Chapter 27 Exclusive
Jackson left early that morning. Neither of us wanted Thomas showing up at my door. He kissed my forehead, murmured that he would see me later, and slipped out before the sun had fully risen.
I lay in the dark after the door closed. Two were already in the ground. Two still walked free. Jackson’s father was one of them. I had not forgotten. I had simply let myself forget for a few hours. There was a difference.
The next week settled into a rhythm of early training, lectures, and late-night homework. Jackson found reasons to cross my path between almost every class. Sometimes he didn’t even bother pretending it was an accident.
By Friday, the Regionals had arrived, and this time we didn’t have to travel.
The home course was already loud when I reached it.
Two school buses sat parked along the back fence while registration tables stretched under the awning.
Parents and siblings crowded the bleachers in folding chairs and rain jackets.
The sky hung low and gray, the kind of cold that promised rain by afternoon and for now simply clung to everything.
Athletes in different colors moved in tight clusters, stretching and shaking out nerves.
The smell of coffee drifted from the concession stand.
Cowbells rang. Whistles cut through the air.
Someone shouted instructions across the field.
The whole place felt charged as I dropped my bag at the team area.
The men’s race had just started, the 8K. I caught the tail end of the pack as they disappeared around the far curve, already breaking apart on the incline. Their race usually ran about twenty minutes.
The women’s team gathered near the starting line for the 6K. I finished braiding my hair into two French braids, stretched out the last of the tightness, and listened while Coach Miller gave his final instructions.
“Stay ahead of Rivertown,” he said. “Their top three are strong. Get four of us in front of their three and we take the win. Hold your pace through the second mile. No early sprints. Don’t die out in the woods.”
He stopped in front of me. “Break away when you’re ready. You always have something left after practice. Today leave everything out on that course.”
I nodded.
As I warmed up I glanced around the group. Naomi was sneering at me again. That tracked. If she ever stopped, I would worry.
A roar went up near the finish chute as the men’s race ended. Jackson crossed first by a wide margin, not just winning but completely dominating. Jason came in third, and the rest of the guys followed strong enough to set us up well for team points.
I barely had time to cheer before Jackson jogged toward me, still flushed from the race, sweat running down his neck.
I started to speak, but he pulled me in hard, arms wrapping tight, face buried against the side of my neck as he breathed me in.
Then he nuzzled my neck and cheek, as he always did these days.
The shiver still ran straight down my spine.
“Jackson,” I muttered. “Not here.”
“Yes, here.” He didn't loosen his hold or even glance around.
“The entire field is watching.”
“Mm.” He sucked hard on the sensitive spot just below my ear.
Over Jackson's shoulder, I found Naomi watching us. I gave her a smile that wasn’t nice at all, then ran my hands up his back, one palm pressed between his shoulder blades while the other slid lower.
Her expression soured and she turned away.
Mine, my cat purred.
Jackson made a low satisfied sound against my throat. When he finally pulled back, his thumb brushed the spot his mouth had claimed. There would be a mark, no doubt, and he looked very pleased about it.
He kissed the top of my head. “Good luck.”
“Thanks. Now get out of my starting area.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He squeezed my hip once and left.
Cassidy slid in beside me at the line a minute later, hair pulled back and race number pinned a little off center.
She gave the side of my neck one long look. “He’s got it bad.”
“Mm.”
“Why does he always do that thing with his face? The rubbing against your cheek. It’s... intense. Like he’s trying to leave a mark on you.”
I kept my expression neutral and stretched my calf. “It’s just how he is.”
“It’s like what cats do when they claim something.”
I rolled my eyes and switched legs. “He's weird. I've accepted it.”
The announcer called the field to the line.
Cassidy bumped my shoulder. “You've got this.”
“Good luck,” I said.
She bounced off to her position. I shook out my hands, rolled my shoulders, and let the noise of the crowd fall away.
The starter raised the gun. The world narrowed. The shot cracked and we surged forward in a tight pack, elbows sharp, dirt kicking up into my face, an elbow catching my ribs. I dropped back two strides, found a clear lane, and took it.
By the bend into the woods I had already broken away from the pack, letting them set the early pace before pulling ahead for good at the mile mark. They weren’t my competition. I was.
I didn’t look back. The course flattened through the bottom of the woods before climbing hard again.
I let my legs do what they had waited all week to do.
