This morning, as soon as Damian and I left the house, the
pack’s security guards stopped us. They said a group of men in black came to our house last night and stood at the door, guarding it. About half an hour later, they left. The security guards thought it was a little strange, but they figured it might be our relatives or something, since it was our mating night. He didn’t see a need to mention it until this morning.
“But something felt off about it after I found out what happened, so I called you, but you didn’t answer. Then I remembered the strange people who came to the mating ceremony yesterday, and I was worried that something might have happened to you, so I rushed over here.”
No wonder Harper and Damian hadn’t left yet. I probably would have delayed as well, though I felt terrible this was all because of me.
“I’m so sorry, Harper. Yesterday, I had some trouble. There was a very important contract with Beta Starke, but I kept delaying giving it to him. So he got angry with me and that’s why he interrupted your mating ceremony. I finally got it and handed it over to him last night, but I think he sent people to your house for a while to make sure I did what I was supposed to. It’s all been resolved, and he won’t cause any trouble again.
This was way more than I wanted to tell her, but I had to give her at least part of the truth, something to keep her from worrying too much. If she knew about Greyson… Yikes.
“I felt like Beta Starke was threatening you yesterday, but I couldn’t think of anything he would have been threatening you over.”
After saying that, Harper narrowed her eyebrows and looked me up and down.
“Taya…he didn’t do anything bad to you, did he?”
“No.” I shook my head.
But when Harper looked at my neck, her expression froze.
Taya, what’s this…”
I looked to the side, into the mirror in the foyer.
S hit . I hadn’t noticed that my neck was full of hickeys.
I quickly covered them with muy hand and lowered my head awkwardly.
“1”
“Did Beta Starke force himself on you?”
She remembered how Beta Starke had looked at Taya as if he were looking at prey.
Yesterday, Harper had wanted to talk to Taya about what happened, about her worries regarding the Beta, but she was busy with the mating ceremony and caring for Damian’s pack.
She got sidetracked every time she thought about it.
Now that she saw Taya like this, especially after not being able to get ahold of her, she was even more suspicious that Beta Starke had done something to her best friend “Taya, tell me the truth. If he forced himself on you, I swear to the goddess I’ll kil l him.” Harper’s wolf started to rise to the surface, her protective instincts for her sister making her start to see red, her vision changing and becoming her wolf’s.
As soon as Harper thought of Taya being a*saulted, especially by someone who had every advantage over her not just because they were a man but also a shifter, she became furious and rolled up her sleeves, her claws coming out and hair starting to pop out of her forearms.
Hurriedly, Taya stopped her. “Harper, it’s not Beta Starke.”
Harper paused. “Who was it?”
Taya opened her mo uth to speak, then s h ut it, furrowing her brows a bit.
Then, it clicked with her.
“Have you reconciled with Griffon again?”
There had been several times when, after seeing Griffon, Taya’s skin was bruised and purple.
“It’s not him. I… I was with another man last night.”
Harper was a little shocked. She wouldn’t have expected Taya to be with someone other than Griffon.
Something didn’t seem right, and her wolf was telling her that something was off with Taya’s demeanor. She examined her best friend, trying to figure out what she was missing, but when Taya’s expression didn’t change and Harper’s wolf couldn’t scent out a change in Taya’s pheromones, Harper didn’t have a choice but to believe what her friend was saying.
She grabbed Taya’s hand and asked nervously, “Who is he? Is he a good man? Reliable? Is it a shifter?”
Taya sighed. “Yes…”
“Are you hiding something from me?” Harper frowned.
She’d been feeling like something was wrong with Taya for a few weeks now, and it made her uneasy. Taya kept telling her everything was fine, and Harper couldn’t get anything out of her, so unless she was prepared to start a fight by calling her best friend a liar, Harper didn’t really have any other choice.
but to let it go and let Taya decide when she would share whatever was going on.
Taya squeezed Harper’s hand. “Don’t worry. If I decide to marry him, I’ll bring him to you, okay?”
This didn’t seem right…
“You’ve only been separated from Griffon for a short while.
How did you find someone else so soon?”
It wasn’t like Taya to jump to someone else so quickly,
especially give how in love with Griffon Harper knew she’d been.
“He’s someone at work. When I was with Griffon, I couldn’t date. Now that we’ve broken up, I want to do that. So when he asked me out, I said yes. Don’t you want me to get married soon?”
“Yes, I want-”
“Then what are you still worried about?” Taya interrupted.
“I’m just worried that you’ll meet someone who will hurt you, and you deserve the world. That’s all.” Harper was afraid of nagging too much and making Taya annoyed, so she decided to let the subject go. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter. So long as you let me vet your future spouse, that’s all that matters. You know your big sis has to make sure they’re worthy of you.”
Taya smiled and hugged Harper tightly.
“Deal. I promise not to get married to someone unless you approve of them. Hell, if it makes you feel better, I promise never to get married.”