by Knight, Gwen
She thought herself stronger than that. That her time away from him had emboldened her, prepared her for the pain life had to offer. But still, she couldn’t muster the courage to ask the one burning question that continued to eat at her.
Gnawing on a piece of jerky, she cast him a side-glance, watching as he sipped his water. Maybe now wasn’t the best time. They were knee-deep in enemy territory, literally running for their lives. Perhaps a heart-to-heart wasn’t a great idea.
But that didn’t stop her from wondering. From imagining the conversation. From picturing herself demanding everything she’d always wanted to know.
Instead, she found herself asking something simple and, frankly, quite stupid. “So, what have you been up to the past three years?”
Harley’s mouth flattened, as though he didn’t appreciate the question. “The usual.”
“Still part of Wyatt’s pack, I see.”
“Expected that to change?”
In a way, she had. He’d taken fifty thousand dollars from her father because apparently that was all she’d been worth to him. What she really wanted to know was what he’d done with the money. He hadn’t left Colorado or the pack. So, what then? Had he spent it all on possessions? Debt? For some reason, she was dying to know what he’d done with the money he’d taken in exchange for breaking her heart.
“No idea. Clearly, I don’t know you as well as I’d thought, so I have absolutely no idea what you’ve been doing for the last three years.”
A dark frown twisted Harley’s brow. He turned, his hardened gaze boring through her. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
She shrugged, then nipped off another edge of her jerky. “Exactly what I said.”
Sighing, Harley wrapped his lips around his water bottle and downed the rest. Jasmine found her own mouth suddenly parched. The sight of him drinking shouldn’t have affected her so strongly. But everything about him captivated her, much to her dismay. She’d hoped her heart would have moved on by now, but apparently mates meant forever.
Lucky her.
She turned back to the waterfall and admired the view a little longer before finally asking, “So you haven’t done anything new at all?”
He shrugged. “In case it escaped your notice, things aren’t exactly friendly around Wolffe Peak. We’ve had our own problems we’ve had to deal with. Humans First and whatnot.”
She shuddered at the sound of their name. If she ever laid eyes on them or Luis again, it’d be too soon. “Right. Humans First.” She peered out into the trees. “Do you think he’s out there right now? Watching us?”
“I don’t know,” he muttered, his tone severe. “If he is….” A growl ravaged his throat.
Jasmine understood his reaction. If she ever ran into Luis again, the last thing he’d see was her fangs tearing out his throat. And she desperately hoped that day came. Strange. She never considered herself a violent person. But after everything he’d done to her, the thought of killing him didn’t bother her in the slightest.
Harley cleared his throat, then leaned back into the grass, braced on his elbows. Thanks to the generous amount of moonlight bathing down on them, she had enough light to see him by. Strange, comparing the man next to her to the boy who’d left her. Three years had actually made quite the difference. Where once he’d been lean, he was now muscled, his body far stronger than before. His face had filled out, but the edges were more defined instead of softer. Her gaze traced his steely jawline to his tempting mouth up to his beautiful eyes. She’d always loved staring into them. An enticing green, almost like emeralds the way they’d sparkled at her. Now, that sparkle was gone. They were almost dull now, as though life had worn down the sheen.
“What?” Harley demanded.
“What, what?”
“You’re staring. What do you want?”
Even his voice had hardened. The Harley she remembered had always been a joker, a flirt. Always playful with his words. She’d caught glimpses of that here and there with Carlisle and Wells, but hardly ever with her. Did he truly hate her that much now?
Her breath caught. Was that why he’d left? Did he hate her?
Her heart shivered in her chest.
She’d never given that any consideration. She’d assumed he’d taken the bribe because he’d needed the money for some reason. She’d never wondered if he’d left because of her. And man, did that question sting. Had she done something to push him away? Or had it all been a game to him?
Maybe they weren’t real mates?
Had he made that up? As a means of getting in her pants?
Hot tears pricked at her eyes. How had she never considered this before?
She swiped the tears away from her cheeks before he spotted them and forced her gaze back out toward the waterfall.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
Harley straightened and reached toward her. Before she could move away, his fingers caught her jaw and he turned her head toward him. His gaze raked over her face, a frown darkening his face.
“You’re crying,” he said.
Her chest rose rapidly as she fought back a fresh wave of tears. She didn’t want him to see her like this, weak and pathetic, crying over their failed relationship. He clearly didn’t care, so why should she?
“Jasmine. What’s wrong?”
His voice… impossibly soft. And her damn jaguar. She felt her inner cat rising to the surface in response to him, as though desperate to reach out to his wolf.
Was that what it meant to be someone’s mate? He’d once told her it was like the blending of two souls, both human and animal. That if she’d been a shifter, their animals would have recognized each other as well. Jasmine hadn’t given it much thought, but her inner cat had connected with Harley the second she’d laid eyes on him back in the cabin.
They couldn’t be mates, though. Not truly. Not if he’d been willing to leave her. She didn’t know much about the subject, but it seemed unlikely that someone’s mate would abandon their other half.
