#12 The Triplets of Emerald Forest
Chapter 21

Griffin

I was shocked at how long Ric stayed upstairs with Harlow. He didn’t come back down until dinner time, declaring that we had the best mate in the world and that he was now the favorite. He had the kitchen staff take Harlow up some dinner, since she was feeling tired from the long day and didn’t want to come down. She requested to be left alone for the rest of the night and we obliged, besides leaving Waylon outside her door and the guards outside her window, of course.

It was now the next morning and I was claiming Harlow for myself today. Godric was immediately put in a bad mood at this idea and stomped off, locking himself in his office. Gabriel didn’t seem super affected by it, but I’m pretty sure that was just because he was afraid to be alone with her.

“Annie, how’s Harlow this morning?” I asked as she entered the kitchen.

“Good! Amanda made us all breakfast and I’m taking it up to her.” Annie smiled.

“She doesn’t have to eat up there. She can come down here.” I said, sounding disappointed. Annie winked at me,

“I know. I went up to see if she needed any help and she requested that we all take breakfast in her room. Don’t worry, you’ll get her soon, Alpha.” Annie laughed at my expression before taking the breakfast cart and pushing it towards the elevator.

I struggled to stay in my seat and keep from following after her. I ate my breakfast painfully slow, knowing that as soon as I was finished there would be nothing keeping me down here. Once I was done, I stopped off at my office to make sure there was nothing that needed my attention. I couldn’t resist any longer, so I took the elevator up to our floor and hesitantly stepped into the opening living room. Waylon was sitting out there and the door to the Alpha wing was wide open.

“The girls are all in there.” Waylon nodded towards the door with an irritated expression. Something told me there was a lot of girl chatter going on, something Waylon wasn’t very patient with.

I walked over to the door and knocked, even though it was open. The girls went silent and all their eyes shot towards me. I suddenly felt like a deer in the headlights. Instantly, I found Harlow’s eyes and locked on to her gaze.

“Just the Alpha we wanted to see.” Kori grinned, moving away from the group. Upon hearing his mate’s voice, Waylon was immediately in the room, standing beside her.

“What do you want?” I sighed, but I was grinning playfully.

“We want to take Harlie shopping later today, out in the real world mall. She needs some more clothes.” Kori said in her most innocent voice.

“We’ll all go with her, even Callie and Waylon.” Matii jumped in.

“You’ll be taking more than just Callie and Waylon with you if you’re planning on leaving the grounds.” I said in a warning tone.

“Whoever you want!” Matti nodded.

“Is this what you want, Harlow?” I asked, my eyes never leaving my mate’s face as I moved across the room.

The girls parted like the red sea, giving me a clear path to my mate. She stayed rooted in place, her eyes trained on me. I reached out and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her to my chest. I was shocked when she didn’t fight it. Her arms remained pinned at her side and her expression unchanging, but she didn’t pull away, and that was a win for me.

“Is this what you want, angel?” I said in a deeper, quieter voice, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear and cupping her face.

“Yes.” She croaked out. I smirked at what I was doing to her and loved the beautiful blush that spread across her face.

“Will you be good and not run away?” I asked teasingly.

“I made a promise to all of you, didn’t I?” She said, regaining her voice. Her eyes narrowed like she was offended that I was questioning the merit of her word.

“Okay, then. I’ll tell Gabe and Ric, and we’ll discuss who will be accompanying you. On one condition.” I added, holding up a finger.

“What?” She asked hesitantly.

“I get you all to myself this morning. You can go with the girls after lunch.” I requested. She seemed to be considering it as she gnawed on her bottom lip. I swear, that did things to me.

“Okay.” She nodded and I grinned.

“It’s a date, then.” I kissed her cheek loudly and she blushed even harder.

I stepped away and addressed the girls again,

“You can have her this afternoon, after lunch.” I shooed them out and, for once, none of them complained.

I turned back towards Harlow who was watching me with her doe eyes. I felt like I was under a microscope when she looked at me like that, but I wasn’t going to complain.

“So, what do you want to do today, angel?” I asked, throwing myself down on the sofa and stretching my arms over the back of it. She cocked an eyebrow at me,

“Uhm what?” She looked confused. I chuckled,

“Before we decide, can I ask you a favor?” I said, leaning forward. She walked towards me and sat hesitantly on the sofa before nodding.

