Page 5 of Harman

“She told me to get you even if I had to drag you in here by your hair. Don’t make me have to beg you not to hurt me. Please?” They both laughed. “She’s really nervous, and she told me that, for whatever reason, you calm her a great deal.”

Another clue that she was either his mate or the cousin’s mate. Confused, he entered the prep area and watched as she was having an IV put into her arm. When she reached for him, Harman instinctively kissed the back of her hand after taking hers into his much larger one.

It was all he could do not to cry like a child. Every part of his body started to tingle, and he knew on some level that this was normal. He had claimed his mate. Lying his head on the bed beside her, he let it roll over him in large, painful waves. Harman knew that Katie was hurting too, but it was all he could do to make sure that he didn’t shift while waiting for whatever happened to be finished.

He woke up lying on the bed beside Katie. It was the biggest hospital bed that he’d ever seen, and he was glad that someone had thought of that when they’d put him here. Looking around, he saw his brother, Edwin, as well as his wife, Storm, in the room. He asked where they were.

“Hospital still. She’s had her surgery and got about two hundred stitches in the back of her head as well as on her back. I’m assuming that you didn’t notice those.” He told Storm that he’d not. He was more concerned with her head. “I can see that. She’s going to be just fine, thanks to you claiming her. I’m wondering if you can smell now. No biggie if you can’t yet, but it’s something that I’m curious about.” Harman leaned over to Katie and inhaled deeply. He could not only smell her, but he knew that she was ovulating. After telling Storm that, she nodded. “I figured as much. All right. Some things that you should know before she wakes up. Her boss is in jail. I wish I would have found him first, or we’d not have to worry about someone getting him out. But there is still time for that.”

“You may think that’s comforting, but it’s not. You scare the shit out of me when you say things like that. Especially in that soft voice that you have.” She laughed, and he smiled. “What else. Whatever it is, can it wait? I’m all right, but my wolf isn’t. He’s feeling pissy with me. Is that normal?”

“Is there anything about you Griffin men that is normal? Don’t answer that. I know the answer without you telling me.” He laughed again and turned to see that Katie was staring at him. “I’m going to leave you two when I tell you both what has been going on. Most of it you might have already guessed, but I’ll let her know as well.

After telling the two of them what had been going on, Storm and Edwin left. Edwin said that he’d come by later with some food but wouldn’t stay. He figured that they had a lot to talk about. Think about as well.

Once they were alone, he sat up slowly and looked down at her. After getting up and stretching so that his wolf was able to do the same, he sat down in the chair Edwin had been in after moving it closer to the bed. Taking her hand into his. He again kissed the back of it as he leaned into her.

“I’m sure you have questions. I do, too.” She told him she had too many to put in order right now. “I’m good at sorting through your answers if you want to shot gun the questions to me. Right now, I’m feeling good, but I know that you’re not. You know what happened, I’m assuming. Since you didn’t freak out when you saw me lying next to you in the bed.”

“I guessed that you were my mate.” He corrected her. “What’s the difference in whose mate is whose? It can’t be that big of a deal for you to be mated to me or the other way around. We’re still mates when you get to the end of the day.”

“By me saying that I belong to you, I’m telling you that you will forever command me. I would die for you if I could and move heaven and earth to make sure that you’re as happy as you can be. It’s my duty, something that I really would like to do, to do whatever you want of me. And this is about as truthful as I can say to you, I would take a bullet for you. Again, you nor I will ever die, but it’s—” She asked him what he meant when he said they’d never die. “We’re immortal, the two of us. I’ve been around for centuries and centuries. My entire family has been. My dad is the first generation of shifter wolves that were—”

“Wait, wait, wait. You’re telling me that you’re an ancient being that won’t ever die? And through our association, whatever you want to call it, I won’t die either. I don’t know if I like that idea or not. I mean, I have family around that I’d just as soon not outlive me. I know that sounds cold, but I love my family. Even if they irritate the crap out of me.” He told her that they’d not die either. “So you can what? Sprinkle faerie dust on them, and they’re immortal, too? What about their children? And their children’s children? What happens when we populate the entire world with Donahue’s?”

He couldn’t help but throw back his head and laugh. Harman hadn’t laughed this hard in…well, he didn’t have any idea how long it had been. But he was delightfully giddy with his mate and wondered if they all had this much fun when they found each other. She asked him if he was finished making fun of her.