Cowbells rang somewhere in the distance, muted by the trees.
Breath came in clean and left clean. The burn rose steady in my quads and I leaned into it without slowing, the rhythm settling deeper with every stride.
In the last hundred meters, I sprinted on pure instinct. The finish chute became a blur of noise and color. I crossed the line well ahead. The runner behind me hadn’t even made the final bend yet.
Before I could catch my breath, Jackson was running toward me, face lit like I had hung the moon.
“That’s my girl.” Pride rang clear in his voice as he reached me. He lifted me onto his shoulder and spun me once, my braids whipping sideways. For once I laughed without threatening to hit him.
He set me down, still grinning. I shoved at his chest without any real force. He caught my hand, kissed my knuckles, and let me go.
Team scores went up and we had taken first overall. The team swarmed in at once—high-fives, a quick hug from Cassidy, a back-slap from Jason that nearly knocked me over.
Coach clapped my shoulder. “That’s how you run. You just put us through to the next round.”
The wolves stayed out of the celebration and didn’t look thrilled about the praise.
Naomi stood with her arms crossed, face closed off.
Two others stayed with her, not openly hostile but clearly apart from the rest of us.
Parents and friends swarmed the team next.
Jackson got pulled away by Jason’s parents while Cassidy dragged me toward hers.
I did the small-talk version of myself. It wasn’t bad. I had practiced.
Then I saw Janet waving across the field, Brian standing just behind her. I hadn’t expected them. But something inside me eased at the sight. I had missed them more than I’d let myself admit.
Janet had been my mother’s best friend. After the fire she and Brian had taken me in. I’d lived with them until college and still visited often. A fox and a bear who had never once made me feel like anything but their own.
I crossed the field toward them. Janet caught me before I finished the last stride and pulled me into a tight hug that lifted my feet off the grass.
“You did so well, honey.” She set me down. “We cheered you on, but the finish line was so crowded that we decided to wait to congratulate you.”
“You didn’t have to drive down for this.”
“Of course we did.” A light smack to my arm. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Hi, kid,” Brian said. He pulled me into a one-armed hug and kissed the top of my head. Then he stepped back, eyes scanning the field before returning to me. “You looked good out there.”
“Felt good.”
“Mm. You being careful?”
“Always.”
His eyes held mine. “Don’t get sloppy.”
“I won’t.”
Janet clapped once. “There’s someone else who wanted to see you.”
“Who?”
She stepped aside, and my eyes widened before I could stop them.
Blake. He was two years older than me, six-two and lean but solidly built, with tattoos running up both forearms and disappearing beneath the sleeves of a black t-shirt. Worn jeans. The same scuffed boots I remembered. Wolf shifter. Definitely trouble.
We had never used labels. It was casual, easy, and required nothing from either of us.
I hadn’t seen him in months, hadn’t even talked to him since I moved.
He stepped forward, pulled me into a tight hug, and kissed my cheek. “Hey. I missed you.”
He inhaled against my hair, then froze. When he pulled back, something strained flickered across his face.
Before I could speak, Jackson materialized at my side. His arm slid around my hip, wide and proprietary, chest pressed warm against my shoulder blade. Blake’s eyes narrowed at the contact.
They squared off without moving.
I sighed internally. “Blake, this is Jackson. Jackson, Blake.”
“Always a pleasure to meet Harper’s friends,” Blake said, holding out his hand. “I’m Blake.”
“Jackson.”
Their handshake lasted three seconds too long. Knuckles whitened. Neither blinked. Neither spoke. They were clearly trying to crush each other’s hands.
Blake and I hadn’t slept together in months, even before I moved, and neither of us had been serious. The posturing made no sense.
I shifted in Jackson’s hold just enough to break their line of sight.
“Janet, Brian, this is Jackson.”
Janet watched the whole thing like she had bought front-row tickets. She fanned her face dramatically. “Is it getting hot in here?”
Jackson switched into charm mode instantly. He extended his free hand while still holding me with the other.
“Hello, ma’am. Nice to meet you. I’m Jackson. Harper’s boyfriend.”
Janet’s eyebrows rose. Then she smiled wide and shook his hand with both of hers.
“It is so lovely to meet you, Jackson.”
Brian shook his hand next.
We made small talk for a few minutes: Janet’s new business, classes, the meet. Blake lingered nearby the whole time. Eventually he stepped forward.