32. Harper
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
harper
Bloom and Maverick were waiting in the lobby with me when Rhone and the enforcers finally made it back.
My mate was covered in blood and wearing an expression colder than I'd ever seen on his face, but his gaze still went to me first. He looked me up and down, then nodded at me.
From Rhone, it may as well have been an "I LOVE YOU."
If it was the only one I ever got, it was enough for me.
After he exchanged a few words with Maverick and some of the enforcers, Rhone strode over to me.
He took my head in his hands and tipped it from side to side, like he was checking for wounds, before nodding his approval.
He said into my mind, "You're bloodthirsty. Go to the dining hall. Food will help. You can bite me after I get things settled with Maverick and the turned vampires."
"I'm fine."
He shot me a look that said he wasn't asking.
I shot one back that said I wasn't following orders.
After a beat of hesitation, Rhone took my hand and tugged me into the lobby's bathroom. It was rarely used, and smelled of stale cleaning supplies.
He locked the door behind himself and pressed me against it lightly. "Stay right here."
"One of us is a canine, and it isn't me."
He didn't smile or laugh at my joke. His eyes were still dark. "I'm not kidding, Harp."
"Alright. I'll stay here."
I would for a few seconds, at least. While I figured out what was going on.
He let out a breath and nodded before walking to the nearest sink. Leaning over it, he started scrubbing his skin, splashing water over his face and neck. What he was doing was obvious, so I grabbed a few paper towels and strode over there.
He gave me a narrow-eyed look as I got the paper towels wet, but when I slid between him and the sink, he let me clean the dried blood off his throat a lot more gently than he'd been doing it.
"I can handle this," he said harshly.
"I know you can. You can handle anything."
His shoulders visibly relaxed.
"It's not the end of the world if you let me help you sometimes," I said. "We're mates. That makes us a team, even if you don't like it."
He didn't reply.
Not immediately.
I set down the paper towel I'd been using and lifted a clean one to his neck. He really needed a shower, but if we could get him clean enough, he clearly wanted me to bite him.
After I did, I was pretty sure he was going to let me stay and participate in the pack stuff.
Questioning the turned vampires.
Talking to them about what their new reality was.
Warning them.
Maybe even helping them.
I wanted to be there for that. Rhone had been there for me, and Bloom had too. I wanted to pass it forward, and just... see them. Other people like me. People who were struggling, and learning how to cope.
"I'm not myself right now," he finally said, as I pumped some hand soap onto my fingers and lifted it to his neck to help clean his skin. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry for protecting me and everyone else here. Holly's dead, right?"
"Yes."
"Then you did your job perfectly. Thank you."
Rhone's gorgeous blue eyes were on my face for a moment before he gently moved me aside and rinsed his skin off, using more soap to scrub everything a little harder again.
His skin was slightly red when he dried himself off with some paper towels. As soon as he was done, he picked me up by the waist and set my ass on the edge of the sink. I had to grab his shoulders to stay upright, but I knew he didn't mind.
Instead of dragging my face to his throat, he kissed me.
Hard.
I kissed him back just as roughly, pulling his face closer and hooking a leg around his ass. He grabbed my other leg, pulling it behind him too, and lifted me off the edge of the sink. His tongue worked mine brutally, one of his hands cupping my ass and the other buried in my hair.
Eventually, he released my lips and dragged my mouth to his throat. I sank my teeth in, and took the three swallows that were all I'd allowed myself for so long. It was the only way to avoid getting horny when I fed from him.
He growled at me when I pulled away, but his expression was a little clearer.
"I'll take more tonight. When we're back in our room, with more than a flimsy door separating us from a crowd of enforcers and turned vampires," I said, one of my hands cradling his cheek.
Rhone closed his eyes and nodded. He turned into my hand and kissed my palm lightly.
He didn't want to let go of me. That much was clear as day.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him. He squeezed me fiercely, burying his face in my hair and inhaling.
"I like that we're a team," he said, the words muffled by my hair.
"Huh?"
"You said we were a team even if I didn't like it. I do like it."
My lips curved with the words. "Good, because you're stuck with me."
"I like being stuck with you, too." He kissed my forehead. "Ready?"
"Ready."
After another long moment, he set me down and fixed my hair. Then fixed my clothes, too. And took my hand.
I laced our fingers together as we walked to a room full of prison cells, and said goodbye to my mother.
There were no tears in either of our eyes when Rhone led me back to the elevator, and we rode up to the floor with the observation rooms.
When we passed the one I'd lived in for so long, it didn't feel like mine anymore. It just felt like an observation room.
Rhone sat down in a chair next to Bloom's on the observation side of the two-way glass and pulled me onto his lap. Maverick was in the middle of explaining to the newly-turned vampires what would happen to them.
"That's a lot of vampires," I murmured, my gaze scanning their faces.
