~CARTER~
"If you claimed her from the beginning, she wouldn't be left in the dark."
I rolled my eyes and ignored the truth in my wolf's words as I lowered Harper Blake to the cushioned grass beneath us. I waited until the wolf shifter gave up on his search and began to walk away before I let out a sigh in relief. Don't need to deal with his family right now.
My eyes lowered to Harper, scanning her from head to toe while making sure she had no cuts or bruises. Once I was satisfied she was okay, I scooped her up into my arms, her head resting against my chest. She didn't even stir from the movement, appearing deep in sleep.
From what I'd overheard from Ian was the spell had an effect on Harper, but she'd only been asleep for a few minutes. That little insight gave me enough information to know how strong I had to make the spell to knock her out for the night and not for a week.
Compared to other females, I could tell from the day I met her again that she'd have a strong resistance to magic. To be fair, the only reason she'd only been out for 10 minutes was due to her long oasis from being around magic. If it had been when we were younger, it would have taken a lot more magic to put her down. A level of magic Ian had yet to figure out he had.
How would I claim her when she doesn't remember me? We've talked about this for years. It wasn't the right time.
"And when will it be? Thanks to your hesitation, she's mated to that incompetent wolf of a mag-"
Watch it.
"Stop defending him when he's fucking jealous of you."
Can we argue when Harper is safe in her bed and not in this chilly weather? Thanks.
"Excuses."
Are you gonna be a fucking ass the whole walk back? Because I really need a few minutes of silence so our past doesn't blow up in everyone's faces.
"Hmph. Fine. I'll be a good boy and sleep. Ass of a human."
And she says I have anger issues. You're the prime culprit of that.
"Fuck you."
Goodnight.
Even though I hated arguing with my wolf, this wasn't the time for his attitude. I was already a nervous wreck after dealing with the other Hunter who was clearly scouting these parts, and my anxiety shot through the roof when I caught Harper's scent right before Ian telepathically told me Harper wasn't at the house. Which reminds me.
I have Harper. Meet back at the house.
A flood of relief hit me at once, causing me to stop for a second at the overwhelming emotion. Being an Alpha had its benefits of power, leadership, and control of the pack, but there sure were a lot of downsides, which included this whole feeling my pack shit.
It was a responsibility I proudly accepted but that didn't mean I had to like it.
After taking another slow glance around my surroundings, I began to move a little quicker through the forest. I knew Harper wouldn't be disturbed by the up and down movement, so my main focus was getting her back home out of the rather cold weather. Now that the sun was down and the half moon was beginning to rise, I didn't want her getting cold or worse, sick.
My ears picked up on something approaching my direction. I stalled in my movement but didn't react yet; my ears focused on the two sets of sounds.
Ian and Damien.
It was easy to tell their steps after so many years of running and training together as a unit. It only took a few seconds before I caught onto Ian's cinnamon scent and Damien's chocolate one. Yes, he smells like chocolate.
If Harper did end up sharing herself with the pack, she'd melt for Damien without a second thought. Chocolate: The Way to Every Woman's Heart.
I'd tried not to think about that whole dilemma going on. Harper didn't know that we were wolf shifters as well.
I'd known long ago that he'd told her of what he was, but just as they had "down played it" and hid it from Dolly, Sam, and the rest of us, we'd secretly known that she was aware for quite some time.
I'd been lingering in the forest far enough for Harper to not notice my presence but listened in when Harper confronted the pack and told them she wasn't going anywhere. It was comforting and really loving of her, though I didn't think she'd caught onto what the others meant by "sharing."
Whether it was a joke or not, I wasn't pleased with it. We'd been holding back in claiming our mate since the day Harper was found in the forest. I felt like it should have been me who found her and saved her.
Ian only got that chance because I'd allowed him to go for his usual sneaky runs in the forest. I always did two rounds during the night. If only I'd said no and completed my second round, I would have been Harper's one and only mate.
That was just one of the many reasons my wolf disliked my decisions. Whenever we did disagree, it usually led to him being right in the end. I hated how knowledgeable he was, though I wondered if he could see the future with the way he predicted things.
Now with everything that was going on with Rogan's political power hungry pack of wolves, we were dealing with a bunch of murders trying to scare us out of our sanctuaries so we'd give in to their vision of hierarchy and control of all wolves within the Four Cardinal Packs--North, South, East, and West.
