hierarchy like a wolf pack. There was no real leader, no king lion or anything like that. There were no rules to live by or punishments for doing something wrong. The females ran the pride as a group and ensured that no males ever found happiness with a human or shifter mate. Although there was no leader, the females held all the cards.
When Chase and his cousins had opted to leave King and follow the Fallons to Ashland, Micah and Tristan decided to go, too. They’d both worked at the tire factory outside of town after high school, neither of them inclined to go to college. Their dad and uncle hadn’t wanted to leave King, but they encouraged Micah and Tristan to do whatever their hearts desired. He’d not regretted their decision to move, but he did regret how Melody had been treated by the males he’d come to think of as an extended family.
Melody touched his arm and he looked at her. “Are you okay?”
He slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, kissing her temple. “I am now.”
With the meal over, and her uncles shooing everyone out of the kitchen, they went out onto the back porch. The July sun was scorching hot already, and it made him think about the lake where they had spent summer afternoons swimming. He bet that Melody would enjoy it.
“So I have a question,” their dad said, settling onto a plastic patio chair.
Micah and Tristan sat on plastic chairs as well, with Melody between them.
“What?” Micah asked.
“Well, Melody is not like any other females we’ve ever known. We’ve always wondered what it is about the females that makes them not want to be mated to their own males. There are a lot of rumors about why the females are the way that they are, but no males have ever known for sure. It seems, judging from Melody, that whatever changes a female from a loving child to a cold, cruel adult is not hereditary.”
Uncle Mark chuckled. “So what is the question?”
Their dad laughed. “Sorry. I guess the question is, what the hell happens to the females?”
Melody asked, “What are the rumors?”
Holden and Jax joined them, pulling up more plastic chairs. Their dad looked thoughtful. “I was told that the females take the little girls and tell them that females are not allowed to take a male as a mate or they’ll die.”
Jax said, “I heard that the adult females brainwash the kids.”
“Our grandfather used to say that the females would steal the little girls away and drug them,” Uncle Mark said.
The males grew quiet for several moments. Melody said, “Well it’s definitely not hereditary because I don’t act like females at all. From what dad told me, they don’t even recognize their own kids or want to be part of a family.”
Jax nodded. “One of the police officers in town, Daniel Parker, he’s taken a human woman as his mate. Before they left, Daniel was in love with one of the females. He said that until he met his human mate, he truly believed that the female was meant to be his mate, but it was a one-sided feeling because she didn’t want anything to do with him outside of occasional sex.”
Tristan frowned. “Do you think that if she’d been raised like Melody, she would have been Daniel’s mate?”
Jax shrugged. “Who the hell knows? As far as we know, Melody is the only female who was taken away from our pride and raised without the influence of the females. Whatever they do has to be a physical thing. So it’s drugging or mind control or something else that gradually gets worse from the time they’re very young until they shift and then it’s almost as if they don’t recognize their own family.”
Tristan mulled over the conversation as the males continued to talk, speculating about the females. He didn’t know what taking Melody away as a baby had done to make her different, but he was thankful for it. To think that if her dad hadn’t taken her away, Tristan and Micah
When Chase and his cousins had opted to leave King and follow the Fallons to Ashland, Micah and Tristan decided to go, too. They’d both worked at the tire factory outside of town after high school, neither of them inclined to go to college. Their dad and uncle hadn’t wanted to leave King, but they encouraged Micah and Tristan to do whatever their hearts desired. He’d not regretted their decision to move, but he did regret how Melody had been treated by the males he’d come to think of as an extended family.
Melody touched his arm and he looked at her. “Are you okay?”
He slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, kissing her temple. “I am now.”
With the meal over, and her uncles shooing everyone out of the kitchen, they went out onto the back porch. The July sun was scorching hot already, and it made him think about the lake where they had spent summer afternoons swimming. He bet that Melody would enjoy it.
“So I have a question,” their dad said, settling onto a plastic patio chair.
Micah and Tristan sat on plastic chairs as well, with Melody between them.
“What?” Micah asked.
“Well, Melody is not like any other females we’ve ever known. We’ve always wondered what it is about the females that makes them not want to be mated to their own males. There are a lot of rumors about why the females are the way that they are, but no males have ever known for sure. It seems, judging from Melody, that whatever changes a female from a loving child to a cold, cruel adult is not hereditary.”
Uncle Mark chuckled. “So what is the question?”
Their dad laughed. “Sorry. I guess the question is, what the hell happens to the females?”
Melody asked, “What are the rumors?”
Holden and Jax joined them, pulling up more plastic chairs. Their dad looked thoughtful. “I was told that the females take the little girls and tell them that females are not allowed to take a male as a mate or they’ll die.”
Jax said, “I heard that the adult females brainwash the kids.”
“Our grandfather used to say that the females would steal the little girls away and drug them,” Uncle Mark said.
The males grew quiet for several moments. Melody said, “Well it’s definitely not hereditary because I don’t act like females at all. From what dad told me, they don’t even recognize their own kids or want to be part of a family.”
Jax nodded. “One of the police officers in town, Daniel Parker, he’s taken a human woman as his mate. Before they left, Daniel was in love with one of the females. He said that until he met his human mate, he truly believed that the female was meant to be his mate, but it was a one-sided feeling because she didn’t want anything to do with him outside of occasional sex.”
Tristan frowned. “Do you think that if she’d been raised like Melody, she would have been Daniel’s mate?”
Jax shrugged. “Who the hell knows? As far as we know, Melody is the only female who was taken away from our pride and raised without the influence of the females. Whatever they do has to be a physical thing. So it’s drugging or mind control or something else that gradually gets worse from the time they’re very young until they shift and then it’s almost as if they don’t recognize their own family.”
Tristan mulled over the conversation as the males continued to talk, speculating about the females. He didn’t know what taking Melody away as a baby had done to make her different, but he was thankful for it. To think that if her dad hadn’t taken her away, Tristan and Micah
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