Chapter Three
Toby
After leaving the coffee shop, Toby scoped out the surrounding area.
He needed a plan, something to justify lingering around Harper’s life, despite her telling him that she hadn’t seen her brother in days.
Of course, the true reason for his need to stay close was clear to him, if not to her.
Harper was his mate. He could no more deny that fact than he could deny his own name and he felt an unsettling desire to be near her, even though they had only just met. Something about her just felt right.
Go back! Claim mate! his coyote said indignantly.
Toby bit back a curse. His inner beast got more and more agitated the further they walked from the coffee shop.
“Relax, she isn’t going anywhere,” Toby muttered.
When his coyote let out a low, vicious growl in reply, Toby sighed.
After walking around the block, he returned to his car, parked in the spot that gave him a good view of the coffee shop’s facade.
The fact that Toby could now see Harper calmed his inner animal at least slightly.
Toby leaned back in his seat, his mind reeling.
He hadn’t wanted a mate. He’d seen how it had complicated the lives of his friends, how it tethered them in ways he never wanted to be tethered.
Yet here he was, unable to deny the profound connection that had sparked between him and Harper.
It was as if fate had thrown him the one curveball he’d never expected and now, he was struggling to remember the reasons why he’d been so averse to it.
Despite Harper’s assertion that she hadn’t seen Jack in days, Toby decided that it would be best to follow her home to keep an eye on her house.
Just in case trouble came looking. Seemed like he wasn’t the first one to come sniffing around after Jack, and he didn’t want Harper getting caught up in the crossfire.
But if he was being honest with himself, it wasn’t just about Jack or one of his associates showing up.
Toby was driven by a newfound curiosity about Harper.
He wanted to know more about her, and about her life, even though part of him chided his actions as overstepping.
This was just one step away from stalking, after all.
Toby snorted. Who was he trying to kid? It was ten steps over the line into stalkerville, and five steps away from getting his ass thrown in jail.
Yes follow her home! his coyote chimed in. Claim her!
Toby closed his eyes and prayed for strength.
During his time in the CIA, he’d been on countless missions and stakeouts, but something about this one felt all kinds of wrong.
Despite that fact, he couldn’t stop himself from watching her for the rest of the day.
He tried telling himself he was just doing it in case Jack showed up, in case trouble found her, but he couldn’t make himself believe it.
As the afternoon grew late, Harper said goodbye to the last of her customers then spent an hour cleaning the shop before finally locking up and heading down the street.
She seemed unaware of his watchful eyes as she walked to her car, her steps brisk in the fading light.
Toby waited until she was a safe distance ahead before he started his car and followed, keeping a careful distance.
Toby’s mind was a jumbled mess of guilt and indefinable excitement.
Following her home felt invasive, but, well, he had to keep her safe, didn’t it?
And it wouldn’t hurt if it shut his coyote up for long enough that he could actually hear his own thoughts for a moment.
The mission, though important and still an important objective, had become secondary to Toby now. She was what mattered most.
During the hours that Toby had spent at the coffee shop, he had wrestled with what to reveal to Harper.
A part of him had wanted to pour out everything.
About the mate bond, and about his true nature as a shifter.
But he knew it would be too much, too soon.
And then there was the matter of the stolen artifact, another secret that wasn’t his to reveal.
The Cryptex was linked to her brother and telling her about that could alienate Harper before they even had a chance to connect.
If Toby wanted to have any type of relationship with his mate then he had to bide his time, and to reveal one thing at a time when he could be sure she was ready to hear it.
Just that morning, Toby had been convinced that he didn’t want a relationship or a mate, but now, now he wasn’t as sure.
He followed discreetly as Harper drove into the driveway of a reasonably sized, single-story house.
Toby parked further down the street, where he could keep watch without being too conspicuous.
He sat there, his mind replaying every moment of their interaction, analyzing her every expression and word, all while trying to decipher the emotions behind them.
He couldn’t help but wonder if she felt the same pull to him that he felt toward her.
