The Lion’s Mail Order Menage

“Bella-”

“Don’t say my name like that, Ty.  Don’t say my name at all if you aren’t prepared to do something about it afterwards.  What’s the matter with you?  Going soft in your old age?  Having problems with the ladies these days?  Or is it a problem with your equipment?  Ha!  I bet that’s it, isn’t it?  Things don’t work down there so good and now you can’t take care of business the way you need to.  Poor old man.  Sad sack of sh*t.”

“I’d watch my mouth if I were you.”

“Would you now?  That’s interesting, seeing as my daddy’s the one who owns you.  You and every other loser in here.”

“Bella.  I think you should stop.”

“You don’t tell me what to do, Ty.  You don’t have any kind of authority here.  You don’t mean anything, you hear me?  I bet you don’t even like women.  I bet that’s the problem.  I bet you only get it up for men.  You wouldn’t have the first clue what to do with a real woman like me.”

Tyler could feel himself losing control.  He could hear a ringing in his ears and all of the voices and sounds in the room began to grow dim. 

Even the walls of the room felt like they were closing in and he knew that if she kept talking to him like this he was going to do something that he would regret, something he wouldn’t be able to take back.  Bella could see it, too.  Of course she could.  It was exactly what she wanted.  She was going to push him until he broke and after he did she was going to run to her daddy and demand that Tyler be punished. 

He could see the way it was all going to go down but even so, he wasn’t at all sure that he was going to be able to stop himself.  Everything he had worked so hard to establish for himself, everything he had carved out with tooth and claw, would collapse around him if he couldn’t make her stop talking. 

He could even feel the lion in him beginning to stir, and that was an even worse possibility.  That smug look on her face made his blood boil and the lion inside of him began to hiss instructions; it demanded to be let out so that it could show this spoiled little girl just how far off the mark she really was.  And if he couldn’t control that, if he couldn’t stop himself from shifting, what would happen to him then?  He would be branded as a freak, taken out by his own people who he knew he could never expect to understand his real nature.

“Tyler?  Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, Tyler, is everything alright?”

A soft hand snaked its way through his arm, pulling him in close.  The smell of lavender wafted up and Tyler closed his eyes, breathing in as much of it as he could get.  When he opened his eyes and looked down to his right he saw Meena’s clear, strong eyes smiling back up at him.  She nodded her head slightly, showing him that she was there with him, that there was no need to let this awful woman get the better of him. 

Her presence worked almost like a sedative on him and all of the rage that had been building up inside of him was very suddenly gone.  He felt his calm, good natured feelings return and knew that the danger had passed.  Bella could hurl out all of the insults she wanted.  It wouldn’t make a difference now.  She was still looking at him with angry eyes full of mock concern, but he didn’t care.  As far as he was concerned, she was just that same little kid following him around and nagging him for attention.

“Hey, babe.  Yes, thank you.  Everything is good.  I was just talking to an old friend.”

“Babe?” Bella said with sick surprise and a quick step back. “Are you trying to tell me you two are a couple or something?”

“Something like that.”

Meena’s soft, sure voice was in sharp contrast to Bella’s strained one and now even Geno was paying full attention, walking slowly towards the three of them with an expression Tyler couldn’t read.  Caleb was approaching them as well and Bella was starting to look pretty much enraged.  Confused, but also enraged.

“Now hold on just one minute.  You two aren’t together.  Ain’t no way.”

“And why is that?”

“Because, little girl, whoever the hell you are, I saw you over there with Caleb.  You two were all hands, you were all over each other.  It’s obviously you and Caleb are together.  You can’t fool me.  I know you’re just trying to get Tyler out of an embarrassing situation.  Well guess what, sweetheart?  It ain’t gonna work.  I’m no dummy.  I can see that you’re Caleb’s girl.”

“So what if she is?  Doesn’t mean she’s lying.”

At this point Caleb was right there with them and he took Meena’s free hand in his own while she rested her head on Tyler’s shoulder.  He kissed the top of her head, never so grateful for this woman than he was now, and looked back to Bella.  At this point, he had a morbid kind of fascination with what her reaction might be.  Ever the drama queen, she did not fail to deliver.

“Wait a minute.  Are you guys serious with this?  Are you trying to tell me you’re all together?  Like, a couple?  A threesome?”

“That’s what we’re saying.”

“No.  No way.  I don’t believe you.”

“Believe it or don’t believe it.  It doesn’t change things.”

Apparently, Meena speaking to her that way after also taking two of the most eligible men in Geno’s merry little band of criminals was more than Bella could take.  Her face went bright red and then things began to happen very quickly.  Her eyes darted to her left and she snatched up a sickeningly sharp steak knife off the closest table, lunging at Meena with nothing but hatred in her eyes.  The expression was haunting.  It was one that Tyler didn’t think he would ever forget, even years on down the line.