by Marie Fraser
“It’s my mother’s,” Harry said, motioning for Katie to follow him. “She’s been sick for some time now, but recently doctor’s told us that there’s nothing else they can do.”
“I’m sorry,” Katie said, giving Harry’s hand a comforting squeeze. “For both of you.”
Harry and Katie visited with his mother and siblings for more than an hour, often taking turns telling stories. Katie told them about her childhood, growing up in the small town of Breckenridge, Michigan. “It was definitely a place where everyone knew everyone else. I, for one, couldn’t get away with anything. Plus I was a terrible liar.”
Harry smiled. When Katie excused herself to the bathroom, Harry watched her walk away. “I like your lady.” his mother said.
“She’s not mine,” Harry said.
“Well then what are you waiting for?”
“Teresa,” Javier shushed. “Let the boy figure it out on his own. Even knocking at death’s door you’re still pushy as ever.”
“If I didn’t push, he would still be scrounging the streets.”
“Blah,” the old man said, giving his wife a dismissive wave of his hand.
“Sometimes, mama, it’s not so much that I’m waiting as it is contemplating. You know I don’t like to bring people close. I’ve been burned too many times.”
“And haven’t you learned anything about people, women in particular yet? Not often is it the mother or woman who does the leaving. A weak woman might follow a man, but oftentimes it’s the man who leaves first and foremost. That woman, she won’t wait around forever. But neither is she the type to be a prize. You’ll have to get it right if you want her.”
“Gee thanks, mom.” Harry stuck his tongue out at his mother and smiled when she laughed. He bent down and kissed her brow before informing her that he was going to take Katie to dinner. He asked if his parents wanted anything and they said no. “You go have a good time, son,” Javier said with a nod. “I’ll watch over your mother. When we get tired, Christina said she’d stay tonight.”
“Thanks, pop,” Harry smiled. He hugged Christina in thanks and went to find Katie.
***
Katie still didn’t know what to expect and that was grating on her last nerve. Unlike most people, she couldn’t read Harry and being in the dark irked her. “Where are we going?”
“It won’t be much longer,” Harry said. “You’ll like it, I promise.”
The silence stretched on until Katie couldn’t take it anymore. Maybe Harry wasn’t a word guy. Maybe he preferred action instead. Turning in her seat, Katie reached for the zipper on his jeans. “What are you doing?”
“If you have to ask, I’m obviously not doing it right.”
“Katie,” Harry said with a rough chuckle. When she managed to find him half hard, she felt his reaction and grinned. When he pulled the car onto the shoulder of the road, she was surprised. But it wasn’t until he took her in his arms and gave her a hard, heated kiss that she was left shocked and speechless.
Still, she kissed him back, her own need clawing its way to the surface. His mouth was a perfect fit to hers and she nipped his bottom lip, soothing it with her tongue. Then his mouth was hot on her neck and his hands had found their way under her shirt. Letting go, she stripped her shirt off and moaned a little when he undid her bra. The fact that he had to fumble with the latch made her smile. “Dammit,” he said, flustered. When he finally got it, his mouth clamped over her tight nipple, sending her damn near into orbit.
“Harry,” she breathed, but her hips were already moving to give him access to more of her body. When he fingered her, she came on a high-pitched moan of pleasure, her head fuzzy from the overload of sexual release.
“Again,” Harry growled, pulling her onto his lap. He filled her in one hard thrust and Katie felt herself stretch to accommodate his large cock. She met his dark eyes and felt her heart trip in his chest. Accepting the hard press of love, she started to move with him, her body surrendering to the abandon of roadside sex. Just as needy, Harry let his hands lift her up and down, his thrusts almost angry as he filled her. Still, he wasn’t a thoughtless lover as his hand slipped between them and his thumb covered her clit. The rhythm was fast and hard, but he kept the pace even as he continued to stroke her higher. This time when she came, she took his mouth in a long, hot kiss.