We were the South Cardinal Pack and were just as strong as the North, regardless of our lower numbers. Being double the size than the average wolf shifter helped a lot in strength, and seeing as three out of six of us could use magic, that only added to our power ranking.
I already had a hunch as to why female shifters were being murdered, but I didn't know when it would be safe to address it. Tonight was a close call and I was worried we weren't going to have time to gather and react.
After taking a few seconds to admire Harper's peaceful expression as she slept, I lifted my head to see Ian and Damien's wolf forms jump out from the forest. They didn't stop to shift. The sound of bones cracking back into place could be heard, and their naked human forms emerged in seconds.
I glanced at Damien, whose sapphire eyes locked onto Harper before he glanced up to give me a worried look. I purposely ignored Ian, knowing he'd either be worried or pissed off; both expressions would only annoy me.
"She's fine. I used a spell to put her to sleep," I announced.
Damien arched an eyebrow at me and Ian was silent, both of them reaching where I stood. I continued to stare only at Damien, noticing his shoulder-length black to navy blue hair was left down rather than in his usual ponytail style. His pale skin matched his Korean characteristics and his lips were smooth and a light pink. From his neck upward, he had the perfect delicate look that girls who watched Korean dramas went gaga for. From his neck down was muscle central.
He had a slim build but thanks to his consistent training, which was usually with me, he was considered "buff." He wasn't as big as me or the twins, but you'd underestimate him if you let your guard down.
Adding the fact that he was 6'6, which wasn't usual for his culture, he was the typical eye candy of our group. Not like the rest of the guys didn't catch the eyes of any female wolf shifter.
"Did she see you in your human form?" Ian questioned.
I finally turned my gaze to him, noticing his guarded expression, which I was a little thankful for. I really wasn't in the mood for emotional bullshit and I was glad he got it this time around.
"Ya. Had no choice."
"What happened?" Damien questioned.
"Rick was apparently Hunting."
"Rick?!" Ian huffed. "Why the fuck is he in these parts on our property?"
"He's Rogan's son after all. Beggars can't be choosers, especially when you’re family," I commented.
Ian reached out to press his hand on Harper's forehead. "We should get her back. She may get sick."
"Agreed," Damien replied.
I nodded my head but decided to address important stuff. "I think Harper's going to be the next target."
"Why?" Damien questioned.
"I've killed four Hunters in the area this past week."
They were both silent, seeming a bit taken aback by my revelation. I decided to continue. "I've been in contact with the other Alphas. They all have overheard the mentioning of an artifact and the importance of its retrieval."
"Artifact? Why would a female shifter have one?" Damien put forth.
"Don't know, but my hunch is it's Harper."
"Why?" Damien asked. Ian frowned, and I met his silver eyes as a thought finally clicked in his mind.
"Her blade? The one she keeps with her most of the time," Ian whispered.
"Correct," I replied confidently.
"Why are they searching for it now? Harper said that it was her parent's heirloom, right? Something passed down and protected. She's had it for 15 years. Wouldn't it have made sense if they were searching for her and the blade back then?" Damien elaborated.
Ian crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. "Not if their henchmen claim she's dead and the blade was never discovered."
"Furthermore, O'Neil was the reason she "vanished" off the documents. He was able to say a body was found with the similar description and those Hunters didn't investigate."
"Why are we just knowing about this now?" Ian asked.
"You were like, what? Seven? I don't see why I'd tell you," I huffed. Ian rolled his eyes which would have pissed me off, but I wasn't in the mood. I began walking again and the others quickly caught up.
"Why do they need the blade?" Ian asked.
"I don't think they only need the blade. It's a special artifact that can only be used by the Owner."
"So they need Harper," Damien clarified.
"Yes and No," I replied.
"Care to share your theory?" Ian grumbled.
"Care to tone down that attitude?" I countered.
"Ian, chill," Damien stated calmly. We were both silent for a few steps before I decided to share my theory.
"You all know Rogan's pack of nuisances are in a feud with the Compass Witches, correct?"
"Who are they?" Ian asked.
"Ah. You wouldn't have met them, Ian. They're practically famous in the witch department. Four women who were gathered from their respective directions to aid the humans when some idiot unlocked something they shouldn't have. Carter and I met them once. They're powerful as fuck and people you would NOT want to mess with," Damien explained.
