Chapter 79

Anila’s POV

I’m unsure when I fell asleep, but I woke up when the sun was still up, wrapped in Harley’s arms. He somehow transported us from the couch and into a bed. It wasn’t Xaden’s room though; no, this smelled like Harley’s room. But we were still in the cabin.

His arms were wrapped around me, and my face was buried in his very naked and broad chest. I took him in, loving the view. He was sound asleep, light snores coming from his nose, making a smile tug at my lips.

I kissed his chest gently and started to get up, but I felt a slight sting in my neck, making me freeze entirely. Memories of earlier flooded my mind and my fingers shot up to my neck where I felt Xaden’s mark. I let my fingers travel downward slightly and then I felt a very new mark.

Harley’s mark.

I had two marks on me.

I didn’t erase Xaden’s mark, much to my relief. Oddly enough, could still very much feel Xaden. Our bond had not gone anywhere. But now, I can feel Harley as well. It was just as strong, and my heart was just as full when I thought of Harley.

I couldn’t help the groan that escaped my lips; Xaden was going to be so upset when he found out about this. But as I looked down at Harley, a smile tugged at my lips. I honestly didn’t care about anything else right now; Harley was my mate as well and now I had the mark to prove it.

I rested my head on his chest and snuggled against him as I allowed myself to drift off to sleep.

……

By nightfall, my alarm was going off way too soon. I opened my eyes groggily and lifted my head to peer around the darkened room. To my surprise and disappointment, I woke up alone. My heart weighed heavily in my chest as I attempted to slide out of bed, but I was too groggy. I just wanted to go back to bed. But I was too hurt and disappointed to do so.

Harley had left me while I was sleeping. I wrapped my arms around myself like I was preparing to burst into tears at any moment. But then the door of the bathroom swung open, and Harley walked into the room wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.

I sighed in relief when I saw his smiling and very relaxed face. But then when he studied me, he frowned.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, corking an eyebrow.

“I thought you left me,” I confessed.

“Leave you?” He asked, raising his brows. “Why would I ever leave you, Anila?”

I ran my fingers through my hair and let out a humorless laugh.

“I’m not really sure,” I said, shrugging. “I woke up alone. I wasn’t sure what to think. I know things kind of escalated last night and—”

“You regret it?” He asked, fear and pain evident in his eyes.

“No, of course not!” I said, a little too quickly.

He let out the breath of air I knew he was holding, and a smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

“I was just worried that you did regret it,” I admitted, twirling my fingers together worriedly.

His gaze softened and he walked closer to me, bending down and brushing his lips across mine.

“I don’t regret anything,” he said against my mouth. “Yeah, we will probably have to talk and get Xaden involved. But I’m in this thing now. You have both of our marks on you. I can’t explain it and I’d never believe it if I wasn’t seeing it for myself. But it’s the truth. You are mine and you are his. I’m not going anywhere.”

I smiled brightly. I kissed him deeply, letting my tongue wander into his mouth. He chuckled against my lips before pulling away.

“We are going to be late for class if we continue that.”

I groaned miserably.

“Can’t we skip?” I asked, half teasing.

He peppered kisses along my bottom lip.

“You need to learn as much as you can before the challenges in a couple of months,” he reminded me. “So, no. We can’t skip.”

I sighed but I didn’t argue with him. I didn’t have any change of clothes here, but I figured a shower would be nice. I grabbed the clothes I wore yesterday and walked into the bathroom. I regretted not waking up earlier so I could have just showered with Harley instead. The very thought made my entire body combust into heat and I had to fan myself to bring my cheeks back to their normal colors.

I quickly showered and put on the same clothes I wore yesterday. I still had some time to run by my dorm and grab a clean uniform before my first class of the day. Harley and I walked hand in hand back to campus and he walked me back to my dorm room.

Once we got to my door, he pushed me against the wall and kissed me tenderly, not wanting to let me go. But unfortunately, the door swung open, and Penny stood there with her arms folded across her chest, glaring at us.

