บททั้งหมดของ Seven-Day Claiming: บทที่ 41 - บทที่ 50

Adrian did not hold anything back.They remained in Cabin 12 long after the fire burned low, Harmony curled against him while he filled in the six months she had only experienced through silence, dreams, and fragments over the phone.He told her about Daniel.Not only that he had died, but how.How the Black Moon pack had come onto Calder land under the pretense of peace and gone directly for the leadership. Daniel. Justin. Mark. Alpha, Beta, Gamma. How quickly the pack bond had shattered afterward, leaving everyone frightened, disoriented, and struggling to organize while an enemy moved through their home.He told her about the safe room. About Daniel forcing Isabel and the children inside, locking the door behind him because he knew his mate would have followed him into battle if given the chance.Then he told Harmony what happened when Daniel died.Harmony listened without moving as Adrian described Isabel screaming, her body breaking beneath the severed mate bond, her wolf dying i

Harmony had two days left at Calder Ridge.Two days before she was supposed to fly back to London, present her findings, and begin the much less romantic part of international partnership development involving contracts, attorneys, budgets, and people asking questions about projected returns.The negotiations were going well.Very well.Penelope had received daily updates, the internal team at Calder Ridge had started exchanging preliminary documents with Harmony’s company, and barring some unexpected disaster, Harmony was fairly certain she would be returning to Montana sooner rather than later.For now, however, she was trying to keep up with a wolf.“You are doing that on purpose.”Adrian’s wolf stopped twenty feet ahead on the trail and looked back at her.Harmony put both hands on her hips.“I have very short legs.”The wolf huffed.“Do not huff at me.”He huffed again.Harmony pointed at him. “You are impossible in every form.”His mouth opened slightly, which Harmony was increa

For the first hour, Harmony almost forgot there were wolves in Montana.The town consisted of one long main street, a few side roads, and enough independently owned businesses to make it look as though someone had designed it specifically for a Christmas movie. There was not even a proper traffic light. Cars took turns at four-way stops while pedestrians crossed wherever they pleased and no one seemed particularly concerned about it.Harmony walked slowly with a paper coffee cup warming her hands.She had needed this.Humans.Normal humans.A woman pushing a stroller. Two older men arguing cheerfully outside a hardware store. A teenager carrying three pizza boxes toward a pickup truck. Nobody was shifting. Nobody could smell that Harmony was somebody's mate. Nobody expected her to help lead an ancient supernatural community.She breathed in the cold mountain air.Better.The first store she entered was half gallery, half woodworking shop. Tables, bowls, carved signs, sculptures, and f

Harmony had been in the trunk long enough to lose track of direction. The road changed beneath her several times. Smooth pavement gave way to rougher asphalt, then gravel. Every bump drove her shoulder into the side of the compartment while the smell of gasoline and old carpet mixed with the cold air leaking somewhere around the seal.Her smartwatch was still connected. Barely. Harmony kept her wrist close to her mouth and spoke quietly whenever the noise of the vehicle covered her voice.“We left the main road a few minutes ago. I think we’re on gravel now.”The dispatcher answered through the tiny speaker, her voice breaking beneath static.“I’m still with you, Harmony.”Harmony closed her eyes. That voice had become the most comforting sound in the world. Then the vehicle slowed. Harmony held still. Outside, something mechanical roared to life. A saw. Then another sound. Metal striking wood. Heavy machinery somewhere farther away. She inhaled. Fresh-cut pine.“Logging,” she whisper

Adrian did not remember the drive to the hospital. He remembered Harmony’s blood on his hands, on his shirt, beneath his fingernails. He remembered the paramedics pulling her away from him and the terrible moment when her fingers slipped from his. After that, everything blurred into fluorescent lights, forms, questions, and the knowledge that the mate bond was still there but growing weaker by the minute.Isabel sat beside him in the waiting room while Colton and Brenden stayed nearby. No one spoke much. Adrian had refused the clean shirt Rosalind sent from Calder Ridge. Harmony’s blood had dried dark across the front of the one he wore, and some irrational part of him could not bear to remove it. It was proof that she had still been alive when he held her.When the doctor finally appeared through the double doors, Adrian was on his feet.“Harmony Ellis?”“Yes.”“Are you family?”Adrian hesitated for only a second. “I’m her fiancé.”Isabel looked at him, but said nothing.The doctor n