“Nash, son, you need to be careful when you claim her. If she’s human, then she’ll be fragile. You need to—”
I closed the distance between Harlan and me, fisting his shirt and getting right into his face. The dog growled, but I didn’t pay it any attention. “I told you not to call me son. And don’t talk about my mate.”
“This aggression? This is what happened to me with your mother. I need to tell you—”
“I don’t want to hear it!” I exploded. I wasn’t being rational anymore. For some reason, my wolf was frantic to protect my mate, even though she wasn’t here. Having Harlan—a dangerous shifter who had just about confessed to murdering my parents—even mention her name was driving my wolf insane.
The dog snarled and snapped, but Harlan bit out a sharp command and she stopped her lunge for me.
Realizing I was becoming exactly what I feared, I turned on my heel and stalked out the door.
“Hang on, Nash,” Harlan called to my back. He followed me, but I didn’t care. “I need to tell you what happened. It relates to your mate.”
“Stop talking about my mate!” I started jogging now, just needing to get in the truck and away from my sperm donor.
“It’s fucking important, Nash! I don’t want you to hurt her!”
“That won’t happen,” I snarled as I climbed in the truck and slammed the door.
Harlan slapped his palm against my closed window as the truck roared to life. “Listen to me, Nash. I need to tell you—”
“Go to hell, old man!” I yelled, peeling out in the dirt as I took off.
As I drove down the long dirt road, I got out my phone and dialed Cord. When he answered, I bit out, “It’s over. I can’t do it.”
“Can’t do what?”
“I can’t be with you and Rachel. I’m way too much like Harlan.” I gripped the steering wheel so hard, I feared it would snap. I still didn’t have my wolf under control. “He warned me that I’d hurt her, and I know it’s true. And Cord—Rachel’s human. My mother was a shifter, and Harlan… Fuck. If I did anything to damage our female, she wouldn’t heal from it.”
“Hang on,” he said, his voice calm. “Where are you? What are you doing right now?”
“I’m driving back to Wolf Ranch. I need to get the hell away from you and Rachel before something terrible happens.”
“Come back to my place. We’ll talk it over.”
I sucked my breath in and out through clenched teeth. “I can’t risk it.”
“Go to my place,” he repeated. “You need to at least tell Rachel goodbye. Hurting her emotionally would be just as unforgivable.”
Fuck.
The thought of hurting my mate made my chest throb.
“Okay,” I agreed, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “I’ll say goodbye. Then I’m leaving for Wolf Ranch. Tonight.”
19
CORD
Goddammit.
I hung up the phone and shoved it in my pocket. I’d walked out on my deck so Rachel wouldn’t overhear the conversation, and I stepped back inside now.
Fuck!
This entire time, I’d been as worried about Nash as he’d been about himself, but now that he was actually walking away, it felt all wrong.
Not just because I couldn’t give Rachel pups. He was an integral part of our threesome. It was in our DNA to want to mate in threes, and he was my scent match. A brother of sorts, even if we hardly knew each other. My wolf trusted him, even if I wasn’t completely sure.
But I found it hard to believe he was really a danger. Yes, he had a hard time holding back with Rachel. Sexually, he was rougher and more dominant than I was. It would be an issue if Rachel wasn’t aroused by it, but she was. She liked to feel his power and control. His intensity. It was how he shared how he felt for her. As if he couldn’t help himself. That was Nash, the man. His wolf was also involved, desperate to claim and mark her. Yet his urge to protect was just as strong as mine. Strong enough to drive away to save her.
Hell, the guy had asked me to put him down if it ever looked like he’d hurt our mate. So his intentions were pure.
“Everything okay?” Rachel asked. She was sitting at my kitchen table with my laptop, researching the requirements to get a teacher’s certificate. After our talk, it was something she felt good about. Excited.
Things had seemed perfect—they were moving in the direction of Nash and me claiming her for good, and now this.
I had no idea what had happened when he’d met Harlan, but it hadn’t been good.
“Not exactly.” I wanted to be as honest as I could. It already bothered the fuck out of me that we couldn’t tell Rachel what we were yet. “Things didn’t go well for Nash with his father. He’s on his way back here, and is upset.”