He walked to the other side of the room, which would give him some privacy, but it wasn’t like he had anything to say that couldn’t be heard by others.Hell, Jacob might learn a thing or two about leading the clan by listening in.
“Please tell me the castle is still standing,” he asked Brad when Brad answered.
Brad snickered.“It is, and everyone is talking to everyone again, so there’s that.”
“That’s a relief.How did you do it?”
“We locked them in a room together.”
Harmon blinked.“That’s not something I would’ve thought of doing.”
“Well, it worked, so I don’t think anyone cares that it wasn’t conventional.”
“I definitely don’t.I’m glad you managed to fix the problem.”
“Some days, I wonder why you agreed to be our leader.If it was me, I would’ve run away screaming a long time ago.”
“Trust me, I’m tempted to do just that about twice a day.”
There was a pause before Brad spoke again.“Is that what you’re doing?Running away?”
Harmon didn’t want to lie to his second-in-command.Brad wasn’t only that, anyway.He was also a friend—one of the best friends Harmon had.He didn’t want to put that friendship in jeopardy by lying.“A little,” he admitted.“It’s just become a lot lately.I needed some time away, and this way, I’m still helping the coven.”
“You’re also putting yourself in danger.Some people here might be brats, but they care about you.They don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I don’t want to get hurt, either.I don’t think I will be.Things are complicated, but the clan dragons know they lost this fight.They can’t risk antagonizing the pack by hurting us.”
“I hope you’re right.”Brad hesitated.“Will you be coming home?”
“Once this is over.I didn’t leave forever.I just needed some space.”
“Not fromeveryone,” Brad teased.
The last time he’d called, Brad had heard Rex, and Harmon had needed to explain that they were sharing a room.For some reason, Brad had been excited by that and had mentioned something about there being athere’s only one bedromance.Harmon still wasn’t entirely sure what that conversation had been about.
“Anyway, everything’s fine?”he asked to be sure.
“Everything’s good, so don’t worry and focus on what you’re doing.Who knows, maybe you won’t be coming home on your own.”
Harmon knew what Brad was insinuating.He glanced at Rex, who was talking to Merrick.Merrick looked like he’d rather do anything but that, but his only alternative was talking to Jacob, and Harmon was pretty sure that Jacob would drown himself in his cup of coffee before willingly talking to Merrick.
He didn’t want to have this conversation here, where people could hear him—whereRexcould hear him.They’d talked about having a long-distance relationship, and they’d agreed that it wasn’t what they wanted.Harmon couldn’t move in with the pack, and he wasn’t willing to step down as coven leader, so that left only one alternative.Harmon wasn’t sure that Rex would want to move in with his coven, though.It was a big decision to make and an even bigger thing to ask.
He stepped out of the conference room.He wasn’t planning on going far, but this way, Rex wouldn’t hear that he was talking about him.“It’s complicated,” he told Brad.
“Good things always are.”
Harmon rolled his eyes.“I don’t need you to be my therapist or love guru.I’m not saying it won’t ever happen.I’m just saying that it’s more complicated than it would be for someone who isn’t in charge of a coven.”
“Well, he knows what you do, doesn’t he?”
“He does.”
“So he knows that you can’t leave the coven.If he wants to be with you, he’ll move.”
“He has a family.”
“So?I have a family, too.I call them as often as I can, and we’re all happy.”
