate all you want to do is spend time with them and protect them from anything that may come.

“So when you replace your mate you won’t be my shadow anymore.”

“I doubt it,” I sigh.

“Well for all its worth you’re an awesome shadow the best I’ve had in my fifteen years of living,” her words surprise me and I realize that I never did ask what happen with her last Shadow.

“What happened with your last shadow?” I am intrigued and her parents did not tell me about it him when I agreed to do this a couple of months back.

“He,” she sighs and looks away from me, “he was super aggressive. Whenever I was defiant I always feared that he was going to hit me or even worse lost it completely. It got so bad that I won’t even leave my room so that I didn’t have to encounter him. When my father found this out he made him quit on the spot and he didn’t want him anywhere near me.”

Some young shadows take their job overboard and get this crazy notion that the person they are protecting is theirs and that since they protect them they need to get something in return.

“That idiot he messed with the offspring of the alphas was he looking to get hanged,” I hiss in distaste.

“Hey the offspring hates to be called that,” she laughs and it is a genuine laugh that brings a smile to my face.

“You know that I wouldn’t do that,” she nods, “even though there are days that you do get on my nerves.”

“As do you, sir,” she beams at me, “do you think that I need to worry about Mack?” She frowns.

“Not as long as I’m around you won’t have to worry about him.” Mack will a fight of a lifetime if he wants to get his hands on Melody.

“Thanks,” she tries to stifle a yawn but I can see it on her face she is exhausted.

“Well, I better be leaving it’s late and we have a training tomorrow,” I lift myself off the bed.

“We do?” Her eyes are heavy with sleep as she stares at me.

“Yes just you and me your mother thinks one on one training for you would be best.” I walk over to her window and look down the fall is not that bad.

“What time?” I know, from being her shadow, that Melody likes to sleep in as much as possible but we need to get going bright and early.

“Seven!” She groans and nods her head. “See you in the morning, night!” I climb over her window sill.

“Goodnight Chase,” with that I jump out and land on my feet with a solid thump and run to my bike.

I will have to work hard to get back on the alpha's good side again.

There are a few hours before dawn, perhaps I'll do a few rounds before going to bed.