His gaze was alert and wary as he approached the front porch and he seemed poised for a fight.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, my voice low so no one inside would overhear.
“I was invited,” Harrison replied.
I glared at him. “By who?”
“Ava called me yesterday and told me not to worry about opening the shop today. Then she asked me to meet her here this morning.”
The back of my neck prickled with possessiveness when he said her name and I had to swallow a snarl.
The wolf studied me, his expression strangely detached considering how territorial he’d been just a couple of days ago. “Ava’s made her choice,” he stated suddenly. “And she didn’t choose me.”
The rage building within me lessened at his words. “What?”
Harrison took another step toward me, putting his foot on the bottom tread of the stairs that led up to the porch. “Ava chose you, Macgrath. I don’t like it, and neither does my wolf, but I have to accept it. Ava makes her own decisions and controls her own destiny. She decided that you were the one she wanted. Nothing I do or say now will change her mind.” He came closer, taking another step up the stairs until we were only a couple of feet apart. “But that doesn’t mean that I’ll hesitate to jump in if you fuck this up, vampire. I care about that woman, more than I’ve cared about anyone in a long time, and I will protect her at all costs. Even from the man she chose.”
I wanted to throw him across the street and watch him bounce off the sidewalk. I wanted to tear his throat out with my fangs. Because she hadn’t chosen me, at least not yet. When she did, I could only pray that the wolf was right and she would return my feelings. Her reaction to me this morning in the kitchen gave me hope. Even if her heart wasn’t ready to recognize what I was to her, her body did. She responded to my presence, her heartbeat rising and her scent changing. While I was pleased with her body’s quickening in my nearness, I wanted more. I wanted her heart and soul. I wanted everything.
I was also glad that Ava had so many people in her life that cared about her. Who would lay down their lives to protect her.
But there was one thing I wanted to clarify with the wolf before we ended this conversation. “You care about her, but I belong to her. Everything I am, the very blood in my veins, is hers to do with as she pleases. I exist for her and Idiefor her.”
His eyes widened at my words and he stumbled back, tripping over the steps as he moved. “She’s your mate,” he whispered, comprehension dawning in his expression. His eyes moved over my shoulder as though he could look through the exterior walls of the house to see those inside. “Dear God, she’s your mate and she has no idea.”
My head bowed as Harrison came to the correct conclusion. Yesterday, I finally understood why I was so drawn to Ava. Why I couldn’t stay away from her even when she hated me.
She was my mate and every cell in my body screamed for her. When she collapsed, the fear nearly overwhelmed me. I knew at once that I couldn’t lose her. That I would die before I lost her, because a world without Ava in it was no place I wanted to be.
The shifter and I stared at each other, a strange understanding passing between us. If anyone other than a vampire could be sympathetic to my plight, it would be a shifter. Mates were highly valued and cherished by their males. To be forced to keep your distance from your mate was the worst sort of torture for a werewolf. Just as it was for a vampire.
Before either of us could speak, the door opened and Ava stuck her head outside.
“There you are, Harrison. I was beginning to get worried.” She stepped out onto the porch, her eyes darting between the two of us as though she was trying to determine what was going on. “Savannah made a ton of food. Why don’t you come inside and have something to eat while we talk, okay?”
The wolf nodded at her and came up the steps. He was careful not to touch me when he walked by, which made Ava’s eyes narrow to slits. I moved to follow him, but her hand shot out and grabbed my arm.
“Just one sec,” she muttered as she reached out to shut the door behind the shifter. Then she faced me and put her free hand on her hip. “Harrison is our ally,” she stated.
“I know.” I wanted to glance down where her fingers still touched my skin, but I didn’t want her to remove it. Not yet.
“So you weren’t out here snarling at him a few minutes ago?” she asked pointedly.
“We had something to discuss but we worked it out.” I would let her draw her own conclusion.
Ava studied me closely for a moment and I saw her eyes flicker down to her hand where the ring rested on the base of her finger. The stone remained blue.
There was a twinge of pain in my chest. I wanted her to trust me and an evasive answer to her question was not the way to earn that trust. But I wasn’t ready for the conversation that an honest answer would beget. She wasn’t ready for it either.
Ava relaxed, dropping her hand from my arm. “Okay.”
It was my turn to eye her closely. Ava did not back down. She was tenacious when she wanted answers. “Just okay?” I asked softly.
She nodded. “It’s obvious that talking about it is only agitating you more. As long as you and Harrison remain in control, I’ll leave it alone.”
The last of the tension leaked out of my body, until she spoke again.
“Was that Callum on the phone?” she asked.
