12. Harper
CHAPTER TWELVE
harper
I had to stop for coffee twenty minutes down the road.
Even with my pink hair, sunglasses, and Bite Me shirt, people in the gas station barely glanced at me.
It was glorious.
I hadn't let myself have much caffeine since I turned—Oren said it made his bloodlust worse—but zoning out was more dangerous for me at the moment.
Worst case scenario bloodlust-wise, I'd lock myself in the car to devolve, and someone would come by to put me out of my misery. Or Rhone would realize I was gone, and show up to make my bloodlusty, devolved ass bite him.
Worst case scenario with zoning out, I'd crash, and take out a few humans with me. Not an option.
The coffee would protect the other drivers from me more than a lack of bloodlust would.
I added way too many tiny tubs of creamer to my shitty gas station coffee, then grabbed a few energy drinks and a couple candy bars before checking out.
Food didn't usually sound good, but a look at the candy reminded me of being a kid. Bloom's parents always had candy in their house, and it was a little thing that made me happy when my home life was shit.
So, I grabbed every bar that sounded good.
The cashier didn't give me a weird look for the sunglasses, which was cool.
If he had any idea what they were hiding, he would've pissed himself.
My lips curved just a little bit as I made it back out to my car—but that smile fell when my phone began vibrating fiercely as I started the engine. I'd connected the device to the car's bluetooth, so the name on the screen was impossible not to see:
MARSHMALLOW BASTARD
I sighed.
If I ignored him, he was just going to be even pissier when I inevitably answered or he caught up to me.
So I pulled out of the gas station, took a long swig of my coffee as I readjusted to the highway, and hit the button to answer his third call.
"Hey," I said, like absolutely nothing out of the ordinary was going on.
"Where are you?"
I heard something on his end of the line that sounded suspiciously like a door slamming and an engine starting.
Maverick must've told him what I was doing.
Asshole.
"Handling a problem," I said.
"It's not your problem to handle."
"My mom was behind all of the murders. Riley's not even old enough to drink alcohol. Nolan's going to leave your pack before he takes Oren to this other pack. I'm the only one who can handle it."
"Pull over."
"I'm not pulling over."
"Pull the fuck over," he growled.
"No."
"It's not safe for you to be driving, let alone going to a full rural pack by yourself. Do you know anything about the Wilder Pack?
"No. I don't need to know anything other than that they have the guy you and Maverick need, and I'm the only person who can get him for you."
"Fuck that."
"I just need to convince them I'm sane long enough to get them to send Zach to Maverick.
Bloom needs the investment company, and we all know I've been living for her sake.
" My eyes burned just a little. "I can't keep sitting in that tower and devolving.
I'm useless, and I'm deadly, and the nightmares are...
I can't handle them. I need to do this. I need to help. "
"Pull over." Rhone's voice was so low, it sent goosebumps over my arms. "If you want to go to the Wilders, fine. We'll go. But I'm driving, and you are going to follow every order I give you, because you are mine."
"I'm not yours if you aren't mine too. That's not how life works."
"Pull over."
"I have no reason to trust that you won't just take me back to the tower, Rhone."
There was a long pause.
It was tense, somehow.
He finally said, "My sister was mated to the last Wilder Alpha when she died. He should've protected her, and didn't. The current Alpha killed him for it before I had the chance. I took out one of his enemies in exchange. We're..."
"Friends?"
"No. Not even a little. We're unbalanced. He thinks he owes me for not warning me about his Alpha. If I tell him you're mine, he probably won't let his pack hurt you."
"Then why didn't you take me there when you found out they wanted a turned vampire?"
"Because I don't want to risk your life over a probably, Harper." He gritted the words out. "The investment company just went down. I haven't had time to process that. Maybe I would've taken you myself when I did. Mav only sent you to force me into the decision."
"He didn't send me."
"You didn't pull the coordinates out of thin air."
"Fine. Maybe he sent me."
"Pull over and wait. If you're going, you're going with me."
I sighed.
But I pulled over at the next gas station I saw.
"Stay on the line until I get to you," he ordered. "Talk. We're not losing the progress we made today because you're sitting in a gas station parking lot for half an hour."
"What was your sister's name?"
"Not about that," Rhone growled.
I stayed silent.
It was the best way to piss him off.
"Isabelle," he finally said. "Her name was Isabelle."
"How long was she mated to the other Alpha?"
"Two and a half months."
"How did they meet?" I asked.
"War training. She was an eighteen-year-old who had no business fighting anything or anyone. He was an Alpha who knew better than to fuck around with someone that young. She thought it was love. He thought it was just sex. When she bit him, nature took over, and he bit her back."
"Shit."
"Yeah."
"What happened after that?"
"This isn't a fucking love story, Harper. You already know the ending."
I waited again.
He let out a long breath. "She wanted to be with him.
He wanted to be away from her. He put himself on the front lines, and she stayed home.
