Page 29 of The Alpha's Forced Bride
Harvey reached for me. I didn't cringe or pull away from him. Instead, I took his hand immediately and pulled it toward me, daring to put his hand where it might do the most damage if the demon were to take over again—on my neck. The place where he bit me. It throbbed. The more I touched him, the more it reacted. Soon, my hands were on his shoulders, and I had crawled into the bed and straddled his lap. I held his face in my hands, running my thumbs over his sharp cheekbones. I traced his chin and his strong, prominent eyebrows.
His lips parted, closed, then parted again. His eyes rolled up and tears formed at the corners of his eyes as he took a shuddering breath. He rested his hands on my hips. On his exhale, his eyes closed and he relaxed.
“The closer you are, the better I feel. I really don't want you to leave my side.”
I ran my fingers through his hair. “I need to call my father.”
He nodded, swallowing for a moment. Then, taking my hand, he gently ran his fingers over my injured wrist. It was now twitching with pain. I actively tried to ignore it, trying to forget about the way the demon clawed at me. Harvey was so worn out and he needed to rest, but it didn't seem like he was going to do much of that without me in the room. Then again, it didn't seem like he was going to do much of that with me in the room. Regardless, he rested. He clasped my wrist between his hands and whispered something in a language I didn't understand. The whispers turned into a chorus; a song that seemed to swim around the room.
The more he focused, the stronger it became, and then I realized my wrist wasn't hurting anymore. He opened his eyes, and I realized the dark color had drained from his irises. Now, they were a pale marigold. He slumped back further into the bed, looking like he was sinking deeper into the mattress. I slid off of his lap.
I stood next to him, holding his hand tightly in mine. “What did you just do?”
“I didn't want you to leave, so I healed your wrist.”
“You didn't need to do that. I know that you used your demon.”
“I did,” he admitted. “But sometimes, I can make it do things, and this time, I was able to make it heal the damage it had caused.”
I frowned. “I thought Clancy was the only one who could do demon magic.”
He nodded slowly. “Technically, that's still true. Clancy is the only one who can do that kind of magic. But every now and then, I don't know, I guess I can make it do things.”
“You're so worn out, I can tell.” I stroked his cheek. “But you're being stubborn about everything.”
He snorted lightly. “Yeah, I guess you could call me stubborn sometimes.”
I shook my head. “Well. My father's going to have a lot of questions, particularly about me turning him away.”
It was almost funny to think that their first meeting had been a brawl of sorts. Not only had my father found out where I was staying but he also had gone head-to-head with the man who was technically my mate. Considering that Regina was the one who announced our names, and the fact that it was revealed during a ritual, I couldn’t see how my father would fight that, but I knew he would try. I knew he would go off the deep end about it. At the same time, there wasn't much he could do—what was done was done. Even though Blake had tried to pass it off as a mistake, the truth remained. Harvey was mine.
Harvey laughed bitterly. “So, your father’s first impression of me was…”
My smile weakened, but it was a smile nonetheless. “…Not great, no.”
He shrugged. “I guess there's always next time.”
I gave him a curious, look. “Next time? So you want to meet him again?”
“I mean, I guess there's time for that, isn't there? I still have my hang-ups about whether or not they will accept me.”
I nodded. “I understand that. With time, they will get to know you better.”
Who was I kidding? I wasn't sure how we could come back from that fight. It was still true that Harvey's people had kidnapped me, and it was still true that I had run out into the woods without knowing exactly what had happened, despite what Nora said. Maybe I was trying to find my mate or maybe I was trying to run away from the ritual. There were so many possibilities. I even considered the fact that I had been sleepwalking, which was something I had done once or twice in my youth. It was normal for shifters to shift in their sleep and runoff. Maybe not all the time, but at least sometimes—usually in the beginning when puberty began.
“I don't get it,” I said, “How did I end up here?”
He laughed bitterly. “You know. We kidnapped you.”
I shook my head. “No, not that. I mean, how did I end up in the woods? I keep thinking about it and I just can't figure it out.”
He looked thoughtful as he gazed at the ceiling. His lower lip protruded as he was deep in thought. It was cute when he did that. I took his hands in mine and squeezed them lightly.
“Hey, you don't have to do a whole lot of thinking right now, you really should rest.”
His thoughtful expression disappeared and was replaced by a defeated look. “I just feel like a failure.”
I frowned. “I don't understand why you feel like a failure. You haven't failed at anything.”
