“She’s making her signature dishes but don’t get lured in by the promise of good food,” I said. “Her friends are gonna grill you on shifter sexual anatomy.”
As Tor spluttered at that, I turned back to Daria.
“So we’ll catch up after work? I’ll come by the bar and we can have a drink when you finish up your shift.”
“You got it, bitch.” She swept in and gave me a hug. “Now, use your bear to go and win you some ridiculously large teddy bear or something.”
“Plush toys and rollercoasters?” Kieran said. “You got it.”
Except when we got into the guys’ car, it was obvious that Mack had not reconciled himself to the plan.
“We can still head back to our place,” he said as he pulled away from the curb. “There’s this amazing steak place?—”
“Nope,” I said.
“A Thai place?—?”
“Nope.”
He let out a long sigh before driving up the end of the street. “But…” He glanced at me. “Maybe you could tell me a bit about the guys who are threatening to make trouble for us? Kieran wouldn’t tell me anything.”
Mack’s fingers tapped the steering wheel as we idled at the lights, then he nodded.
“Wolf shifters…” The lights turned green and he drove through the intersection. “Half of the police force and the local security companies are run by wolf shifters.”
“Ohh-kay…”
“But the other half? The one percenters, the criminal organisations, the gangs…” He dared a look at me. “They’re wolf shifters too, and my family?” I was starting to regret my decision when I saw real pain in his eyes. “They’re some of the worst. My father, my brother… I’d never want them anywhere near you, Harper. Not near any woman. My father killed my mother, his own fated mate, and then…” The sound of the indicator ticking took on a more sinister tone. “Then I killed him.”
Chapter 28
Mack
That was the tough thing about being born the son of a monster. You had an awareness about the darker side of things that everyone else seemed blissfully unaware of.
I watched mothers holding their daughter’s hands, fathers with their sons, and I searched for signs of fingers gripped too tightly, leaving bruises in their wake. When people talked to their children, subconsciously I kept an ear out for tone, but not content. Who was raising their voice, clenching their jaw as they spoke? The same went for men and their wives or their girlfriends. It felt like I always had one eye on the world around me, one ear listening, but now…
Now it was so much freaking worse.
Before, I just wanted to stop men, males, from hurting those around them. My concern was abstract, even if my determination not to allow it to happen again wasn’t. But now that I had Harper? My arm tugged her closer, until she was forced to walk half plastered against my chest.
“Hey… Fido,” she wheezed. “You want to let up a bit? I’m struggling to breathe here.”
“No.” My eyes met hers, and it felt like I catalogued every shade, every fibre, of those golden-brown irises. “Breathing is something we do at home, where it’s safe.” Her brows creased as her expression softened. “The only way I can let you walk around here is if you’re glued to my side at all times.”
“OK.”
Just two little letters, but that was all I needed to hear. No, scratch that, the word and then her arm going around my waist, her head pressed into my chest. That, I needed that.
And for Tor not to propose completely stupid ways to spend the night.
“So, let’s get the rides out of the way first,” he said. “That way if we have something to eat, we won’t be blowing chunks afterwards.”
“Probably will happen anyway.” I scowled at the food stands. “Pretty sure the only thing they make fresh around here is another batch of salmonella.”
“I figured we might do a few games before the rides,” Kieran said. “Win our girl a big fluffy bear.”
Harper sucked in a breath, a smile forming, but Tor cut her off with a frown.
