“Don’t curse yourself, honey. We’ll see you soon,” my mom promised. “Love you!”
“Love you too.” I hung up and dropped my phone on my leg.
At least that was over.
The car stopped, and I looked outside.
Relief lowered my shoulders when I saw the simple apartment building I called home. It was a few streets away from the business sector, far enough to have some space but close enough to avoid a long commute.
“Thanks for the ride,” I told the werewolf woman.
She nodded, and that was that.
I slipped out of the vehicle. It occurred to me on my way up to our third-floor apartment that I was still wearing the messenger bag from Maverick.
What was in it?
I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
The apartment’s front door flew open before I reached it. Harper’s body collided with mine, and she hugged me fiercely.
I hugged her back, slightly surprised. Neither of us were extremely high-energy.
“I’m so glad they didn’t kill you, Bloom.”
“Me too.”
She laughed tearily. My face was squashed against her shoulder, but neither of us cared.
“So what happened?” she asked, as she pulled away and wiped her eyes. “I was going to follow you to the werewolves’ building, but I overheard the wolves at Darkwood saying you were the Alpha’smate. The internet seems to agree.”
“Fatedmate. Not to be confused with wife,” I corrected.
Her eyebrows lifted, and she pulled me into the apartment, closing and locking the door behind us. “What the hell does that mean?”
“I don’t know. Maverick says it’s nothing, but I kind of got the feeling there’s something he wasn’t telling me. Didn’t stick around long enough to ask.”
“Maverick? You’re on a first name basis with the Alpha of Alphas?”
“Well, he did bite metwice.”
“Is that what those are?” Harper let go of my arm to lean in closer to the wounds on my neck. I tilted so she could see them better. “Holy fuck. Why haven’t they healed yet? At least one of those is a week old.”
“They both are.”
“Did hestarveyou?”
“A little bit.” I held up two fingers, an inch apart. “It didn’t help that I kind of starved myself before he bit me, though.”
“True. You need to go to the gathering tonight.”
“I was planning on it.” I dropped Maverick’s messenger bag on the kitchen counter. The contents made a suspicious clanking sound, and I eyed it.
“What’s in there?” Harper asked.
“I don’t know. Maverick gave it to me when I was leaving.”
“So it’s some kind of soulmate thing?”