Afraid to answer, she tried to pull away from him. Harley released her, but rather than back off, he scooted closer on the grass and wiped away the tears that dared to escape.
“Are you scared? I won’t let anyone hurt you, I swear.”
See? It was things like that. Stupid little comments that twisted the knife in her heart a little deeper. How could he go from caring about her in one moment to utterly rejecting her in the next? He’d been nothing but attentive to her and her needs since rescuing her. Hell, he’d even kissed her. But when she’d confronted him, given him a chance to admit he still cared, he’d simply shrugged it off and made a joke.
“I—I need to know,” she said, stumbling over her words.
“Know what?”
She drew in a deep, shuddering breath and swallowed her fear. Running from the truth wouldn’t accomplish anything. Learning the truth, however, might help her heal, help her move on. If she could bear his answer. The thought of him telling her it’d all been a game helped steel her nerves. She could do this. She’d lift her chin, look him in the eyes, and demand an answer. She deserved one, for crying out loud.
“You once said I was your mate,” she blurted out.
And damn if his expression didn’t immediately close off. His eyes grew cold, like stone, and his mouth flattened. “I don’t want to discuss this.”
“Well, I do. And it isn’t always about you. I just don’t understand.”
Unspoken emotion flickered in his eyes. “What exactly don’t you understand?”
“You! This!” She waved a hand between them. “Three years ago, you told me I was your mate. You held my hand and promised me that you’d love me forever. You swore you’d never leave me.”
She’d been wrong when she’d thought his eyes were cold before. No. They burned. And if she wasn’t mistaken, they burned with hatred. For her.
She blazed forward, refusing to back down now that she’d finally found the words.
“You promised me, Harley! So I want you to explain to me, right now, why. Why, after everything, did you leave me?”
Jasmine wasn’t sure what to expect. A disgusted scoff as he turned away from her? A mocking laugh as he insulted her feelings? A hundred different scenarios ran through her head. The only one that hadn’t, the one response she wouldn’t have expected in a million years? Him, surprised. Stunned, even.
Harley stared at her, as though shocked by her question.
She waited patiently for his answer, but never in her wildest dreams had she expected the one he gave.
“You seem to be mistaken. I never left you, kiddo. You left me.”
12
“I… what?” Jasmine sputtered, staring at Harley like he’d sprouted a third head.
He couldn’t believe the direction their conversation had turned tonight. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined Jasmine abruptly bringing up their past. When she hadn’t mentioned it even in passing while hiking through the jungle, he’d assumed it to be a done deal, conversation closed, door locked, and key thrown away.
But maybe that wasn’t the reason.
Why did you leave me?
Leave her? He would never in his worst nightmare leave her. Jasmine had meant everything to him. No man would willingly abandon his mate. He’d heard of some situations where it happened, of course, but those situations had been the exception, not the rule. Axel, for example, had left Maddie when they were younger to protect her. The developing situation between Humans First and the shifter community had begun heating up, and Maddie’s family had managed to maintain their secret, thereby running a profitable business. Had people learned that the eldest daughter was associating with werewolves, let alone mated to one, they would have protested. Possibly even shut down the ranch. Axel had walked away, believing it best for everyone if the two of them weren’t together.
“Harley, I never left you. You must have taken a few too many knocks to the head.”
He stared at Jasmine, but he couldn’t spot a single sign of deceit. Her breathing had quickened, and her pupils dilated, but that didn’t mean she was lying—quite the opposite, in fact. And the heat filling her cheeks suggested a touch of anger, perhaps.
Harley debated how to proceed. After mulling over the possibility, he decided to be entirely blunt. “Let me remind you of what happened. Your father offered you a paid trip traveling the world. You took it. You left. Ergo….”
“No, allow me to remind you. My father offered you fifty thousand dollars to walk away from me. And you took it. You left.”
Harley fell silent and stared at the woman sitting next to him. She had to be kidding, right? He’d never taken a dime from her father. Whereas she was the one who’d only just returned from traveling the world. Her father had paid for everything, whilst he—
Oh, sweet Jesus.
Harley’s heart plummeted. It wasn’t possible. Or maybe it was. He honestly wouldn’t put it past the asshole. Her father.
Of course, her fucking father.
Harley unleashed a savage snarl and lunged to his feet. Damn it, of course it’d all been her father! The king of egotistical assholes. How could he have done this? No, that wasn’t the right question. Because nothing that man did surprised Harley anymore. The true question was, where the hell could Harley hide the senator’s damn body so no one ever found him? And how badly could he fuck him up beforehand?
Another growl ravaged his throat as he spun around and punched a tree trunk. Bark flew in every direction and the skin on his knuckles split, but Harley barely felt it. When they got back to Colorado, he’d wring the bloody bastard’s throat. He’d ruined everything. And had Jasmine not been kidnapped, Harley never would have figured it all out.
Hell, he must have been the senator’s absolute last resort. Knowing he’d purposely ruined their relationship. He must have hated the idea of coming to Harley for help.
Well, Harley would make the senator regret it.
