“I didn’t want to worry you.”
“You didn’t want to worry me or you didn’t want to trouble me with shifter problems? I’m not your grandparents, Harley. I accept that part of you.”
Harley sighed. “I know you do, and I appreciate that more than you know. But you’re a sweet person who blushes and hums and laughs like an angel. I didn’t want to unload this twisted crap on you. I didn’t want it to touch you. Is that so awful?”
“No,” said Tess before grumbling, “it’s that shifter protective streak at work. So, you didn’t say a lot about this Jesse guy other than he’s Mia’s brother and that a pup in his pack had a vision of your car exploding.”
“He’s one of the very few people in his old pack who didn’t accuse me of introducing Mia to drugs.”
“Well, it was nice of him to offer to protect you on his territory, but that’s not necessary. Ask him to drop you at my house tomorrow. You’ll always have a home here.”
Harley chewed on her nail. “Um . . . yeah, I don’t think he will.”
“You only ever say ‘um’ when you’re uncomfortable. Why are you uncomfortable talking about him? What aren’t you telling me?”
“Um . . .”
“Sweetheart, just because he’s a shifter doesn’t mean he can protect you better than your family. I have excellent security here, and I can hire bodyguards.”
“I know, but it’s not about that.” And she didn’t dare risk leading the extremists to Tess’s door anyway.
“So tell me what it is about.”
Harley rubbed her forehead. She wouldn’t be so nervous if Tess’s approval wasn’t important to her. “Are you sitting down? You should sit down.”
“Harley, I’ve had all the bad news I can take for one day.”
“It’s not bad news.”
“Go on.”
Taking a deep breath, Harley said, “Jesse would rather I stay here because . . . he claimed me.”
A pause. “He claimed you? He’s your true mate?”
“No, his true mate died when they were kids, but, well, he wants me as his mate.” Total silence greeted that statement. “Tess, you there?”
“Oh, Harley, you never fail to surprise me. Where is this Mercury territory? Give me directions. I need to see you with my own eyes.”
“Directions? Not a good idea.”
Tess huffed. “I don’t always get lost.”
Harley snorted softly. “Sure you don’t.”
“Stop distracting me from the real issue. I told you, I need to see you.”
“The Alpha male isn’t real big on visitors. I’ll come to you.”
“And you’ll bring Jesse? I want to interrogate him and see for myself that he’s good enough for you.”
Harley smiled. “You don’t know how to interrogate someone.” Tess was a marshmallow.
“I need to see him around you and decide for myself if he cares for you the way you deserve—I will not rest until this happens.”
“How about we come see you Monday?”
There was an excited squeal. “Come at noon.”
“Okay, but, Tess, please don’t cook. Leave it to Ria; that’s why you hired her.”
A huff. “Fine. See you then!”
Harley grabbed another plate and piled it with goodies before returning to the bench. She handed Jesse one of her cinnamon twists, and he smiled.
“Thanks, sweetheart.” He gave her a long kiss before biting into the pastry. “What did Tess want?”
“Who’s Tess?” asked Taryn, ignoring her Beta female’s “Don’t be so nosy” admonishment.
“My aunt,” replied Harley.
Greta sniffed. “I take it she’s one of the rich ones. Haughty through and through, I’ll bet.”
Harley sighed. “Maybe you could take a trip to the library to brush up on your prejudice. Now what’s with all the tension?”
“We had ourselves a little problem.” Roni gestured with her spoon to Kim. “It’s gone now.”
Ally put a hand on Harley’s arm. “Don’t worry about Kim. She’s no threat whatsoever to your relationship with Jesse.”
Harley knew that. Of course, that didn’t mean that she and her cat wouldn’t happily tear the bitch apart with every claw she possessed.
“The thing is,” began Ally, “she finds his level of dominance so hot that when he’s forceful with her, it turns her on. She’s not at all discouraged by how cold he is with her. The poor guy can’t win.”
“How about we just stop talking about her?” suggested Jesse. With a few “Fines” the conversation switched topics. Uninterested in anyone other than his mate, he said into her ear, “What did Tess want?”
“To meet you.”
“I thought as much.” He bit into his cinnamon twist, inwardly groaning. His mate could bake like a pro.
“I told her we’d go for lunch at her house on Monday.”
“We’ll use the jet.”
She blinked. “You have a private jet?”
“It belongs to one of Nick’s contacts.” Jesse took another bite of his pastry. “He lets us use it.”
“Your Alpha seems to have some really useful contacts.”
“He met most of them in juvie, including Derren. Shifters in places like that form little ‘packs’ of their own and often keep in touch afterward.”
“Huh.” She was curious about how Nick and Derren had found themselves in juvie, but it didn’t feel right to ask. It was none of her business. “They have my respect for surviving the experience.” Many shifters died at the hands of the abusive human guards.
“And mine.” He shifted in his seat, wincing as his back muscles flexed.
Harley looked at him, expecting to see pain on his face. Instead, there was smugness. “What?”
“Sometimes when I move, it tugs on the claw marks you left on my back.” They were marks of possession and were deep enough to be permanent.