He knew it was different for humans, but she had certainly seemed to warm to him during the few hours he’d spent in the coffee shop.
She’d even started to flirt with him a little.
His inner coyote had liked that as much as he had.
See mate? the animal asked hopefully.
Toby heaved a sigh. He reached for the packet of beef jerky he had stashed inside the glove box, more for something to do than because he was hungry. He tore open the packet then ripped off a large chunk.
“Not yet,” he replied out loud.
His coyote made a sound of discontent and Toby could all but feel the animal giving him the stink eye.
“Soon,” he promised before throwing the jerky in his mouth and beginning to chew. Soon.
Toby was still sat in the same position when night drew in a few hours later and when the lights in Harper’s house finally went out, signaling her retreat to bed, he took it as his cue to leave.
He was both relieved and disappointed that Jack hadn’t shown up.
Disappointed because he wanted to get the codex back to his parents, but relieved because it meant that his mate probably hadn’t lied to him.
Relieved because it gave him a reason to see her again.
He switched on the engine and put the car in drive.
The day had been long, and the emotional rollercoaster left him more drained than he would have cared to admit.
He drove to the hotel he’d booked, his thoughts a whirlwind of possibilities and fears.
That night, as he lay in the unfamiliar bed, the images of Harper, the soft lilt of her smile, and the spark in her beautiful blue eyes played over in his mind.
He knew he’d be back at the coffee shop the next morning.
There was no denying the pull, the inexplicable need to see her again, to be near her, even if he wasn’t quite ready to reveal the full truth of his world.
When he finally drifted off to sleep, it was to the sound of her voice playing over in his mind.
The next morning found Toby just as confounded as he had been the day before, and the weight of his unexpected discovery seemed to bear down on him even more.
He needed advice, and for his whole life, there had always been two people he could turn to, no matter what.
He grabbed his cell and called his parents at their art gallery.
His father answered, his voice echoing slightly in the high-ceilinged space filled with artifacts and echoes of ancient cultures.
“Hey, Dad, it’s me,” Toby began, his voice tinged with the stress of the unresolved matters.
“Son, I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon. How’s the hunt going? Any luck tracking down the artifact?”
“Not yet,” Toby admitted, hesitating before dropping the news that had been dominating his thoughts. “But, uh, I did find out something unexpected. Jack’s sister, Harper, she’s... well, she’s my mate.”
There was a pause on the line, a moment of silence as his father processed the news.
“Your mate, you say?” His tone was serious now, understanding the gravity of the situation. “That’s complicated, Toby.”
“Yeah, I know,” Toby sighed, running a hand through his hair. “And I haven’t even begun to figure out how to tell her about, well, any of this.”
“She’s human?” her father asked.
Toby nodded, even though his dad couldn’t see it. “Yeah, it looks that way.”
His mother’s voice came through then, her tone gentle yet firm. “What your father meant to say was congratulations, darling.”
Toby huffed out a laugh imagining the glare his mom was currently tossing his father’s way. “Thanks, Mom.”
“We’re both very happy for you, Toby, but you need to tread carefully. Revealing your true nature...it’s not something to rush into. You don’t want to frighten her.”
“I know, Mom. I’ll be careful,” Toby promised, feeling the weight of his parents’ years of wisdom.
As he ended the call, Toby felt a mixture of reassurance and anxiety, but he was eager to see Harper again, and to somehow make sense of his tangled emotions. He found a parking space across the street from the coffee shop and made his way over, his heart rate picking up as he approached.
See mate! his coyote exclaimed happily.
The moment Toby stepped inside, his keen senses were overwhelmed by the dozens of sensations.
The air was rich with the deep, earthy aroma of freshly ground coffee, a scent that stirred memories of damp forest floors and early morning hunts.
Sunlight streamed through large windows, casting a warm glow on the minimalist decor, where natural wood surfaces met clean, white walls.
He noticed the soft buzz of conversation, punctuated by the clink of coffee cups and the gentle hum of a barista machine.