“Can you call your friend and tell her that you’re okay? So we don’t have the police knocking on our door.” I dug my phone out of my pocket and unlocked it for her. She took it was a timid hand,

“You want me to call?”

“Angel, I trust you.” I assured her, holding her fingers in my hand for a little longer than was necessary before I allowed her to take the phone completely.

She fiddled with it before pressing the phone to her ear, all the while, studying me with mild curiosity.

“Toni, it’s Harlie.” She answered and I heard screaming from the other end. Harlow pulled the phone away from her ear for a second, wincing.

“Where the hell are you?” I heard the girl ask.

“I….” She paused, looking at me with a puzzled expression, “I went home. There was….an emergency.” She stammered.

“Home?” The friend, Toni, sounded confused, “What about school?”

“I’m doing it online for now. I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone.” She said,

“You sure you’re okay?” Toni didn’t sound like she was convinced.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just some drama with my biological family, you know?” She shrugged.

“You never talk about them.” Toni said with a curious voice.

“There’s a reason for that.” Harlow laughed humorlessly and I could sense a bit of truth behind her emotions.

“Okay, well, don’t scare me like that again! Everyone has been out looking for you since the party.” Toni shrieked and Harlow grinned at her friend.

Goddess, I wish I could get her to smile at me like that.

“I’m sorry, I should have called. It won’t happen again, promise.”

“Alright. Hey, whose phone are you calling from, anyway?” Toni asked.

“Oh, I lost my phone on the train ride here. I haven’t gotten a new one yet.” She lied easily.

“You took a train?”

“Easier than driving.” She answered smoothly.

“Okay, well, just don’t ghost me, again, okay?” Toni still sounded worried.

“I won’t, I swear.” She said, eyeing me so she knew I was also being held responsible for keeping that promise.

“I guess I have to call everyone and take down some posters.” Toni grumbled and Harlow laughed, her eyes twinkling,

“Have fun with that. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Byeeee.” Toni sang before the call ended. Harlow handed me back my phone.

“You better not make me a liar.” She warned.

“I would never.” I winked at her and she sighed, “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.” She replied automatically, like she was worried she wasn’t allowed any other answer. I sighed,

“You know, you have a choice, Harlow. You can say no if you don’t want to talk about something, okay?” I said, trying to convince her that she wasn’t our prisoner. Harlow’s face lit up a little,

“Okay. What do you want to know?”

“I was wondering about your family? You told my mom that you didn’t know your parents.” I asked cautiously.

Harlow took a deep breath and seemed to hold it in for a second before she released it in a puff of air.

“I have no idea who my father is and my mother was arrested when I was two, I haven’t seen her since so I have no memory of her either. I grew up in foster care and group homes, I was never adopted.” She explained in a passive tone.

“I’m so sorry to hear that, angel. You know, Mom was an agent with the FBI and now so is my younger brother, Wade. Nova works for the Stafford police department, too. Not to mention all the resources the pack has. We could replace them, if you wanted us to.” I offered and her eyes went huge.

“You would do that?” She looked shocked.

“Angel,” I chuckled, “I would do anything for you, absolutely anything.” I took her hand in mine and pulled her into my side.

I was tired of the space between us. She yelped at the sudden motion but didn’t fight it as she collapsed against my side. I wrapped my arm around her waist and sat sideways on the couch so we were facing each other.

“I have no desire to know my parents.” Harlow said with the utmost certainty.

“Okay, fair enough. I just wanted to offer it.” I said,

“I….I appreciate that.” She mumbled, seeming to not know exactly what to say.

“Do you know where your last name comes from?” I asked, remembering what we saw on her birth certificate. She shook her head,

“My mother’s last name was Winters and that’s my middle name. I have no idea where Nyx comes from. I never looked into it because I was afraid it belonged to my father and I really didn’t want to know his name.” She shrugged, but her eyes were hardened with emotion.

“You know, Nyx means night.” I said, wiggling my eyebrows at her playfully.

“Really? I didn’t know that.”

“Fitting, don’t you think? Since you’re destined to werewolves, the children of the moon.” I said with, what was probably, a stupid grin on my face.

Harlow rolled her eyes at me but she had a smirk playing on her lips.

“Okay,” I clapped my hands and rubbed them together, “Onto new adventures. Is there anything you wanted to do after your tour of the packgrounds yesterday?” I asked, jumping up from the couch and pulling her with me.