Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Thane
As I follow Harlow up the stairs, I can’t decide if this is real or just a figment of my imagination. Granted, she let me touch her earlier, and well, I did more than just touch her.
Pulling myself out of my jumbled thoughts, I follow Harlow, hot on her heels, to my room.
Raidon manages to get the grumpy Leon up, so we can all sleep together.
When I step into the room, our mingled scents calm me in a way I haven’t felt in ages.
As if I can finally breathe again. As I climb into my usual spot and Raidon gets on the outside of me, I watch Harlow slip between Rhen and Leon.
Of course, I would prefer if Harlow slept next to me, but I’m not pushing my luck tonight. I’m not going to risk getting banished back to the Den by demanding she sleep next to me. I’m not going to sleep alone again.
I can’t help but feel jealous, however, of how she clings to Leon the most. It’s like I’m a damn light fixture in this house — useless and unnecessary.
But it’s alright. Baby steps. One step at a time and all that. So, I’ll take whatever I can get.
Sleeping with all of them in one bed finally allows me to drift off without much effort. However, what Elaine said tonight keeps replaying in my mind. Before I can sift through the conversation though, sleep takes me.
I am dreaming deeply, sucked so far into the past that I am recalling days from my childhood. In my dream, my mother is talking to my fathers, sounding very upset about something.
“Do you not understand? Harper is pregnant! Their children are even more at risk than they are! She won’t tell me where she is, no matter how much I beg. All I got is that she is safe for now!” My mother didn’t say child, but children, which has to mean Harper was having more than one baby.
I remember during my early childhood, my parents fought endlessly over how my mother would drag me halfway across the country, looking for this mystery woman. Raidon and I would both be stuffed in the back of the car while my mother and Elaine tried to locate Harper.
My parents fought endlessly, until one day my fathers put their foot down and refused to let her look for Harper anymore.
For some reason, my mind latches onto that memory, hyper-focusing on it when Elaine mentioned her name.
Even now, the woman makes her way into my dreams. That vague memory plays on repeat in my head, as if it holds some significance in my subconscious, until finally, I drift into the darkness of oblivion.
Waking up, I find Rhen already awake and getting ready for work. He raises his finger to stop me from speaking and uses the mind-link.
'I’m going in early to finish our last contract projects. Stay home with them. I should be back a little after lunch.' I’m about to object to Rhen going in by himself when he leans over and kisses me. 'Be back soon. Spend some more time with Harlow.'
I touch my lips. The past two days have been the most interaction I have had with my mates since Harlow came home. I just hope it lasts. I don’t think I can go back to the Den after sleeping in my own bed with them last night.
Yet, Rhen has a point. The only way Harlow is going to accept me back is if I spend more time with her while she wants me near.
I don’t really want to leave her, but now, I am wide awake, and there is no way I can fall asleep again.
Letting them sleep in, I decide to head downstairs and cook us all some breakfast.
When I finish cooking, I go back upstairs to tell them it is ready.
I walk into the room to find Leon stiff as a log beneath Harlow, who has climbed on top of him.
Harlow growls when I push the door open, and her eyes instantly snap in my direction.
Her pupils are blown wide, and I can tell she is overtaken by instinct.
Leon looks petrified beneath her. His fangs poke out from beneath his upper lip, and his hands fist the sheets.
Harlow sniffs the air and finally recognizes my scent.
Once she’s content I am not a threat or some stranger, she turns her full attention back to Leon.
That’s when Raidon shifts awake and pulls her off Leon, making her whimper.
Stepping further into the room, I watch Leon attempt to climb off the bed.
I grab his shoulders and focus on Raidon, who is trying to stop Harlow from mauling Leon.
I know she won’t stop until she takes what she wants, what she needs.
Some part of me knows that despite what happened last night, it isn’t me who she wants, so they will have to suck it up and surrender to Harlow.
“Harlow!” Raidon growls as her lips travel down his chest and abs before finding her prize.
She shreds his boxers with her claws, and she has her lips wrapped around the tip of his cock in no time.
Taking his cock further into her mouth, she purrs, only to pull back and run her tongue along the side of his shaft before swirling it around his tip.
“Harlow!” Raidon groans, his head dropping back onto his pillow as he grabs her hair in one hand and guides her mouth back down on his cock.
Leon tenses in my arms, watching them. His need and hunger grows tenfold as he watches Harlow devour Raidon. Her arousal perfumes the room, making my cock twitch uncomfortably, straining against my pants as I continue to watch her suck my mate's cock.
“I need to go. I need to get out of here!” Leon growls, pushing back against me. My grip tightens on him.
“I’m right here,” I growl in response. Fuck, why did Rhen have to leave? At least I know I can convince him to give Harlow what she is craving. While Leon fears his bloodlust, he is also terrified of hurting her and the baby.
I know she wants both of them. They are the only ones she hasn’t claimed in any way, which is why she is constantly drawn to them.
All that, and her need to mark us. Though, I wonder how she will take the news once she realizes she must mark me first. We will cross that bridge when we come to it.
Which by the looks of it, will be quite soon.
Raidon tenses when her lips leave his cock with an audible pop. She crawls up him, her lips nipping and sucking his flesh. But, before Harlow can get anywhere near his neck, Raidon pushes her off. The look of rejection on her face is so gut-wrenching that all I want to do is punch him.