“Your mom and dad built this?” Alex asked, looking around the treehouse that was cradled up in the limbs of an old Oak tree.
Harper was curled up in the bed nook with a worn paperback in hand, using the light from the lamp to read her favorite Nancy Drew back in middle school, which she had read numerous.
She looked up from her book and nodded. “Ah-huh. With dad’s impressive carpentry skills and mom’s attention to detail, they actually exceeded my expectations. But, what did I know at that time? I was still in middle school, I think, when they built this.”
Nodding, Alex looked really impressed at the window shutters, carpeted floor, and the small bed nook that looked comfortable enough for him. Regardless of the missing railing on the backside and chipped paint that was caused by the weather over the years, Harper’s treehouse stood firm.
*Just like Harper*, Alex thought to himself.
A moment later, Harper threw the paperback back inside the wooden chest and turned to met his gaze, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “My mom loved this treehouse as much as I did.”
As soon as Alex noticed her heartbroken sob, he quickly knelt in front of her and stroked her hair. "I know how hard this is for you, Harper. And I don’t know what to tell you to make you feel better except that I’m here.
“I-I don’t know what to do.”
He could see her hesitate before looking at him. Then, he stroked his thumb across her cheek, wiping one of her many tears away before resting his forehead against hers. “You’re not alone.”
Harper closed her eyes as she tried to calm herself down. Her eyes were already hurting from too much crying. “Mom had always been there for me. I want to think back on those memories I had with her, but thinking hurts like hell,” she said sniffs.
“I know.” Alex sat down next to her on the bed, his legs outstretched. “Strange, isn’t it? How could something so beautiful hurt so much?”
She didn’t respond, despair inching across her face as she sniffed and wiped the tears staining around already her swollen eyes.
All of a sudden, none of them said a word.
Harper sucked in air, and Alex leaned back against the wall. She glanced at him sitting there so close to her when she was suddenly struck with an astonishing realization―Alex was alarmingly attractive.
Could she be attracted to him now? Or could it be just grief that’s toying with her emotions?
She panicked and tried to look anywhere but into his eyes.
As the silence dragged on into the night, the wind outside picked up and soon rattled its way into the treehouse. Harper felt a chill run through her, so she quickly grabbed a quilt in a corner.
“What did actually happen that night?” she finally asked as she pulled the quilt over her body.
“You passed out. And, well, funny as it may sound, but I didn’t know how to transform back into my human self. It was very much difficult, too, as I wasn’t completely in control of my body. I could see you and what was going on around me, but it was like looking at things through someone else’s eyes,” Alex said.
“Like you were possessed?”
“Something like that, but the experience was entirely different. It was the other way around. It felt like I was the one who possessed the creature's body. I used what little control I had over myself and carried you until I saw a house. Then I’ve no recollection of what happened after that. Everything’s a blur, just like what happened to me at Nan and Pat’s cabin. The only difference is I could remember quite a few things now.”
“And you followed me here…”
“Your scent. It was strong, and it was everywhere. So, I followed it.”
“From miles away?”
“I don’t know how, but yes.”
“And now you’re a…werewolf,” Harper said under her breath.
“I think I’ve been ever since. I just don’t remember it.”
“Really? How can you know for sure?”
Alex slowly shook his head. “I don’t know how. I just know. I can feel it.”
“Feel what?”
“The wolf,” he said, squeezing Harper’s knee for a moment. Then he turned to her and smoothened the hair around her face. When Harper showed no protest, he curved his palm over her cheek, stroking his thumb along the contour of her cheekbone. “You don’t have to worry a thing. I will never ever let it hurt you. I swear to you.”
Harper waited for him to take his hand or gaze off of her. Then, she felt something shifted in the room between them. As Alex continued to look at her, she became self-conscious.
“It’s getting late. You can stay here.” She suddenly stood up without warning. She turned and saw Alex on his feet too, his hair was disheveled, his new trademark rugged look these past couple of months.
Her heart began to beat faster.
“Okay.”
“We’ll talk again tomorrow,” she said, trying to hide the raw edge to her voice to sound unaffected.
"Okay," Alex nodded. "Don’t worry. I’ll be right here waiting for you." He winked at her, a small smile playing on his lips.
"As you should. I mean, you don’t know anyone around in town, and with your current condition, I think you should stay…here." She nodded inanely. “For your sake.”
"Yes, boss.” He raised his arm in a salute, but when he had lifted his arm to accompany the jest, his shirt tug and revealed some scratches and bruises.
Harper gasped. "Alex, turn around."
“What? Why?”
“Just do it.”
He hesitated before he spun on the spot. When he stopped, his back was facing her. He took a deep breath when she lifted his shirt up and over his head and tossed it to the floor. Her gaze settled on his broad back, eyes widened. Her breath was hitched in her throat at his toned physique.
“Harper,” he groaned and then bit his lip as her cold and soft fingers pressed around his injuries.
"Are these from the fight?"
“With the black wolf?”
“Yes?”
“No,” he whispered. His head fell forward. “I turned again last night and, somehow, gotten into a fight. There were three of them. I didn’t know I was crossing some territory while I was tracking your scent.” He grunted. “They’re awfully very territorial.”
“You fought three werewolves?” Harper was aghast. She frowned, removing her hands, a little reluctantly, from Alex’s skin.
Alex immediately turned and looked at her face. “They were smaller. I was bigger and faster. Not to brag, but I was at an advantage.”
“But those bruises…”
“Don’t worry.” He reached forward, fingers moving to the back of Harper’s head, stroking the soft hair at her nape.
She tilted into the touch, eyes curious and sad, all at the same time. "I’m actually worried about *them*.”
