“Osiris?”
He blinks several times, surprised that I managed to decipher his chicken scratch before licking me again and I grin. “I like that. But full disclosure, that defaults you to Ozzy as a nickname and I won’t take no for an answer.”
I scratch once more behind his ears before getting ready for the day. There’s a million things to do, and even more that could go wrong, but I have to try. I’m fortunate enough to be able to just buy what I need now, but the second I start running, I’ll have to adapt quickly.
Money comes with chains, and when it’s acquired in blood like ours, those chains get heavier. Twenty-three or thirty; as long as I carry the Harlow name, I’ll never be free. So as soon as I escape, that will be the first thing to go. New life, new name, new me.
Now to just hope I’ll live long enough to see it.
Four
Osiris
I’m so gods damned useless!
I restrain myself from lashing out only because I don’t want to put her more at risk than I already am. If there were claw marks throughout her room, there’d be no lying her way out of it. The fact she hasn’t been caught hiding me is impressive enough; this isn’t the time to be careless and let my rage get the better of me.
She left under the guise of last minute dress shopping for the party tonight, but she’s using the opportunity to get a car lined up for our escape from this hellhole.
Rin, my mate, despite the fact that she’s very clearly human.
It was that pull that led me here when I escaped the mages that night, the scent of her skin calling me closer despite the fact I should have tried to make it under the fence and back home. If it wasn’t for my desperation, I never would have risked coming here, knowing full well how dangerous it could be. But if I didn’t come, someone else would have to, and I had nothing to lose but my pride.
Yet I’m stuck hiding in her room while she’s abused and taking all of the risk. If I thought I could get her out of here in one piece, I would have torn her father’s throat out the first day he hit her. But if he’ll do that while claiming to want what’s best for her? He’ll kill her for defiling his house by hiding someone like me.
So I’m forced to bide my time so I don’t put her in more danger than she already is. I don’t deserve her by any means, and even if it kills me, I will find a way to shift back just so I can tell her as much.
Arranged marriage,I internally scoff, pacing the room in my agitation.And they callusprimitive.
Footsteps outside of the door have me darting into her closet, easily leaping onto the high shelf wrapping around the room. I slip behind several boxes before going stock still, waiting.
The scent of her father’s aftershave clogs my nostrils and I fight a sneeze, ears pricked as I try to get a sense of what he’s doing in here. There’s a crunch of plastic and the sound of something being set down, followed shortly after by his retreating footsteps.
Remaining on my perch for several minutes before jumping back to my feet, I stalk carefully into the room and start searching. The only possible thing visible that makes sense is the water bottle she always keeps on her bedside table. I leap onto her bed to get a closer look, but beyond the scent of him being in the room, there’s nothing to indicate anything’s wrong. Still, better safe than sorry.
Gently, so that I don’t puncture the bottle, I wrap my teeth around the side instead of the cap and carry it to the bathroom, tossing it in the bathtub. Fumbling and swiping at the cap until it’s loose, I slam my paw down. Water explodes with a crunch of plastic and I spend the next gods know how long trying to swipe and kick it to the trash can, unwilling to get my mouth anywhere around the potentially drugged liquid.
My poor, sweet, opposable thumbs. I promise, I’ll never take you for granted again.
I scent her before I hear her, my head whipping in the direction of her door. Still, I dart under the bed on the off chance she isn’t alone, but as soon as the door shuts, I pounce. She stumbles back a step, dropping her bags and laughing.
It’s clear the woman’s been deprived of affection for the better part of her life, humans being raised far differently than shifters. Their existence seems so lonely, my mate’s more so than most, I would guess. If the only thing I’m capable of doing right now is making her smile, then damn it, no matter how ridiculous I may look, I’ll try.
“Miss me?” she teases, scratching behind my ear.
I’m not even ashamed to admit it feels fucking amazing. When I smell that asshat Jax on her I stiffen, doing a quick scan to make sure she isn’t hurt. When it’s clear she’s in the same condition she left in, I rub my face against her collar, mindful of my claws on her shoulders.
I cover her in my scent, marking her as mine despite the fact that it will be lost on the humans she surrounds herself with. Back home, it would be enough to offer her protection despite her human status, other shifters warned she’s under pack claim and there will be hell to pay if you cause trouble.
We may not get many humans out our way, but there’s the occasional few that have had it bad enough they’d rather work on our land in exchange for protection. The humans may have driven us to the wilds, but they don’t set foot out there, knowing they don’t stand a chance trying to attack us on our own land. It’s far easier to hide a body out there than the middle of the city, and having that safe haven is the only thing keeping us in this hostile stasis of territory division.
She sets the bag with her dress for tonight on her bed and the rest on the floor. It’s clear the girl’s never had to rough it before, but she certainly tried to get whatever she thinks we might need just by the abundance of options. There’s just no way in hell we’ll be able to run with all of this and even if she rented a car to get us out of the city, we’ll need to abandon it as soon as possible.
I stop her from putting several things in her backpack, nudging others her way until it’s stocked with essentials. The rest would be a bonus for sure, but the bag is going to be heavy enough for her to run with.
She goes to grab a swig from her water bottle, frowning to find it missing. “Hey, did you knock it under the bed again?”
On her hands and knees, I try not to stare at her ass, but fuck.
