She forked some egg as she asked, “So . . . what are you doing today?”
His eyes bore into hers. “First, reading your hate mail.”
Her nose wrinkled. “I could just tell you the gist of it.”
“Did you get another e-mail from them this morning?”
“I don’t know.”
“You should check. Their intention was for you to die. They’ll know by now that you didn’t. They’ll either have driven by the club this morning, expecting to see a crime scene, or they’ll have stuck around the club last night, hoping to watch the car explode, and they’ll know that the bomb was dismantled. Either way, they should be aware by now that their plan failed, and they won’t be happy.”
Deciding to change the subject, since the e-mails could easily turn her stomach, she asked, “What did you say that made your Alphas agree for me to come here?”
“The truth: that you’re mine and I’m keeping you.”
He’d said it so simply, like this was a done deal. She shot him a sardonic smile. “Such a wishful thinker.” His mouth twitched. “You know, even if I was prepared to stay, they would never accept me as a permanent member of the pack. How has that not occurred to you?”
“It doesn’t bother them that you’re half human. So is Shaya.”
Okay, that threw her, since she was usually good at sensing a fellow half shifter. “If the local extremists somehow track me here, they could try to bomb your territory. I’m not good with you or your pack being in danger, and I seriously doubt they like this much either . . . unless you’ve downplayed the situation?”
“They know everything.”
“Yet your Alphas are okay with me staying here? Are they crazy?”
“Depends on who you ask.” Most would say yes. “I’m one of their wolves. They’ll protect what’s mine.” He threaded his fingers through hers, tightening his grip when she tried to tug her hand away. “They’re good people, Harley. Give them a chance. I know you’re worried that you’ll never feel settled here, but you don’t need to be.”
“Why do you say that?”
“You’ve lived in the human world for a long time now. Were you happy there, Harley? I don’t think you were or you wouldn’t have drifted from place to place, like you were searching for something but you didn’t even know what.”
Tess had once said something similar. She’d been right too.
“Even for half shifters it’s difficult to be without others of our kind. Humans don’t understand that we need touch—social and sexual. Our animals need it. You had a good life with your human family. Tess gave you the best of everything, took you on expensive holidays, and sent you to a good school. You graduated at the top of your class and then went off to college—”
“Wait,” she said, face slack. “How do you know all that?”
“I watched over you. Even went to your graduation ceremony. The point I’m making is that, even with that good life, you never felt fulfilled. You didn’t really want it. So why not try this life?”
Recovering from the startling knowledge that he’d been keeping tabs on her, she folded her arms. Part of her was rightfully pissed, but part of her liked that he’d been so interested in her life all these years. “Speaking of families, yours won’t ever accept me, and I doubt my human relatives will accept you.” Except for maybe Tess.
“I know that, sweetheart. I just refuse to let it matter.” A knock at the door interrupted what he would have said next. “That’s probably Nick and Shaya. They’ll want to know more about the hate mail.” He headed to the front door and swung it open. And double-blinked at the female now smiling at him.
“Jesse, hi,” said Kim, eyes bright.
Both bemused and annoyed, he asked, “What are you doing here?”
Her smile didn’t falter at his arctic tone. “You weren’t at the training session today. Ally said you wouldn’t be training me anymore, and I just wanted to check that you were okay. I was worried that you might be sick or injured or something. It was no fun without you there. I get the feeling Ally and Eli don’t like me. I don’t feel comfortable with them like I do with you,” she added shyly.
Jesse ground his teeth. He didn’t have the time or patience for this shit. His priority was Harley, who was probably going to be pissed that he’d walked away from a very important conversation to deal with . . . whatever this was. And he seriously doubted that either her or her cat would be happy about another female turning up at his home, because, whether Harley was prepared to admit it or not, she was exactly where she wanted to be.
“How about a drink? I’ll tell you all about the talk I just had with Ally.” Kim snickered. “I tell ya, she was in a bad mood this morning and I had to bear the brunt of it; she even gave me an ultimatum.”