“You like that I branded you, even though it hurts?”
He snorted. “Of course. And I like that I branded you. I’m going to enjoy doing it again.” And again and again, until she finally accepted that there was no going back for them.
Later that night, Harley sat on the porch swing with Jesse. Neither said much, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence. Her cat basked in the sense of peace she found in that very moment. Being without her own territory had never been easy for her cat, but Harley hadn’t realized just how important it could be to the animal until she came here. Her margay had already bonded with the land. And who could blame her? “It’s so quiet here.”
Beside her, Jesse stiffened. “You don’t like the quiet?”
Frowning at his sudden tension, she said, “What’s not to like about it?”
“Some people prefer hustle and bustle.”
“I’m not one of those people.”
“Good.” He began playing with her hair as the tension slipped away from his muscles.
“You worry I miss living among humans,” she realized.
“Don’t you?”
“No. I miss performing at the club, though.” She missed it a lot. It was something she loved. Of course she still played her violin at the cabin, but that wasn’t the same thing at all. And not having a job or the sense of urgency to make money to afford her outgoings . . . it was odd. She was just about to share her plans to buy the club when he spoke.
“You can’t go back there.”
“I know I can’t now. But after this whole thing has blown over—”
“No,” he clipped.
She bristled at that one-word answer that was the verbal equivalent of a door being slammed shut on the conversation. She sat upright, meeting his gaze. “Excuse me?”
“Harley, your cousins may hunt down and kill the extremists who targeted you, but there are plenty of other extremists out there,” he pointed out impatiently. “Now that they seem convinced your father leads The Movement, you’re not safe from them.”
“You said they
don’t mess with this pack.”
“They don’t. They won’t come here. But they’ve already demonstrated that they have no problem targeting you while you’re at the club. I can’t be sure they wouldn’t be so desperate to hurt Clive through you that they won’t try that again.”
“You’re right.” She leaned forward and spoke sharply as she added, “But if you think that I’ll hide out here and never leave this territory again, you’re out of your damn mind.”
“Harley—”
“There’s no way I’m going to hole up here forever just because they’re crazy motherfuckers.” Their mental issues were not her problem. “Do you honestly expect me to?”
“No, of course not.” But it wasn’t a bad idea. “They’re only focusing on you at the moment because Clive is big news right now, since people are speculating that he founded The Movement. Soon enough, they’ll be suspecting someone else. That’s the way it works. But even then, it will be safer for you to not spend a lot of time in the human world.” Done with the subject, Jesse rose from the swing and went inside the lodge.
“Safer for me?” she repeated, following him.
“Yes. If you ever want to go somewhere—shopping, a restaurant, the movies—I’ll take you. Not a problem. But working in the human world isn’t a good idea for any shifter, and I’m not prepared to risk you.”
“I’m planning to buy the club.”
Shock rooted him to the spot. “Say again?”
“You heard me just fine.”
He slashed a hand through the air. “No fucking way.”
A hot wave of anger washed over Harley. Her cat hissed, swishing her tail. “Jesse, be very sure you want to continue dictating to me. It won’t end well.”
He spoke clearly, enunciating every word, “You are not going back to that club. And you are definitely not buying it.”
She folded her arms as she slowly walked toward him. “You know what I think, Jesse? I think the real reason you don’t want me anywhere near the club is that you want me to leave my old life behind. You feel threatened by it.”
“Why would I feel threatened by it? When you accepted my claim, you chose me over that life.”
“When I accepted your claim, I chose to give returning to the shifter world a chance,” she corrected, halting in front of him. “But when I made that decision, I didn’t think you expected me to give up my dream. Considering how well informed you were about my life, you’ll know that, no matter where I lived, I always performed at clubs. It’s what I do.”
He clenched his fists. “You don’t need a job. You don’t need to earn your own money. You’re part of a pack. We support each other.”
“This has nothing to do with money and everything to do with how much I love what I do.”
“You can play your violin here.”
Her cat took a swipe at him, angered by the way he’d so easily dismissed how important this was to her. “I do, actually.” She practiced often when she was alone. “But that’s not the same as playing it for people who appreciate that kind of music. I like playing alongside DJs and bands—”
“And I like knowing my mate is safe,” he snapped. “My priority is your safety. That means no returning to the club. End of conversation.”
“End of conversation? Damn fucking right. This is all pointless because I will make the owner an offer and there is no way for you to stop me. Whatever rights you thought you had to rule my life, I hereby remove,” she sniped. “But if there ever comes a time when I need you to think for me, I’ll let you know.” With that, she stalked out of the room.
“Already lost two people, Harley. I’m not losing anyone else.”
The gut-wrenching agony in those gruff words pulled her up short. He hid the pain so well beneath that blank expression that it was easy to forget how tortured he was. Without turning to face him, she reminded him, “I lost someone too, Jesse.” She missed Michael every day. “But I don’t let that loss rule my decisions, and I definitely wouldn’t expect it to rule anyone else’s. And you really don’t need to be so overprotective. I’m not weak.”