They were always the largest, strongest rural pack, so the vampires dropped off a bunch of their devolved vamps to take it by surprise.
By the time the pack sent someone to check on Isa, she was already gone. "
My stomach rolled. "A turned vampire killed her?"
"Yeah."
"I'm so sorry. How can you even stand to be around me?"
"Trouble, I've killed more turned vampires than any other werewolf alive. I should be asking you that question."
"Is she the person you live for?" I asked him.
"One of them."
"Your parents?"
"You have to tell me about your mom if you want to talk about my parents."
I made a noncommittal sound. "Great weather out there, huh?"
"At least there's no more snow."
"True. Random question—is it fun to run around in your wolf form when it's snowy?"
"It's been a long time since I ran around anywhere for fun."
"I'm shocked," I drawled. "You seem to enjoy life so much."
He snorted.
The sound made my lips curve a little more.
"What did you enjoy before you turned?" he asked.
"Everything," I said wistfully. "I even liked my job, as insane as that sounds."
"Tell me about it."
Maybe I shouldn't have, but I wanted to. So I did.
I told him about Steven, the world's worst boss.
He snorted again when I told him about the Christmas when I gave Steven a World's Worst Boss mug with a small cactus in it, and he put it proudly on display next to a glamour shot of himself. He didn't have any photos of his family, because he barely tolerated them.
I felt closer to him somehow when he finally parked next to the SUV I'd borrowed, and waved me over.
I grabbed all of my treats and hauled them over to his car. He didn't say a word about the candy as I buckled my seatbelt.
"Want to share a Twix?" I asked him.
He pulled away from the gas station, and the other SUV. "No. I want the peppermint patty."
"That's mine too," I pointed out.
"We can share it," he said grudgingly.
I took a bite before handing it over.
He bit it too, and passed it back.
I finished it off, and pulled another one out. He got the first and last bite that time. It didn't taste as good as he did, so I didn't love it as much as I wanted to.
He handed me the unopened Twix bar silently, when the peppermint patties were gone.
I opened it up and took a massive bite before passing it over.
He did the same before giving it back.
We worked our way through every single candy I'd purchased.
It wasn't until I handed him the last peanut M & M that it occurred to me exactly what we were doing.
"I ate," I told Rhone, my eyes widening as I looked back at him.
"You did."
"I don't feel like I'm going to puke, either."
"Good." He'd already claimed one of my energy drinks, and he lifted the can to his lips. "Keep the M & M."
I popped it into my mouth and looked out the window. The trees were dark, but they didn't feel spooky the way they would've before I changed. I wasn't weak anymore. I didn't need to fear anything in the forest.
"So you're going to tell the pack that you're mine?" I asked, my eyes on the trees.
"Yeah."
I waited for him to explain.
He didn't.
Not for a solid two minutes.
"I'll tell them that you're mine, but I've agreed not to bite you until you're ready. You'll make something up about humans taking their time to make decisions. We'll be touchy enough that they buy the relationship."
"You want us to fake being in love?"
"Unfortunately."
"What would you even look like if you were in love with someone?"
"I don't know. Touchy and possessive?"
"Touchy and possessive?" I probably sounded as unimpressed by the answer as I felt, repeating it back to him the way I was.
"Werewolves are usually touchy and possessive with their mates. You've seen Maverick and Bloom."
"I wasn't asking about them. I was asking about you."
"I've never been in a relationship. I don't know what it would be like to be in love. If I touch you constantly and act possessive, they'll buy it. What do you look like when you're in love with someone?"
"I guess I don't know either. The only guy I ever loved was Travis Ilkins."
"Who is he? Where is he?"
"We were fourteen. We didn't even kiss. You don't need to hunt him down."
Rhone made a noise that told me he disagreed.
I ignored it.
"I'll just act like Oren does with Nolan. Horny and bitey," I said.
"Bitey?" Rhone officially sounded interested.
"Oren bites Nolan at least five or six times a day. I'm sure you've noticed."
"If that's what mated, turned vampires do, you should."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." He adjusted his rearview mirror. "Want more candy?"
"Kind of," I admitted.
Rhone pulled into the next gas station. We went inside together, and he stayed close enough to touch me the entire time we were there.
His hands even brushed my waist a few times because he was so concerned about me losing control.
When we sat back down in the car, I huffed. "I'm not going to drain some random human, Rhone."
He eyed me. "Obviously."
"What do you mean, obviously?" I gestured toward the gas station. "You didn't let me out of your reach at any point in there."
His forehead creased. "I wasn't staying close to you because I thought you'd devolve."
"Then why were you close to me?"
"Because you're mine."
"That's not an answer, asshole."
He pulled away from the gas station. "I'm possessive. That's the answer."
There was no way that was the answer.
But he didn't seem like he was going to tell me the truth, so I didn't bother pushing for it. I just took a bite of my candy bar instead.