Clearly she was referring to the formal warning that she completely deserved.
“Well, are you going to let me in?”
“Let me be very clear with you, Kim,” he rumbled, his tone stone cold. “Being a guest on our territory does not give you the right to appear at a person’s home uninvited.”
She lowered her eyes submissively, which was an odd thing for a dominant female to do. But, confusingly, she often downplayed her dominance around him. “I didn’t think you would mind.”
“This is my personal space. You have no business at all being here.”
Her eyes snapped back to his. “We’re friends.”
“No, we’re not.”
“Is this you feeling awkward about spending time with your friend’s baby sister? Like you think it would upset Bracken?”
“No, this is me being offended that you turned up at my home uninvited.” Irritated that he was wasting time out of his life with this conversation, he declared, “We’re done here.”
“It’s not good for you to keep everyone at arm’s length.” She took a brave step toward him. “I miss Torrie too, you know. It’s okay to let some people in and—” Her nostrils flared, and her smile fell. She leaned in and took another sniff. “Is that . . . ?” Ducking under his arm, she charged into his lodge.
He was reaching for her when she came to an abrupt halt, gaping at the feline sitting at his table. Another female might have shot to her feet and growled a warning at Kim. Harley did something far more insulting: she glanced at Kim, gave her a quick head-to-toe inspection, and went right back to her meal. Dismissed.
Jesse planted himself between the two females and bared his teeth at Kim. “If you ever, ever enter my home again without an invitation, I will have you removed from this territory—I don’t give a fuck whose sister you are.”
Kim asked shakily, “Why is she here?” There was an element of panic in her scent.
He growled. “Are you not hearing me?”
“I want to know why she’s here. Let me guess, she brought drugs.”
Harley said, “Jesse, introduce me to your . . . your . . . I’d say ‘friend,’ but you made it clear she’s not one.” Harley actually didn’t sound all that interested.
Kim balled her hands up into little fists. “You know who I am.”
Harley’s brow creased. “Nope.”
“You do, you remember me.”
Shaking her head, Harley pursed her lips. “I really don’t.”
Jesse sensed that she wasn’t lying. But, see, that was another thing about Harley. Unless you made an impression, it was very unlikely that she’d remember you. Not because she was forgetful, but because it meant you just hadn’t registered on her radar. “This is Bracken’s sister.”
Harley cocked her head, still frowning. “Really?”
And that just pissed Kim off even more. “Stop playing with me!”
“Did you do something to your hair? I remember it being long and curly.”
Jesse’s mouth twitched. “That’s Bracken’s other sister, Ashley.”
“Oh, right. Well, I remember her.” Harley then went back to her meal.
Before Kim could stupidly lunge at her, Jesse snapped, “Out.”
/> Kim backed up as he moved forward, all the while scowling. “You can’t seriously have her on your territory! After what she did to Mia—”
“Out.”
“You didn’t tell me why she’s here!”
“I don’t fucking have to!” He moved faster, making her stumble out of the doorway and onto the porch. “Never again come back here, Kim. Never. Again.” Slamming the door shut, Jesse took a deep breath and then returned to the table. Harley was looking at her plate, cutting into her sausage, and her shoulders were shaking. Sitting, he frowned. “What’s funny?”
Harley looked up, lips curved. “It’s just that I know how frustrated you get by people who think they can manipulate you.” He’d been that way even as a teenager. She pointed at the door. “And that girl is trying her best to do so. Is she part of the pack now?”
“No, she’s visiting with Bracken’s mom.”
“And she homed in on you, didn’t she? I’m not surprised.” But Harley didn’t like it. Her cat wanted to carve up her face.
“Why?”
“I think she might be what I’d call a fixer. A female who goes for guys who seem broken and then tries to patch them up.”
Whatever the case . . . “I don’t want her.”
“Yeah, I sensed that.”
“Why won’t she?” He had been perfectly direct with her since minute one.