When they could both breathe again, Katie smiled, setting her brow against Harry’s. “Well I can certainly say that that was the last thing I was expecting.”
“Katie I’m-“
“If you dare say you’re sorry, I’ll hit you.” Katie said, her pretty blue eyes sparking. Harry smiled with a nod.
“Then let me say that I wasn’t expecting that either. I…I thought I just wanted to take you to dinner, as a peace offering.”
“Well I’m still hungry,” Katie said, grinning. “But maybe now we can do something afterward, again.”
“Maybe,” Harry laughed.
***
Harry took her to Renaldo’s and they enjoyed a quiet, elegant dinner. Katie managed to get him to open up about his family and how Teresa and Javier had come to take him in.
“When I was little, life seemed like a fairy tale. Until I was old enough to understand that the yelling wasn’t fun or funny. Two years of constant yelling takes its toll on a boy of eight. I was angry and constantly getting in fights at school. My mother, though, she wasn’t strong enough to leave my father. So, one day I went to school and then I just walked away. I had packed my bag full of clothes and food. I had worn my best jeans, a long sleeved t-shirt and a sweatshirt under my winter coat. I’d even stuffed my favorite toy in my bag, because I knew I’d never go back.”
“Did your parents look for you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you ever-“
“We’ll get there,” he said, smiling when Katie’s eyes met his.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” he smiled. “I like who you are Katie, pushy questions and all.”
Katie grinned and took a sip of her Pinot Grigio. “Go on.”
“It didn’t take long for me to find a ride and I told the guy I needed to get as far away from Somerset as possible.”
“And he just picked you up?”
“Yeah,” Harry said with a shrug. “We drove for what seemed like forever. When nighttime came, I pulled out a snack bar, but he said to save it and bought me dinner. Then he got us a hotel room. I was young and stupid. When he suggested I take a shower, I did. He tried to come in while I was getting clean. Thankfully I’d taken my bag with me. I got dressed quickly and climbed out the bathroom window. I hailed a ride with a truck driver and never looked back.”
“Jesus,” Katie said, obviously on the edge of her seat. “How’d you survive?”
The truck driver, unlike the previous guy, was kind. I slept for a while and when I was out, he slipped a hundred dollars into my bag with a note to take care of myself and not spend it all on candy. He dropped me off at a gas station and gave me a twenty for food. At the time I didn’t know about the hundred.
“I kept hitching rides wherever I could find them until I was two states away from home. It took me more than two days, but I was free or so I thought. I was hanging out around a soup kitchen when Miss Teresa found me. She said I had two choices. I could keep going the way I was and wind up dead before my sixteenth birthday. Or I could come home with her. It meant school and church on Sundays. But it also meant three meals a day, a warm bed, clean clothes and love.”
Katie wiped her eyes, staying silent so he’d keep talking.
“Miss Teresa was the first woman to show me that a woman didn’t have to beat you to get you to mind. She simply asked me if I wanted the same treatment. It didn’t take me long to straighten up. She put me in therapy three times a week and I was able to grow, without hating my parents in the process.”
“They never looked for you?”
“Not that I know of,” he said. “When I turned eighteen,
I went back. I wanted to see what became of them, to see if they ever even knew I was gone. Our old house had been sold, painted, finally fixed up; but there was no mom and dad. I asked the woman who answered the door when I knocked if she knew what happen to the previous owners. She told me she believed they died in a car crash.
“When I went to the library,” Harry said, pausing to sip his wine. “I used the microfiche machine and found a clipping from the year I left. According to the reporter, my parents had been killed in a head-on collision with a tractor-trailer. It said that drinking had been a factor, something I knew was likely true. After that I figured there was no point in trying to be a part of that family. So, Miss Teresa is my mother. Her children are my siblings and my heart will be crushed when she passes.”
Katie couldn’t help herself, she got up and went around the table, kneeled down on the floor, took Harry’s face in her hands and kissed him, hard. Need whipped through her when he pulled her closer, but it was a need to give, to soothe away the hurt and pain. “I’m sorry that your parents couldn’t love you. And I’m so grateful that Teresa could.”