And every other mistake he’d ever made in his life.
“Harley!” Jasmine shouted, rushing to his side to inspect his hands. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Don’t you see?” He whirled on his heel and marched off into the distance, seething. His wolf rose to the surface, ready to rip into something’s throat if only to calm the ire surging within.
Harley wasn’t one for violence. But everything the senator did set him off. And now, Harley knew the truth.
“See what? I see you’re bleeding.”
“I’m going to kill your father.”
Jasmine froze, her eyes flying wild at his bold statement. “What? Why?”
He shook his head. The fool he’d been. When Pierce told him Jasmine had taken the deal and left, he shouldn’t have listened. He should have put every last effort into finding her and confirming with his own eyes and ears that she’d left him. He should have known the senator cared more about his political image than his daughter’s happiness.
“What’s going on?” Jasmine demanded, her voice hardening.
Harley raked a hand down his face, then turned toward her and blew out a heavy breath. “Your father was behind all of this.”
Anguish filled her eyes. “My kidnapping?”
“No, no, not that.”
Relief softened her countenance. “Okay, then what?”
“Us. You leaving.”
“I never left!” she shouted, heat suffusing her cheeks.
“No, but you did. You just didn’t realize why you were leaving.”
“I don’t understand.”
And he needed to calm down so he could explain this properly. But damn it, her father knew how to rile up his wolf. The man was absolutely abhorrent. The extremes he went to….
“Three years ago, your father offered me a lump sum of money to leave you and never look back.”
“And you took it,” she whispered, the hurt so evident in her voice.
“I said no, Jasmine. I told him where he could shove that damn check. I nearly shredded it right in front of him. And I told him if he knew what was good for him, he’d never try anything so stupid again.”
She shook her head. “No, that’s not right. He offered you the money and you….”
“Left? Like how he offered you an all-expenses-paid trip around the world to leave me? A deal you took. Or so he told me.”
“No, I would never….” Her hands rose to her mouth, her wide eyes staring at him in shock.
“He played us,” Harley growled. “And we were young enough—and stupid enough—to fall for his tricks.”
“You didn’t take the money,” she whispered.
“But let me guess, he told you I did. And then while you were heartbroken, he offered to send you on a trip. To get away from it all.”
She nodded. “He told me you never wanted to be with me. That you only wanted me because of who I was. That you came sniffing around for money, money he offered and you took.”
Harley’s clenched his jaw so tight he thought his teeth might crack.
Rage and anguish built within him to a dangerous level. The bastard had done more than played them. He’d utterly destroyed them.
“Oh my God,” Jasmine whispered. She reached out, her trembling hand resting against a tree for support. “I can’t believe this. Can’t believe he’d stoop so low. Why? Why would he do this?”
“Because of me,” he snapped. “Because although your father supports shifter rights, he doesn’t support his daughter being with one. That’s the limit. The proverbial line in the sand.”
“But… he’s my father,” she murmured, clearly devastated.
There was no denying the truth, though. Not now that they’d figured it out. Senator Pierce had fabricated everything. Harley could see it all playing out in his head like it was a movie. He’d likely gone to Jasmine first. Told her Harley had taken the bribe. And when she’d broken down, crying, heartbroken, he’d stepped in and saved her. Offered her a way to heal, from the goodness
of his own heart. Why not take some time to yourself? Travel? Heal? You’ll feel better after some time away. And Jasmine, broken and confused, had taken him up on his offer.
“You never thought to reach out to me?” Harley asked.
She sat on the grass and pulled her knees up to her chest, her cheeks damp with tears. “When my father told me you took the bribe and ran, I believed him. You wouldn’t be the first to have done so.”
Harley winced. He remembered hearing about some of her previous boyfriends when they first began dating. There’d been a few good ones in the mix, but a few bad apples as well. The ones who’d taken Daddy’s money when offered.
“I thought you played me. That it’d all been a game to get to my father.”
Jesus. Her father knew exactly how to hurt her.
And when she’d agreed to travel, Pierce had found Harley and nailed home the final piece. Jasmine had left, gone for who knew how long, uncontactable, uninterested in being with him anymore.
“He ruined us,” Jasmine whispered.
Harley cursed under his breath and knelt before her, taking her hands in his. “He tried to ruin us.”
“No, Harley. He destroyed us. Three years we could have been together.”
His wolf unleashed a sad howl in his head, agreeing with her words. For three years, he’d suffered, feeling as though a part of him was missing. No doubt she’d felt the same way. All because of her father, a man who was supposed to love and protect her above all else. All because of his own political machinations.
“Hey.” Harley hooked his index finger beneath her chin and lifted until all he could see were her beautiful brown eyes. “Forget the past for a moment. Tell me, right here, right now, do you still love me?”
A whisper of a smile graced her lips. “I never stopped.”
Harley’s eyes fluttered shut the second her words sank in. It was like a weight lifting off his shoulders, like the hole in his heart had finally healed, the missing piece of his soul returned to him. After three years of believing she’d betrayed and abandoned him, she’d finally come home.
