“Baby,” Tracker says warningly.
“Don’t baby me. Not when it comes to my family,” she murmurs, turning her glare on him.
“Maybe he should know,” Raven remarks.
“Ray,” Victoria snaps, whipping her head in Raven’s direction.
“Don’t Ray me. I know you hate what she went through and I’m not trying to sound like a bitch by saying this, but you weren’t there. You didn’t see the lights die in her the way Pitch Black and I did. Or Lynch. We saw it and there was nothing we could do about it. Not back then, however, I can now. Consequences be damned.” Tears spill down Raven’s cheeks as she furiously wipes them away.
Victoria seems to contemplate what Raven says and nods her head. “You sure about this?” she asks.
“Sure, about what? Somebody want to fill us all in?” I mutter, frustrated by everything they’re talking about.
“Brother, you need to calm down,” Shadow mutters, joining the rest of us. Luna takes a seat on his lap.
Seeing the way my brothers are with their women causes a pang of jealousy to filter through me as thoughts of wanting the same thing penetrate my mind even more so.
“I’ll calm down when I understand what they’re talking about in regard to Harlow,” I grumble.
“When Harlow was thirteen, she was attacked,” Raven announces and everyone around us tenses up at the news. I knew something had to have happened for her to get the scar on her face. “It wasn’t in the way you would think. She was attacked by several girls who beat her, sheered her hair off, and one of them gave her the scar on her face with a pair of scissors.”
“Fuck,” I growl, sitting forward bracing my hands on my knees.
“You can say that again. Pitch Black found her laying in the dirt at the park, he carried her to his truck and took her straight to the hospital. Harlow never told us which girls did it but I found out and when I did, I made sure they paid for what they did. Unfortunately, it was too late, Harlow had already moved up here and refuses to go anywhere near home again.” Raven’s face grows paler the more she speaks.
“What aren’t you telling us?” Blaze asks, knowing his ol’ lady like the back of his hand.
“What she’s not telling you is Harlow is the Harpy for a reason. You all know I shut my emotions down when I need to but Harlow’s are gone, she thrives off the fury fueling her and she won’t allow anyone close enough to get to her again,” Victoria declares taking over for Raven.
“I don’t believe that. I’ve seen life in her eyes,” I state.
“You might have, but it’s not much. If Harlow had an ounce of life left in her she would have been with us all this time, rather than being the lone wolf who goes out and does everything by herself. Even the fuckin’ job she’s working now,” Victoria mutters.
“What job?” Stoney asks, having joined us as Victoria spoke.
“I don’t even know. All Raven and I know is this job has taken a long time and I’m not getting a good feeling by it, especially after seeing her last night,” Victoria says, lifting her gaze to meet Stoney’s.
“Fuckin’ hell, we need to talk to her and find out what the hell’s going on,” Stoney declares, crossing his arms over his chest. A little while back right around the time Raven had Mark, him and his ol’ lady went on a trip and when they came back something was different between them. I don’t know how to explain it but they seemed whole again, I guess that’s how you can explain it. Plus, Stoney had called church and brought a lot of shit to light he was keeping under his hat. None of us blamed him for not telling us exactly what was going on but it didn’t mean we weren’t all pissed about it.
“Good luck with that. You won’t be seeing her again for a while. Once that baby’s born, Harlow will be gone,” Raven shares right as the doors open to the back and my body stiffens at the sight of Coyote grinning like a fool.
“It’s a boy,” he declares.
Cheers and congratulations filter throughout the waiting room.
“When can I see my nephew?” Cara asks from her spot in the crook of her man’s arms.
“Harlow still with her?” I ask right after Cara’s question.
“Tinsley told me to come get you all, and Harlow was still with her,” Coyote nods with a grin.
Nodding, I wait for everyone else to go first, I figured I’d wait near the door to make sure Harlow didn’t get away from me.
Little did I know in the short amount of time it took us all to get to Tinsley’s room to meet the newest addition to our family, Harlow vanished just as Raven said she would.
Fuck. Now what do I do.
Better yet, what job is it she’s working on that no one else knows about?
My gut tightens as I realize Harlow might not be the one after all. Not when she won’t even let anyone in long enough to help her.
“Ranger,” Tinsley calls my name drawing me out of my head.
“Yeah, Tins,” I say, clearing my throat and stepping forward.
“Um, Harlow asked me to give this to you,” she murmurs, holding up a folded piece of paper.
“Thanks,” I mumble taking it from her and reading it.
Ranger,
Sorry. Maybe in another life where I wasn’t who I am I could have seen where this was going. I wish that were the case, only this isn’t a dream world, and I must do what I started and in doing so I won’t take the chance with anyone else’s life. Good luck and I hope you find happiness where I never will. Enjoy your life.
Until the next life,
Harlow
I end up reading her message three more times as her words burn themselves into my brain. I might not know what she means about some of
