Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33127 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33127 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
He knew that wasn’t going to be an easy conversation.
Sitting on the bench in the garden, Lemon went about her business, but he wasn’t paying her any attention. He was too busy reeling from his own reality check.
There was nothing and no one who could help him fix this. He was well and truly fucked.
Chapter Five
Monday morning had been a big hit. Harper had been a little afraid that with the appearance of Mateo, some of the pack women might not want to come to her shop. The whole banished curse thing coming back to ruin her life. No one held back.
In fact, by two o’clock, most of her new stock was sold out. She had already put in a brand-new order for more supplies, and they should arrive by the end of the week. Also, the pack females had banded together. Every single one of them had offered her help and guidance. She’d even been touched that a few of them were concerned that she would leave the pack for good.
She didn’t want to leave Silver’s pack. She had no idea if there was a way around it or not. She’d already pledged her loyalty to Silver, and that wasn’t going to change.
“Fuck me, my feet hurt,” Franny said, collapsing into one of the free chairs.
Harper went to her diary and saw she had a four o’clock, so for the next couple of hours, she could clean.
“How do you do it?” Franny asked.
She laughed and glanced toward her friend. “Do what?”
“All of this work.”
“Well, I can’t be useless at this pack, can I?”
“Hey, I am not useless! I just don’t know what I want to be so I go where I am needed.”
Franny, technically, didn’t have a job. She went where the need was. Harper had lost count of the number of jobs her friend did. From helping her out, to being at the school, to the nursery, to the coffee shop, and even at the DIY store. Franny had taken every job. The funniest one was the week she’d offered to replace one of the other women, and be a cleaner. Franny said she still had nightmares from the stuff she’d seen.
Harper would take her word for it.
As it happened, she loved cleanliness. It was something she enjoyed doing, even when she was a kid. Some people found it a punishment when their parents demanded they clean their room. To Harper, it had been a dream, one she had enjoyed and relished.
She quickly cut the memory off. Thinking about her parents reminded her of everything else she had lost. She rarely got to see her folks. There had been a couple of Christmases they had invited her back to the pack, but she had refused.
There was no way she was going back to Fox’s pack, and certainly not while her banishment had been in place. A few times they had come to her home, but she knew they didn’t feel comfortable at Silver’s pack.
Harper had gotten the usual permission and done the formal requests, but her parents were not known for change. Still, she loved them for at least trying with her.
“Incoming,” Franny said.
Harper didn’t have long to prepare before her storefront door opened, and there was Mateo, complete with a small bundle of flowers in his arms. She held onto the broom she’d just gotten out of her closet, and she looked at him.
“Afternoon, Harper, Franny,” he said.
Her friend gave a grunt in return.
“Afternoon,” Harper said. She always had to be polite. It was something her parents had instilled in her, even if all she wanted to do was ask him to leave. She had to be nice, at least this first time. After that, she could be done with the pleasantries.
“What are you doing here?” Harper asked, not exactly fighting fire with fire, but it was a start.
“I, I wanted to ask you out on a date,” Mateo said.
This made Franny scoff.
Mateo ignored her.
“Look, I know you don’t trust me, and you have every right not to, but you’re my mate, Harper. I want to do whatever’s necessary to make this right.”
Harper looked at the flowers, then at him, and forced a smile to her lips. “No, thank you.”
She saw how Franny sat up in her chair.
“Harper?”
“Look,” she said, taking a deep breath. She had to compose herself and try to find the right words for him to understand. “I don’t want to be with you. I like it here. You’re not going to want to stay here, but I’ve built a life for myself. I love the Silver pack. This is my home now, and that means you’re not a part of it, and you’ve not been part of it for a long time.” She brushed some hair off her temple. “I’m sorry, but it’s a no.”