Roni looked at Harley. “You know, although that’s only a local newspaper and unlikely to be seen by either side of your family, the news of your mating will travel fast. It won’t be long until they find out. How do you think Clive will react?”
She sighed. “I have no idea. But he won’t like finding out this way.”
“Is the reporter right about him being a raging psychopath?” Bracken asked. At Jesse’s hard look, the enforcer raised his hands. “It was just a question.”
“Your family will lose their minds over this,” Harley warned Jesse.
“Probably,” said Jesse, “but I always knew that.” He just refused to let it be a factor in his decision to claim her.
“You have to stop this bitch from writing a follow-up article that could further stir up the extremists,” said Roni.
“A reporter isn’t going to back off a story like this easy,” said Harley. “Especially not this reporter. She’s like a fucking bulldog.”
Bracken nodded. “It wouldn’t surprise me if she’s ballsy enough to demand something in return for ceasing to write stuff about you.”
Yeah, she’d want information on Clive. Harley wasn’t giving that heifer anything.
“Before we came here, we had Donovan find out some things about this little reporter,” said Derren. “She’s twenty-seven, unmated, and lives in an apartment outside of her territory but remains an official member of her pack.” He rattled off the address before continuing. “She likes covering news related to extremists and The Movement and is currently sleeping with her human boss—a guy with a pregnant wife and two kids.”
Harley’s brows flew up. Gabrielle truly was an absolute bitch who lacked any morals. Apparently her boss wasn’t much better.
“What’s more interesting is what Donovan discovered about the guy she’s sleeping with,” added Derren. “Listen to this . . .”
Arriving at apartment 253A, Jesse placed his body slightly in front of Harley’s and rapped his knuckles on the door. His Beta pair had followed them in another vehicle, and they were parked outside, keeping a lookout. No one thought that the extremists would stupidly try to make a grab for Harley, but they all agreed that it wasn’t worth the risk.
He glanced at Harley, trying to gauge her mood. Right now, she was proving harder to read than usual. She’d been quiet as they drove. They often lapsed into comfortable silences, neither feeling the need to speak for the mere sake of it. But the earlier silence had felt awkward. Loaded with things left unsaid. It made his wolf anxious.
Moments later, a small redhead with cunning eyes opened the door. Those eyes flashed with recognition as she took him in. She gave him a sultry grin, but it dimmed as her gaze flicked to the female with him. “Well, if it isn’t Harley Vincent. Changed your mind about giving me an exclusive after all?”
“We should take this inside,” said Jesse.
Harley almost rolled her eyes when Gabrielle’s breath hitched and her eyes went half lidded. Her cat unsheathed her claws and took a swipe at the bitch for ogling him.
Gabrielle swung the door open wide. “Come on in.” She put a lot of sway into her hips as she led them into the living area. Her place was actually nice. Stylish. Contemporary. Though maybe a little soulless for Harley’s liking.
“You know something, Harley?” said Gabrielle, picking up her Dictaphone with a smirk. “I always knew you would come to me sooner or later.”
The cockiness in her manner disgusted Harley’s cat. “Why is that?”
“I’m very good at reading people.”
Jesse took the Dictaphone from her hand, checked it wasn’t switched on, and then slung it on the sofa. “She’s not here to discuss Clive Vincent.” He tilted his head. “You don’t like my Harley very much, do you? I have to wonder what your issue with her is.”
Gabrielle stiffened . . . most likely because a lethal edge had crept into his voice that made even Harley nervous. Considering how much beef he had with the reporter, Harley had expected an explosion of some sort. But no. Oh, it was clear that he was pissed; his fury pulsed around the room. But he appeared the epitome of calm.
“I’m not interested in making a new friend; I’m interested in her story,” said Gabrielle, watching him carefully. “I suppose I haven’t been too polite in trying to get it, but it’s just business.”
One of Harley’s brows slid up. “Not personal?” She hissed. “That article you wrote will have extremists lining up to reach me.”
