Saving Briar

Every part of her body ached.

Harlow came back to herself little by little, hearing the rumble of an engine before she realized that she wasn’t shoved in the back of Poe’s car any longer. The coppery smell of blood filled her nostrils and she slowly forced her eyes open, praying that the lack of voices that she’d heard meant that no one was nearby to notice that she was awake.

“How much did you give her, you dumb fuck?” Harlow’s eyes snapped shut and she tried to force herself to relax. The voice, which she recognized immediately as her mom’s boyfriend, and one of her unfortunate kidnappers, was close by, but thankfully not right next to her. Hopefully he hadn’t noticed any changes in her level of alertness, because as far as Harlow could tell, her only change at escape at this point was for Poe and Hux to think that she was still completely out of it.

The pain wasn’t just from being manhandled into the SUV earlier, although that certainly must have been part of it. Both of Harlow’s hands had been bound behind her back with handcuffs that were tight enough that she knew she wouldn’t be squeezing out of them, and her legs were bound at the ankles and the knees. She’d been placed on her side, and this new space was roomier than the back of any SUV. Harlow tried to search her mind for where they could have taken her as she concentrated on laying perfectly still.

“Just as much as that doctor said we needed to give her to make sure that she didn’t start to shift, and I mixed in a couple of vials of the stuff her mom gives the kid when she won’t go to sleep.” Harlow knew that her body stiffened at this announcement. “I figured one wouldn’t be enough since it’s for Kayla’s weight.”

Harlow felt sick to her stomach, her own precarious situation momentarily taking second place to this horrifying piece of information that she’d just learned. A part of her wanted to doubt what Hux had just said, but another part of her mind had immediately accepted and believed his words. It sounded like something her mother would do as much as she wanted to deny it.

The woman hadn’t been her first choice as Kayla’s babysitter, but she’d been the babysitter that she could afford. And Harlow had watched her day in and day out with Kayla when they’d all spent time together. She’d told herself that her mother had grown up since she’d been small, and that she wanted her daughter to have the relationship with her grandmother that she’d never had.

At the moment though, Harlow didn’t have time to linger over the mistakes she’d made, when she’d trusted her mother to care for the most precious part of her life. Before she could even begin to think about what any of that meant she had to find a way to get back to Kayla, so she could make things right. After that she could sort out the rest.

“How long until we land?” Harlow stiffened, despite her best efforts to lay still and the space went silent, except for the hum of the engine.

“We know you’re awake, Sleeping Beauty. Although just like your mama you know how to pick ’em, don’t you? Hell Baby, if you’d kept your nose out of this there would be no reason for you to be on this plane with us on this beautiful sunny afternoon.”

“Why are you doing this?” Beta Poe had grabbed her by one shoulder, which hurt much more than it should have, and jerked her into a sitting position before setting her down hard on one of the worn leather seats. Harlow got her first clear look around and saw that they were inside a light jet that looked as if it had seen better days.

“You got in the way, Baby.” For the first time in her life Harlow felt a growl bubbling up in her throat and as she pushed it back down she briefly thought that he was right. She’d been spending way too much time with these freaking werewolves. They’d rubbed off on her too much. Except not in any way that mattered. She was still smaller, slower, and weaker than they were. Her earlier thoughts of escaping seemed to slip further away.

“And you acted like a whore.” It was Hux who spit out the words, and Harlow didn’t even turn her head to look in his direction. “Fuck, you probably fucked him with Kayla in the house after I left the other night.”

“I didn’t.” Harlow’s voice was low and she stared straight ahead, but she knew that he heard her. “And I wouldn’t have gotten involved in the first place if his daughter hadn’t offered me the equivalent of six months of the child support that you haven’t paid,” now Harlow’s eyes did flicker in Hux’s direction, but only for a moment, before she continued, “to make Theon feel better. I went in there expecting to hate him. But you know what, unlike you,” again her eyes went to the father of her child, “and apparently you,” now her glare settled on Beta Poe, “he’s actually not a bad guy.”

“Cara? Cara paid you to fuck him?”

“Why does it even matter? Doesn’t that just confirm that I am what you say I am? Although I wouldn’t have to be if you actually helped me support your daughter?”

Beta Poe reached up, running a hand roughly through his hair before turning quickly towards Hux.

“I told you when you came to me and told me that she was your mate, that you were going to have your hands full and that this was the only way. That girl has wanted to be Luna since she was three years old. Yes, she wanted Theon to be her mate, but if he wasn’t she was willing to step on the necks of anyone in her way to get what she wanted. I’m telling you, my second girl, should have been a boy. Cara was born to be Alpha.”

Harlow’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. She didn’t know much about the Beta’s family, but she was quite certain that Cara was the oldest of the children he and his wife shared.

“Careful, Grandpa. She might be a whore, but she’s not stupid. See that look. She’s trying to figure it out right now.” This came from Hux who Harlow honestly wished would shut the fuck up. She wanted to put her fist through his face. The thought startled her.

“I wish you’d stop calling her a whore.” Poe said the words in a low, warning tone, but Hux only shrugged.

“Maybe if you’d been around more, she wouldn’t have had all these Daddy issues.”

If Harlow’s head hadn’t hurt so much she would have shaken it. She definitely didn’t need her mother’s boyfriend around more than he had been. A shudder passed through her body at the idea and she closed her eyes as a wave of nausea that had more to do with the pain in her head than the present conversation.

“Fuck off, Hux. You aren’t Alpha yet. I still outrank you for a while longer.”

“Cara’s your mate?” Harlow took a few more deep breaths as she struggled not to get sick, not looking at Hux as she asked the question.

“She is.” He answered in what was possibly the most serious voice she’d ever heard from him.

“Wait, but how do you know? Her birthday is still later this month. She isn’t even eighteen yet.” Harlow was trying to bring up all the information she had about werewolves, but it still didn’t make sense.

“Sometimes when one half of a mated pair turns eighteen first, they know. It isn’t common, but it isn’t rare either. Maybe one or two in a hundred, give or take. It’s hard to tell because some couples don’t meet until they’re older.” Beta Poe was the one who answered her question.

“Does she know?” Harlow asked, not carrying if it made her head hurt more as she turned to stare at her ex.

“She does.” He nodded slowly as he settled back in his seat, staring out the window.

“How long has she known?” His eyes met hers and he looked back out the window of the plane.

“Doesn’t matter.” He avoided meeting her eyes.

“Your birthday was six months ago, Hux.”

He didn’t say a word, just continued to stare out at the tiny landscape far below them.

“She knew she wasn’t his mate when he found Briar?”

“She’s always wanted to be Luna, Harlow.” He snapped the words and for a moment Harlow saw his wolf staring back at her from the other side of his eyes.

“Cara would rather be Luna than be with the man the Goddess made for her?” Harlow wasn’t sure why the idea hurt her so much, but saying the words made her chest ache. As a human she knew the chances that she would have this bond that the werewolves around her seemed to take for granted was maybe one in a million. And here they were throwing it away like it meant nothing at all. She wanted to scream or throw something or at least ask them, how could they be so stupid? But she had the distinct feeling that Hux wasn’t the person to ask. He wasn’t the one who wanted to let go of his mate.

“Cara wants to be Luna more than anything. As her mate it’s my job to make her happy. And in this case that means making sure that she doesn’t have to choose. I will be the next Alpha of our pack and she will be my Luna.”