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“Well,” Colt drawled. He wasn’t sure if this was a test. “Her story checks out. I don’t think she’s falsifying any of it.”
“When I went in close and got a look at her neck, I didn’t see any marks,” Atlas said. “Nothing suggests that her split from her pack was anything but amicable.”
Colt nodded. When a pack member was disgraced and abandoned by their pack, it was customary that the alpha would leave a bite mark somewhere visible on the shifter as a warning. For future packs that might bring in excommunicated members, it signaled bad behavior and untrustworthiness.
“There was a lot she wasn’t saying though,” Atlas added. “I don’t think she’s telling us the full story.”
“I think you’re right,” Colt looked at the boarded-up windows as he spoke, the only unsightly blemish in this otherwise pristine golden room. “But it’s not anything we’re going to get out of her with an inquisition.”
“We could do some asking around, though,” Atlas said. “We know where she’s from. We saw her ID. No harm in looking into nearby packs.”
“I thought you said you trusted her,” Colt countered.
Atlas grabbed a new shirt from within his desk drawer and manipulated it over his form, pulling the sleeves up. Atlas was very proud of his heritage. He displayed his tattoos proudly, never wanting to cover them.
“I know what you think of her situation,” Atlas evaded the question. “We talked about that at the Golden Acorn. But what do you think of her?”
“Of Harlow?” Colt asked. “I barely know her. She seems resourceful and determined. Pretty guarded, understandably. A little stubborn. And something tells me she might have a sympathetic streak to her.”
“But do you think she’ll make a good mate?” Atlas just kept pushing.
“Oh definitely!” Colt faked a smile. “She’s a keeper.”
“That’s good!” Atlas pulled out a notebook and sat down to write.
Together, they coordinated the pack dinner. Colt added diplomatic insight as Atlas wrote up the scheduling. They both wanted to make sure they created a perfectly welcoming environment for Harlow. Even beyond being Atlas’s mate, and secretly also being Colt’s, they could sense that she had been through a rough few days and wanted to help her trust again.
Colt was glad that Atlas hadn’t discovered his secret feelings. Perhaps a relationship between the three of them could work out. He’d heard of stranger things. But Colt didn’t want to risk having to compete with the pack alpha, his best friend.
The thought of losing Harlow before he even had her, this woman who had come so abruptly into his life, made Colt’s stomach turn. In Harlow, Colt saw everything Atlas had described and more. She was a beacon Colt never wanted to be without, the one illuminating aspect of his future Colt was certain of. Why had fate chosen to present them both with the same mate?
Colt left Atlas’s office that evening determined. He wasn’t going to let his feelings stand in the way of Atlas’s happiness. For as long as he needed to, Colt was going to bite his tongue, keep his feelings secret and pave the way for Atlas’s success and joy.
But what if Harlow gravitated toward Colt and saw him as a mate? What if Atlas had simply misinterpreted his feelings, seeing a mate where there wasn’t one?
Colt lay awake that night, adrift in a sea of questions and hypotheticals.
Chapter 9
Harlow
Harlow felt a renewed sense of hope as she closed the door to her room. She had rushed out of Hollow Grove with no plan in sight, but getting this shot at the vet’s office was just what she needed.
She left a little early so she would have time to stop by the grocery store. According to the desk clerk at the inn, the shortest way to get there would be to go straight through downtown and Allen’s would be just on the other side.
Allen was most likely the owner of the store, and she wondered if that was his first name or his last. Had it been in his family for a long time? Forest Crest seemed like the perfect little town for generations of one’s family to grow up in.
She wondered if this would be her new home. Would she build a life here for generations to come? Would she still be able to develop her healer capabilities and practice?
Driving through downtown was just as the desk clerk described. It was such a hop, skip, and a jump that if you blinked you might have missed it. There was one red light on the other side that you could see coming.
A row of brick buildings on either side consisted of a nice variety of businesses. There was a florist, a pub, a bakery, a little cafe, a tax office, and that was about all she caught since it was such a short ride. All she knew this far on her trip around Forest Crest was that outside this little downtown area, the roads were mostly lined with woods and farms with a mixture of cozy cabins and brick ranch homes.
So far, she also knew that off some of the other roads was a pharmacy, a doctor’s office, and the vet, of course. Not to mention the inn she called home. If someone needed a hospital, though, they had to go quite a ways to the next town where she had heard there was also a larger grocery store.
Just as described, not long after she got through the red light and went over the railroad tracks, Allen’s was at the top of the hill. She hadn’t really been sure what the day would entail or how busy it would be, so she wanted to have snacks and lunch food ready for her.
As she pulled in, a front row spot opened up for her and a smile crept across her lips. She always felt lucky when she got rockstar parking, so it must have been a sign for a good day. She parked and grabbed her wallet, shoving it in her back pocket as she exited her car.
