Chapter 24 - Harper
When I finally woke, I didn’t know how much time had passed. I remembered Alex shifting in front of the kids, and the trickle of a waterfall, but that was it.
A blanket was tucked around my shoulders, and I snuggled closer, humming softly into a warm shoulder pressed against me. Alex’s scent drifted on the wind, and I chased it, nosing deeper into him.
A giggle broke my drowsiness, making me look up.
My babies were safe.
My babies were… Pulling on the fur of a hulking wolf.
Their DNA was engrained, letting them fear the beasts around them less. I counted the human men I could see, and figured it must have been Frazer. Marie and Hallie were curled up against Frazer’s tail, but Joseph was tugging on his fur. Alex’s arms tightened around me.
“They’re okay,” he murmured. “Adalyn checked them over. They’re safe, unharmed, and they absolutely love teasing Frazer.”
“He can’t shift back?”
“Zeph didn’t grab a change of clothes for him,” Alex laughed. “So, no, it's best he does not shift back yet.”
“Gotcha.”
Alex had placed me to fall asleep in his arms so we would wake up watching our children. And they were a beautiful, soft sight to behold. The girls’ eyes closed in sleep, peaceful and innocent, and Joseph became acquainted with his future form’s anatomy.
I thought back to my dream of them being in sixth grade, awaiting their first shift any day now. I thought of Alex being my husband, and I froze.
“Harper,” Zephyr called, startling me. “Walk with me, over by the waterfall? There’s a bridge that we can sit on, away from everyone.”
I nodded, feeling suddenly nervous to leave Alex’s side. I was dizzy, but Zephyr supported me as he led me away from Alex, who glared at his friend for taking me.
“I’m only stealing her for a second! Keep your cool, man.”
I couldn’t help laughing, even though my body fought to keep me upright. We retreated to the bridge, aware of Alex’s eyes on me. Alex then moved over to where Joseph played, and Alex started teasing the little boy until Adalyn called them for lunch. At that, the girls woke up, as if summoned by food. They searched for me, and I waved but ultimately let them stay with Alex. He had both girls on his lap soon enough, all digging into their sandwiches.
“It was never his choice,” Zephyr told me as we both looked at the scene.
“I know,” I said. “He told me the story eventually.”
Zephyr nodded. “Harper, I can’t even describe the sound he made that night when we hit the highway, and he knew he really couldn’t go back for you. We didn’t know what that man would have done to you or us. But—God, he’d kill me for telling you this—it was the scream of a man torn into pieces. It broke him to walk away. We all thought he got over it with time, and I think he thought that too, but the minute he saw you, we knew he never had. But he did what he had to do to stop people from hurting you for the relationship you had together.”
“And all I’ve done is hold that decision against him,” I muttered.
Zephyr shrugged. “The thing about the past is that it's easy to cling onto. We’re all guilty of that. It’s the future that’s hard to snag hold of.”
“Well, I… I know a little more about my future now. I was knocked out in the cottage and was taken in by a demon dream. I saw a few versions of my life.”
“Are you ready to face those futures?” Zephyr asked. “Alex wants to be with you. He could not handle walking away from you a second time. But can you handle that? Do you want him?”
I didn’t realize I was nodding until Zephyr smiled at me. “It took me a long time to realize it. I was confused for a long time, but… I don’t know, just—seeing those futures, knowing how things changed so much with those small decisions that became bigger ones…” I gazed out at Alex. “There’s no way I can lose him again. It's been my fear, that I’d get close just to have to watch him leave after this vacation. The children would come to know him, only to lose him, too. I couldn’t do it again.”
“He’s not going anywhere,” Zeph told me, laughing. “Our Commander… she’s good. Accommodating. Her own husband isn’t a shifter, so she knows what it's like trying to balance a life like Alex will have. He wants to stay, and if you take him back properly, you could have that life you both wanted.”
I smirked at Zephyr. “What, you’re his guide now? His wingman?”
Zeph scoffed. “Please. He’s never wanted a wingman. You were the only woman for him.”
Warmth bloomed in my chest, pride and everything I had been too scared to accept. I had told him I loved him during sex, but I hadn’t meant it the way I needed to. The way I wanted to truly say it.
