Chapter 15 - Harlow

         I heard Malachi in the kitchen looking for something, I didn’t care what. I was too fixated on the words he just said to me. I was his mate. Did I believe him? Yes. I did. I couldn’t explain why, but I did. I spent the last ten minutes talking myself out of this. Convincing myself that I didn’t feel the same way.

That as soon as I saw him, my heart rate didn’t beat faster. And when he leaves, I don’t become sad. That I wanted him, for more then just the fuck session on the counter. That Just looking at him made me wet. When he carried me to the living room, it felt right being in his arms. When he went to get me underwear and sweats, it made my heart swell.

         Malachi sat in front of me, not saying anything, just waiting. I knew my silence was killing him, that opening up like that and having the other person not respond would kill anyone.

         I searched his eyes, waiting for him to take it all back, to protect himself. But he didn’t. He just sat there. I wetted my lips and could only say the one true thing. “I feel it too. And want you by my side, too.”

         A smile spread across his face, causing dimples to form on either side of his face. This was the first time I admitted to having feelings for someone else. I wanted to stomp those feelings down and hide them away because of what I did, what I do. The Faction was no place for a relationship. But with Malachi, I couldn’t hide from it. If I left and never saw him again. It would crush me.

         I bit my lip. “What does this mean?”

         “Since you are human, we can take our time. I know this is different for you. That you need time to process this. Whatever you need.” He took my hand in his, and heat radiated from him, causing a soothing sensation to run through my body.

         “And if I were a werewolf?”

         “When we fucked earlier, I would have marked you as mine, moved you into my house and presented you as the pack’s Luna.” He was being honest; I could feel it. It seemed like they just jumped in without testing the water first. Could I do that? I don’t know. I’ve never had the opportunity. The only opportunity that fell into my lap was Trent, and he died. But I didn’t feel like how I felt for Malachi.

         “And now?”

         “I don’t want to rush you. We go at a pace that you are comfortable with. And when you are ready, I’ll mark you and present you as Luna.”

         “What does a Luna do?”

         “You are my mate; you help me run and protect the pack.”

         “Okay.” I could protect the pack but run it…I wasn’t so sure.

         “Don’t overthink this. We’re dating.” Malachi paused. “Does that sound better?”

         I nodded. It did sound better, took the mythical creature portion out of it, and let me process this like a human would. Even though it felt more than human emotions, as if it was my destiny to have been forced to go on vacation and come to Jackson. Then be at the gym at the exact time that those other guys came and broke in. It just didn’t seem like a coincidence that it had been planned, and it was outside of my hands.

         I was surprised that I was okay with this. My job required me to be a control freak, and this was a forever decision that I didn’t make. Being with Malachi, for this short amount of time, felt right. That if I denied him and went off alone, it would not only destroy me, but I could feel it would destroy him as well.

         “You have to let me know if you are freaking out right now? You kind of have a blank stare going on.”

         I gave him a half smile. “I was just thinking about how okay with it I am. It’s a little weird, because normally I prefer to make the decisions and not have decisions be made for me.”

         “Really? I didn’t gather that.” Malachi said in a mocking tone.

         I rolled my eyes.

         “I’m serious though, let me know if you are freaking out. Or if you are ready to take the plunge. I’ll be here either way.” He grabbed and squeezed my hand. The heat radiated through my body, tightening my core. I don’t think I would ever get used to that. “Are you hungry?”

         “Yes.” I could feel my stomach turning and gurgling.

         “Be right back.” Malachi left the room and came back, holding two pizzas on one arm and plates in the other hand, as if he were a waiter. He set down the pizzas on the coffee table and handed me a plate.

         He plopped down next to me and grabbed a couple of slices.

         “What did you decide on?” He stared at the television, taking a bite of his pizza.

         I let out a chuckle. “In light of the information I just received, I didn’t have time to make a decision. I guess you could say I was shell-shocked.”

         “I was expecting a way worse reaction.” He took another bite.

         “Really?”

         “Considering your affinity for guns, I was half expecting to get shot.” Malachi laughed.

