I nodded, getting to my feet, and meeting her eyes. “Abso-fucking-lutely, Alpha Riley.”
She smirked, outstretching her palm, and pressing it to my forehead. An electric shock came from her and into me before a buzzing crawled through my body. Invisible chains linked me to the pack once again, and I didn’t like it one bit—but it was only temporary.
“What night are we extracting the plan?” Sophia asked as we took our seats again. “Because I’d like to be part of it but this baby is coming soon.”
“You’re not coming, darlin’,” Blaine said without a beat.
“We’ll discuss it later, but yes I am.”
He growled low, and I took the chance to interrupt. “I’d like to do it as soon as fucking possible. We’ve waited long enough. Besides, Lockhart will catch word that I’ve come back here. The fucker is smart, he’ll figure out we’ll be planning an attack.”
Riley tapped her fingers on the table. “That’s true. Would everyone be okay with doing this tomorrow?”
Relief washed through my body in tingles.
“I can get my pack warriors to head over now,” Blaine said. “They’ll arrive by morning.”
“Perfect.” Gabe nodded and glanced around the table to assess everyone’s decision. “Tomorrow it is then.”
“Tomorrow Lockhart finally gets what he deserves.”
Everyone around the table nodded in agreement, and we worked out all the details and possible fuck ups that could happen. After the meeting was over, all of us minus Caroline ate dinner together before Harlow and I said our goodbyes and headed back to our room.
As soon as our door closed, Harlow let out a breath of air. “That was so stressful.”
I grinned. She was something else. A strong person with the best fucking personality I’d known. I loved her with everything I had and more. “You did great.”
Her fingers worked through her silk hair after she pulled the hair tie out from the morning. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you.” I coughed, trying to distract myself from the overwhelming urge to claim her entirety. Her scent being mixed with mine was delectable, and I wanted to change it more by completing the soul-bond, but I swallowed it back. “I finally get to avenge Liv because you tend to get things done with your give-no-fucks attitude.”
Her eyes softened. “And I get to avenge my parents.”
“I want you to know, revenge made me a bloodthirsty mother fucker before I met you, but now I feel the need to avenge her out of obligation. I don’t have that deep-seated anger I harbored after she died.”
The smile that stretched her lips upward knocked the fucking breath out of me. “I love you, Xav.” And the way she said my name made my legs weak.
It wasn’t just the matebond, it ran deeper than that. Harlow had me under her spell, whether she knew it or not.
TWENTY THREE
Harlow
I couldn’t believe it. Tomorrow I would avenge my parent’s death with the help of Xav and his old pack, and it was all because of a fateful encounter. Once we got back to the room, I meditated as Xav took a shower, and when he finished it I took mine. I absorbed energy from the water droplets as I showered, and my magical energy was charged up fully by the time we slid into bed.
Being in his arms had become second nature. It was crazy to think not that long ago, I’d made a pillow wall in between us to stop him from touching me, and now all I could think about was all the different ways he could touch me.
“Are you nervous?” His lips brushed my ear.
A shiver shot down my body and landed in my core. I swallowed hard. “Not completely. I think everything will work out. We have a lot of people on our side.”
“Yeah, but Lockhart is ruthless and has a hell of a lot of numbers. A lot could go wrong.”
I sat up and took his handsome face in my hands. “Don’t say that. Nothing will go wrong. We can handle anything that happens.”
“You’re right. I just can’t lose you, Harlow.” The look in his eyes caused heat to rush between my legs.
“I’m not that easy to get rid of.” I inched closer and nipped his bottom lip. “Completing the soul-bond strengthens our bond right?”
I swore he short-circuited with the mention of completing it. “Uh, yeah. It strengthens the feelings of our emotions, lets us know where each other are at all times, and allows for mindlinking,” he sputtered out the explanation.
I giggled, throwing my leg over his lap and positioning myself over his erection. “That could benefit us tomorrow, couldn’t it?”
“Are you saying you want to do this?” His body was stiff as if he were holding himself back.
“Yes, I think it’s time.” I moved my hands from his face and wrapped my arms around his neck. “I love you, Xav.”
Something in him snapped and within seconds, I was underneath him with both of us stripped naked. “I love you.” His lips crashed to mine without letting me say anything else or even take another breath.
The kiss was all-consuming, filled with anticipation as a heated sensation tore at my chest. He matched my tongue with each lap as his hands skimmed up and down my sides. We were going to complete the soul-bond, and there was no going back once we had. It made my stomach dip in the best way.
His hands moved from my sides to cup both of my breasts in his hands. I moaned and my head fell back onto the pillow as he rolled my nipples between his fingers. On instinct, I scratched down the rivulets of his abs. My heart leaped to my throat. I’d never let myself look at him when he was naked in front of me other than a glance here and there. And I’d never touched a man like I was about to touch him. I sucked the anxiety crawling out
