15. Harlow
I crouched behind the dumpster and dragged my duffel out, shaking my head as I pulled on a pair of black sweatpants. The last thing I needed was someone walking by the alley and seeing me standing by the dumpster naked.
I needed to get this done fast if I wanted to get back to Sina before she woke up.
Ghost.
The name settled into place in my head, and I let it stick. I’d never bothered naming him before. Maybe because he was just… me . But it felt right that she’d done it. Like she’d seen something in us and decided it deserved a name.
“I can’t believe she named you,” I said.
The fox puffed up in my chest like he’d just been handed a crown and a tiny royal cape.
‘Ghost is a good name.’
I snorted. “It’s a terrible name. You’re glowing white. You’re basically a fluffy marshmallow,” I muttered, fishing my phone out of the bag.
‘She likes me.’
That shut me up. I wanted her to like him. Maybe that would mean, eventually, she’d like me too. Which was a stupid, dangerous thought, so obviously my brain held onto it like a dog with a bone.
“Yeah. She does like you, Ghostie boy.”
The fox preened, smug as hell, basking in it like he’d personally won her over with charm and not, you know, just existing. He was basically an emotional support animal.
‘She smiled at me.’
“She smiled because she thought you were a stray animal. That’s not the same thing. ”
He ignored my logic and argued, ‘she laughed when she pet me. I made her happy.’
That was all my fox wanted . To make our mate happy. He wasn’t wrong. I hadn’t been prepared for the sound of it. Soft and surprised, like it didn’t get used enough. Like it had to fight its way out of her. I wanted to hear it again. I huffed out a quiet laugh of my own, shaking my head.
“Okay buddy, I’ll give you that. You did make her happy.”
He settled deeper into my ribs, warm and satisfied I’d admitted it.
I’d never let anyone pet my fox before, and I wasn’t ashamed to admit I’d leaned into her touch like an affection-starved house cat.
‘I want to go back to her.’
“We will, but we gotta call Nik.” I glanced up toward the fire escape, toward the dark window above us. “We need to know if this Logan guy is actually the dead husband… or if he’s someone else still after our girl. And the only one who can find that out fast, is Elias.”
‘The hive needs to protect her.’
“ No shit, Sherlock . What the fuck do you think I’m doing out here before dawn? Like I want to be out here instead of curled up in her bed. We need Nik and Elias and I couldn’t risk her seeing me shift in her tiny flat. I don’t wanna scare her.”
‘Worth it. She needs to know everything.’
Absolutely not worth it. I remembered what Kiron said and I had to admit the dragon had a point. We needed to handle telling her all of this delicately and I wasn’t the one level headed enough to spill the beans. I sighed and leaned back against the brick wall.
“I’m not arguing this with you. The sooner I call Nik, the sooner we can go back upstairs. ”
I glanced up at the fire escape again and rubbed a hand over my face, bracing myself for the real argument I knew was about to happen with my brother.
I powered on my phone and dialed Nik.
He wasn’t going to like this.
Nik hated surprises. He hated it even more when I went off and did my own thing. The last time I did that, I changed a random street fighter and brought home a dragon.
Oops.
Which meant he was going to really hate it when I refused to listen to his orders unless it involved Sina being safely tucked away on the island.
The phone rang twice before he picked up.
“ This better be important. It’s five a.m. .”
“It is,” I said, as I glanced up toward her window.
I could hear Elias murmuring in the background.
“You’re not on the island.”
He could probably hear the early morning city traffic in the background.
“Nope.”
Another pause. Longer this time. The kind that meant he was imagining new ways to murder me.
“Where are you, Harlow?” He couldn't hide the annoyance bleeding through the question.
I smirked a little. I was his younger brother. It was my job to piss him off.
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
Sue me. Busting his balls was fun especially since he had been gone all week being a selfish asshole.
“Harlow.”
I rolled my eyes at the menace in his tone .
“Relax. I’m in the alley outside her apartment.”
The silence on the other end went sharp. We both knew who ‘ her’ was. I didn’t need to say it.
“ You followed her home. ”
“You make me sound like a stalker. Or a stray dog.” I snorted at my lame accurate joke. “I made sure she got home safe.”
Though I left out the part where I spread my cum all over her pillow. The very pillow she has her face currently pressed against.
I chuckled.
“That wasn't the plan,” Nik said, voice flat with disapproval.
“Yeah, well, I’m sick of the waiting game Nik. She was walking alone at three in the morning, smelling like fear and cheap liquor. If you thought I would just leave her unprotected, while you sort out your feelings for Eli’s dick, you're mistaken.”
Ghost shifted inside me, restless and agitated now.
‘She was sad.’
My smirk faded. He was right and I didn't like the tight feeling it left under my ribs. Didn’t like how small she’d looked carrying that knife like she expected something to grab her from behind.
Nik exhaled slowly through his nose. The sound was pure restraint. Good . The fucker needed to stop playing with Eli’s dick and focus. This girl was our blood mate whether he wanted her to be or not.
“Did she see you, Harlow?”
I looked down at myself. Bare feet. Sweatpants. Dumpster chic.
“Not… exactly .”
“Harlow.”
“She saw my fox.”
Dead silence.
“You shifted in front of her? ”
“She thinks I’m a stray. Relax . I was adorable and Ghost agrees.”
‘Very adorable,’ he echoed.
“Ghost?” Nik asked.
“Sina named my fox.”