“That makes two of us,” Harry said with a watery grin. “Come home with me. I want to make love to you in the home of my heart.”
Chapter Three: Hearts and Hardships
Harry didn’t know what he was doing. He didn’t take women home and he certainly didn’t introduce them to his family. Now he was driving home with Katie quiet beside him and all he could think about was feeling her tight little body against his. She’d touched his heart and he never let anyone close enough to do that.
When they arrived, he came around and opened her door, taking her hand and nearly pulling her along after him. “Slow down,” she giggled. “Won’t your parents care that we-“
“No,” he said flatly. Sighing he stopped outside the door and turned, pulling her up close to him. He took her mouth in a hot, frenzied kiss that made her moan. “Honestly, I have no idea if they’ll care. Not that I’m about to ask them. I figure if they don’t want us in their house, like that, they’ll let me know when I start dragging you upstairs. Now, are you going to make me carry you or are you coming willingly?”
Harry watched Katie stand up straighter and had to fight not to smile. She stepped through the door first, leaving him grinning behind her. “Mr. and Mrs. Denismore, I want you to know that it has been an incredible pleasure to meet you. I also want you to know that I would never disrespect you or your home. Harry has it in his head to be intimate in your house and I’m not so sure you’d be comfortable with that-“
“We wouldn’t,” Javier grinned. “That being said, you’re the first woman Harry’s ever brought home and I, for one, don’t think he could have chosen better. Take this and enjoy the night while you’re young.”
***
Katie looked down and saw a hundred dollar bill in her hand. She grinned and tears sprang to her eyes. “Thank you,” she said, her voice hoarse with her tears. When Javier wrapped her in a hug, she choked on her sobs.
“One more thing, while I’ve got you here,” the older man said. “Do right by our Harry. He’s been hurt a lot as a youngster, but don’t let that deter you. He’s a good man and he needs a strong, capable, gorgeous woman. When he loves you, he’ll go to the ends of the earth to do right by you.”
Katie wiped her eyes and smiled. Do right by our Harry. What did that mean? She took Harry’s outstretched hand and waved to his parents as they left.
“You okay?”
“I just…yeah.” Katie said, shaking her head. She called her supervisor when she got to the hotel with Harry and asked for an emergency six month sabbatical.
“This won’t look good on your resume,” her boss reminded her. “You sure this is what you want?”
Katie looked at Harry and thought about his dying mother, the cost to him and his family. She knew her answer immediately. “I’m certain,” she said, giving Harry’s hand a squeeze. “I’ll deal with whatever consequences there are when I come back to work.”
“You got it,” her boss said. “See you in six months.”
“Thanks,” she said.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Harry said. Katie could see he’d been touched by the gesture, but Katie smiled.
“I didn’t do it just for you,” she said, standing and stripping her shirt off.
“No?”
“I happen to really, really like this guy. He’s smart, quiet, but I can deal with that. And did I mention he’s a really, really great guy. Not to mention he’s incredible in bed.”
“We haven’t been to bed, yet.”
“Okay,” Katie chuckled. “He’s really, really good in the front seat of a car.”
“Well,” Harry grinned. “I suppose I should meet him. Maybe I can learn a thing or two.”
“Don’t worry,” Katie smiled. “I’ll teach you.”
***
“Then come here,” Harry said, taking her hand and pulling her closer. They made love slowly, taking time to enjoy all the things they’d rushed through the first time. Harry still couldn’t believe that she’d taken a sabbatical to be with him during such a hard time. He’d been touched beyond just about anything anyone had ever done for him. His wolf knew she was his mate, but it was hard for his human side to let people in. It ran a close second best to what Teresa and Javier had done for the young man he’d been so long ago. There weren’t many people he owed in life, but now his list had extended to three.
In the quiet he turned to her. “I love you, Katie.”