“You heard her—she thinks you keep people at arm’s length. As such, she’s not taking your rejection personally. She doesn’t believe it’s about her at all.”
“Why aren’t you upset? If a guy showed up at your door, I’d be pissed as all hell.”
Harley sobered. “I don’t like that she turned up here—I’ll admit that.” For a moment, she’d thought she’d been wrong about him not having a bed buddy. “But I don’t see a reason to take that out on you. It’s not like she’s your girlfriend or even your ex. You didn’t give her any encouragement. You didn’t invite her here and you made it clear that she wasn’t welcome. You haven’t done anything wrong.” She frowned when he just stared at her. “What?”
He took Harley’s hand. “You know one thing I’ve always liked about you? There’s a practicality to your unpredictability. It means that although I don’t always know how you’ll respond to something, I know you won’t make a big deal out of utter bullshit. There’s no drama with you.”
Yeah, well, Harley was determined to be nothing like her mother. “That doesn’t mean I don’t have my moments.”
“Oh, you bristle and snarl, and you can be snippy and short with me—all of which I perversely enjoy. But you don’t lose your shit in a spectacular fashion unless there’s a very good reason.” He needed that in a mate, because he didn’t have the time or tolerance for drama. A knock at the door made him grit his teeth. He pushed to his feet. “That better not be her again.”
Harley clamped her lips together in an effort to hide her amusement. She had a feeling it didn’t work, because he growled as he left the table.
Opening the front door, Jesse found a number of his pack mates. As they entered, Jesse didn’t fail to notice Harley tense, but she didn’t lower her eyes. Good girl. In fact, she slowly straightened and lifted her mug, gaze locked on the visitors. She looked both casual and ready to pounce at the same time. Her dominance was totally evident in that moment.
“Harley, you’ve already met my Alphas, my Betas, and Eli,” said Jesse as he returned to the table. “Over there is Roni and Marcus, a mated pair who are also enforcers. Roni also happens to be Nick and Eli’s sister.”
Harley exchanged a respectful nod with the tall, ash-blonde female. Just one look into those green eyes was enough to tell Harley that she was facing someone who was absolutely lethal. Roni’s dark and seriously hot mate was even taller than she was. Going by the laugh lines on his face, she figured he was the kind of guy who smiled a lot. Right then, as his electric-blue eyes regarded Harley with both wariness and curiosity, he wasn’t smiling.
Jesse said to Nick, “I take it you’ve come about the hate mail.”
“We want to hear about it,” replied Nick. He turned to Harley. “But we’ve actually come because there are some females here to see you. They say they’re cousins of yours. Margays. The female who did the talking said her name is Indie.”
Smiling at the thought of her cousins, Harley said, “I’d like to talk to them.”
Nick gave a short nod. “I’ll have Zander escort them here.”
As the Alpha spoke to the enforcer on his cell phone, Jesse turned to Harley and said, “I thought you weren’t in contact with your paternal family.” His sources had assured him that she wasn’t.
“They belong to a different pride,” explained Harley. “They’re Clive’s nieces, but they don’t particularly like him or the rest of their family. Still, their pride looked out for me.”
“They didn’t offer to take you in?” asked Shaya.
They had, and Harley had appreciated the offer, but . . . “I wanted to be with Tess. They supported my decision, but they still came to see me every so often to check on me. They also taught me and my cat how to fight. Tess didn’t mind their visits because she thought it was good that my cat had ‘social interaction’ with her own kind.”
“Maybe they hoped you’d one day join their pride,” said Jesse.
Harley shrugged. “Maybe.”
A few minutes later, there was a short whistle in the near distance.
“They’re here,” announced Nick.
Following Jesse to the porch, Harley smiled at the four margays standing at the bottom of the stone steps. It had been at least six months since she’d last seen any of them. Only two of them were sisters—in fact, Jazz and Shiloh were twins who looked nothing at all alike.
