Happiness.
Love.
Neither of us has said the words, but it’s there. Pretty sure Lynx is afraid I’m not ready to hear it. He’s not entirely wrong. A week ago, despite knowing that this is forever, that Lynx is mine, I still had a nagging doubt that this was real. How could I feel this way after such a short time?
But the more I get used to this life, to my life now, the easier it is to accept that shifters feel things differently, on a deeper level than humans. My connection to Lynx is bone deep,souldeep. Doesn’t get any better than that.
“Come on,” I whisper, stealing a kiss before stepping back. “We’d better get dressed.”
Everyone’s waitingwhen we get outside.
Tanner Grey leans on the open door of his SUV while Jet, Mal, and Callum stand about ten feet away. Beth and Flint sit on the table next to them.
Grey’s eyes dart from me to Lynx as we walk over to them. I know our bond is obvious to other shifters, but I wonder what Grey sees when he looks at us.
“Harper.”
“Grey.”
“There somewhere we can talk in private?” Grey glances around the compound. A few people are knocking about—I’m still not sure what everyone does around here—but not many.
Lynx looks to Callum, some silent conversation taking place. When Callum nods, Lynx looks to the others. They seem to get what he’s asking because one by one, they all nod.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little shocked that they take Grey inside.
To their inner sanctum.
Or theirsuper-secret room, as I call it in my head.
Either Grey helping them rescue me earned him entrance or whatever he has to say isn’t something they want anyone else to hear. I’m leaning towards the latter, considering the tension in the room as Callum closes the door.
It’s stifling.
Lynx doesn’t waste any time. “We expected to hear from you before now.”
Grey sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “Yeah, sorry about that. Things have been...” He lets out a harsh laugh. “Strained, to say the fucking least.”
“What happened after we left?”
Grey winces. “What do you think? The council cleared up Fox’s mess.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” Jet snaps, and Grey looks over at him. I’m getting better at recognising scents, but there’s too much going on in here for me to pick out what’s specific to Grey.
“It means, they don’t want it getting out that hunters were involved with fight rings, so they covered it up while they investigate internally. I’m not supposed to talk about it.” He looks at Lynx again. “I’m definitely not supposed to come here. They’d be fucking livid if they found out.”
Jet’s eyes narrow. “Why’d you come then?”
“Because I said I would. And I believe you deserve to know what’s going on. And also...” He reaches into his jacket and pulls out a blade. Every shifter in the room snarls, except Jet, which is really fucking odd, until Grey raises his other hand in supplication and says, “I wanted to give this back.”
When the snarls subside, he walks around the table and sets the knife down in front of Jet. “Thank you.” He goes to step away, but Jet grabs his hand.
Grey winces like it hurts.
Jet’s low growl fills the room as he gently pushes back Grey’s sleeve, revealing deep bruises around his wrist. They look too new to be from what happened at the fight ring. “Who the fuck did this?” He still has a loose hold on Grey’s hand.
Tension in the room escalates. The hairs on the back of my neck rise, and only Lynx’s hand on my thigh stops me from reacting to it.
“Easy.” He sends a comforting pulse down the bond. Its effect is instant.
