Chapter 23 #2
“No, of course not. It’s only clear that this is more than, well—”
Harkin bent forward. “What is it? Say it, Jade.”
Jade gulped. The overwhelming scent of salt from her excessive sweating stung my nostrils. “It’s more than sex.”
“Uh huh,” he replied, his tone growing more agitated every second. “And who exactly am I supposed to be with?”
“Me? Any of us? She can’t even have pups.”
I whipped right the fuck around on that, my boots slamming onto the floor. Harkin held an arm out at my stomach. When I pushed into him, his arm stiffened. “Is that all it is to you? Pups?”
Jade glared at me. “You don’t understand shifter ways. He’s an alpha.”
“Jade, that’s enough,” Harkin barked. She snapped her mouth shut.
Harkin’s touch on my lower back turned me into a melting puddle, despite the squabble with a snotty shifter.
“Pack, only gonna say it once. Mind your business. I’ve only ever had this pack’s best interests at heart. Get back to what you were doing.”
Most of the pack turned their heads to continue conversations, drink, and carouse.
A select few shifters, more than likely the less ballsy ones siding with Jade, stared daggers into a soul I didn’t have.
Jade’s jaw tightened. Her furious stare lingered on Harkin for a beat before she did the smarter thing and stormed back to her table.
Jessica hesitantly returned, tapping her fingertips together. “Sorry about all of that, Aurora. Some aren’t as open to evolving as others.”
“It’s fine,” I whispered, forcing a smile.
It wasn’t fine. I was familiar with shifter ways.
Harkin couldn’t have children with me. Not a single one. It would be the end of his bloodline, and what blood it was. Strong. Unique.
“Hey,” the wolf beckoned, his rough hand resting on my cheek. “Let nothing she said get to you. Told you I’d figure it out, and I still mean that.”
Half-heartedly shrugging, I said, “There are some things you can’t figure out, Harkin.”
“Can’t be certain of that.” He traced his thumb over my eyebrow. “You thirsty?”
He wasn’t referring to my half-empty, warm beer.
I lifted my eyes to his. “Parched.”
“Come on.” With my hand in his, he showed me the way to the back.
As we weaved through tables, those same shifters watched me sideways, flashing their wolves in their gazes. They muttered things to each other that I didn’t bother to pick up. I wasn’t afraid of them. They’re the ones who should fear me. Fear what Harkin would turn into if I were in danger.
We arrived in a dark hallway with bathrooms. The overlapping conversations from the bar, music, and cue sticks slapping into pool balls became muffled.
A single yellow light hung from the ceiling, dimly illuminating it.
I slid my hand into my wolf’s, scraping my fingernail across his palm.
He hadn’t only brought us back here to feed me.
He recognized I needed a break after that.
After Jade. Harkin squeezed my hand, reassuring and calming me.
We passed a door stating “employees only,” and another labeled “supply closet.” He yanked me into the closet and locked the door behind us before pulling the string on the one over-hanging lightbulb.
“I would’ve gone for another beer,” I mused, the heated conversation from moments ago a distant memory but still hanging in my mind.
Right now, his blood was the forethought, his scent tethering me.
Harkin shrugged his jacket off, resting it on a shelf. “We gotta ease the pack into this. Mind bitin’ me somewhere below the neck?”
Did I mind? Oh, what an absurd question that was. There were so many other delicious veins and arteries to draw blood from.
Unleashing my fangs, I licked one of them, dragging my fingers down the major artery that sang to me at the front of Harkin’s bicep.
Raising his arm, I regarded him with appreciation, devotion, yearning, and sunk into his skin.
Harkin’s head dipped back, accidentally bumping it against the door.
He wanted to groan. I could feel it humming from him, but he kept quiet, pinching his eyes shut for dear life as I took only a small drink from him this time.
Lapping at the puncture wounds, I wiped the corners of my mouth with a thumb. “The neck is overrated, anyway.”
“That a fact?” He hung a hand around my neck, his breath heavy.
“Stick around and find out, wolf.”
Flirting, teasing, joking. I tried to keep it up, but even despite the delectable distraction, the coldness of the supply closet, Jade’s brazen approach, and those lingering scents from earlier clotted my mind.
“We can do this whenever you want, Rory.” Harkin grabbed his jacket, slipping it on and hiding the evidence of what he’d done for me. “One day, we won’t have to keep it secret.”
Seemed like a pipe dream I wanted to get lost in.
“Wouldn’t that be a hoot?”
He smirked and unlocked the door. “Hoot?”
“I do like owls.”
He moved to unlock the door but paused, licking his thumb and cleaning excess blood I’d missed from my chin.
With a final, reassuring, alpha-worthy smile, he stepped into the hallway.
No sooner had I followed him, the scents of cedar, rose, and blood hit my nose, far stronger than before.
A familiar voice I hoped never to hear again whispered, “Enough,” and I disappeared into darkness.