7. Harper
CHAPTER SEVEN
harper
Oren and Nolan must've seen me zoning out on the world's most uncomfortable bed, because they joined me in the observation room around lunch time, bringing a tennis ball for entertainment.
We all laid on the floor in the large, open-walled shower, shoulder to shoulder. I was pretty sure there had been a door to the shower at some point, but it had undoubtedly been destroyed by some devolved vampire before I moved in.
Oren was against the wall, his surfer-like brown hair sprawled over his face. The vampire's skin was light brown, and he was wearing a pair of workout shorts and a muscle tee.
Nolan's dark brown shoulder was squashed against the curb that kept the water from rolling out into the room. The werewolf's shaved head was tucked uncomfortably between his chest and the wall, and unlike his mate, he hadn't bothered wearing a shirt with his exercise shorts.
I was sandwiched between them while they bounced the ball back and forth, using the wall to make it easier.
They were usually all over each other. They must’ve thought I was in a bad place, since they put me between them.
It was nice of them, even if the Werewolf-Vampire sandwich wasn’t fixing me.
"How bad was it with Rhone last night?" Nolan checked.
"I got a necklace out of it. Thanks, by the way." My fingers had barely left the fangs all day.
They centered me, a little bit.
Or maybe I just liked having something to fidget with.
"What did Rhone say?" Oren asked.
"What didn't Rhone say would be a better question."
Neither of them pointed out that I was beating around the bush.
They coddled me too. They'd even pretended they liked my pink hair. I’d seen the look they exchanged. They hated it.
Rhone was the only one who didn't treat me like I was a bomb.
I was, though.
The guys waited for me to decide if I was going to share more.
I didn't.
"Did he tell you not to fuck anyone else?" Nolan finally prodded.
"He threatened to rip off every cock that comes near me and feed it to its owner. You're both probably at risk right now."
Nolan snorted.
Oren smirked. "I think ours are safe."
"Sutton asked me how you're doing," Nolan said.
"You told her I've never looked better, right?"
"Obviously."
My lips curved the tiniest bit.
"I think she heard about Rhone's possessive freak-out last night and is worried. They don't like each other," Nolan reminded me.
Everyone in the tower knew that.
Sutton had stuck around after we found out that my mom and the city’s most powerful vampires were behind the murders. I was pretty sure she had missed pack life more than she realized.
She had also taken Riley, the other newly turned vampire, under her wing.
Her and Bloom had become fairly good friends, too, which was good for Bloom. She needed that.
I could feel my gnawing insanity returning, the bloodlust growing harder to ignore. I should've fed from Rhone when he offered.
Smaller, more frequent meals were the best way to keep a turned vampire's hunger under control. Nolan was almost constantly healing from one of Oren's bites, and didn't seem to mind at all.
"She's coming over, isn't she?" I asked.
I heard the observation room's door close, and Sutton was leaning up against the wall nearby a few moments later, studying me.
Her jean shorts didn't have a single wrinkle on them, revealing her strong legs and smooth, dark brown skin. The long-sleeve tee she had on was a shade darker than her burgundy curls, and made her green eyes pop.
"I know I look like death," I told her. "Bloom has assured me that I’d look worse with black hair."
"The pink is... interesting," she said.
I decided that was my new goal.
Be interesting.
It wasn't measurable, but it felt achievable.
"It distracts from the look of illness, right?" I asked.
Her lips twitched.
She made a shooing motion with her hand, and Nolan scooted over until I was sandwiched between him and Oren really tightly. Oren had to turn sideways. Sutton did too. No one was comfortable.
"You're too big," I complained to Nolan.
"Oren's never had a problem with that." He flashed his mate a heated grin over my body, and Oren's responding smile showed too much fang to be appropriate for our current positions.
Sutton sighed.
I did too. "Just make out already. It's probably been fifteen whole minutes since you fucked."
"Thirty," Nolan corrected.
"Can someone kill Rhone yet?" Sutton asked me. "I heard he strangled Ryker."
"Nah. Ryker only had a couple of black eyes. And Rhone helped me cut my hair today, so I don't think I can support a murder plot for at least a few more hours."
"He only helped you cut your hair so no one else would touch you," she said.
