Werewolf and Vampire Mate [Book 1 Complete]

chapter eighteen.

"Right," he nods, still caught on Harper, not listening to a word I say.

"Uh, April, aren't you going to introduce us?" She asks.

"Right. Sure. Harper, this is North. He's um..." Shit. "A friend I met over the weekend."

Luckily, Harper seems beguiled enough by North not to notice how shitty of a lie it is. She holds out her hand and he takes it. Not shaking it, just holding it.

"Hello?" I wave my hand between them. "Harper, don't you have to get to class?"

She blinks and pulls her hand away. "Right, yeah. Call me when you're in New York, ok?"

"I will."

We hug and she trudges off across campus, glancing back periodically at North.

I hit him on the arm. "What was that about?" He's still staring at her and I notice that his gaze is starting to glow unnaturally. "North!" I hiss. "We're in public!"

"Shit." He ducks his head and I try to shield him from anyone passing by while he gets himself under control.

"Are you ok? What's going on?"

"I'm fine," he growls, brown curls falling far enough into his eyes to hide them as they slowly return back to icy blue. "I have to call Reed."

"Why? What just happened?"

"She's my mate."

I am shocked into silence. He can't mean... There's no way...

"Tell me you're joking," I breathe. "North, this isn't funny."

He glares at me. "You think I'd joke about something like this?"

"Reed said human mates are rare and she just happens to be my best friend. What are the chances of this?"

"Low," he replies tersely. "Very low. I need to go after her." He goes to walk past me but I grab his wrist, digging my heels in and stopping him. I'm quite sure he could throw me off easily, or drag me along, but he stops obligingly.

"You are not going after her and you're not going near her," I snap. "She can't know about any of this."

"She's my mate, April. Of course I have to tell her about this. I need to tell her about everything–"

"No." My tone leaves no room for argument. "You are not putting her in danger." I lean in closer to him, dropping my voice. "Werewolves and vampires are teetering on the edge of all out war and you want to involve my best friend in it? Absolutely not."

"You have no say over this," he bites out.

I swallow and arch an eyebrow. "Don't I? Last time I checked, I'm your future Alpha's mate. Doesn't that mean you have to do what I say?"

Anger overtakes his face and he seizes my arm with an iron grip, dragging me behind the building where no one else is around to see us. Oh god, he's not going to kill me is he?

"Ow, North let go." I try to wriggle free, but his hand only tightens till my whole arm aches. When we are far enough away that no one can overhear us, he shoves me forward, finally letting go. I stumble and steady myself on the side of the building.

"You are so fucking naive. If you had bothered to stay and actually listen to Orson, then you would know that until you've completed the mating ceremony, you're not officially his mate. You have absolutely no authority over me and don't think for a single second that you do."

I shrink back against the brick behind me. "I'm sorry."

"And just because Orson made the idiotic decision to let you go—which is fucking ludicrous, by the way—doesn't mean I would ever do the same thing. Harper is mine and I'm not going to make the same mistakes Orson has."

This infuriates me, emboldens me. Harper doesn't belong to anyone and I don't love anyone in the world the way I love her. I know she would defend me in a situation like this. If North tells her and Harper gets pulled into this mess and then she gets hurt...I'll never forgive myself.

"Give me your phone," I command, holding out my hand.

"Excuse me?"

"Give it to me." He reluctantly pulls his phone out of his pocket and hands it to me. I go to contacts and press on Reed's name.

It rings twice.

"North, is April ok?" Reed asks in lieu of a greeting.

North growls and tries to snatch the mobile from my grip but I bat his hand away, stepping further from him.

"Reed, it's me."

"April? What happened? Are you hurt?"

"No, no I'm fine. But something happened and I think you should know," I say. "I have to go to New York."

North's face contorts in confusion; he expected me to tell Reed about Harper being his mate.

"New York?" Reed questions over the phone. "What are you talking about? I just dropped you back at Yale yesterday."

"I know, but my parents showed up and they're dragging me home to New York. I don't know how long I'll be there but...I'm nervous. Can you ask North to stay close to me, just in case?"

North realizes what I'm doing and glowers at me like I am his worst enemy.

There is a pause on the other end of the line. "I don't want you to be scared. I'm going to come with you–"

"No, no. Reed, it's ok. You're needed at the pack, I know that. I just want to make sure that my protection detail isn't going to abandon me."

He lets out a long sigh. "Ok. Let me speak to him."

I put the phone on loud speaker and meet North's glare strongly.

"North?" Reed says.

"What?" North snarls.

"You're going to have to go to New York with April. You know that fucking city is crawling with vampires, so don't you dare let her out of your sight, alright?"

North's jaw clenches.

"Hey? Do you hear me? That's an order: she doesn't leave your sight."

"Understood," he spits, rips the phone from my hand and hangs up.

I push off the wall and start walking back toward the road. "Come on. I've got to meet my parents and then we have a long drive ahead of us."

And we are going far, far away from Harper.

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