Her over-glossed lips flattened. “You have a pack to protect you now.”
“A pack that you also endangered by sending extremists my way.” Her voice went slightly guttural as her cat pushed for dominance.
Licking her lips, Gabrielle backed up. “That wasn’t my intention.”
“I don’t believe you,” said Harley, taking a step forward for each one she took backward. Gabrielle’s eyes flickered with fear. Her cat liked that.
“You wouldn’t hurt me.”
Harley’s mouth curved. “You don’t know me, Gabrielle. You don’t know what I’m capable of or you would never have fucked with me.”
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to piss off a margay?” Jesse asked the reporter. “I’m a Mercury wolf, as you know. My pack has the kind of resources, contacts, and alliances you can only dream of. Just imagine how much misery I can cause a person for fucking with my mate . . . then triple it.”
Chest rising and falling madly, Gabrielle said shakily, “My pack wouldn’t take too kindly to you threatening me.” Oh, the fox had balls.
“They’ll see it as my right, given that your actions put my mate in danger,” said Jesse. “They’ll also be forced to agree that it was wrong for you to take personal photographs without my knowledge or consent. No shifter likes their private business made public.”
“The photographs were given to me anonymously. Someone slid them under the door of my office. They were in a blank envelope.”
“Is that so?” he asked, skeptical.
“Look.” She opened a black satchel, flipped it open, and pulled out a letter-sized brown envelope—the same kind Hector had used to contain the testimonies. “There are at least five photos in there.”
Jesse fished them out and quickly flipped through them. “You have no idea who sent them to you?”
She shook her head. “A lot of people leave me things anonymously.”
“Hmm.” Jesse returned the photos to the envelope. “I’ll be taking these with me.”
Harley then shoved her way into Gabrielle’s personal space. “Now you listen, and you listen good. If you do anything to put me in more danger than I’m already in, I’ll come for you. Just in case you’re thinking your pack can protect you or that it’s worth the risk, I can always pay your boss’s wife a visit. I’m sure she’d be interested to know just how close you are to her husband. And I’d be more than happy to tell her.”
Her mouth fell open. “I don’t know what you’re—”
“Yes, you do.” And so did Harley, thanks to Donovan. “What you may not know is that his wife inherited a lot of money. They have a prenup stating that if he’s unfaithful, he walks away from their marriage with nothing. You can imagine how quickly he’ll fire your ass for fucking up his life, can’t you? And if there’s one thing you care about, it’s your job.”
Looking at the fox doing her best to hide the tremble in her legs, Harley came very close to feeling sorry for her. But not close enough. This female was ruthless and without morals. “What will it be, Rowan?” Harley continued. “You can agree right now to not include me in any more articles . . . or, to put it simply, you can fuck me over and then watch your life fall apart.”
Gabrielle closed her eyes for a moment. Then her shoulders sagged slightly. “Fine.”
“Say it,” snarled Jesse.
Her eyes snapped open. “I won’t include Harley in any more of my articles.”
“Right answer.” Putting his hand on Harley’s back, he guided her to the
front door.
“Don’t you want to know who my source is from your pack?” Oh, apparently Gabrielle wanted to take a parting shot.
As he opened the door wide, he gave Gabrielle a hard look. “That was just petty.” He trusted his pack mates, was confident that they would never betray him.
“Don’t be so sure!”
Ignoring her, Jesse and Harley left. As they waited for the elevator, he turned to Harley, worried that Gabrielle’s claim had ruined what progress the pack had made in earning her trust. “You don’t know my pack well enough to trust them like I do, so I can understand if her words might worry you. But she only claimed to have a source from our pack to give her article some credibility—nothing more.”
“I agree.”
“You do?”
“Your pack mates are loyal to one another. I don’t think they would betray you by talking to a reporter.” Not even Nat and Kim. For all their faults, they loved Bracken. “I especially don’t think they would want attention drawn to the pack. As for your old pack . . . I wouldn’t be surprised if they told her a few things.”