“You’re not weak,” Jesse agreed. He crossed the room to her, pressing his front against her back. “Far from it. But you’ve never been as protective of yourself as you should. It means you don’t always think before you act; you make decisions with your heart instead of your head. You can’t be careless with your safety anymore, Harley. Not when you belong to someone. Not when that someone needs you.”
She tried to hold on to her anger, not wanting to let him off the hook so easy. But she hated hearing pain in his voice. Hated it. “You’re an enforcer, and you’re proud of it. You like the sense of importance that comes with it. What if you no longer had that?”
Jesse’s wolf stilled. “Are you asking me to give up the position?”
She turned and smacked his chest. “No, idiot. I’m asking you to imagine how it would feel to suddenly lose that position. You’d have nothing to do, no real contribution to make, no purpose to ground you. How would it make you feel?”
“Bored. Unfulfilled.” Jesse cupped her jaw. “I don’t want you to feel those things. I don’t want you to be unhappy.”
“I didn’t say I was unhappy. I’m fulfilled in other areas of my life. I like it here. But without being able to do what I love doing, I’ll feel like I’m just sort of floating around.”
“You’re strong enough to be an enforcer, but I don’t think that would fulfill you.”
“Nah, not my thing. There’s too much routine involved. Routine bores me. And I don’t like being micromanaged.” She placed her hands on his chest. “I don’t need a role. But I need to play. It’s part of who I am, just like being an enforcer is more than a role to you.”
Snaking his arms around her, Jesse rested his forehead on hers. “I just want you safe.”
“No one’s saying you can’t keep me safe. You can be with me every time I’m there if that’s what it takes to keep you from losing your shit. This little thing is called ‘compromise.’ Work with me here.”
He groaned. Every instinct he had screamed no. Panic, anxiety, fear, anger—all of it sat like lead in his stomach. He wanted her here at all times, where he knew she was safe. But he also knew—always had known—that she’d never be totally happy if she were isolated. And if he fought her on this and cut her dream short, it would create enough bitterness and resentment to eat at what they had until there was nothing left. He had more chance of losing her if he didn’t do that dreaded thing she called “compromise” than if she reappeared in public.
“We wait until the focus of the extremists has shifted to someone else before you go anywhere near the place, okay?” he said. “If you want to make the owner an offer, I’ll support that.” Even though he’d hate it. “But I’ll take care of the security measures. And there must always be me and at least one other wolf with you.” Sensing her pride balking at that condition, he added, “If you won’t consent to that for your sake, do it for mine.”
She sighed, and her shoulders lost their stiffness. “I can live with that.”
“Good. It won’t be easy getting Nick on board. Unlike me, he doesn’t have an undying need to give you whatever you want and make you happy.”
She smiled. Jesse could be sweet sometimes, although she doubted many would believe that. “No, but Nick does have an undying need to do those things for Shaya.”
“If you get Shaya on board, he won’t stand a chance.” Jesse scooped her up. “Now let’s move on from this and get to the makeup sex. I’m hungry.”
Sounded good to her.
CHAPTER TEN
Walking Jesse to the front door, Harley asked him, “You leaving with Nick soon?”
“Yes,” he replied. “Hopefully Hector’s old Alpha will have something interesting to tell us.” Even though he’d be back by the evening, he’d miss her. Miss her humor, her smile, her scent, and that sense of whimsy that warmed his life. “Any plans of your own for today?”
/> “I’m hoping to finish the book I started yesterday.”
When she said no more, Jesse arched a brow. “Nothing else?”
“Nope.” Reading would be quite enough to get Harley through the hours alone. She’d also practice the violin later while she wouldn’t have an audience. She didn’t like to practice in front of people. Refining and reconnecting with her craft was an intensely personal process.
“No baking at all?”
The hint made her roll her eyes. “What is it you want me to make?”
“It would be good if you could make more cinnamon twists.”
She released a long, suffering sigh. He was so spoiled. “Fine.”
Satisfied, Jesse nodded. “We’re visiting Tess tomorrow, right?”
“Right.”
“Do you think she’ll approve of our mating?”
“She will if she thinks I’m happy.”
“Are you?” he asked carefully.
She pretended to think about it, and then she was squealing because he threw her over his shoulder and spanked her ass. Spanked. Her. Ass. Twice. She bit him hard and pounded his back with her fists, but he just laughed. Bastard.
Chest rumbling with laughter, Jesse put her down and kissed her hard. She literally shoved him out of the lodge, which just seemed to make him even more amused. Alone, she settled at the reading nook. Forty minutes. She got forty minutes of peace before there were light knocks on the door and two pups yelled her name, giggling. It was ironic that Jesse worried Harley would be lonely; she rarely had any time to herself.
The moment she opened the door, the two pups rushed inside, telling her all about their brand-new coloring books. Shaya, Ally, and Roni followed them into the lodge, looking at the pups with affectionate exasperation.
“Why don’t you two girls sit at the big table while you color your books,” proposed Shaya, ushering them into the dining area.
As Harley closed the front door, Ally said, “We were going to leave them with Kathy, but once they heard we were coming here, they begged to come along. They said it smells good here. I’m assuming they mean because it always smells like a bakery.”