As I lie on the couch with my eyes closed, Abby lies halfway on top of me, her head on a throw pillow propped against my butt.

"How come the witch looks like a shadow lady to Mia but a scary decrepit thing to us?" She asks Liam.

He sits in the corner armchair facing us. "I can't say for sure—we haven't had a human see a witch and explain what it looks like—but it's possible humans see a sort of glamor that the witch has; one big mask to make it appear less...decrepit. Meanwhile, we see the witch for what it truly is."

"It's horrible, Mia. You're lucky you can't see it."

I open my eyes. "How come the witch cursed Kieran and not me?"

"Your moonstone," Liam says.

"Why wasn't Kieran wearing a moonstone to protect himself?"

"The pack thinks Kieran was attacked when he was shifted, and moonstones can't protect our wolves. They only affect our unshifted forms, and even then, I don't think they work as well as they do for humans," Abby explains. "Maybe the stones know humans need the extra help."

"Why doesn't it work on wolves?" I question.

"There's probably some ancient story about it full of symbolism, morals, and traditional jargon. Sadly, I don't know it. Do you?" She asks Liam.

"No, not a story. All I was told is that our wolves' capabilities resemble the moonstone's...power, let's say. And there's a limit to how much power one can hold, at least on this plane of existence. If our wolves stacked our power with the moonstone's, it would exceed that limit."

"I guess that makes sense," she murmurs.

A loud knock sounds against the door down the hall. All three of us know it has to be someone from the pack, and my ribs constrict as though I'm wearing a corset. Thankfully, Liam gets up and goes to meet whoever's there.

"Can you see the door?" I ask Abby.

She lifts her head. "A little. Liam's about to open it. He's opening it. He's—" Abby jerks up. "It's Harvey," she whisper-yells.

I twist and push off the couch cushions, watching Harvey as he storms down the hallway towards us. The throw blanket Abby laid over me settles on my lap. She stands, but I don't. I can't move. He's practically naked, save for a pair of shorts, and his jaw is shadowed by stubble.

My mouth goes slack as he comes right to me and pulls me up.

"Are you alright? Did it hurt you?" Harvey questions brusquely. He looks me over, but I haven't sustained so much as a scratch.

"Abby," Liam calls from the hall.

She tears her wide gaze from me and goes to her mate.

I watch Abby leave and then I look up at Harvey in disbelief. He smashes me against his chest and coils his arms around me. My hands automatically fist, wanting desperately to grab at him to mend the hole in my heart, but my mind is torn between embracing my relief and lashing out in anger.

He can't just barge in here worried about me as though the last two weeks never happened!

"I'm sorry, Mia," he says at my ear, his voice a feather brushing down my spine. How is it possible for him to look even better? Have my senses been starved of him?

"I... But..." His scent coaxes my rigid nerves to relax, and I'm able to speak. "I've been waiting. You haven't talked to me."

Harvey moves back to see my face. "I know."

"It's been agony," I say, fending off my tears and the flippant will of our bond.

He holds my cheeks, his thumb sweeping—perhaps a tear evaded me. "If you want me to go, I will. I just needed to know that you're okay."

I wriggle free. "You're the one that's been... You said I... I didn't want..." I groan, frustrated and overwhelmed by everything I want to say. "You were going to reject me. You didn't want me anymore."

"Yes, a part of me wanted to reject you, but I'll always want you, Mia. I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you. Our bond dragged you into this mess."

"You're the one hurting me, not the things out there." I point at the shuttered windows

Harvey goes still. "Okay. You're right. But it's over now. I'm not rejecting you—not that I could."

"And what about my choices? What if I want to reject you?" I ask.

"No," he says simply.

"No?"

"No, you're not. Now why would you confront the witch?"

I take a step back and cross my arms. "I didn't know what it really was; it looks different to me than it does to you guys, and...it was comforting at times. And you can't just say no and be done with it."

"You spoke to it?" He questions, interrogating.

"They weren't lengthy conversations, but yes, three times. The day Abby hurt her ankle, before you got all angry, it came to me in the woods by the waterfall. It's hard to remember everything specifically, but I'm certain it told me you were going to break my heart. And then the second time I know it spoke about true love and being able to show me what it's like, but it was all a trap, I know that now."