I made a noncommittal noise. "Hard to say that was his only motivation, but probably."
Sutton shook her head.
"Why do you guys hate each other?"
She didn't answer immediately.
Oren and Nolan were still throwing the tennis ball, so the sound of it bouncing off the floor and the wall before being caught was the only thing I could hear.
"Rhone told Mav she was wrong for him when they were dating," Nolan said for Sutton, when she still didn’t reply.
Sutton flashed him a glare.
He shrugged. "Most of the pack knows already. It's not a secret. Maverick and Rhone are opposites, but they're closer than brothers."
"I knew we were wrong for each other before he said anything," Sutton clarified. "But Rhone said something about it in front of the enforcers, when I was already struggling with being a part of the pack. Maverick sided with Rhone, like he always does. I broke up with him, and left."
"I'm sorry," I said, though I only kind of meant it.
From what I knew of both Sutton and Maverick, they really weren't right for each other. She kept to herself and was intensely private. He loved being around people.
Being a dick was just kind of Rhone's personality. He was as much of an ass in every situation, whether it was public or not.
"It helped me realize that pack life isn't for me, so in that way, I'm glad it happened," Sutton said, her gaze on the ceiling.
"Rhone is shit with pack life too," Nolan said. "He's only here for Mav."
Sutton nodded like that was common knowledge.
It wasn't.
Not to me.
"He's the Beta," I said.
"Rhone's more of a lone wolf," Nolan explained.
"He probably wouldn't belong to a pack at all if not for Maverick.
He chooses to be the Beta because he doesn't like answering to other people, and no one is willing to try to take him down.
He kicks the enforcers' asses almost daily, so he could probably win most challenges.
And if someone tried to take his place, Maverick would kill them. "
"What do you think he'd be doing if Maverick wasn't here?" I asked.
None of them knew.
"Is he only helping me because Maverick's mated to Bloom?" I pressed.
"That was the theory, until last night," Sutton said.
"What's the new theory?"
She glanced over at me. "That depends on what he said you to."
I grimaced. "He told me that I belong to him, but he doesn't belong to me."
All three of my companions blinked.
"Are you sure?" Nolan asked.
"It was a memorable conversation."
None of them said anything for a few minutes.
Maybe they were just processing.
"What's the new theory, guys?"
"He actually wants you," Sutton said, sounding extremely surprised.
"Ouch."
"I don't mean it cruelly," she added quickly. "He just... doesn't date."
"He doesn't fuck, either. I've never seen him spend breeding season with anyone," Nolan put in.
"He threatened to fuck me yesterday, so that can't be true."
Three alarmed gazes flashed my way.
"He threatened to force himself on you?" Nolan growled.
"We’ll kill him," Oren stated.
"It wasn't like that. Threatened wasn't the right way to put it. Rhone isn't good with words. He's just... direct. He knew I wanted him, and I didn't deny it, and he was just saying that it could happen. The only time he touched me, he gave me a chance to say no."
All three of them relaxed.
The fact that they didn't trust the Beta not to attack me actually made me feel kind of bad for him. Rhone was difficult in basically every way, but he was solid.
I loved Bloom, but after months of being forcefully cared for by Rhone, he was the person I would call if I needed to bury a body.
Even if I kind of hated him. I could admit that the hate was more directed toward my life situation than directly to him.
"Is there any update on the situation with my mom and the Guild?" I asked.
No one gave me updates unless I asked, and I didn't ask very often.
"No." Sutton sighed. "Holly and Neve are still in hiding. Bloom's family is still trying to take over the Guild, but struggling. Rhone found and killed Velour, and Holly Valenti's mate, but at least no one else has died."
My own mother hadn't even asked where I was or if I was alive.
That stung.
We'd never been close, and my childhood had been shitty in some ways, but I'd always known that my mother loved me in her own, fucked up way.
The guys kept bouncing the ball back and forth as the conversation shifted to how long Sutton was going to stay in Vast City (not more than a few more weeks, which she'd been saying for months).
Then whether or not Sutton was going to spend breeding season with a guy (she had no other choice because she wasn't willing to go through that hell alone).
Halfway through Nolan's story about something he and Oren had done at the pack's estate last weekend, my hunger reared its ugly head.