He felt her sharp inhale. “Harry-“
“You don’t have to say it back,” he went on, almost blubbering. “I just…not since Teresa and Javier has anyone done something so deep for me. You didn’t have to do that and I…I’m just trying to tell you that it touched me, profoundly.”
She kissed him then, pulling back to look into his eyes. “I love you too,” she smiled, her eyes teary. “I don't really understand it, or how fast it happened, but I do love you.” They ordered pizza and made love again just as the sun was rising. Several hours later they woke, enjoying a late lunch.
“Do you like shopping?”
“I’m a girl,” she smiled. “Not to give into those stereotypes or anything, but yes, I love to shop. Admittedly I have a bit of a shoe fetish, nothing insane or anything. I’m not going to go crazy and spend two months’ salary on a pair of Manolo Blahnik high heels.”
“So you like shoes, you’re just a budget friendly shopper?”
“Exactly,” Katie laughed.
Harry decided a day of shopping for just the right pair of shoes. In the end they opted for a nice lunch out and a matinee movie. “When I was in college we had a dollar theater and I was never so thankful for cheap entertainment.”
“No daddy’s credit card, huh?”
“No,” Katie laughed. “I couldn’t get a job either, because I didn’t have a car. And I didn’t qualify for a work-study program. So, I was broke, except for the money my mom would send me. Even then I had to use that money for washing my clothes.”
“God, and I thought I had it bad.”
“Teresa and Javier are wonderful,” Katie said, taking his hand. “I’m so thankful they found you.”
“That makes two of us.”
***
Harry and Katie made a day of it, grabbing takeout from one of Harry’s favorite Chinese places and taking it back to his parent’s house.
“Your mother’s sleeping,” Javier said when they came through the door.
“We brought dinner.”
“Sounds good, son,” Javier said, hugging Harry and then grabbing Katie for squeeze. “You two have a good time?”
“Your son is quite adept at shoe shopping.”
“She’s lying,” Harry said with a lopsided grin.
“When he was a boy and first came to live with us, he barely had clothes to call his own,” Javier said, reminiscing. “We took him shopping and you would have sworn it was like Ch
ristmas, Easter and his birthday, the best of them all rolled into one.
“I told him if he’d show me he could apply himself at school, I’d buy him a backboard and new basketball, or a glove and bat-whichever he wanted-when his grades came through. He studied like his life depended on it. Brought home straight A’s. Then he turned fifteen and school, life got a little harder.”
“He means I started to notice girls.”
“Ah,” Katie laughed. “I think I was about that age when boys became interesting.”
“God help all parents,” Javier grinned. They ate, talking more about their pasts and sharing sweet memories. Then, Katie and Harry went upstairs, sharing a shower and the give and take of sexual bliss.
“When do we go back?”
“I can’t leave now,” Harry said. “So now I’m torn. There’s a part of me that wants to be with my crew, to make sure they’re doing alright. But she’s my mother. I couldn’t help my biological parents. I have to be here for her and Javier.”
“I’m not pushing,” Katie said.
“I know,” Harry smiled.
***
Harry slept fitfully, his mind muddled by the past and hurt over losing his mother now. Dreams plagued him, pushing him to stress over things he knew he couldn’t change.
“Harry,” came a whisper on the wind. Mist covered the ground and Harry felt powers he’d never touched pull at him. His soul ached, torn. “Harry.”
The whispers continued, desperate now, pleading. He looked around for some sign, some path to take, but there was nothing but mist and darkness. Trees, centuries old, speared up into the darkness, surrounding him, closing him in.
Then he saw a wolf, beautifully tan with intense green eyes. It sat there, just watching him. “Harry,” came his mother’s voice. “Come along now.”
He looked at the wolf, seemingly waiting patiently. He looked at the woman and felt his heart squeeze for her, out of love. But when he looked back there were three wolves now, a pack; his pack. As he watched three more and then another three came until there were nine wolves total. His Lobo crew.