"Why didn't you say anything that night?"

"A lot was happening, I didn't feel well, and I could barely remember anything. It took all my effort just to stay standing and not pass out. The witch drained me," I argue, "and you threatening to reject me didn't help."

He averts his gaze. "I should have never said the things I did; it was out of fear."

I turn somewhat away from him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see him gesture at my hair and clothes. "What have you been doing to yourself?"

"Trying to feel better after you pretended I didn't exist for two weeks."

He tugs down on the hem of my skirt, and I smack his hand away. "I can practically see your underwear," he says.

"No you can't."

"Where did you go dressed like this?"

"Nowhere."

Harvey eases closer and speaks softer. "I'm sorry, okay? I know it's my doing, but this hasn't been any easier for me than it has for you."

I hold my pout.

"You don't have to forgive me, but you aren't rejecting me—it's just not happening. I'll be patient and I'll do whatever I can to earn your forgiveness because us being apart isn't an option either; I can't go back to the way things were. I love you so much I can hardly bear it."

The word love strikes me like an arrow. "If you love me, then how could you want to reject me?"

"I want you to be alive and safe above everything else. If something happened to you, it would kill me. When Liam called and said you were with the witch, I... I knew I came too close to never seeing you again," Harvey says and tucks my hair back. "Sweetheart, please. I don't want to fight with you; I just don't know what the hell is the right thing to do. Half the time our bond puts you in danger, but the other half... "

"I don't want to fight either, but we won't get anywhere if you think our bond is a bad thing. I can't handle you threatening to leave me."

"It will never happen again," he says and takes my hand.

I fixate on the connection. "You love me?"

"So much it's concerning. I don't know what to do about it."

I lift my chin. "You should have done anything but what you did: thinking rejection's what's best for me, letting me wait as long as I did."

He firms his grip on my hand and steadily draws me in. "Clearly leaving you alone isn't good for you. Two weeks and you've managed to have three encounters with a witch? The Goddess must be looking out for you, Mia, because the odds that you're alive make me want to jump out of my skin."

"I didn't know," I murmur.

"I know. It's okay."

"The entire time, all I wanted was for you to show up and take everything back," I confess. "What you said about me not belonging with the pack and that rejecting me was the only way to rectify things—I couldn't stop thinking about it."

"Please forget what I said. All of it was bullshit—fear talking," he says. "Our bond may as well have been on fire; all I wanted was to put it out. I was panicked."

I gaze up at him. "Never mention rejection again."

Harvey starts to smile. "I won't."

"And I want to ride Abby's wolf. It's our thing. She's my best friend."

"I'm coming to terms with that."

I huff. "Do you really think...that our bond is bad for us?"

"It's not me I'm worried about," he murmurs.

"Well, I think you're overthinking and being overprotective, and the two mix in your head and drive you crazy."

Harvey watches me, unhurried. I pulse his hand still clasped with mine, and he exhales. "Okay."

"You'll never leave me again, right? You promise?"

His brow pinches slightly. "Yeah. I promise."

I hug Harvey hard and fast, and he encloses around me as I smother myself in his bare chest. "I love you too," I mutter, itching to be closer.

Nothing feels like enough. I need more of him.

His lips press onto my scalp, his stubble tickling. "I need you to know how sorry I am."

I tilt my head back. Harvey meets my eyes for a second or two before he presses his lips against mine in a slow kiss. It's easy to match his leisurely rhythm until he pushes me farther into him and sweeps his tongue past my lips, making my knees wobble as a deep-seated rush drags through my lower half.

Forehead-to-forehead, he pauses the brief yet rousing entanglement. "I've missed your lips," he rumbles. "You don't know how badly I've needed you. Contemplating rejection was..."

"You've been miserable?" I question, staying close.

"Nothing I tried soothed the pain or dulled my wanting you, and I'm sure the pack can't wait to fill you in on every pathetic detail."

He tries to resume our kiss, but I glance at my feet. "How long were you going to ignore me?"

Harvey gives a breathy laugh as his subtle smile resurfaces. "Well, I was well on track to losing my mind. I would've broken pretty soon, I think; it wouldn't have taken much longer. How much have you been drinking?"