The monster that was my bloodlust took over entirely, for the first time in three days.
I watched myself go for Nolan's throat, distantly, as if I was in a dream.
The werewolf pinned me easily to the pink-stained tile.
Oren called Rhone and told him I'd devolved again.
Rhone showed up quickly, sweat beaded on his forehead and fury in his eyes as he ripped the Omega away from me and hauled me into his arms. When everyone else was gone, he trapped me between his body and the wall and tilted his head to the side, not just letting me bite him, but offering me his throat.
I drank deeply, taking far more than I ever allowed myself when I was in control.
The blood settled in my stomach like an anchor as I pulled away, sweaty, and slick between my thighs. I was completely exhausted, but my hunger was as settled as it ever got, and I felt like myself again.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, lowering my head to Rhone's shoulder. One of his hands was still on my hip, his grip tight but not painfully so. The other was wrapped loosely around the back of my head, ready to stop me if he needed to.
"Don't apologize to me," he gritted out. "I'm the one who should've fed you earlier."
"I'm not your responsibility. You have a pack to take care of."
"I don't give a fuck about the pack, Trouble."
"I don't know how much longer I can do this." My voice trembled more than I wanted it to. "It's getting worse. I'm getting worse."
"What was the trigger?"
"I don't know."
"Think."
"I was hungry, and they were talking about whether or not Sutton was staying in town. The hunger just..." I shook my head a little, my forehead dragging over his collarbone.
"Small talk and too much time between meals."
"I can usually make it twenty-four hours, and I bit you last night." And Ryker, but I wasn't bringing that up when Rhone had just moved on.
"Sleeping seems to affect the time you can go without feeding."
"I guess."
"Don't lie to me about your hunger again."
I usually didn't. I fed from him once every day, and twice sometimes. I had his number, and texted him the tooth emoji once a week or so, when I was feeling like I was going to lose my sanity in the evening.
"Fine."
"Oren never goes twenty-four hours. We'll make twelve the routine."
"Oren’s mated. I'm not biting you twice every single day, Rhone. It's too much. You need to let someone else help me, or—"
"What did I say about your fangs, Trouble? They’re mine."
"Feel free to put them on a necklace when I’ve devolved for good, then. I’ll haunt you from hell."
He snarled at me. A full-on wolf snarl.
"I don't know why you're so illogical about this, Rhone."
"It’s not illogical. It takes a few hours for a bite to heal. Do you know what would happen if the wolf you fed on bit you during those hours? If Ryker had bitten you while you drank from him last night?"
I suddenly understood just a little more.
"You're worried I'm going to accidentally end up mated to someone?"
"Of course I am. Biting means something to wolves. It's necessary for your survival, but that won’t stop the emotions that come with it for most of them. When you feed on a werewolf, there is every chance that they could bite you in the heat of the moment. Intentionally or unintentionally."
Oh.
Shit.
"I didn't realize," I said quietly.
"You're not biting anyone else, so it doesn't matter. We will figure out a way to handle this. Feeding every twelve hours will help."
"Are you going to bite me in the heat of the moment?"
"No."
"None of that changes the fact that I'm getting worse. Oren hasn't lost control like I just did in decades."
"Oren is mated, and has been dealing with this for a century. He lost control almost as much as you have when he was this new."
"I feel like almost is the most important part of what you just said. He didn't struggle this much. How many of the turned vampires you guys failed to rehab did?"
The way his jaw clenched told me I didn't want him to answer.
I already knew, and it wasn’t good news for me
Lifting me away from the wall, Rhone set me on my feet. "We're going to eat tacos."
"No thanks. I'm not in the mood to throw up Mexican food right now."
"It wasn't a question."
I scowled. "I'd like to see you try to force-feed me a taco."
"So would I."
Rhone cupped my face, catching me off guard with the sudden touch. His thumb dragged under my bottom lip before he slipped it into my mouth. I understood what he was doing when the taste of his blood set every one of my senses on fire.
It took three more swipes of his thumb beneath my lip and over my tongue to clean the rest of the blood off.
I was ridiculously turned on by the time he finally put an arm around my waist and used it to drag me out of the observation room and into the hallway.