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A hushed, traumatic silence fell over the room. Harlow felt exposed, like she had bared herself, and they were scrutinizing every one of her imperfections. Some sympathy flowed into that room to be sure, but she sensed more mistrust than support.
“A new start?” Atlas clarified.
Without asking, he moved well within Harlow’s personal space and began to sniff her, inspecting her neck. He pulled her hair back and looked closely, brushing lightly against the nape of her neck.
Then as quickly as he had advanced toward her, he backed up, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Can I ask the context?”
“Dude,” Colt scoffed. “She just got kicked out of her pack. The last thing she wants is to bare her soul to us.”
“Excuse us.” Zachary looked at Atlas and Colt, his eyes wide. It was a way to gesture a suggestion without actually speaking it, typical when you don’t want to step out of line in a pecking order but still want to assert your voice.
Whatever Zachary was signaling, Atlas mercifully picked up on it. “Yes,” Atlas said. “Give us a moment.”
The three of them stepped outside.
“Oh yeah, I can let you guys back in whenever,” Harlow said to nobody in particular.
“No need!” Colt called out. “We have a key.”
“Of course you do,” Harlow grumbled under her breath as they shut the door behind them. She could hear them conversing on the second-story walkway outside, though their words were less decipherable than the tones they spoke them in.
Harlow wasn’t sure what to make of this new pack. Tempers ran high enough in a like-minded collective with the members of the group just trying to communicate along a pecking order and respect pack boundaries. When a pack introduced itself to a rival pack, nothing but conflict had ever ensued. This made it especially suspicious that she’d found this one.
She had to attribute it to something innate because it made more sense than it being a simple coincidence. She had missed a full moon, and that resulted in some temporary loss of natural senses and abilities. But even barring that, she still didn’t understand many aspects of her wolf.
After a few minutes of Harlow doing her best not to listen in, she heard the card swipe and watched the door open. Atlas, Colt, and Zachary stood in contemplation for a moment, not speaking.
“Well,” Atlas drawled after a few minutes of awkward silence. “You’re welcome in Forest Crest, then.”
Harlow nodded, her lips curled into a half smile. She was glad she was allowed to continue living here for now. It didn’t seem like much of a victory, but it brought a sense of relief.
“We’d also like to invite you to stay with our pack,” Colt added. It felt pre-scripted, as if he had been told exactly what to say. In spite of that, Atlas’s suspicious, penetrating gaze was relentless.
“We’re willing to offer you safe haven, if that’s what you want,” the alpha interjected.
“Thank you,” Harlow breathed. “That’s very kind of you, genuinely.”
“I’m sensing a ‘but.’” Colt’s lips twitched.
Colt wasn’t wrong. Something about this felt like it was too good to be real. She had just left a dangerous situation. In spite of that, she had managed to claw her way out with barely any resources.
Harlow wasn’t sure if she’d find another Vincent here. She had trusted him unconditionally. He had given no indication he couldn’t be trusted. If she trapped herself in another situation like that, she wasn’t sure if she could ever make her way back to safety. She had already burned her bridges, and her only safety nets were three states away.
“It’s a generous offer, and I appreciate it,” Harlow said. “Thank you for letting me remain in Forest Crest. It’s taken so much to get here.”
“And the pack invitation?” Colt asked.
“That’s also very generous,” Harlow said. “But I was left with nothing, and I’m rebuilding. I don’t know if I can trust like that again. Or at least, I don’t know if I can trust like that right now.”
Stunned silence filled the room. It felt unfair of them to march into her life and demand her trust. She could still sense that none of them truly trusted her, even if two of them gave her an odd vibe of wanting something more.
“I’d like to just live by myself at this point, away from a pack,” Harlow continued, doing her best to amend the tension. “It’s too soon. I need to learn who I am, on my own terms.”
Colt smiled. “That’s totally fair.”
“Please just hear us out,” Atlas interjected. “If you’re staying in Forest Crest, you should at least meet our members. They might hear about the new wolf in town and be inclined to misjudge you. The last thing we need right now is for a fight to break out in town.”
Perhaps Harlow’s ears had deceived her, but it sounded like a veiled threat.
