Chapter Seven
Several days later, Harper was still surprised to see Mateo turn up, ready to report for work. She figured he would have been long gone by now, and wanting to be as far away from her as possible, and yet he was still coming.
At night, he asked to walk her home, and at first she had declined, but two days ago, she figured there was no harm in it. That first day, his crushed face had played on her mind the whole night. She refused to be cruel, but letting him walk her home didn’t mean she forgave him, or wanted a relationship.
To make matters worse, Franny took her time coming to see her, and it would seem a lot more people needed her help now. Of course, her friend would come with the usual coffee and baked treat.
Like today, Franny was there with her favorite coffee, and she’d already started asking Mateo what he liked. The cinnamon bun came without question. Mateo loved them as much as she did.
She was finishing the makeup of a young pre-transition client, for her birthday. Her parents had paid for her to have a beauty session, and to purchase her first makeup kit. The young girl had been so excited, bubbling up with joy. She was able to control it for Harper to do her makeup perfectly.
Franny had already arrived, and now she only had to deal with some orders, and she had another client arriving in less than an hour.
“How are all your jobs going?” she asked, wanting to keep Franny talking as long as possible.
“Oh, you know, same old, same old. They cannot function without Franny there to help them.” Franny collapsed into one of the spare chairs. “Besides, enough about me, let’s talk about the mate not in the room.”
Harper smiled and shook her head. “There is nothing to talk about.”
“Nothing to talk about?” Franny asked, repeating her words.
“Are you done? Or are we going to keep saying the same stuff? Out with it, Franny.”
“I’m just saying, he’s turned up for work to help, and this place looks amazing. Don’t get me wrong, it looked great with only you at the helm, but come on, Harper, you’re not half as tired as you used to be, you’re ready to face the day, and you look positively happy.” Franny stopped to take a drink.
“I’m always happy.”
“Yeah, but have you considered it might be because a certain man is around?” Franny asked.
“No.” She wouldn’t look at her friend and there was no way she was going to admit to suddenly feeling happy at the prospect of Mateo being there every morning, waiting for her. The first day she’d hated it and didn’t want him there. She didn’t know what he’d done to her, but little by little, she had started to feel happy with him being there.
Of course, she also had to deal with the other little problem she had, along with the happiness—the apprehension of what he was going to do next. Is this his way of leading her into a false sense of security, and then pulling the rug out from under her? She had no idea, and she didn’t like it. She could not trust Mateo.
“You’re lying,” Franny said.
Harper lifted her gaze and took a bite of her cinnamon bun. “He’s going to leave soon anyway, so it’s no big deal him being here.”
Franny stood up and approached the main counter. “Really, so you’re telling me your wolf isn’t a little excited at having your mate around? You don’t feel aroused and curious every time you see him?”
“Enough,” Harper said. “He might be able to hear you.”
“Trust me, he’s not going to be able to hear me. You’ve got him cleaning, and I got him his favorite coffee. Trust me, we’re alone. That man is nowhere to be found.”
Harper stared at her friend, a little confused at what she was saying. “Anyone ever tell you, you can sometimes act a little strange?”
Franny winked at her. “Did I ever tell you, strange is my middle name?”
She chuckled.
“And also, consider my name, Franny strange, stop changing the subject.”
“I’m not changing the subject. There is no point in talking about something that is not going to happen.”
“You’re not going to forgive him?” Franny asked.
“Look, I know it’s easy for everyone to think I’m the monster here, and I’m not even saying Mateo is the monster. He didn’t want me, and I’m not going to be one of these females that goes running back, begging him to take me. I’m not. He didn’t want me.”
“And what about now? What about the full moon?” Franny asked.
“I’ll deal with it.”
“Or, you could stop fighting, and maybe this would be the perfect time to start using Mateo for your own pleasure,” Franny said.
Harper looked toward her friend. “What?”
“Look, this is going to be the first full moon with your mate very much present. Now, I don’t know about you, but as I said, mates act differently with the full moon, and seeing as yours is now close by and within reach, there is a good chance you’re going to want to get down and fuck.”
“Franny!”
“All I’m saying is, rather than fight that urge, why not use Mateo? You’ve never used any member of the pack, and I’ve got this feeling you’ve never been with a man.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Harper, you transitioned at eighteen, you told me you’ve never even kissed a guy, and then you discovered you were mated to Mateo, all within one night. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out you’re still a virgin, heading toward your first full moon, with your mate close. Unless you do something about it, things are going to get a whole lot of sexy.”
****
“A whole lot of sexy? That’s what you could come up with?” asked Mateo.