         “I like how you think I’m gun happy.” I grabbed a slice and bit into it.

         “Pretty much every interaction we have had involved you wielding a gun.” He took another bite and chewed, then continued. “Yesterday at the gym, today in my office, today in this house when you opened the door, and then again when there was a hooded figure out in the forest.”

         I pursed my lips. “I wouldn’t say I’m gun happy; I would say I’m prepared.” I took another bite. “You should see the armory in this place, so many weapons, even the government is envious.” I laughed.

         “Why would you need that many weapons?”

         “This is a safe house; it’s meant to keep us safe. How are we supposed to do that unless we have weapons and bulletproof everything?”

         “The windows are bulletproof?”

         “Everything is. After we eat, I can give you a tour.”

         “Okay, but there’s one stipulation?”

         “What’s that?” I looked over at him, but he was still looking at the television screen.

         “You can’t walk…I’ll have to carry you.”

         I scoffed. “You are really going to carry me around the house? I can walk, just not fast.”

         “That’s the stipulation, take it or leave it.” He finished his second piece and grabbed another.

         “Are you going to annoy me for the rest of my life?”

         He smirked and looked over at me. “That’s the plan.”

         Butterflies hit my stomach hard, he wanted me forever. A big part of me wanted to just jump into this and have him mark me and be presented as his Luna. But the smaller part of me was screaming at me to take it slow or run as fast as I could.

         “Fine,” I said as I grabbed another piece and took a bite. In between chewing, I said, “Are you always this cheesy?”

         “I knew you’d see it my way. And never, I didn’t find my mate until now.”

         “You don’t have a girlfriend?”

         “Technically, now I do. Before I dated some, but nothing serious.”

         I nodded.

         We finished eating, I flipped through the movies, but we didn’t settle on anything. There were so many options that it was hard to pick just one. I never had time to sit down and watch anything let alone go to the movies. He was the same. We were both completely separated from the world of movies.

         “Let’s do the tour,” Malachi said, clapping his hands on his legs and standing.

         “Okay.”

         He bent over and scooped me up like I weighed nothing. I knew I wasn’t big, but I was solid and not the easiest to pick up. “Where to, first?”

         “Let’s start on one side and go to the other? Unless you have anything specific you want to see.”

         “You’re the tour guide, I’ll trust your judgement.”

         “Okay, that way.” I pointed to the hall. I was going to show him the armory first and then make our way to each of the rooms. After the armory, there wasn’t much else to see. It was just a typical house, upgraded up the ass, but still just a house.

He brought me to a door that had a keypad on the side. I punched in the number that would unlock the door. I pulled open the door to reveal dark stairs leading down.

“How do we turn on the lights?” Malachi asked.

“Just start walking.”

He hesitated.

“Are you scared?” I snorted.

“No, but normally I don’t make it a point to go down dark stairways that I don’t know where they go to.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” I smiled at him.

He shook his head but took a step forward. Almost instantly fluorescent lights began to switch on, one after the other going down into the basement. Normal basements were dirty and dingy. But this one was almost medical grade clean. The white walls were almost oppressive, hurting my eyes.

At the bottom of the stairs, there was another door with a retinal scan. I put my eyes up to it and it scanned me. “Welcome, Harlow Dunaway.”

“Harlow Dunaway,” Malachi whispered.

“What?”

“Nothing.” He shook his head, but I continued to stare at him until he explained. “I just didn’t know your last name, that’s all.”

“And I don’t know yours.” I laughed. “It’s kind of weird that we are in a kind of relationship, and I only know your first name.”

“Not a kind of relationship, just a relationship.” He looked down at me and smiled. “Malachi Conall.”

I tested his name out; it rolled off the tongue, sending a shiver down my spine. “I like it.”

“I hope so, I’m your mate. It would really suck if you didn’t.”

“You could have always changed it.”

“For you, I would do anything.”

His words made the butterflies in my stomach do somersaults. I could see the truth in his eyes. He would do anything for me if I asked. And the strange thing was, I would do anything for him. If he needed me to. I was already a trained killer, but I would burn the whole world for him if he wished it.

