CHAPTER THIRTEEN || HARRIS #2
Instinct took over and I grabbed him by the hips, steadying us both as I thrust in and out of him.
His groans turned to whimpering moans and his hands tightened on the bedding on either side of his head, his fingers shifting to claws and back again, his molten-gold eyes locked on mine.
My breathing quickened and my pelvis tightened.
I took his cock in my hand and began to stroke him to the same rhythm, matching my thrusts. “I’m getting close.”
“Yes,” he breathed. “Inside me.”
With another thrust, I was past the point of no return. I let out a sharp cry—halfway between a grunt and a moan—as I climaxed deep inside him.
His hard, swollen cock was hot in my hand as I stroked him once, twice more. Then he shot ropes of white across his stomach with a gasp.
I leaned in and kissed him. Then I pulled out slowly, not wanting to cause him any pain. He winced anyway.
“I’ll be right back,” I told him.
I went to the bathroom and came back with towels. After we’d cleaned up and I climbed back into bed, he stayed curled against me as if afraid the moment he let go, the world would come crashing back in.
I planted a kiss on his forehead and when I pulled back, he glanced up, meeting my gaze. His face was flushed and his eyes were soft with tenderness. He was somehow both otherworldly and entirely himself at the same time. He was always both, but more importantly, he was always Reed.
The enormity of it hit me in stages. I wanted Reed to belong to me. And I wanted to belong to him, too. I wanted us. I had never felt this way about anyone before. Not like this. It was a total feeling of surrender—as though I was willing to give him everything I had.
And that was the exact moment I knew I had fallen in love with him.
We lay in silence for a long time, listening to the quiet of the cabin. Reed’s breathing slowed.
Eventually, he shifted so he could look at me. His eyes were darker now, human again, but something luminous and tender remained in them.
“You didn’t have to do that,” he murmured.
“Yeah,” I said simply. “I did. And I didn’t rush a goddamn thing. I wanted to.”
His lips twitched. “You always sound so sure.”
“I’m not,” I admitted.
That got his attention. His brow furrowed. “You’re not?”
My gaze slid away from his, the words jammed in my throat. This part… this was what I’d always been bad at.
“Look, I’ve spent most of my life pretending I’m always fine. That I don’t need anyone. That being alone is better than dealing with something messy and emotional. But it’s not. I don’t want to pretend that anymore.”
Reed’s hand found mine, fingers curling tight. “So don’t.”
“I told you about Paul,” I said. “He was my partner and I cared about him. A lot. I’m pretty sure I loved him.
He definitely felt the same way. But I never told him.
And then it was way too late. After that, I was…
hollow.” The word was too small for how I’d really felt.
“And I thought at the time maybe it was because I let myself care about him. But now I see that it was because I was never brave enough to be real about how I was feeling. It fucking wrecked me.”
Reed swallowed hard, but he didn’t interrupt me.
“And then Cole happened,” I added, because it mattered. Because it was part of why I was still alive.
Reed’s eyes narrowed. “The vampire.”
“Yeah,” I said, smiling at that. Reed had nothing to worry about. I was his and his alone. “The formerly murderous vampire who saved me from myself. Not because he was nice about it. He was relentless.”
Reed’s mouth curved faintly. “I’m not sure if I ought to love him or hate him for that.”
“If I’m being honest, I’ve been asking myself that since he and I first met.
But at the end of the day, he’s my friend.
He never forced it to happen. It just did.
But he’s… far away.” Then I hesitated, letting myself really feel the risk before I went on.
“Look, LA is empty, Reed. And being here, with you, isn’t. ”
Reed went very still.
I turned my head to look at him. He was staring at me like I’d handed him something fragile and priceless.
“I don’t know if I’m going back,” I admitted. Saying it out loud felt like stepping off a ledge. But even that wasn’t the full truth. Because the idea I could ever leave now was absurd, wasn’t it? It wasn’t even a choice. Reed was my choice. I added, “That scares the hell out of me.”
His voice came out rough. “Don’t, then. I don’t want you to leave.”
I nodded, but the simplicity of it hit me hard. I could stay. Why the hell not? I didn’t need to go anywhere. I could have this, with Reed, every single day. We could make a life together. And I wanted that.
But there was something that needed to be addressed first. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it yet, but it felt weird not to at least broach the subject of becoming a werewolf. It would solve every single one of our problems.
“I—” I swallowed. “Reed, I’m human.”