“I was winging it. Harper is so determined not to have anything to do with you.” Franny took a large spoonful of chocolate ice cream. “Why did you have to be a total asshole to her?”
“I’m not getting into this with you.” Mateo was also eating ice cream, but he’d opted for the strawberry-cheesecake flavor.
She snorted. “Is that because you don’t have a good enough excuse? You can’t go around criticizing me, when at the end of the day you’re in this mess because of yourself. All I’m trying to do is help you out. You should be thanking me.”
“By pimping me out?”
Franny snorted. “Like you wouldn’t enjoy it. Are you telling me that as we’re getting closer to the full moon, you’re not starting to feel certain urges?”
Mateo opened his mouth and then closed it.
“Thank you, I’m totally right, and you and Harper are so … annoying. Trust me, I know why she is, but you shouldn’t be pissed at me. It’s not like you’re giving me a great foundation to work with.” She shook her head.
“Do I even want to know what you two are conspiring in here?” Silver asked, stepping into the room. He wasn’t wearing a shirt.
“I’m trying to help Harper come to terms with the fact that she might want to do something crazy and have sex with her mate. Mateo isn’t happy with my methods.”
“You shouldn’t be interfering with either Mateo or Harper.”
“I’m not interfering. I’m helping. There is a huge difference.” Franny jumped off the counter. “Look, if you think you can do a better job than her best friend talking to her, be my guest. I’d love to see the two of you come up with an ideal plan to, you know, make sure all hell doesn’t break loose.”
“All hell won’t break loose, if Harper and I end up together.”
“Not during the night,” Franny said. “But I’m thinking about how Harper will feel the day after. You hurt her, broke her heart, and nearly crushed her spirit. You know what she was like when she came here, Dad. She lost a lot of weight, and even you were worried that it might start a war with the Fox’s pack if she died of malnutrition. Lover boy is only seeing her now, when she is healthy and happy. Before that, she was struggling.” She turned on her heel and walked away.
Silver wouldn’t look at him.
“Is what she says true?” Mateo asked.
“When Harper first arrived, it was hard. She didn’t try to be a burden on anyone, and in all honesty, she wasn’t. There were some who didn’t trust the banishment and feared what her presence would do to them. It took a long time for her to settle in. She didn’t want to live. It was like watching a mate who had one die. Between Franny, and I like to think myself, Harper started to want to live.”
“I caused that.”
Silver sighed and pulled out his cell phone. For several moments, he was clicking away, and then held up a picture. “That was taken the first year she was here with Franny. The two began to be friends.”
Mateo was shocked. Harper had lost so much weight that Franny’s arms around her looked like they were lead weights on her shoulders. Her face was gaunt, and he saw the odd angles of her cheekbones. She looked close to death. He hated the sight of it.
“Fuck,” he said.
“Yeah, she was in a bad way. A lot of the pack worried, and then she started attending beauty school at the local community college with the humans. She stayed to herself, didn’t bring any notice to us, and slowly found her path.”
Mateo felt like a fucking bastard. “I’ve got to go,” he said.
“Mateo, I didn’t tell you this to make you feel guilty.”
“I know, you showed me this for me to realize how I’ve been fucking up, and I know I’ve been fucking up bad.” He shook his head. “And I’ve got to fix this.”
He shook Silver’s hand and made his way out of his home. They didn’t need cars, so he took off, running toward Harper’s place. He didn’t pass many people as it was quite late.
Once he got to her house, he took a moment to catch his breath, and then he walked up to her door and knocked. Standing on her doorstep, he waited for the door to open. Seconds passed, maybe a minute, before Harper opened the door.
“Mateo, what’s the matter?” she asked.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“What?”
“For everything. For what I did to you. I am sorry. I had no idea that’s how you were going to … be.” He had no idea what to say or do.
The woman before him now wasn’t dangerously thin. Her curves were back. She’d been a fuller woman, even when she transitioned.
“They told you?”
“Silver showed me one of the pictures of you the first year you were here.”
“You’re not supposed to know about that.”
“I should have known,” Mateo said. “You could have been hurt.”
She shrugged and pressed her lips together, and he saw the tears glisten in her eyes.
“Does this mean you’re going to leave?” Harper asked.
“No, I’m not going anywhere. I know I fucked up. I know that’s on me, and there is no way for me to fix this, back at my pack.” He took a step toward her and where she had her hand on the doorframe, he placed his over it. “And I’m not going to back down. I’m not going to give up. You’re my woman, Harper. You’re my mate, and one day you will forgive me.” He held onto the door, and knew he took her by surprise when he brushed his lips against hers.
It wasn’t the bruising, passionate kiss he’d hoped to give her, but for now it would have to do.