The excitement thrumming through Harley's veins built up until it was all she could do not to break out into a dance in the middle of the busy mall. This was the third day she'd spent job hunting. Yesterday and the day before, she'd spent her time store-hopping and turning in application after application.
This morning she'd woken up to a buzzing phone. One of the retail stores wanted her to come in for an early afternoon interview. Without much thought she had jumped on a bus and gone to the mall.
She'd had to pull out all of the personable qualities she had along with her determination and seriousness, but it got her a job! An honest-to-goodness-minimum-wage-paying job. Her training would start later in the week and then as of next week she'd be an official employee.
Because of her success, she decided to treat herself to an ice cream cone—vanilla, of course—before catching the next bus home.
~
Much like any other day, the pack house had a steady stream of activity. Harley smiled at people as they passed her down the hallway into the kitchen.
The kitchen was...wow. Natalie and a few other women paced around the room preparing food. At the counter, a woman with long blonde hair chopped vegetables while another short, plump woman peeled carrots.
Natalie and Cameron had busied themselves by setting the long dining table off to the side. At the moment, Natalie frowned down at one of the place settings. "I think Paul is left handed." She said. With a tight smile, Cameron switched the silverware settings.
Then she blinked and shook her head. "Wait, no he isn't. I'm thinking of Max."
"Is Max going to be here tonight?"
Natalie stared into the distance—unseeing—and tapped her finger on one of the chairs. "I don't...think so."
"Then we're good." Cameron looked relieved.
"Let's set a place just in case." She declared, then walked away.
Harley had to bite her lip to keep the laugh in. Cameron looked like he was seriously considering flipping the table.
There was a warm atmosphere to this place. Every time she walked into the home, people greeted each other and laughed amongst themselves. They joked with each other in a way she'd only seen on TV.
It was bizarre, this warmth. But she liked it. This pack treated each other like family. Her Aunt Tracy's pack worked around each other. In Tracy's pack, there was a strain with all the members, as if they all merely coexisted with each other. Not to mention the alpha was never there.
Harley had seen Alpha Mark twice since this morning alone.
"Natalie, how do you feel about onions?" Will strolled into the kitchen from the pantry, smiling at her almost immediately. "Hey Harley."
"Grilled onions would go perfect with the steak." Natalie said. "Good idea."
Will held the onion out to Harley. "Do you mind?"
He wanted her to help cook? She didn't know much about cooking at all.
"Umm..."
He gestured her over to a spot by the stove. "Come on, all you have to do is chop it up."
She hesitated. "Okay, I guess."
After setting her up with a cutting board and a knife, Will stood at the stove to keep an eye on the potatoes and some other mixture there.
"So, what'd you do today?" Will asked.
The onions started making her eyes water. Harley sniffed and wiped a sleeve under her eyes. "I got a job."
Will froze. "Is that what you've been out doing?"
The tension throughout his frame confused her. "Of course."
Will stared at the pot in front of him, saying nothing. Though by the clenched jaw, he appeared as if he really wanted to.
If Harley had a wolf, she'd be able to confidently say that Will was angry. Among a pack, a bond was created. A web, if you will, with the Alpha at its dead center.
This pack web was critical to the pack. It gave them all a connection to each other. Through this internal bond, the wolves were able to share strength and send warmth and healing to each other. It made them a strong, unbreakable unit.
One of her teachers at her Aunt Tracy's pack had tried her best to explain it to her one day. Since wolves needed, craved, physical touch and reassurance, this bond provided them the next best thing if they weren't close enough to each other. Shifter wolves were social animals. They liked to share experiences and feelings.
Her teacher said they couldn't share thoughts. Only feelings. And even feelings—her teacher had been quick to point out—could only be accessed if one got past the shields in each wolves' mind. The longer one stayed in the pack web, the easier it was to get past these shields.
Some mates were even able to share memories, but that was a rare occurrence.
If Harley had access to the pack bond, she'd at least get a fleeting idea of how Will felt. But she wasn't a shifted wolf and as such, would never be able to understand just how close a pack could be.
Will's eyes never left that damn pot. "The pack can help you, you know." He finally said. "Financially."
Harley nodded. She knew exactly what the pack could do for her. They'd offered her all the help she could possibly need. Financially and physically.
Except letting the pack support her in everything she did felt like a cop-out. They'd already gave her a place to stay. Food to eat. The blocks of a family too if she could just build it right.
To be honest, she had a small chunk of change that was her inheritance, but after dealing with the estate attorney for almost a year, going to court, and hopping through the red tape that was the insurance company, she didn't want to spend that money unless she absolutely had to.