“Where have you been?” She asked through her teeth. “You should have told me you were going to be gone all night. I had to cover for you when Kendra asked where you were. I put the shower on and acted like you were taking a shower.”

I breathed out relief; I hadn’t even thought about what Kendra would say if she knew I missed curfew and spent all night with Harley in Xaden’s cabin.

“I should go before Kendra wakes,” Harley said, giving me one last kiss before walking down the hall.

I was in a daze, and I couldn’t help the goofy grin on my face as I wandered into the dorm room.

“You could have gotten in huge trouble, Anila. You know how strict they are about curfew,” Penny continued to scold as she shut the door behind us.

“Sorry, I lost track of time,” I told her, which wasn’t a complete lie.

“You’re just lucky Kendra believed me,” she said, shaking her head with dismay written all over her face. “Where had you gone anyway?”

“I was just with Harley,” I told her, and I couldn’t quite keep my face from warming at the very mention of his name. “We fell asleep and…”

“Oh, my goddess,” Penny squealed as she grabbed my arm and pulled me closer to her.

I wasn’t sure what had just happened until I saw that her eyes were on my neck and her mouth had dropped practically to the ground.

“He marked you…” she breathed. “You have two marks?? How is that possible?”

Instinctively, my hand shot up to my neck and I felt the double marks on the nape of my neck. I couldn’t help but grin.

“I’m not entirely sure,” I admitted. “It kind of just happened.”

“This is huge, Anila. So, I’m assuming you are no longer giving the mating bond with your other mates?”

I bit my lower lip and shifted my gaze to the ground.

“I don’t really know,” I admitted. “Things with Zach are still a little weird because Xaden can’t stand him. Damien only thinks of me as a friend, and I think he just got out of a relationship. He’s not ready to start anything new…

“Hold up… Damien and Sarah broke up?” She asked. “When did that happen?”

“I caught Sarah chatting with him and when I confronted her, she tried to kill me. Damien stopped her and he was furious.”

“Holy hell,” she breathed, her cheeks growing pink. “That’s insane.”

I nodded.

“There’s a lot more I need to tell you, but for right now, I’m late for class and I have to go,” I told her as I rushed into my room and changed into my uniform. By the time I got back into the living room, Penny was gone. Probably off to class, I’d assume.

The rest of the day went by smoothly despite my constant worry for Xaden and Zach. I wondered what they were doing and if they were okay. I was hoping Xaden would have reached out by now, but that was wishful thinking.

It was weird having Werewolf History without either of them; I felt a little lonely. I decided to take out my phone and send a quick text to Xaden.

Me: Hey, I miss you. I hope you are okay.

After I pressed send, I bit my lower lip and tried to ignore the ping of guilt I felt before sending another text.

Me: Something happened that I need to tell you about. Please call me when you can.

It probably wasn’t the best idea to tell him that his best friend marked me right under his mark over the phone. But this couldn’t wait, and Xaden needed to know the truth. He needed to know that I had fallen in love with Harley, but I was also madly in love with Xaden. My feelings for Xaden hadn’t changed; they simply shifted to make room for another. I had room in my heart for the others too if they would let me. But I needed to figure everything out first and I couldn’t do that with Xaden in my corner because he was my boyfriend first. I owed it to him to be completely open and honest with him.

I told Harley that exact thing in our Werebear History class too, minus the part that I was in love with him. I wasn’t ready to say those three little words just yet. But I told him that I needed to tell Xaden the truth and keep him in my corner. He told me that he would support me no matter what happened and that he also wanted to talk to Xaden about everything, considering they were best friends.

I knew Harley would never have crossed this line if Xaden hadn’t already given him the okay, but I also knew that Harley still felt a little weird about it. I couldn’t blame him one bit.

By the time I had Advanced Witchcraft, I had to admit I was a little nervous. But when I got there, I froze, and my eyebrows shot upward when I saw Damien seated in the spot directly next to mine and Sarah was sitting in her usual spot… completely alone.