Page 23 of Bearly Hanging On

Mack could be an arse sometimes, but he was a decent guy deep down. He shot me a concerned look now.

“Only the biggest day of my life.” I tried to smile and failed. Then I saw Tor easing the car out onto the road. “So let’s get this done. We’re heading to the Red Lion.”

“You got it,” Mack replied.

I wasout the car the moment we arrived, to see that Tor and Harper were already inside. The smell of sour beer hit me as soon as I stepped inside, the rattle and burble of the poker machines intrusive. I wove my way through the people standing around, finding the seating area and them. Tor was already talking to her, leaning forward, a broad grin on his face, and that had me moving faster. Was he already talking about the mate bond? This felt completely rushed and thirty years in the making, all at the same time. Mack called out my name, but I didn’t stop until I reached their table.

“Harper…” My hands wrapped around the back of an empty chair and I was dimly aware that the metal was dimpling. Claws, fur, started to appear as the bear pushed forward. She was mine, ours, and I just needed her to know that. “That was us in your dreams last night.” Her eyes were wide, but not with awe, not with amazement. Her scent soured as I picked it up: fear. Didn’t seem to keep my mouth shut, though. “That’s because… you’re our fated mate.”

Chapter 10

Harper

“You’re our fated mate.”

“What?” I looked from one to the other of them, expecting at least one guy to burst out laughing. Instead, Tor watched me closely as Kieran waited for a response. Mack at least would crack up, breaking character, but he was still rocking that epic resting bitch face. “Me?”

My brain started to race, trying to put two and two together, but just coming up with a great big zero each time.

“Like look across a crowded room and know that girl is the only one for you?” I said.

“Something like that,” Kieran replied.

“Like magical soul bond, one true love, brought together by destiny, kind of fated mate?”

“You seem to know quite a lot about it,” Tor said.

I grabbed my beer and drank, not stopping until the glass was empty. Nope, that didn’t dispel the feeling of unreality. My fingers reached for Tor’s beer without thinking.

“She seems to be taking this well,” Mack said drily.

I drank that down as well, gasping as I fought to catch my breath.

“No, no…” I shook my head, but what else could it be? Men didn’t do the dishes or mop the floor for anyone, let alone a girl they didn’t know. “No, because I know how this goes.” All three of them leaned forward, elbows on the table, and that had me leaning back. “Girl meets shifters. Girl lets down her guard for a second, and then bam! She’s falling for them. Then one of you dies or leaves, or ends up being secretly evil, and then I end up crying in a Kmart car park, eating chocolate almonds out of my bra.”

“Harper—” Kieran said.

I cut him off by shoving myself to my feet. Get out, that’s what my heart dictated, beating twice as fast as it pumped adrenaline through my veins to help get me moving. Ring Daria and get her to pick me up. We’d order a pizza and then we’d debrief, right before… I watched the barman line up a row of shot glasses, pouring tequila into each one. That, I wanted that.

“Shot,” I gasped as I collided with the bar. The older man frowned slightly when he saw me, but when I dropped some money onto the bar, he poured another, pushing the glass my way. The tequila burned all the way down, but when he went to take my money, a big hand slid a black Mastercard forward.

“The shots and whatever else the lady wants,” Kieran said.

Apparently money talked, and bullshit walked. The barman took the card, then asked me what I wanted. Helpless, I put in an order of a rum and Coke, no, make that a double. The barman rang our order up on Kieran’s card, leaving me to nurse the ice cold glass. I was feeling somewhat the same. Cold, but also clammy, my forehead feeling sticky when I wiped the sweat away.

“Maybe we should go and sit down,” Tor suggested, nodding to the table we left behind. “Talk this through.”

“Oh…” I said, raising my drink. “Now you want to talk. I’m not sure I’m OK with general chitchat to see if we’re aligned after you dropped the whole mate thing on me.” A sip of the rum and it all started spilling out. “You don’t know anything about me. How I take my coffee. If I like scrambled eggs or fried. If I’m a vegan or not.”

“You ate meat yesterday,” Tor said, “so I assume not a vegan.”

“You know what I mean. How the hell can you say we’re fated to be together when you don’t even know me?”

“Because I want to.” Kieran stepped closer and damn, he was huge. I looked up, up, up at him, unable to take the entirety of him in with one glimpse. “That’s how I…” He looked at the others. “We know.”

“Not me,” Mack said with a sigh, pulling one of the shot glasses over and downing the tequila with a wince.

“Then how’d you get into Harper’s dream?” Kieran asked.

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