The tiger had come forward for a reason. Humans might know that shifters existed, but some primal part of them activated at the sight of a massive tiger loping across the sideshow grounds. People cleared the area, letting us pass easily so we reached the car in seconds.
“Here.”
Mack threw my clothes at me when I came back to skin as Kieran thrust the plushies into the back seat, then picked up Harper and placed her next to them. He took the seat closest to the exposed window as I climbed into the passenger side seat.
“Your family?” I asked him.
“Don’t know.” Mack revved the engine, then swung the car into reverse, peeling out of the car park. “Don’t want to stick around long enough to find out.”
“There were wolf shifters here?” Harper tried to crane her neck to look out the window, but Kieran blocked her view. “Like the ones that turned up at work?”
“What…?” The interior of the car dropped several degrees, and it wasn’t due to the air conditioner working overtime. Mack stared at the rear vision mirror way too long. “What do you mean, wolf shifters turned up at your work?”
“Ahh…” Our mate was far too pale, looking at each one of us in turn. “Didn’t I mention that?”
“No.”
Our reply was unanimous.
“Right, so I went outside?—”
“Harper…”
Kieran grabbed her hand and squeezed it.
“I had to take the rubbish out.” Her tone was getting shriller by the second. “It’s part of my job.”
“Ring your dads,” Mack ordered Kieran. “Let them know we’ll be off site until this is sorted.” He refocussed on Harper. “We’ll be the ones taking the rubbish out going forward. Bugger it, quit your job and stay with us?—”
“That’s my life you’re talking about.” I turned around because her tone, her pained expression, made clear the sacrifice we were asking her to make. I’d said we wouldn’t push her, and yet here we were. “My job. My means to support myself.”
“We’ll get you another job,” Mack snapped. “One in a safer part of town, where there are other people’s mates that will protect and support you.”
“As long as I decide to accept the bond, right?” Her tone was as brittle as cracked glass, making clear she was just about to shatter completely. “And if I don’t, then what?”
“This conversation needs to be continued later.” Mack’s attention was entirely trained on the mirror. Something in the lights reflected there had his entire attention.
“Or not at all.” Harper sat back, arms crossed. “I appreciate that you want to keep me safe…”
Whatever else she had to say was cut off as Mack abruptly changed lanes, earning him a beep of someone’s horn and an irate muffled shout as they passed around us. He didn’t care, turning to the right abruptly, then left, screaming down suburban streets, to emerge out on a major road somewhere else.
“You’re not going home tonight,” Mack barked. He was rushing her, pushing her recklessly, like he was the car, and for what? I dared a glance at the side mirror, just seeing other cars travelling at a sedate pace behind us. “Call your friend and tell her to stay somewhere else tonight and let her know you’re with us.”
“Doing what?” She leaned forward, her arms resting on the backs of our seats. “What’re you going to do to convince me that’s a good idea?”
I stared at Mack, watching him fight a war inside himself, but I wasn’t about to fight by his side. When I turned around, the challenge was clear in Harper’s eyes.
“Whatever you want, my mate. You know that.”
Kieran’s hand rubbed small circles on her back and that seemed to ease some of the tension. She blinked and then sat back, nestling into his side. It wasn’t hard to see myself pressed in on the other side. We’d kiss those full lips until they were red and swollen and then…
“OK.” She nodded firmly. “Though pegging isn’t off the table. I want that noted.” I grinned, never really having fantasised about the act before, but maybe… With a bit of lube, some patience and my mate on the other end, maybe that was exactly what we needed. “Pegging Mack. If he’s gonna be a pain in my arse, maybe I need to return the favour?”
A short bark of laughter escaped all of us, defusing the tension as we sped towards our place.
Chapter 31
Harper
