Chapter 94
Chapter Ninety-Four
~Thane~
Harlow refuses to be alone with us without Leon.
It doesn't matter where he goes; she even follows after him for the few seconds it takes him to drop the pizza boxes in the bin. I try not to let it get to me, try to remind myself that she feels safest with him, but it doesn’t help my jealousy or that of our mates as we watch her with him.
Yet none of us say anything to her about it.
We just let her be. No matter how much it kills me watching them, I don’t push her.
By the time the movie ends, she’s fallen asleep on top of Leon.
He goes to move, not realizing she’s passed out, so engrossed in the movie that I can’t even remember the name of.
I am too absorbed in the fact that she is here that I spend the entire time watching her, while festering in my jealousy.
Raidon, however, moves before I can and grips Leon’s shoulder as he goes to stand. He points to Harlow, making Leon look down at her head in his lap.
“Wake her and take her with you. She will freak out if she wakes up and you’re gone,” I tell him.
“I want to shower. I am covered in her soup; it's sticky,” he whispers, tugging on his shirt that is splattered in orange gunk.
Yeah, that was not an enjoyable meal. I can’t wait until she forgives us, if she ever does, because I am never letting her cook again.
Her cooking is atrocious. Steaming hot garbage would have been preferable.
Who the heck uses water in pumpkin soup and then doesn’t drain that starchy water out?
The mere thought of it has my stomach turning.
Raidon nearly vomited, and that man gags on nothing, not even dick, so that says something. Leon carefully slips out from under her. “I’ll be quick,” he murmurs. Rhen growls at him, knowing his idea of quick is completely different from ours.
“Leon!” Rhen snaps at him in a hushed voice.
“I’ll be five minutes,” he hisses back at him.
Raidon and Rhen look at me. I roll my eyes at them, knowing they want me to leave in case she does wake up, just to lessen the damage.
“I will go clean or something,” I tell them, too wired to go down to the Den to sleep. Getting up, I move to the kitchen and grab a cloth.
I already cleaned the kitchen but figure a second go-over will ensure the stench of burned food and other residue is gone. Leon saying he will be five minutes is a hit and miss.
He has a tendency to forget the concept of time, so we all know his idea of five minutes and an actual five minutes are two separate things.
It is also why we always tell him he has appointments an hour before they start.
Giving him the correct time guarantees he will be late, tell him it’s an hour before, and he may just show up on time.
Raidon comes into the kitchen about ten minutes later, muttering about Leon taking his damn time, and Rhen wanders in too.
“Where are you sleeping?” Rhen yawns.
“Where she told me to—the Den,” I tell them, and Raidon bristles.
“Yeah, I didn’t think you would go through with that,” Raidon says.
“I’ll manage,” I tell him, not wanting to admit I have been sleeping down there anyway, unable to bear not having her scent around. Although not a speck of it lingers down there anymore.
“Leon?” we all hear from the living room. All of our heads snap in her direction, and I drop the hand towel on the counter before wandering down the hall to let her know he is showering, when she rushes out of the room. Harlow stops in her tracks when she spots me.
“He’s showering, he’ll be back down soon,” I tell her, and she nods her head.
Her eyes dart to the staircase when Rhen and Raidon come out of the kitchen behind me.
I listen to her heart rate pick up, and I curse them.
Her heart was beating fast when it was just me, now it’s worse.
I see every muscle in her body tense, and I know she is about to run for the stairs.
In the blink of an eye, she’s off. I reach for her, seeing the panic on her face.
I curse, knowing it is because I am standing near the basement door.
She runs for the steps, missing the bottom one as I go to grab her, only to trip on the second.
My heart damn near stops in my chest as I watch her throw her hands out to brace herself.
My hand fists the back of her shirt, pulling her back before she hits the stairs. Harlow screams the most blood curdling scream I have ever heard—the sound visceral—making my stomach sink wondering if I hurt her.
“You’re—Argh!”
She bites my arm as it wraps around her chest, holding her steady, before she tosses her head back, catching me on the chin. I shake my head as pain ricochets along my jaw, and my arm tightens around her chest, above her breasts, when something hits the floor at my feet.
“Shh, stop. I am not going to hurt you,” I tell her before flooding her with my Calling. Raidon leans down, picking up whatever fell. It is the vial of my serum. He holds it up, and I take it from him as his eyes dart back to Rhen. She hasn’t taken it. Why didn't she take it?
She melts against me, leaning back as she is forced to surrender to my Calling. Pounding footsteps sound on the floor above, and Leon comes rushing out in a panic, sliding into the wall and nearly down the stairs. I pocket the vial and sigh, feeling his blatant fear through the bond.
My other hand smooths over her belly. I rub it before scooping her legs out from under her. I tuck her to my chest and walk up the steps to Leon’s room. Leon glares at me but says nothing as he opens his door.
“I swear, Thane, I will fucking kill you if you hurt her,” he growls at me, and I glare at him.
“She tripped, I grabbed her, and she freaked out,” I tell him, setting her on the bed.
The moment my Calling releases her, she snaps out of her daze and shuffles away from me.
I fish the vial out of my pocket and hold it out to her.
Her eyes widen as she feels her bra, which must have been where she had it.
She stares at me before leaning forward hesitantly.
“Take it; it’s yours,” I tell her, and she quickly snatches it before moving closer to the wall.
“Goodnight, Harlow,” I tell her before walking out of the room and back down the stairs. The bond has me wanting to run back to her and beg for forgiveness at her feet. I shake off the urge, knowing I would probably just scare her more, and I walk down to the Den.