I pushed the door open, and he stepped through. The lights simultaneously flashed on. I could tell Malachi wasn’t prepared for what would be in front of him. The basement was huge, the stairway didn’t reveal that, though. At the far end of the room, there was something that looked like a glass case. But this was a holding cell in case someone was captured and needed to be stored some place. To my knowledge, it has never been used.

Along the walls, weapons were mounted. There were handguns, rifles, shotguns, axes, knives, and so much more just waiting to be used. There were two aisles down the middle of the room, the shelves held tactical gear, bulletproof vests, and C4. This room alone could go against an army and take them out.

“Holy shit.” Malachi breathed as he looked around the room, trying to take in every lethal thing in.

“Pretty impressive, right? This is my favorite safe house, just because of this armory. The other safe houses don’t have even half of what this one does.” I looked at the wall of knives. “Set me down.” I tapped his shoulder.

He hesitated.

“I just want to go play with something.” I said. He set me down and I limped over to the wall of knives and picked up a multicolored butterfly knife. I flipped it around, opening and closing it between my hands. “I need a new one of these. My old one is loose.” I flipped it closed and looked at Malachi, he was just staring at me in amazement. “What?”

“I just forgot that you are a trained assassin. That’s all.”

I handed the closed knife to Malachi. “Do you want to look at it?”

“I’m good.” He laughed. “I feel like I will chop off a finger or something.”

“We wouldn’t want that.” I pocketed the knife.

Malachi walked to the guns and touched one. “Why would you need this many weapons? It seems to be a little overkill.”

“That’s exactly right. We want to be prepared for anything. If we have to use a safe house, we want to make sure the person staying is prepared.”

“Why would you use a safe house like this?”

“If an assignment didn’t go right, or if someone is after the member. There are a bunch of reasons. Sometimes we have a victim stay in one if we can’t transport them in a timely manner. But most of the time they sit empty.”

“How many safe houses do you have?”

“About twenty are scattered across the globe.”

“Do they all have an armory like this?”

“No, this is the only one with this extensive weaponry. The other houses are smaller.”

“And do they all have a cell in them?”

“That they do. It’s necessary.”

“You just capture someone and throw them in there?”

It felt like he wasn’t asking what he really wanted to ask. That he was leading up to an answer, but didn’t want to ask the question. “What are you asking?” I stared at him as he looked at the weapons on the wall.

He let out a sigh. “Do you torture people?”

“It’s sometimes necessary to gather information.”

“Have you specifically tortured someone?” His eyes met mine. I could see a pain there that he kept hidden, locked away from everyone, but I could see it.

“Yes.” I left my answer simple. There was no reason to divulge any more, he knew what that meant. No explanation was needed. He looked away quickly, eyeing something else on the wall. “I am very good at what I do.”

“Mmhmm.” He nodded.

“Did you need my help?”

His head bolted in my direction. Pain filled his eyes. I wanted to take that pain away from him. “I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“You didn’t ask, I offered.” I took a limping step toward him and cupped his face in my hands. “I will take on that part of your job, because I never want to see that look in your eyes again.”

He leaned his forehead against mine. He closed his eyes. That action was far more intimate than any other action I have had with any other man. He trusted me, even though we had only just met. But the connection between us was palpable.

He opened his eyes to stare into mine. “I don’t know what to say.” He breathed out. I could sense his emotions were getting the better of him.

I gave him a half smile. “Say you will let me take over that part of your job.”

He pulled away and shook his head. “I can’t ask that of you. It’s my responsibility.”

I took a step toward him. “If I’m supposed to be this Luna thing, what am I supposed to do?”

He ran a hand through his hair. “You’re supposed to be my other half, the connection to my people, plan events for the pack…be my support.”

I snorted at him. “Do you really think I’m the type to plan parties for the pack?” The thought of me trying to plan an event was hilarious. I didn’t have the patience to talk about decorations and food. I didn’t care about that stuff. “I should do something that I’m good at. And this is what I’m good at. Ask Joe.”