Page 170 of Harley & Her Ferals

He determinedly tightens his arms around Harbinger’s neck.

Harbinger looks touched, kissing the top of Laurent’s head.

“You have to, Rook. You’re the smartest man I know. It must be obvious to you what could happen, if I don’t.”

“War between the packs,” Laurent replies, grudgingly. “Vinnie would gain the upper hand against the Battles and Harley as heir, once it gets out that they’d bonded with Vinnie’s Alpha without permission. People would see it as a ploy to steal you, as the best fighter before the NPH.” But then Laurent adds in a small voice, “But I don’t care.”

“I do,” Harbinger replies. “I don’t want anybody to be hurt because of me. And definitely none of you. It’s my duty as Alpha to protect you. And I will.”

“M-m-my Alpha,” Feral growls, low and possessive.

Harbinger gives a lopsided smile. “You proved that to my ass. My heart is getting there too. I know, I’m a member of the Ferals. I believe you. But Vinnie won’t. Plus, there’s the debt I owe him. I’m not a free Alpha. I’m property.”

When I glance at Feral, he nods his permission. “I have savings. Prize winnings. Feral and I could offer to pay off your debts.”

Harbinger sighs, allowing himself to take a deep breath of my scent and then Laurent’s. “How did I get so lucky, huh? Thanks for the offer. But it won’t be enough. Your dad is a jerk. He keeps the prize winnings low to make sure that his fighters have to battle for years to pay off their contracts. They’re more likely to die first.”

“How big is your debt? Are you a gambler?” I demand.

Harbinger shakes his head. “Unless it makes you hot to think of me as the bad boy then—"

“Just tell me.”

“I only had Omega and Alpha dads. There were no Betas in my pack. But my dads were amazing. Good men, and even betterdads. Our pack was wealthy. One day when I was in high school, however, it all fell apart.”

He’s struggling. I can feel it through the bond.

“He doesn’t have to tell us,” Laurent says. “He doesn’t owe us this.”

“My dads were executed,” Harbinger gets out in a rush like now he’s started, he can’t stop. “I wasn’t even told that they had been, until after the sentence was carried out. I only knew that they’d been arrested for some scandal.They weren’t criminals.They never even fucking broke the speeding limit.”

Next to me, Laurent jolts.

He tightens his hold further like a limpet, sending out soothing pheromones.

My heart breaks for Harbinger.

Why were his parents executed?

They don’t sound like outlaws.

If Harbinger was originally from an elite pack, however, how is he now such a violent fighter who is chained to Vinnie?

“I’m sorry,” I say because I have literally no idea how to comfort him.

It seems to be enough.

“I don’t think anyone’s bothered to say that to me before,” Harbinger says, quietly. “I thought that I belonged to a rich pack, until the reading of the will. Then I realized that I inherited a bankrupt company, along with all of the pack’s debts. Who knew that you could owe so much, when you hadn’t started college yet?”

“Is that how Vinnie owns you?”

“The courts took everything. Then they tried to take my younger Omega sister and brother, Bliss and Piper. They claimed that I wasn’t capable of raising them. They argued that they’d be better off as Companions.” Harbinger’s gaze gentles, when he glances at River. “I told them tofuck offthrough mylawyers. And that took cash, which is why I dropped out of school without any qualifications and worked every job that I could around caring for the kids. But it still wasn’t enough.”

My stomach hurts.

I can see where this is going. I wish that I couldn’t.

“I was only seventeen, when I fought in my first street fight,” Harbinger sounds weary, and I can feel it like a darkness sheeting through the bond. “Despite everyone laughing at me, I won the fight. Hunger and knowing that you have two Omega kids at home relying on you makes you scrappy. I earned more than I had in the last week. An ex-military SEAL offered to train me. I built up my reputation in the illegal fighting rings. My ex-military trainer was strict but he taught me moves that nobody else knew. It gave me the advantage. He kept me focused and he became like a godfather to my siblings. I’ve had two missions in life. One has been working out why my parents were executed. The second was that my brother and sister were safe and cared for. I wanted to ensure that they’d be happy, safe, and have the confidence and skills to be independent. I couldn’t be more proud of the man and woman Bliss and Piper have become.”

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