By way of appearance, none of the four females seemed at all threatening, especially the tiny and innocent-looking Jazz. As Piper always managed to look like she’d just stepped off a catwalk, she could easily be dismissed as a woman whose only interest in life was that of her own appearance. Indie had a megawatt smile that could brighten a room and charm just about anyone. And the introverted Shiloh, who was forever playing games on her phone, was often mistaken for timid and meek.
The truth of the matter? Every single one of them was lethal and not to be fucked with.
“I didn’t expect you guys to come,” said Harley, feeling the Mercury wolves gather behind her. Like Harley, her cousins weren’t very tactile, so she didn’t try to hug them.
“We heard from your father’s people what happened,” said Indie. The tall blonde was such a true mastermind with her intellect, insightfulness, and strategic streak that Harley always joked that she could take over the world if she wanted to.
“He’s sending you after the extremists?” Harley said. It was rare that Clive asked anyone for anything, but he wouldn’t have reacted well to Harley in danger.
“Yes. But we’d have hunted them in any case; they tried to hurt one of ours.”
“You can’t join the hunt,” stated Piper, her willowy figure showcased in a floral pencil dress. “When we have annihilated the extremists who targeted you, you are free to join our pride if you—”
“She’s safe here; it’s where she belongs,” growled Jesse, his tone nonnegotiable.
Twirling a lock of her cherry-red hair around her finger, Jazz studied him for a moment before turning to Harley. “He’s a bossy one.”
Shiloh finally looked up from her phone and, flicking her coppery-blonde bangs out of her eyes, asked Harley, “Are you sure he can deal with you?”
Harley smiled at the curvy feline. “No, but he’s delusional enough to believe he can.” Each of the margays looked at him with mock pity, but Jesse just snorted.
Indie said to Nick, “Will you keep her location quiet?”
Nick gave a curt nod. “She’ll be safe here.”
Piper twisted her lips. “I think it will also be best to keep your . . . connection to this male quiet from Clive.”
/> Harley agreed with that. “Has he told Lily about the bomb?”
“No,” replied Indie. “She would come here and create a scene, which would risk exposing your location.” Indie sighed. “I’m reluctant to leave you here.”
Jesse bristled. “She’s safe with me.”
“I hope that’s true,” said Jazz. “I don’t think Harley would enjoy killing you, so it would be a shame if she had to.”
“Take care, Harley,” said Indie. “Call us if you need us. We’ll come.” As one, they turned and retraced their steps. Zander kept pace with them.
Shaya sidled up to Harley. “They were . . . interesting.”
“So,” began Eli, “that group of females will hunt the extremists?”
Harley wasn’t sure why he sounded so surprised. “Female margays are good hunters.”
“They don’t look like hunters,” said Eli.
“Do you think they’ll find the extremists?” Jesse asked her.
“If anyone can, it’s them,” said Harley.
There was a moment of silence, and then Ally announced, “I liked them.” Her mate sighed at her, a sound that said he’d never understand her. She seemed to find that amusing.
“Well,” said Derren as they all returned inside the lodge. “Shall we talk about the hate mail now? It would be best to have a conversation about the extremists away from the pups. But if you’re still eating . . .”
Harley gave a brief shake of the head. “I’m done.”
Jesse frowned at the half-full plate. She hadn’t eaten enough, but he could hardly blame her for losing her appetite at the mention of the extremists. “Harley was just about to show me the hate mail.”
“It’s all online,” she said.
Grabbing his laptop from the coffee table, Jesse pushed aside their plates and placed it on the dining table.
She slowly raised a brow at Jesse as she returned to her seat. “You sure you want to read it after you’ve just eaten? Some of it is pretty graphic.”
“I’m sure.” Jesse sat down, switched on the laptop, and then turned it to face her. “Log into your e-mail account, show me what they’ve been sending you.”
As her fingers flew over the keyboard, Shaya and Ally took the two empty seats at the table. The other wolves remained standing.