Spending her parent's money felt wrong on two different levels. They'd died. It wasn't an allowance they were giving her. It was essentially money to help her get over their death.
And then there was their memory.
After the explosion of her childhood home, she'd lost every single thing she owned except for her butterfly necklace. That money was one of the last few things she had of them. She couldn't spend that money on books and music and t-shirts. It didn't feel right.
"I'd rather do this the right way." She barely whispered, knowing Will—and only he—would catch it.
He put a gentle, warm hand onto her elbow and squeezed once.
Still teary-eyes and sniffling, she finished chopping the onions and, after making an excuse to Natalie about not being hungry, she made her escape to her bedroom.
~
At quarter past seven, there was a knock at her door. She glanced up from her romance book to see Will poke his head in.
His eyes softened. "Hey."
He pushed further into her room, carrying a tray with him. "I brought you a plate." He said. "I know you said you weren't hungry, but..."
Pleasant surprise worked through her. How considerate. Will Grey had to be the last person she expected to bring her up a plate of food. Not that she expected anyone to in the first place. But if she had to pick someone, she'd choose Natalie.
Natalie had that maternal personality. Throughout her stay so far, she'd noticed that the woman had a tendency to look out for each and every pack member with a tender concern. Usually that trait came out in the Alpha female, but Harley hadn't seen or heard anything about her.
"Thank you." She stood to take the tray.
"Not a problem." Will was already casting his gaze throughout her plain room. There wasn't much in her space except for the basic necessities: a bed, a dresser, a single nightstand.
All of her books had been stacked on top of each other on the nightstand. She liked having them close to where she slept. That way, if she ever woke up in the middle of the night on the cresting wave of a nightmare, she could just grab a book and escape into someplace else where she couldn't think too much.
"How long have you been back?" Will asked, strolling to her window with that same prowling grace most of the wolf shifters had.
She shrugged. "A bit. Maybe two weeks."
He went silent for a moment as he took in her view out the window. "You're planning on staying, right?"
She quite liked the way the setting sunlight played over his profile. It traced the distinguished curve of his jaw and gave life to his normally dark hair by adding gold.
Her eyebrows came together. "Of course, why?"
He jerked a thumb at the floor by her bed. "You haven't unpacked your suitcases."
She leaned back with a frown. Who knew Will would be so observant? Though she should've expected it. An unobservant rogue hunter would not only get absolutely nowhere, but probably killed as well.
It was true. She hadn't unpacked her suitcases, but she had shoved them under the bed. So how the hell had he caught that?
"I'll get there eventually." She said quietly.
After setting the tray onto her lap, she picked gently at the arrangement of steak, potatoes, and vegetables.
It was very nice for the pack to feed her like this. When she stayed with Aunt Tracy and Uncle Eric, most of her meals came out of easily re-heatable containers. Aunt Tracy wasn't the best cook. She instead would rather spend her time focusing on her financial records or watching reruns of Dr. Phil.
This pack would spoil her.
Will turned and leaned against the wall—making himself comfortable. "So, what are you reading?"
She eyes him as she chewed a bite of steak. Was Will planning to stay and watch her eat? Or did he simply want to chat?
He only waited, his eyebrows rising in a challenge. Daring her to kick him out.
She swallowed her tiny bite before speaking. "It's a contemporary romance."
"Romance? I see you as more of a fantasy type of girl."
Fantasy? Where vampires kidnapped unsuspecting girls and shifters created havoc among civilizations? "I've had enough fantasy in my lifetime."
A loaded statement.
She looked down at her fork scraping at her plate to avoid the sadness she knew would be in his eyes as he digested her words.
"I'm not much of a reader myself." He continued on, as if she hadn't just flashed him a piece of her hurt. "Wish I was though."
"I like it." She said, then took another bite.
Will waited until she finished her whole place before finally taking his leave. "Here, I'll take it downstairs for you."
She handed him the whole tray. "Thanks."
"Tomorrow we will talk about this job you got." He said as he turned his back to go to the door.
She didn't like the way he said that. It sounded...fatherish. Protective. As if it was more of a command than a request. Tomorrow we will be talking about your job.
Did he think he was her older brother?
Will stopped in the doorway, his hand on the door as he glanced over his shoulder. "Hey Harley?"
She shot down the indignant feelings churning in her stomach before replying, "Yeah?"
His head tilted to the side—a wolf gesture—and flicked his eyes quickly to her suitcases. "Work on unpacking those suitcases."
The door clicked quietly shut behind him.