Page 61 of Rabid
“There’s not a lot to tell, really,” she counters casually.
I snort out an incredulous laugh. “The scar on your neck screams otherwise.”
Her lips tip up. “Well done, Luna. Most wolves stare at it for ages before ever growing the balls to ask.”
“I blame Jenny. Her meat’s clearly burned away all my manners and ability to small talk.”
“Then you’re better for it, I say,” Harlan declares, a playful hint in her tone. “I’ll take balls and honesty over awkward staring any day of the week.”
“I’ll just take the balls,” I counter, and Harlan groans and drops a hand down her face.
“Just go fuck already,” she encourages with a chortle. “I’m pretty sure the pack have bets going to see how long they can keep the two of you apart before you guys lose it and tell everyone to fuck off and then disappear for a week.”
I throw my head back and laugh, my heated face having nothing to do with the fire and everything to do with wanting to do just that. I catch Tyran watching me hungrily before someone demands his attention and he looks away again. “Place my bet on another half an hour,” I quip, making Harlan chuckle.
My fingers come down to trace over the new marks Tyran placed on my arm. They’ve already healed, and not just from the outside. They healed something on the inside of me too.
“My scar is courtesy of my brother,” Harlan says quietly, pulling me from my thoughts, her dark eyes on my arm. “He attacked me when I unknowingly claimed a wolf he didn’t approve of. I didn’t know who he was, just that my wolf wanted him, but I found out soon enough that I wasn’t allowed to make that choice. I have no idea how I survived, to be honest. When I woke up, I wished I hadn’t, because my brother killed my mate right after he thought he’d killed me.”
I’m stunned silent by the violence of her past and the almost casual way she describes something so brutal and wrong.
“An older couple in my pack hid me until I was strong enough to run. News of Tyran taking over this pack was just starting to spread, so I took a chance that I might be able to join since they were half a pack short. I’ve been here ever since.”
I blow out a breath as she looks me in the eye. “If your brother’s not dead, I’ll help you kill him,” I offer in place of platitudes and useless sympathy.
She bumps her shoulder against mine, a smile on her face. “You’re alright, Luna. I couldn’t imagine a more perfect fit for Tyran—and I don’t say that lightly,” she tells me, and I’m humbled by her sentiment. “Alpha helped me hunt my brother down a while ago, but thank you for the offer.”
A group of pups run past us, playing tag and laughing, and I watch them go, their happy squeals painting the dusky night with euphoria.
“Incoming,” Harlan announces quietly, her body tensing ever so slightly, and I look up to track what it is that’s unsettled her.
I expect to see a female with strawberry blonde hair coming our way, but when my searching gaze lands on ash-brown hair and wide hazel eyes, I realize it’s Reap who’s making a beeline for us. The pack members nearby go quiet, their gazes judgmental, and I can see how self-conscious that makes Reap as the skin around his eyes tighten.
I thought the reckoning and his proving that he trusted Tyran at the river would’ve mended things with the rest of the pack, but from the look of it, it’s going to take more time for this wound to heal.
Reap reaches me and Harlan like a charging bull, and just when I’m convinced it’s time to call on my wolf to deal with him, he drops to a knee in front of me and tilts his head to the side, giving me easy access to his neck. “Luna, I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am for what happened. Regardless of whether or not you were pack, I should’ve watched out for you. I hope someday you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”
Taken aback by the delta’s show of submission, I study him, not sure what to say. My thoughts drift back to how scared I was in the shed and to Warrik’s words. I can still recall the relief and then the horror that overtook me after I peeled the boards back and escaped, only to realize I’d been set up to be claimed.
A cyclone of different emotions whir through me as I stare at Reap before my gaze skitters over to Tyran’s. He watches intently, as though he’s curious about how I’m going to handle this. Debate filters through me for a moment, but Reap doesn’t move from his kneeling position, patiently awaiting whatever it is that I’m going to do. I can tell by the resigned look in his eyes and the apprehension tainting the air that he’s not sure how I’m going to react.
I rise from the log Harlan and I are sitting on and stand in front of the repentant delta. I wait until a hint of edginess and uncertainty moves through the pack, and then I lean down to Reap.
“If anything like this ever happens again, it will be a very different kind of hunt that goes down between you and me,” I tell him evenly, letting a trickle of my rabid bleed into the warning. He nods stiffly, understanding passing between us, and then I grab his arm and help him get to his feet. Reap stares at me with sorrow-filled hazel eyes, while I make mine as warm as I possibly can. Then I reach up to grab his face and guide his forehead down to mine.
I’ve been greeting pack members exactly like this all day, but the moment our foreheads touch, signaling that I accept Reap as part of my pack, every rigid muscle in his body relaxes, and I can feel the wash of relief and gratitude as it moves through him. We stand like that for a bit, me radiating my acceptance and forgiveness, while Reap soaks it up and lets it fortify him.
Tyran comes over and pats Reap on the shoulder when we separate, offering him an approving nod. Then without warning, he scoops me up in his arms bridal style. I squeal as he whips me off my feet so fast it makes my head spin, and starts to carry me off toward the alpha house.
My laugh accompanies the whoops of the pack, but I find Harlan over Tyran’s shoulder. “Well?” I call out.
She looks up at the rising moon as though it’s a floating clock face in the sky, and then back at me with a sly grin, shaking her head. “That was only twenty minutes, Luna. Better luck next time!” she shouts after me, and I raise a fist in faux outrage.
Dammit, sooo close!
Chapter Nineteen
Idream I’m running.