“I’m not, I promise. I love you, believe it or not. And you’ve made me feel better than I have in some time.” He kissed the back of her hand again and stared at her. “Christ, where have you been all my life?”

“Not born yet.” That made him laugh, too. “You keep that up, and they’re going to lock you away from everyone. Then where will I be? I will admit this: You do calm me. Is that supposed to happen?”

“Yes. You calm my beast as well.” She asked who his beast was, and he explained to her what he meant. “So you call your wolf a beast. How does he take that? I don’t know that I’d be all that thrilled to be called a beast.”

“You’re right. But I’ve never asked him before. Or even thought about how he might feel. There are times when I think that he is a separate being from my other half. It’s odd, but when he’s out, he makes decisions that I wouldn’t dare to make. Nothing terrible but just doing things on his own mind.” She told him he was weird. “I guess I am.”

~*~

Harman left her for a while after supper was given to them. Edwin stayed with her, talking small talk that she abhorred when she finally had enough and asked him what he wanted to say to her. When he grinned, she thought that he could pass for Harman’s twin. They looked so much alike in that moment. However, to believe that he was as old as Harman said that they were boggled her mind.

“You’re thinking too hard. I can almost taste your confusion.” She said that she was but didn’t know how to get to the bottom of it. “That’s all right. It’s a great deal to get used to. But as you were told by Harman, you have plenty of time, and anything that is going on, it’s something that you can work out or just go with the flow. However, I don’t think you’re a go-with-the-flow sort of person.”

“Not particularly. It’s a great deal to be thrown at me, as you said. The plenty of time has me coming back to that over and over. As I was talking to Harman, he said that my family would be around, too and their offspring. At what point does that become too much? At some point, it’s going to be too much. Correct?” He told her that it wouldn’t really. “How so?”

“My parents are talking about having their immortality taken from them. They’re tired and have seen enough that they’re wanting to fade away. They don’t die, just fade away. With that, they can talk to us and guide us but not be around. It’s up to them, but I know that I’d miss having them around. Same with the others.” She asked him what happened when someone didn’t want to have immortality?” It was then that Harman came back, and he answered her.

“Sometimes it’s just safer to not give someone immortality. Like if someone has been a real bastard to their family, they will not receive it. It would be entirely up to you on who you want to hang around with you for eternity.” He kissed her on the lips and then sat down. “I’m not as antsy as I was before. I needed some fresh air. I’ve never been able to smell or taste things before and the smells in the hospital here are just too much for myself and my other half. See how I did that? I didn’t call him a beast. But I feel better now. I guess that’s something else I’ll have to get used to. It’s not that I’m complaining, but it’s different for me.”

“You couldn’t smell or taste?” He told her that it had been that way since he’d been born. “I can’t imagine not being able to smell things. Nor taste them. The thought of all that you missed just in taste makes me sad and sorry for you. If nothing else comes of this relationship but that, I’d be happy.”

“Thank you.” He smiled at her, and her heart did a little flip-flop. When his brother cleared his throat, they both turned to look at him. Edwin said that he had to go. After he left them, they dug into their dinner and she was laughing so hard when Harman told her about the tastes of each item on his sub. It was like an awakening for him. To be able to taste things, she was sure he was going to someday soon find something that he didn’t care for, and she wanted to be there when—looking at him, with her sub halfway to her mouth, she realized something. He asked her what was going on.

“How can I be in love with you so fast? I mean, I know that you and I have been around each other for the last month but why now am I feeling that I can’t live another day without you there for me?” He said that he felt the same way about her. “But I’m just a plain human. I’ve no special talents, nor do I howl at the— Do you do that?”

“We do. When we have a pack meeting, and it’s a full moon.” She asked him if he was joking with her. “No. I’m serious. Also, you should know that I can never lie to you. Not that I’d want to, but I can’t. I won’t cheat on you, ever. My heart and body belong solely to you. And you should also know that you’re no longer just a plain human. From the moment that I claimed you, with the kiss to your hand, you became more of everything.”

“Like what? Can I shift with you?” He told her no, not that he’d been made aware of. “Well, that sucks. I was thinking that it would be fun to be another half of myself. To run through the woods and chase my tail, so to speak.”

“Let me rephrase that for you. I don’t know if you can or not. There is a great deal of magic in this family, not even counting what I gave you that you might well have inherited from Storm and Rain. They’re the most powerful beings ever created.” She asked him why them. He explained about how his father came to be the holder of the magic.

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