"What? I'm not drunk," I blurt, jumping the gun.

"All I taste is alcohol and cake."

"It wasn't that much."

"I'm sure," he says and reaches past me to pick up the throw blanket. He drapes it over my shoulders and covers me from the neck down. "So you and Abby decided to douse yourselves in glitter and drink until she was mated?"

"It's our birthday sleepover. It's tradition," I explain meekly. "Although I have a feeling the sleeping part isn't gonna happen. She's happy it's Liam. She'll want to be with him, which is fine."

"Where's your family?"

"My parents are in New Jersey for the weekend and Perry's sleeping at a friend's."

"Okay. I'm going to stay with you," he says. "You can't be here alone."

"But..."

My argument never forms. Through my boozy haze, I compute the reality of my parents and Perry being gone—I still have the house to myself all night even if Abby doesn't stay. I haven't had the house to myself since before I was mated to Harvey.

"Luke, Jalen, Jonas, and Dakota are shifted outside; I have to check in with them. I'll talk to Liam as well and see what's going on with him and Abby. If the witch keeps seeking you out, I doubt he'll want you and Abby alone together overnight either."

I lower to sit on the couch, holding the throw blanket around myself. "You don't have to shift with them?"

"No, they can handle it. Just stay here. Don't go outside. I'll be right back."

I watch the back of his shoulders as he heads for the front door. When he opens the door and shuts it behind him, I pause for a few seconds and then spring to my feet. There's no way I'm staying dressed like this with makeup on; if the party's over, then I'm washing my face and putting on comfy clothes.

In the upstairs bathroom, I tie my hair up and scrub my skin clean, watching streaks of pink and brown and black slide down the drain. Afterward, I switch my skirt and crop top for a pair of sweats and a hoodie, and as I pull my hoodie over my head, I glance at my bed and picture Harvey there. The last time he was, we seemed so close.

I don't feel that we've become estranged since being apart, but I fear our dynamic has changed, and I don't want to move backward. I was happy with our progress.

Abby is waiting in the foyer. She's already watching the top of the stairs when I reach it. "Heard Harvey's staying," she says.

I head down the stairs. "Yeah, well... What's happening with Liam?"

She shrugs, almost shy. "He wants to take me home where I'm safe with my parents and Alo, and...so I could, you know, tell them that he's my mate."

"Right. That makes sense."

"How you feeling?"

"Um." I swing around the bottom railing post. "I don't really know how to feel right now."

She sighs. "Yeah. Me too."

"But we're happy, though. Right?"

"I am. I'm happy, just...digesting everything."

"Same. And we'll feel better in the morning."

Abby nods faithfully. Her mouth then quirks with suppressed laughter. "He called for me and I just went to him without a second thought, just like that." She snaps her fingers.

"It isn't funny anymore is it?" I ask, referring to her and Alo's teasing on the Buck Moon.

"It's slightly less funny."

I crack a smile. "So, what do you think? Was this an okay birthday sleepover? Minus the sleeping."

"Yeah, it was. It's definitely up there with the best of them," she says while fondly straightening her ruby bracelet. "Will you be alright with Harvey?"

As though magically summoned, Harvey comes through the front door with Liam lingering over his shoulder. Liam grabs the doorframe and leans over the threshold. He asks Abby if she's ready to go just as I notice my gifted rifle in Harvey's grasp.

Abby mutters that she'll text me tomorrow and slips past Harvey.

Harvey lifts the gun from along his side to hold it in front of himself with both hands. He notices my name carved neatly into it. "Have you always had this?"

The front door shuts behind him.

"No. I went to visit my Grandparents. My grandpa showed me how to shoot, and he gave me the gun to bring home with me."

"So that's where you went," he says and hands the rifle over.

"You knew that I left?"

"I felt it."

I walk the little way to the dining room and leave the rifle there for now. When I turn back, Harvey is in the dining room's archway. "Did you care?"

He softens. "I knew you would come back—this is your home. But, of course I cared. I never stopped thinking about you."

Holding back my blush, I gesture in the general direction of the stairs and say, "I-I have clothes for you."

Harvey follows me upstairs as I try to calm the giddiness building within me.