Nik made a sound like he was reconsidering all his life choices. “You can’t just—”
“Nikolai. She’s not safe here.” I cut him off, using his full name on purpose. My voice dropped, the joking edge fading as I leaned back against the brick, eyes lifting to the dark window above.
“I know. She’s running from someone.”
I frowned. “You knew for sure and didn’t tell the hive?”
“No. I don’t know for sure. I suspected as much.”
That settled me slightly. Not by much. But enough that I didn’t immediately hang up on him out of spite.
“She said a name today. Logan. If I stick around, maybe I can learn more. She opens up to Ghost.”
“ No. Go home before you do something stupid or she sees you shift. ”
“ Fuck that ,” I spat, my grip tightened around my phone. “I won’t leave her, you can’t ask me to.” I began pacing back and forth. “She’s scared and alone and I fucking hate it, Nik. Have you seen the shitty apartment she lives in? The locks are busted. Her place is like a god damn freezer—”
“ Okay. Okay. I hear you Low. I’ll see what Eli can find out about Logan and if he’s a problem or not. But, for now, stay out of sight. Don’t let her see you in human form Harlow. I’m serious.”
I nodded like he could see me and scrubbed a hand over my face. “Nik, if Logan isn't the dead ex and he’s hunting her…”
I let the threat linger.
Nik’s voice went deadly calm. “Then he's a dead man. ”
I let out a slow breath and ended the call.
I turned my phone off, and shoved it back into the duffel.
I kept the sweatpants on just in case I needed to shift again.
I'll stash them somewhere in her flat. I climbed up the fire escape, easily scaling the side of her building.
I hated how easy it was to break into her place.
The scent of fear hit me before I even touched her window.
Damn it. I shouldn’t have left her alone.
Panic seized my chest, sharp and immediate.
I scaled the fire escape fast, metal rattling under my hands, and landed softly outside her window.
My hand froze on the glass. Inside, she thrashed in the bed.
Sheets twisted around her legs. Hair plastered to her face with sweat.
Her mouth moved like she was screaming, but only broken sounds came out—trapped somewhere between her lungs and whatever nightmare had its claws in her.
Not an intruder. Thank fuck.
“Sina,” I breathed, already moving.
The window slid open without a sound. I slipped inside, landing softly on the floor, bare feet silent against the wood. I didn’t feel the cold. Didn’t feel anything except the panic pouring off her in waves, thick enough to taste.
She jerked hard in the bed, a strangled sob ripping out of her. I was at her side in two strides. My hand closed around her shoulder. I shook her gently. “Wake up, Sina.”
Her head tossed. Her breath hitched like she was drowning.
‘Shift back,’ Ghost demanded. ‘You can’t let her wake up to you like this.’
“Shut up,” I snapped under my breath.
Her fingers clawed at the sheets like she was trying to fight something off. Tears streamed into her hair.
“Wake up, darling,” I said, softer now, brushing damp strands away from her cheek. I tried not to think about the fact I wasn’t wearing my gloves. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d touched someone barehanded.
‘She will be terrified of you.’
“You sound like my brother,” I muttered, my hand smoothing down her cheek before I could stop myself. Her skin was soft and warm. Maybe too warm. Fever-bright with fear.
‘You are naked in her bedroom, you idiot. This has nothing to do with whether she will accept what you are.’
That made me pause… yeah . Not exactly the first impression we were going for.
I swore under my breath, jaw tight as her eyes fluttered open for half a second before her lashes fell again.
Every instinct in me wanted to stay right where I was—between her and whatever was haunting her in her sleep.
But I never wanted her to look at me and see a monster.
Not like Clarissa once had. And that was exactly what I looked like.
A walking fucking nightmare.
Black ink crawled up my throat and over my jaw. Metal glinted at my brow and lip. Gauges stretched my ears. My jaw tightened. I didn’t want her to see the monster. I wanted her to see protection. But if she needed a monster…
I would gladly be hers.
‘Let me soothe her. She trusts me.’
I exhaled hard through my nose. “Yeah, yeah. Don’t let it go to your head, Ghostie boy.”
I stepped back just as her body jolted upright with a broken scream, sheets tangled around her legs. Her eyes flew open, wild and unfocused, chest heaving like she’d run for miles. She looked straight through me, panic sharpening her face as her gaze darted around the room.
“Ghost?” she gasped, voice wrecked .
I shifted fast. Bones folded. Skin rippled. The world dropped lower as fur replaced flesh. Pain cracked through me and I bit my tongue to keep from making a sound.
White paws hit the floor. I jumped up onto her mattress and scrambled up the bed toward her just as she started shaking. She grabbed me with both arms and dragged me against her chest, burying her face in my neck like she was trying to hide.
“You didn’t leave me,” she sobbed into my fur.
I stilled. Leaving hadn’t even crossed my mind. I pressed my nose harder under her chin, tail tightening along her side. I wasn’t going anywhere. My poor mate didn’t know she had a hive of vampires ready to kill for her.
She would soon.
“It was just a nightmare. An awful dream.”
I pressed into her, curling against her ribs, my tail wrapping along her side. My tongue dragged once across the salt-wet skin of her wrist, grounding, steady. Every part of me screamed to shift back, to wrap her up and never let anything touch her again.
‘Easy.’
I bit back a growl, forcing myself to stay still, small, safe. I lifted my head just enough to look at her face.
Tears. Exhaustion. Fear that hadn’t fully left her green eyes. Rage burned low and steady in my chest. She didn’t need to see the monster.
But the ones who'd hurt her?
They’d never see me coming.