"Except if you’re Rogan who fucked up their relationship with them, which lead to all of the witches in Canada and the US hating anything to do with Rogan."
"What does that have to do with the Harper's blade?"
"That blade isn't a normal weapon, Ian. You can't sense it, but it holds a lot of magical power in it and since Harper is alive, she's the only one who can unlock it."
"Harper can't use magic though," Ian pointed out.
"Harper can't shift for the same reason she can't use magic. She needs a trigger. We all had one to help us shift. Whether it was motivated by our desire to want to shift or a situation. Her body will shift when it's ready to or if Harper has no choice to. That will also help her unlock whatever potential she does have," I explained.
"There's also the issue that we have no idea who her parents were," Damien pointed out.
I nodded. "Which is another thing I've been asking the other packs about."
"Okay...so aside from the fact that we have no idea of Harper's background and if she does have magic traits, if Rogan's family or Hunters or whatever wants Harper dead, how would that benefit them when they need her for the blade to work?" Ian questioned.
Damien stopped walking, which prompted us to stop and turn our heads to look at him.
"Harper's the last of her family line. Seeing as she's the only survivor and she doesn't have any pure blood relatives, if Harper dies, the blade has no owner which means...If Rogan gets his hands on it, he could offer it to the Compass Witches as a truce offering."
"Bingo," I replied.
"They wouldn't take it though, would they? I mean, they hate him and know he's plotting shit," Ian countered.
"Doesn't matter. They wouldn't pass up that type of bargain. Artifact weapons with powerful capabilities are hard to come by, especially those that are 'ownerless.' We don't even know just how powerful Harper is because we have no knowledge of her family tree. We know she can use magic, which means one of her family members could use strong magic. With that simple knowledge, can you imagine how powerful a weapon it could be when bits of magic have been engraved into it for years from various owners in the same bloodline?" I explained my thoughts as they came to my mind, hoping it would help me confirm if my suspicions were right.
"Perfect weapon for destruction and power struggles," Damien whispered.
"Perfect item for blackmailing," Ian grumbled.
"Correct," I replied.
"What are we going to do?" Damien asked. "With everything going on at the other sanctuaries, there's no way we can have a meeting right now to talk about the issue. Also, we'd potentially put a target on Harper's head if we involve her."
"Also, they wouldn't even want to help. Sure, the Alphas are nice, but their packs? Not so much. We're lucky to get along with North and West, most of the time. East isn't going to be fun. They won't even bat an eye at Harper cause she's 'human.' Sam and Dolly are barely home either," Ian noted.
"Think we should talk with O'Neil first. He has a few connections and would help us keep an eye on Harper. If possible, we can't leave her alone. Someone has to keep an eye on her," I suggested.
The others nodded their agreement.
"Let's get back. Ian, hold Harper. I'm a bit tired," I admitted. Using magic always took a toll on me, but the effect were usually rather slow at hitting me and I could feel it trying to knock me down.
Ian nodded, and I passed Harper over to him. Damien walked over and patted my shoulder. "You good?"
"I'll be fine when we reach the house. Can you forward our theory to the others? I doubt I'll be able to stay up much longer when we get back."
"Got you. It'll be done." Damien nodded with seriousness. We began to walk, and it wasn't long before we reached the house. I noticed the others, but I could barely keep my eyes open. With a quick nod in acknowledgment, I walked straight into the soon to be property.
Seeing as it was already late, I doubted we'd head back to the sanctuary. It was at least nice that some of the bedrooms were already set up and I was going to take advantage of it. I didn't even think when I walked into a random room and closed the door. Stripping out of my clothes, I headed straight for the bed and crashed onto the soft sheets.
One inhale made me moan in appreciation and I couldn't help opening my weak eyes to look around the room. Really? Out of all the rooms, I walked into the one Harper had napped in earlier. Ugh...the Moon is testing me.
With that thought, I closed my eyes and rested my head back on the pillow filled with Harper's scent.
All I could think of was her wide teal eyes and the way my name flowed off her tongue. The shock of her knowing who I was had hit me first, but the satisfaction and hope that followed at realizing she knew me made my heart skip a beat.
I have a chance...maybe...she'll remember me again. I hope she does. Please...remember me, Harper. Remember your true mate.