He gave me a wry smile, even though his eyes were still filled with emotion. “Yeah. I’ve noticed.”
“People can become werewolves, right? That’s what you said before. Oliver was bitten—”
Maybe he saw the direction I was headed in, because he blanched. “That was done to save his life, Harris! Because he would’ve died either way, it seemed better he be reborn a wolf.”
“When you say ‘die either way’—are you saying the wolf bite—”
“It kills you,” Reed said flatly, a wall slamming down behind his eyes. “That’s how it works. It causes a fever that spreads rapidly. It sends your body into overdrive. It’s like fire in your veins. And then, an hour or two later, your heart stops and your life as a human ends.”
His words chilled me. “Werewolves are—what? Undead? Like vampires?”
“We’re nothing like vampires,” Reed growled. “Your heart only stops for a few moments, long enough for the magic to fully take hold and transform you.” Then he paused, his gaze searching mine. “Listen to me. When I think about anything happening to you, it makes me crazy.”
“Maybe we can table the werewolf talk for now,” I said reluctantly.
He let out a relieved breath. “Good.”
“I just thought—I would’ve thought you’d want me.”
I had meant to say I would’ve thought you’d want me to turn, but that’s not how it came out. And the instant the words left my lips, I wanted to take them back. I felt exposed and vulnerable.
His expression softened at once and the sudden walls dropped away. “I do want you. But I don’t want you to have to change for me,” he said. “And definitely not at the cost of it killing you.”
“Temporarily.”
“I don’t want you to wake up one day and realize you became something else because you were trying to make this easier on me. It isn’t right. Who you are now is perfect.”
The warmth that spread through me at his words was almost unbearable.
“But where does this leave us?”
Reed’s gaze held mine, steady and unflinching. “It leaves us here,” he said. “Now. Together.”
It wasn’t that simple and he knew it. But I decided not to let it ruin the moment. We’d return to it, eventually. We had to.
He leaned in and kissed my forehead—an oddly gentle gesture for a man who turned into a predator under moonlight. “We’ll figure it out,” he murmured. “I swear.”
I let my eyes close for a second, breathing him in. The rich pine smell of a Christmas tree, reminding me sharply of home. That’s what Reed’s scent was: belonging. And though I wasn’t sure he was right, he was saying I didn’t have to be a vampire, a werewolf, or a warlock to love him.
When I opened my eyes again, something clicked. It wasn’t emotional this time, but purely practical.
“Witchcraft,” I breathed, my eyes widening. “We need a coven.”
Reed’s eyebrows drew together. “Huh?”
“Daniel said a circle of witches can open a door to the Otherworld. There’s a coven in Seattle. I could ask Cole. His brother knows them. Thierry has connections there.”
Reed’s expression tightened. “Harris…”
“Why aren’t we asking them for help?” I demanded.
“If they can open a portal, we don’t have to be in a liminal state, whatever the hell that means.
We don’t have to find some dying person or take stupid risks.
We go in, we get Sally, then we get out.
The monster takes time, right? It feeds on suffering and despair.
It must drag everything out. That probably means she’s still alive. ”
Hope is dangerous. I knew that.
“The pack would owe the witches,” Reed said. “Most alphas wouldn’t even consider it. This is a pack problem.”
“Stopping this thing is worth it. Saving an innocent person’s life is worth it.” I paused. “And you’re not most alphas.”
Reed studied me for a long moment, emotions flickering across his face—fear, resistance, and then resignation.
“You think they’ll come?”
“They will,” I said, surprised by how certain I sounded. “Poppy is one of the witches leading the coven. She helped us stop Magnus.”
“You know Poppy?” he said, shaking his head, his expression becoming incredulous. “Why am I not even surprised?”
“Wait. You’ve met her?”
“Last year. She was there when Jeremy—when I became alpha. Thierry called her for backup when we realized the bleeds were active again.”
“Huh. Small world.”
“Even smaller than I thought, apparently.”
“Look, I’ll call Cole and have him talk to his brother. Thierry’s close friends with Poppy and her mate, Simone. They’ll come if we ask.”
Reed’s eyebrows shot up. “We?”
There wasn’t a single chance in hell he was doing any part of this alone. “Yeah. We.”
Reed’s throat worked, as if he wanted to protest. But then he nodded sharply. “Okay,” he said at last, the word rough. “You’re right. We need to ask them for help.”
* * *