Harden
“I didn’t do it,” he exclaimed, throwing his hands up to the sides, fingers spread wide as he stepped back and away from her.
Erika’s expression went away almost immediately, replaced by a sort of sheepish grin as she realized who it was. Then it was replaced by irritation. “Where were you?” she asked.
“Bathroom,” he said. “Then I ran into someone I recognized. I’m sorry,” he said, apologizing even as he flexed his fingers, ignoring the bruises that were forming under the skin. At least he’d managed to avoid ripping his suit. The youth hadn’t gotten very far before he’d whirled on Harden and attacked him.
He’d never intended on fighting the kid, instead just using him as bait to lure in his older brother, but the other shifter had never shown. Though he was young, he was still strong enough to cause damage if Harden hadn’t dealt with him, so he’d knocked him down several times until the Green Bearets had arrived. He’d explained the situation, and evidently the youth was known to them, because they’d bought Harden’s side of the story, which was mostly true.
“You’ll be more sorry that you didn’t show up with a plateful of food as an apology,” she told him.
“That can work as an apology as well? Damn. I wish I’d known that ahead of time. I would have shown up with both hands full.”
“See, Harden Archer, now you’re starting to understand.”
He breathed a sigh of relief at her joking tone. Things were going to be okay. When she’d whirled and screamed at him, for a moment he’d thought things were over and done with between them. But apparently he still had a chance. It was small, but if he did the right things, perhaps he could increase it.
“So, may I escort you to the food tables?” he asked, extending an elbow.
She grinned and slid her arm through his. “That’s the first smart thing you’ve said all night.”
“I’m glad.” They started to walk. “I am sorry for grabbing your wrist there,” he said. “I didn’t realize it was the wrong thing to do.”
Erika sighed. “No, don’t apologize. It’s just that since you left I had several others come up and take my wrist as a means to get my attention, and the last one just…well, he was a dick,” she said. “I think I found the one that doesn’t fit into your mold,” she said with a laugh.
“Oh, so you were out there with him?” he asked, trying to keep the dejection out of his voice.
“Well, someone left me at the food tables, taking a bathroom break longer than the Middle Ages,” she said, making it clear she didn’t entirely believe him on his excuse.
“My apologies,” he said once again. “I promise to make it up to you by never straying from the food tables for the rest of the night.”
She shot him a glance. “Oh, you’re good. You’re really good.”
He grinned, enjoying the way she blushed and looked away after a few seconds. “I’m glad. But let me know if anyone bothers you again, okay? I’ll speak to them.”
Erika rolled her eyes. “I don’t know much about you,” she said. “But I do know that shifters and talking over their problems is not a thing. I’m not yours, Mr. Archer, so you don’t have to defend my honor. Besides,” her eyes and her voice hardened. “I can take care of myself. I’m not a helpless sniveling female. I can hold my own.”
It was a warning, telling him that he needed to respect her and her person. That he needed to do a good job of realizing when he could, and when he couldn’t, come riding in on his stallion to save the day. Erika Rey was a proud woman, he knew, and she wasn’t interested in relying on him to be saved every time.
“I believe it,” he told her, putting as much sincerity into his voice as he could, to ensure she didn’t think he was patronizing her. His lips quirked upward. “But I also know that sometimes my kind can get a little pushy, in which case the best way to get rid of them is to tell me.”
His own words were clear. He’d respect her, as long as she didn’t do anything stupid, and also called for his help when things got out of control.
“Very well,” she agreed, snuggling in tighter to him in a display of affection that he hadn’t expected from her. Not after she’d gone and spoken to other shifters in his absence. Maybe she’d only done it because she was tired of him taking forever to return? After all, it was his fault she’d been there all alone. He’d gone chasing after some punk teenager, leaving her there to be accosted by the others.
She’d probably begun to think he’d ditched her or something, which was why she’d gone outside with another.
“Now that you’re back, why don’t you tell me more about yourself,” she said, pulling back from him to walk straight again, instead of bent over into him.
“Um, sure?” he said. “What would you like to know?’
“For starters, why don’t you tell me who, or what, Kronum is?”
Harden stopped mid-step and turned around, looking out down the tunnel that led to the outdoor terrace, then back at Erika. Just who had she been talking to out there that would bring up that particular word?
Then suddenly it all fell into place.
“I am such an idiot,” he said quietly, cursing himself.
“Pardon?”
“Nothing,” he said with a wave of his hand. “Just talking to myself.”
How could he have been so stupid! The teenager wouldn’t have shown his face and risked facing Harden alone. Even he wasn’t that dumb. Harden hadn’t seen him all evening, until he’d revealed himself. As bait. The entire act had been designed as nothing more than a ruse to draw Harden away from Erika, so that they could tell her about him. Or to avoid him, or whatever it was.
Idiot. Dumbass. Moron. Etcetera. Etcetera.
The damage was done now. She’d been warned, and now she was going to dig into his past, searching for why they’d told her to stay away from him. When she found out who he was...what he’d done, she’d probably just tell him to go away, to never speak to her again. Harden felt his shoulders slump as the realization of the new reality set in.
Hey, stupid. She’s still with you. Her arm is linked with yours and she just finished snuggling up to you. Does that really strike you as someone who is still uninterested? Remember what she just told you. She’s strong, and can hold her own. That means she’s probably giving you the chance to explain yourself now, to tell her the truth, so that she can make her own judgment call on you. So don’t mess it up.
His internal dialogue finished, he sucked in a deep breath.
“Is everything okay?” Erika asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “Just…painful, that’s all. Not easy to talk about.”
She reached up with her outside hand and rubbed his shoulder. He felt little electric shocks jump between them when her fingers encountered the bare skin of his neck for a brief moment.
“Are they dead?” she asked softly.
Harden swallowed back the agony that her question brought welling up from the depths of him.
“Dead,” he repeated, his tone haunted and ugly. “Yes. They’re all dead.”
Erika looked up at him sharply.
“Kronum is not a person. It was a place. Like Cadia, though much smaller. A shifter territory.” He pushed his way past the lump that was forming in his throat. The doctor at the medical center in Cadia had told him that it would do him good to talk about it. To share his hurt as part of the healing process.
“Was?” Erika asked gently.
“Was,” he confirmed. “The Institute killed it, and almost all of its people. There are perhaps ten, twenty of us left now. Many still in hiding. They killed the rest, in one way or another.”
“How did you survive?”
“I didn’t. I died, and the person you see now was reborn.” He shrugged. “It’s a long story, the details of which I really don’t want to get into before the third dance.”
She smiled at his attempt at humor.
“Well, if we’re going to dance again, then I’m going to need some energy for that first.”
“Which means food,” he supplied, appreciative of her willingness to let the topic slide for the time being. Harden would tell her, in time. But not here, not on a night like tonight. There was too much happiness in the room for him to bring her down with his tale of heartbreak and agony, of all the horrific deeds he’d done in an attempt to save his home.
No, this was definitely not the place.
“Exactly! Come on, wolf-man,” she said.
He frowned. The subject of his shifter identity had never come up.
“How did you...?”
“I wasn’t born yesterday, Harden Archer,” she said. “Stop underestimating me.”
“Easier said than done when you’re so formidable,” he replied smoothly. “You just keep revealing more and more.”
Erika pretended to blush at the compliment. “I keep you on your toes, is that what you’re saying?”
“Pretty much. It’s a refreshing change.”
“I’m sure it is. Now come, let us eat, and then we shall dance.”
Now there was an idea he could get behind.