Neither would Jesse. As the elevator doors opened, he took her hand. “Come on.” She tried to retrieve her hand, but he just tightened his grip. He wouldn’t allow his mate to pull back from him, but he could feel her holding him at an emotional distance.
Deciding it might be best to give her space, he went about his enforcer duties when they returned to Mercury territory. But when he met up with her again in time for the evening meal, it wasn’t to find that she’d thawed out. On the contrary, she was wound up tight . . . like something had been eating at her all day long and she needed to get it out of her system. Yeah, well, he’d sure like to hear what was on her mind. Then they could move the hell past it.
As such, he pretty much verbally leapt on her the second they got home after the evening meal.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Slamming the front door, Jesse planted his hands on his hips and said, “Okay, tell me what’s eating at you. I know I fucked up last night, Harley. You said you accepted my apology. Was that the truth?”
She shrugged off her jacket and hung it up. “Yes.”
“Then what is this about?” Jesse watched as she took a deep breath and her features smoothed out into the same serene mask she’d worn earlier. He hadn’t liked it then and he didn’t like it now. He didn’t want a mask; he wanted his mate.
Harley moved to the dining table. “Let’s sit down.”
“No.”
“I’d rather we sat.”
He crossed the room to her. “You sit down if you like, sweetheart. I prefer to stand.”
Stubborn asshole. Well, there was no way she’d sit and have him towering over her. If he wanted to discuss it standing up, fine. She lifted her chin. “Do you know why I asked you to tell me about Torrie last night?”
Straining to keep his tone warm, he replied, “Harley, baby, she’s separate from us. Not a subject we need to touch.”
In other words, no. “I needed to see that you could lower your walls all the way. You talk about me marking you, but I refuse to do that until I can be sure that imprinting will fully work. You hide a lot behind that blank expression, Jesse. I don’t need to know your every thought, but there can’t be a fully formed mating bond unless two people know each other inside out, unless they expose every part of themselves.”
“I know that.”
“Torrie is a part of you.”
His jaw tightened. “She’s dead.”
“Dead or alive, she’s still the other half of your soul,” Harley gently pointed out.
“You already know about her. You know she died. What else is there to fucking know?”
“You don’t get it. This isn’t about her; it’s about that ‘No Access’ area you have. Everyone has things they’d rather not share, including me. But I don’t keep anything from you. I always give you honesty, even when it isn’t easy.”
He threw up his hands. “What do you want from me?”
“The same thing you want from me.”
Everything, Jesse understood. “You have all of me,” he ground out.
“No, I don’t, and you know it.” She sighed. “You learned to deal with your emotions by locking them down. I don’t blame you for that. I really don’t.”
“So why are we having this fucking conversation?”
“Because we can’t have a mating bond without exposing our fears, secrets, vulnerabilities, and personal pain. We just can’t. I suspect a lot of yours are all linked with losing Torrie, and she’s behind that ‘No Access’ area we were talking about before.” Harley licked her lips. “I don’t want to change you or ‘fix’ you. But I will not be stonewalled. I will not be treated like I’m not good enough to share with. And I’m not interested in giving everything I am to someone who doesn’t appreciate just how difficult that is. If you want someone to come to you without walls, you need to do the same. If you can’t do that, Jesse, if you’re not ready for imprinting—”
“You are not walking out, so don’t even think it,” Jesse snapped, every fiber of his being going on high alert. Anger rose up, fast and furious. His wolf’s ears flattened as he let out a savage snarl. Their mate wasn’t going anywhere.
“Hear me out instead of preempting what I say.”
He advanced on her, fists clenched, but she backed up fast. “You’re not leaving me, Harley.”
“And you’re not listening.”
“I see where this is going. Not happening.”
“Dammit, Jesse, will you just listen!”