Her poor attempt to mock him drew a wry chuckle from Alex, who took a step closer. She swallowed hard at the burn of his eyes on her.
They stood there a while longer, staring at each other. Then he leaned into her.
"I’m going to try harder…" Alex reached for her, hooked his index finger around hers, lifting her hand.
“What do you mean?”
“Win you back…from him.”
“*Him*?”
“Logan. That guy you’re in love with.”
*Lucas.*
Harper’s heart sank at the sound of his name from Alex’s mouth. Surprisingly, it had been a while since she had really thought about him. And for some reason, she wasn’t as guilty as she would have been. But was she missing him? Now that she had thought about him – she was.
“Lucas. His name’s Lucas.”
“Right.” Alex sucked in a breath, hurt inched into his face. “I still don’t know what it was that I’d done that led you to him, but I’m going to try harder to win you back.”
Harper took a long, deep breath as soon as she felt a sharp stab of guilt in the pit of her stomach. She took a step back, and her heel softly hit the wooden chest.
"And this wall you build around yourself needs to come down, too." Alex’s thumb traced along the lines of her palm. Then, he lifted her hand higher, and he pressed a soft kiss on the ring around her finger before planting a lingering one to the tip of her middle finger.
Harper sighed at the contact. With some unknown force, she felt drawn to him.
Alex continued and ran his fingertips along her forearm, caressed the curve of her elbow before he nudged his face into the curve of her neck. “Let go, Harper. Let go and let me in.” His lips brushed her skin with every word.
“Alex…what are you doing?” Harper shivered.
“Breaking your wall.” He kissed her neck and nipped her earlobe.
“I don’t have walls,” she argued softly.
“You do, my dear Harper." He sucked her earlobe into his mouth. "And I’m going to break it.”
He nudged his nose to hers in teasing butterfly kisses, his breath caressing her mouth, and soon his lips were on hers.
For a split second, Harper didn't move, but then his arms came up to grab her and hold her tight.
She wished she had the strength to pull away, but she didn’t. So, instead, she kissed him back. And she wanted to kiss him more because, at that moment, she couldn’t feel the pain, and all her mind could think of was the sensation brought about by the kiss and Alex’s warm body against her.
The kiss was slow, thorough, tender, and better than the first kiss they'd shared before – something worth noting.
Then Alex broke away and drew back far enough to look into her eyes. He reached up to touch her cheek. “While I was tracking you, you’re all I could ever think of, Harper. Your scent was fucking driving me crazy.”
Harper stared, unblinking, into his eyes. He brought his other hand up to cup her face gently and draw her in for another kiss. Soon, he was kissing, nipping, and biting all the way down to her jawline and back down to her collarbone. A soft cry slipped past her lips, her breathing growing fast.
He wrapped his arms around her and flattened his palm in the small of her back, holding her tightly to him. He gently turned her around and pushed her back until her heels met the foot of the bed nook. And before she could say anything, his hand drifted to her hip. He pulled her even closer to him. She arched up against him and inhaled when he began nuzzling her neck with wet kisses.
When Harper’s body began to tense, his hands massage her hips softly before they traveled up to cup her breasts under her shirt. She made a low noise deep in her throat. He caught her around the waist, lifted her, and sat down on the bed with her on his lap, his back against the wall, legs spread out. She twisted until she straddled his lap with her dress bunched up around her waist.
Alex wasted no time and proceeded to tug her shirt up and over her head, followed by her lace bra. Their mouths met again for a hot and hungry kiss. When he tore his mouth away from hers, he trailed hot kisses across the top of her breast.
Harper ran her fingers through his hair, cradling his head against her chest as he sucked hard on her nipple and then soothing it with his tongue. Her fingers moved to dig into the muscles of his shoulders, her head falling back with a groan. “Alex…”
She ground her hips down against the bulge in his pants, her thighs flexing around his.
Alex was hot and hard against her, and, for a moment, he held her still, his gaze traveling down her body. "You have no idea how hard I try to keep my hands to myself when I’m around you," he said, his voice low and guttural.
She felt her stomach knot in unadulterated excitement at his raspy voice. She splayed her fingers across his chest instead of saying something that could ruin the moment. She didn’t want to hear nor give any promises. All she really needed was this moment with him to forget how much she was hurting deep inside and to bury the guilt for not thinking about Lucas as much as she should have.
But she was in so much pain right now, and no matter how much she tried to dismiss it, Alex was somehow helping her ease the pain. Lucas was gone, and she had no idea where he could be. And as much as she wanted to justify his action, she felt he had abandoned her.
She needed him, but he wasn’t there.
“Come back to me, Harper,” Alex mumbled, smoothed his hands down her sides, over her hips, and down her thighs.
She moaned and swayed against him as he dragged his thumbs along the hot skin of her inner thighs, dipping slowly into the dampness between her thighs.
“I can smell you,” he whispered and took her right hand, dragging it slowly down his chest, over his stomach, and further down. As soon as her hand cupped his long and rock-hard erection and started rubbing him through his pants, his breathing grew harsh and ragged.
He looked up at her. “Oh fuck, Harper,” he rasped. “I want you so much right now." He exhaled in a sharp gust. "If you’re not ready… tell me now. You don’t need—"
“Harper! Alex! Are you guys up there?”
That voice. That annoyingly familiar voice rose in pitch.
Suddenly, everything seemed to stop around them.
Harper froze while Alex felt his wolf growl.
“Come on, guys. I know I’ve just interrupted something. I can smell it from down here. I just need to talk to you about my sister, Sheila.”
Harper gasped. “Keane.”