I smiled at Zephyr, nodding. “I’ve been trapped in this war of hating him, loving him. Wanting to forgive him, and wanting my pride and healing. But now… Now I realize there wasn’t anything to forgive.” I nodded again, more to myself. “I’m ready. I want him, and I need to know he wants me.”
“Then what are you waiting for?”
Alex turned around to face me, a smile on his face. I grinned, crooking my finger at him. Zephyr walked back over there and took over with the babies while Alex made his way over to me.
“You look sexy beckoning me over like that,” he teased, moving to stand next to me, pressing his side to mine. “What is it?”
I turned to him. It was time to heal together. I had to stop being angry and stubborn—and I realized that letting go of that insistence to be would be a bigger relief than clinging on. Zephyr was right. The past was easy to cling to because I already knew what had happened. But I wasn’t afraid anymore. I trusted Alex. I trusted him to stay. I wanted that future I had seen.
“Alex, I love you,” I said. “I love you in a bigger way than when I said it several nights ago. I love you like a piece of my heart. I love you, and having you gone left a bigger gap than I was ever prepared for. But you’re back, somehow, impossibly, of all the islands, and maybe you were right. Maybe it is fate. I was so focused on making sure you knew you’d left a hole in my heart that I didn’t see all this time you were trying to refill it and make things right. I was stubborn, and I wasn’t ready.” I took his hands in mine, smiling up at him, trying to tamper the hope in my eyes.
He could still reject you, I thought. But I have to trust that he won’t .
“But I’m ready now, Alex. I’ve seen our future—I’ll explain later—and it's beautiful. It's not the one we talked about; it's better. I want you. The children want you. And I never want to endure another day were we are even one mile apart if we don’t have to be. I love you, Alex. Claimed, your mate, your partner, whatever we get to have. I want it all. If you’ll have me.”
Alex stepped forward, turning me so my back was to the wooden bridge railing, and he put his hands on either side of my body.
“Harper, I’ve waited so long to hear all of that,” he said. “In my mind, I claimed you a long time ago. You’ve been mine since the day I left that vile town where you grew up. I never would have settled for any other man laying a finger on you. I’m sorry it took me so long to find you again, and I’m sorry if fate hadn’t aligned, but I truly believe I would have found my way back to you again, no matter what. You were made for me, Harper.”
His forehead pressed to mine, and I leaned in to kiss him. It was brief, light.
“My mate,” he whispered, closing his eyes. “God, I love you, Harper Thollin.”
His fingers threaded through my hair. I couldn’t deepen the kiss the way I wanted, but I settled for the light brush of his mouth against mine, and the curving smile he gave me as he pulled away.
“I’ll never stop fighting for you, or those children,” he swore. “You’ll always have my protection, no matter what.”
I grinned. “I think it's time to heal from the past together, don’t you think?”
“Yes,” he agreed. “Absolutely.”
I slid my fingers over his shaved head. “Although, if you’re going to make any changes, I suggest you start growing your hair out. Don’t ask how I know but you look sexy with your natural curls growing out.”
“I’m not growing out curls,” he growled lightly.
“It's very sexy,” I told him. Then I leaned in to whisper in his ear. “And it's something for me to tug on when you eat me out again.”
Alex made a rough noise as he pressed me back against the railing. “Don’t cause me any issues out here now, Harper.”
I giggled, kissing his cheek. “Sorry.” I wasn’t. Not one bit. I was happy—I was in love again with my first love. The demons were gone for now; even if they returned, I had the only protection I needed.
What better reason to finally start letting myself be happy again?
***
We got back to the cottage, and I gasped at the state of it.
“We’ll renovate it,” Alex assured me. “And while we’re at it, we could extend the cottage a little. For one, the triplets are going to need their own rooms one day and—”
“Hold on a second.” I held a finger up. Behind us, crammed into their armchair, the triplets giggled. “What do you mean we ?”
“Me and you,” Alex said. “I’m not going home after this vacation. You’re my home now, Harper. You and the triplets.”
“Do you mean it?”
He flashed a grin at me. “How could I ever not?”
I sighed. “I suppose that means you’ll start sleeping in my bed?”
He growled playfully. “I wouldn’t let you insist on any other way.” Alex turned to the triplets, grinning. “Now, who wants pizza?”
A chorus of me ! Went up. Alex wrapped his arms around me, and I settled back into him. My alpha, my man, my future.