Maybe we weren’t really so different, after all.
“How did you know to ask how much to use? I would have dumped the entire bottle down your throat.”
He hesitated. “I… sensed you. Your thoughts. Not like Iheardyou, exactly, but I could tell what you were thinking. The general shape of it, at least. You were worried about how difficult it would be to get more.”
I stared at him. “The bond is that strong for you? I thought it was mostly a wolf thing.”
“It’s how I found you tonight.”
Surprise coursed through me. Harris could find me. He could feel me the same way I could feel him.
Then Harris paused, grimacing. “I’m sorry for that, by the way. You were right. I shouldn’t have gone looking for you. I almost got us both killed.”
“No,” I said immediately, taking his hand. “You saved my life tonight. And now we know what type of creature we’re up against.”
“But if I hadn’t been there—”
“I would have fought it and I would have died. It would have paralyzed me and dragged me off.”
“Reed—”
“You saved my life tonight, Harris. And even when your own safety was at risk, you wouldn’t leave me. I shouldneverhave called you helpless.”
“Don’t forget ‘prey.’”
“I shouldn’t have said you were prey, either,” I added immediately. “I was being a dick. You put yourself in danger to protect me.”
Harris smiled, but his cheeks flushed as though the praise had embarrassed him. He looked away, shaking his head. “Get used to it.”
Maybe fate had chosen correctly for me after all. Because Harris was a man after my own heart. Wewerefar more alike than I had ever imagined.
And when my mate turned his head to meet my gaze again, I returned his smile. A new sort of understanding had been born between us. “Yeah, I’m kind of thinking I’m going to need to.”
CHAPTER EIGHT || HARRIS
“Harris?” The sound of Reed’s voice snapped me awake.
I lurched upright and immediately turned to glare at him, the couch creaking under my weight. “What are you doing? You shouldn’t be out of bed!”
It had been a rough night, but Reed had finally convinced me that he didn’t need a hospital. In return, I had made him promise to rest in bed until he was healed up.
“I’m fine,” he assured me. The expression he wore was more open than I had ever seen it before. A faint smile tugged at his lips, as though my reaction had amused him. He stood next to the couch, wearing an emerald-green T-shirt and a pair of dark jeans. His hair was still damp, presumably from the shower I hadn’t heard him taking. He even had shoes and socks on. “I’m all healed up. Thanks to you.”
When I narrowed my eyes at him in suspicion, he chuckled and stripped off his shirt. His skin was perfectly unblemished—all lean muscle and a dusting of chest hair that shouldn’t have seemed so enticing. I had the wild impulse to run my fingers through it, to see if it was as soft as it looked. But there wasn’t even a scar from the injuries he had sustained last night. He was completely back to normal.
“Oh,” I said, staring at him in disbelief.
“Wolves heal quick,” he said, pulling his shirt back on. When he had finished tugging down the hem, he added, “There’s coffee. And hot water, if you want to shower.”
“Both sound good,” I replied warily. Was it my imagination, or was Reed noticeably warmer toward me now?
“I put out a towel for you. And a washcloth.”
“How civilized of you. Next, you’ll be telling me you cook with an apron and have matching sheets.”
He grinned at me, a mischievous sparkle in his eye. “I’m not an animal. Or, at least, notallof the time.”
I couldn’t help smiling back at him. Something relaxed in my chest right then—a tension I hadn’t even been aware I’d been holding on to. Because Reed was going to be okay. Better than okay. He was even joking. Last night seemed like a bad dream.
