I gave him a blank look. “How does what work?”
“The wolf bite. Becoming a werewolf. Is it like in the movies or—”
“It’s not pleasant,” I said, in a tone designed to shut him down.
“Anyway, I’m just curious,” he said, his lips twitching with amusement at my prickliness. “I know we’re soulmates or whatever, but I still need to get to know you, Reed. I want to.”
The wolf in my chest preened. Our mate wanted to know us. He wasn’t afraid—he was curious. That boded well.
Except no, it didn’t.
Every moment I spent not being a dick to him was a cruelty. Letting him think anything was possible between us wasn’t remotely kind. I didn’t want a mate. I had the leadership of the pack—fractured though it was—and that was more than enough. Plus, Harris couldn’t hope to fight back against any of the supernatural creatures that might attack.
He was helpless. A sitting duck.
And the idea of him lying on the ground, his eyes wide and staring, taken apart the way the hiker had been—
The sudden fear was like ice water dumped over my head, reminding me of what was important. And what was at stake. I needed to leave.
“You’re afraid,” Harris whispered, staring at me. “I can feel it. What the hell are you so afraid of, Reed?”
Yeah, I needed to leave. Right now.
Instead of answering his question, I shook my head and took a step back from him. “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll send Daniel to check on you. I’ll be back tonight.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” Harris said firmly, locking eyes with me. “I’m still pissed at you, by the way.”
“Good. I’m a dick,” I said, turning and heading for the door. “You should leave, now that you know that about me.”
He studied me, his eyes glinting. “Sorry. I’m not that easy, bud. You’re going to have to work a lot harder than that to get rid of me.”
“There’s nothing here for you,” I said over my shoulder. “There’s only disappointment. You shouldn’t have come.”
I was halfway out the door, but I still heard his reply just fine. “You’re wrong about that.”
The door slammed shut between us.
* * *
When I got to the bar, it was Lindsey behind the counter, rather than Lacey.
“Where’s Lacey?”
“I had the afternoon free and I offered to help out. Lacey headed back to help Daniel with research for a spell.”
I cast a wary look around. It was still relatively early, and we didn’t have any patrons yet, save for Robert, who I could see through the bay window sitting by himself on the back patio, a mug of beer between his hands. He was one of our regulars and came in every day like clockwork at exactly two in the afternoon. His heavy jacket was wrapped around him, dwarfing his narrow frame.
“Daniel knows how to cast a locator spell,” I said. That was the logical next step in these situations, one he didn’t even have to be told to do.
“Lacey filled me in. He tried and it didn’t work. He thinks it’s not in our world anymore,” Lindsey replied. She set two shot glasses onto the bar and then grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the shelf behind her. She poured both. “Maybe it’ll stay gone.”
“I doubt it.” Then I frowned at her. “What are you doing?”
“Buying you a drink with my free labor. Which you’re welcome for, by the way.” She paused, fixing me with a knowing look. “I figure you probably need it.”
“Lacey,” I muttered, heading behind the bar. She’d clearly told Lindsey everything she’d seen me doing in the alley with Harris. “Look, I’ve got other things to do. Talking about my feelings isn’t one of them.”
“I’m aware,” Lindsey said solemnly. “Now that you’re Alpha, talking about your feelings is off-limits. I’m mostly just curious about the random guy you were making out with in the alley.”