He backed her into the wall and planted a hand either side of her head. “I warned you that I wouldn’t let you go.” His tone was as lethal as his mood. “If you think I’ll watch you walk out of here, you don’t know me as well as I thought you did.” She opened her mouth to speak, so he growled, “You’re not going. You’re not leaving. We’ll talk this out.”
“Jesse—”
“You want to know about Torrie?”
“Not like this. Not when you’ll resent telling me.”
He threw up his arms. “I can’t fucking win with you.”
“Careful,” she warned, eyes flashing cat. The animal didn’t like his tone at all.
“I don’t get what it is that you want to know about her. Are you trying to ask if you mean more to me than she did? Is that what this is?”
Harley snorted. “I don’t need to ask that.” After last night, she knew exactly where she stood.
Uneasiness slithered through Jesse. “What’s that supposed to mean?” But she didn’t respond. “Explain what you mean by that.”
“She was your true mate. Your other half. I can’t compete with that.”
“It’s not a competition,” he clipped.
“You know what I mean.”
“And you know that you’re more important to me than anything.”
“Yeah? I can’t say I felt important last night when you used that cold razor-sharp tone and made it clear that I had no right to hear about her.”
Realization dawned on him, and he sighed. “You misunderstood.” No, he just hadn’t explained it well . . . which fully supported her argument that he needed to open up about this.
“Actually, I don’t think I did,” said Harley. “Look, if you feel you can’t share your grief or your guilt with me—”
“Wait, you think I haven’t grieved? You think I’m burying the pain and refusing to let Torrie go? Wrong. When I was eleven and she died, I went nuclear. Snapped. Did stupid, dangerous shit until all the rage was burned out and there was nothing left—no anger, no pain, nothing. I was just lifeless. A walking husk. Might as well have been in a damn grave myself.”
Harley swallowed hard, aching at the thought of him that way.
“Then one day I heard my sister screeching at someone to let her go. I followed the sound, thinking she was in trouble. I saw another young female forcing her to stand in the doorway of a motor home, telling her to tak
e a good look at what her future would be like if she didn’t get off the damn drugs and accept that it was okay to live. She pointed out to Mia the simple truth that everything that’s born eventually dies; it’s life, a natural, universal cycle that everyone is powerless against.”
Shocked, Harley could only gape. “I didn’t know you heard that.”
“You worked out that Mia was suffering from survivor’s guilt. I didn’t see that. I was too messed up to see what was going on with anyone else. Your words didn’t resonate with Mia, but they did with me. And I decided to let myself live. To do more than just exist. And bit by bit, I became an actual person again. Not the same person—hell, not even close. What came out of that husk was scarred and dark and needed a lot of work, but it was a big improvement on the zombie I’d been for years.”
Harley had absolutely no clue what to say, still reeling from the fact that he’d been there that day when she’d taken Mia to her aunt’s motor home.
“You say you don’t want to change or fix me. Baby, you already did both those things. Unfortunately, this is as good as it gets.” Which wasn’t all that great. “You’re wrong if you think I feel guilty for claiming you. I would never have come to you with guilt saddling my shoulders. It wouldn’t have been fair to you. But did I once feel guilty about how much I wanted you? Yeah—more than you know. I hated myself for it. But I worked past that. I’m here, with you, because you’re who I want.”
Harley swallowed. “All right.”
“No, it’s not, because you don’t seem to believe how important you are to me.” Jesse framed her face with his hands as he softly added, “When I was fourteen, a girl with wounded gold eyes brought me back from the dead. She made me want to live. Saved me from a self-imposed hell. How could that girl not be more important to me than anything, Harley? You tell me how.”
Oh God, she was gonna cry. “Stop,” she rasped.
“Tell me how I couldn’t want to make her happy, whatever it took.”
She would have backed away if she weren’t already plastered against the wall. “I said stop.”
“Tell me how I couldn’t want to keep her and claim her as mine.”