ChapterFifteen
Scott
"You didwhat?"
As dramatic as it sounds to say that Zade roared a half hour later when I dropped the bomb that I'd proposed to Harley, it really wouldn't have been inaccurate.
"I asked Harley to marry me," I repeated calmly.
"You fucking promised me that you weren't going to tell him about your past until the Doc said it was okay!"
I shrugged and, yeah, it might have been a little sheepish. "Well, Zade, the truth is that I meant it and I didn't intentionally violate it." His blatantly disbelieving look made me sigh. "Shit, Zade, I swear. He showed up while I was working on my laptop and I forgot that the screensaver was a slide show of our pictures, okay? It reallywasan accident."
"Excuse me." Rafael had been passing by and he spun around, a couple of steps bringing him close. "Did you just say that Harley remembered that you have history together from seeing pictures on your computer?"
"Not exactly," I responded, taken aback by the intensity of his stare. "He doesn't remember, but when he saw them, it was obvious that we'd been close." When Rafael raised a brow, I groaned. "They're pictures from when we were dating. Hugging, kissing, that sort of thing."
Instead of clearing things up, the other Alpha's eyes hardened further. "Did you tell him who was in the pictures with you?"
Huh?
"No," I said slowly, feeling more lost every minute. "It's obviously him."
"So you're saying he recognized himself in the pictures?" Zade's anger fled and he sounded concerned.
"Yes. Then he asked me about them." I looked from Rafael to Zade and back. "What the hell is with the third degree?"
Levi spoke from his spot at Zade's side for the first time since we'd exchanged greetings. "Since he was returned, Harley hasn't been able to identify his own image," he explained softly, his forehead creased. "Mirrors, pictures, nothing."
"At least, that's what he has claimed," the Blood Valley Alpha broke in. "We're going to need to talk to him again, Zade."
Harley's guardian nodded, still frowning.
"I better call the doctor," Levi muttered. He stretched up to kiss his Alpha's cheek before turning to face Rafael. "Can you wait about thirty minutes? I want to be there."
Rafael nodded. "Sure. I'm going to need to make a few calls first, anyway." He gave me another intense look. "We're going to have questions for you, also."
"Okay." I kept from shrugging – it seemed like I'd been doing that a lot – but, truthfully, I really wasn't sure what they were all so worked up over. A little over an hour later, things went from confusing to alarming when I found out exactly why they were all so concerned.
Clint and his brother had apparently stepped out, the rest of us – Zade, Levi, Rafael, Colby, and the Empath, Trevor – were all sitting around the conference table in the Coruscation Alpha's office when Zade began to speak.
"Harley," Zade kept his voice calm, but there was an unusual hardness in it, as well, "Do you know why we want to talk to you?"
Harley's scent was tinged with fear. "I..I guess so."
Rafael pinned Harley's wide eyes with his own steely gaze and my Omega's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed nervously. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I.." Harley choked out the word and turned to me for help. Help I'd had to promise not to give to be allowed in for his questioning. "I'm sorry," he finished weakly.
"Sorry?" Colby snapped. "After everything that's been done for you, to help you, all you can say issorry?"
Panic filled Harley's face as he stared back at Rafael, his body beginning to shake. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Instead, silent tears began to slide down his cheeks.
"Dammit, Rafael," I growled, shoving my chair back and striding to my Omega. I gathered Harley's trembling body in my arms and held him close, allowing my comfort to wash over him. "You're scaring the shit out of him. Just tell us what the hell this is about or we're leaving."
Zade stood and I glared at him. "If I have to go through you, I will, Zade," I warned him. "I tried to work with you, but I'm not letting you put him through this."
"Sit down, Scott."
