“I don't know what I'm doing,” she confessed in a soft whisper. “I thought it was just me, but I think he might be just as bad with Mick.” She clapped a hand over her mouth. This was their beta. She shouldn't be talking to him about their private relationships.
With a small smile, he pulled his hand away.
“You aren't betraying anyone, Harper,” he said gently. “Jonas is hard to handle.”
She bristled. Okay, fine. He was an obnoxious jerk, but he was
“I don't know what to do. Part of me just wants to say all or nothing. Pick.” Zach laughed. “Might be the best way.”
“An ultimatum? Even if he gave in, he'd never forgive me.”
“This kind of ultimatum?” She swiveled to see Jonas standing in the doorway, her backpack held up in his hand. “Going somewhere, darlin'?” Jonas watched her swallow, the motion as exaggerated as her fear. Good. He couldn't remember the last time he had been this fucking pissed. Bad enough she'd packed to leave him, but to find her with another man? Even knowing Zach was totally committed to Liza didn't soothe the sting of that betrayal. She'd gone to another person, another man for advice? He felt fur under his flesh. Claws poking through his skin.
She stood and faced him, gingerly took one step forward. He clenched his fists and felt skin break. She should be running like hell. He was losing control. But she kept coming closer. Her hand lifted to rest on the side of his face.
“I'm not afraid of you,” she whispered.
“You should be.”
She trembled and nodded her head. “Yeah. Probably.”
He wrapped an arm around her back and pulled her close, glaring at Zach over her head. “Interfering again?”
Zach gave him a hard look. “I'm taking care of a member of the pack. You'd do the same.”
That got through to him as nothing else would have. Protecting, caring for the needs of others was in his makeup. It was the emotional shit he had problems with.
Not being able to deal with that was going to cost him both Mick and Harper if he weren't careful. The only reason it hadn't cost him Mick yet was the man was stubborn as hell. But it wasn't fair to either of them, and Jonas knew it.
With a nod at Zach, he led her outside, taking her hand as he urged her down the porch steps. “Where were you going to run to?” She glanced over at him, but he couldn't read her expression. “I wasn't running exactly. I thought I'd take a few days in town. Think things over.” Right. She was running. He couldn't, wouldn't let her do that. “Look. I know I'm hard to live with.”
His confession startled a laugh out of her. “Ya think?” He scowled down at her. “I'm trying to be honest here in a way that is totally alien to me, okay?”
“Okay.”
She answered simply, calmly, not asking or pushing for more. Unfortunately, she sounded more resigned than anything, and that scared the hell out of him. He panicked. He couldn't lose her now. And not just her. Mick would go with her. He would lose them both.
He waited until they were on the path, out of sight from the house, and pulled her to a stop. But he had no idea what to say. No idea how to make this better.
“What?” She lifted her hand to his face again, her expression softening a little.
He kept his arms at his sides. If he touched her, there would be no going back.
“I can't…” How did he bare his soul? “I can't lose you. Or Mick.”
He thought he could see her heart in her eyes. Just for a second. Just long enough to pierce his soul before she shut down. “You'll lose us both.” She spoke nothing but the truth, and he knew it. “Give me time?” Her nod was reluctant, but she fell into step beside him, quiet until they took a turn she didn't expect. “Where are we going?”
“My house. It's bigger than yours or Mick's, and we have a guest.”
“Who?” She swung to a stop, and he heard the sudden pounding of her heart.
The sudden surge of suspicion and fear.
“Your brother. Do I need to worry about that, Harper? Is he dangerous?” He didn't think so, but her reaction was so extreme he had to ask.
She took a deep breath, her scent immediately changing to one of relief. She'd been afraid it was someone else, probably her father. He was disappointed. And insulted. But he couldn't blame her, could he? She was used to betrayal from the one person who should have loved her more than anything else, and she hadn't been with Redhawke long enough, with him and Mick long enough, to fully accept they were nothing like that. Simple logic that made sense, but it still hurt.
“There is no way I'd bring your father here or hand you over to him,” he said coldly.
She shrugged and started walking again. “I really want to believe that, Jonas.
But you aren't exactly forthcoming, you know.” They continued in silence. She seemed calm, but he stewed. It was an odd reversal. He wasn't used to feeling off balance, and he didn't like it one bit. He reclaimed her hand, which calmed his wolf, so he refused to let her go when she tugged.
“You mean everything to me. You and Mick. The three of us—we're meant to be together. You know it.”
There was a break in the trees, and he saw his backyard. She pulled him to a stop at the tree line.
“Maybe we are. I won't pretend that I can handle this. But I'll try. I want to try, Jonas, if you don't cut me out. I