I knew them. All of them. Every single one.
They were the fiercest vampire lovers. The ones who were at every gathering, offering themselves up on a silver platter every chance they got, just because they were so fucking obsessed.
"No kidding," Bloom whispered back.
"It's a mess," one of the other people in the room said. When I looked back and realized it was Ryker, my eyebrows shot upward, and I looked back at Rhone.
He wasn't looking at Ryker, but he was undisturbed.
"You know Ryker's in here, right?" I checked.
"I do. I've known him a long time, and he respects what we are. Neither of us will be a problem." Rhone kissed my forehead, his attention still on the group of turned vampires.
Two of them were crying. A man and woman, full-on sobbing. The rest just looked grim.
"I've been summoned. Enjoy the show," Bloom said, slipping through the door.
They all reacted to her presence. Some lit up. Others smiled. The crying ones wiped their eyes.
She was kind of a celebrity to them.
They probably thought she was there to help them, but the werewolves were their only chance.
Bloom agreed with what Maverick had said, and she emphasized that they would need to fight for their sanity through the rest of their lives.
Eventually, she looked at the window and waved one of us toward her.
"Who's she waving at?" Ryker asked.
"Probably Harper," Elise said.
Bloom mouthed my name.
Fuck.
"You don't have to," Rhone said.
"I know, but I should. I know these people."
I stood, and Rhone stood with me. His hand was on my hip as we walked into the observation room together, and I gave everyone the bad news while they saw for themselves the physical differences between me and Bloom.
They asked me questions about everything related to turned vampires.
Devolving.
Stabilizing.
Bloodthirst.
Feeding habits.
It felt strange to be the one giving them the information, the way Oren had explained everything to me months earlier.
By the time we left the observation room, I was drained.
Really, really drained.
Rhone pulled a candy bar from his pocket, and I unwrapped it while he carried me to the nearest staircase. Whatever his issue was with elevators, I had no problem with the stairs if he was the one climbing them.
We shared the candy on our way to the apartment, with him nipping at my fingers every chance he got, just to make me smile.
After a long shower, we collapsed in bed together, and vegged out while the cupcake show we now liked played on the TV.
Eventually, we both crashed.
Rhone spent the entire next day handling pack and Guild shit with Maverick. Bloom and I hung out, only parting ways when the guys came to find us at lunch time, and on two different occasions for snacks.
They were both horny, and nothing could've hidden it. Not with erections like the ones they and every other man in the tower were sporting.
Rhone and I snuck back to our room for quick hookups both times, before the guys went back to their meetings. They were still dealing with the vampire Guild's founding families and whoever else they needed to, to wrap up everything that had gone down with the investment company.
I'd already given Rhone an all-access pass to my body. He knew I was up for whatever he needed or wanted until I revoked the pass. Which I had no plans to do.
Shortly before the end of the day before breeding season's peak, Bloom's family sent a message to everyone in the Guild.
The message said that they had taken over the leadership position and would do their best to "spice the VAG up" with the help of the werewolves. The Alpha Pack would now be hosting all gatherings in the tower, too.
"Did she really say they're spicing up the VAG?" I asked, pronouncing it like vaj, the way we did when we were making fun of the Guild's awful acronym.
Bloom grimaced. "I should talk to my family about changing the name."
"That would probably be for the best."
She sent the text, and I read over her shoulder as the messages came through.
Bloom
I think it's time to change the name of the Guild
Mom
We like the name!
Dad
It's accurate
Whimsy
Come on, we'll have nothing to joke about if we change it!
Mouse
I think it's funny
Mom
What's the joke?
Mouse
You don't want to know
Bloom
Read VAG while pronouncing the g like a j, mom
Whimsy
BLOOM!
Come on, she's going to change it now
Mom
DEAR LORD, we’re changing it
Someone start making a list of ideas
Dad
I'm on Whimsy's side
Mom
Someone who doesn't like vaginas as much as you three needs to be making the decisions here
Bloom, send ideas
Bloom
I'm only good with paperwork!
My phone buzzed.
I'd just been added to their family's group chat.
Bloom's Mom
Harper, we need ideas for better names for the Guild. How are you and your werewolf at brainstorming?
Me
We are the last people you should ask
Bloom's Mom
Surely, one of you four can come up with something
Bloom
We'll brainstorm in a few days, breeding season is upon us
Whimsy
Oooh, fun
Mouse
We should do our own version of breeding season
Bloom's Mom
Get this conversation out of our group chat, you horndogs
Bloom
Mom, you cannot call them that
Whimsy
Sure she can
Mouse just laughed so hard, I think she almost peed herself.
Mouse
I did not
Whimsy
Sure, babe
A thick pair of arms wrapped around me from behind, and I let out a surprised breath as my mate hauled me out of my chair.