Chapter 87

Anila’s POV

There was a cute little diner in the center of town that Harley insisted we went for breakfast. I could tell he’s been to this place a lot because he seemed excited about it. I wanted to know everything I could about Harley, so I was happy to have this time with him.

He held my hand as we walked inside, and I just kept thinking how happy I was that he was no longer avoiding me and that things weren’t weird between us. I guess I had this mark to thank for that.

“Hey, Harley,” a pretty woman at the hostess stand said.

She didn’t look much older than me, and she had curly blonde hair that went down her back and the prettiest blue eyes I had ever seen. Her body was fit, and I could tell she worked out probably daily. She wore a uniform, but it looked really good on her body.

I instantly had a knot in the pit of my stomach as she batted her long lashes up at my mate. I bit back a growl, not like the way she was looking at him. But I also knew that Harley didn’t like her in the same way. I suppose I had this mark to thank for that, but still, it made me uneasy that someone this gorgeous had her sights on him.

“Hey, Lisa,” Harley greeted politely as he put a hand on my lower back. “Can we get a table for two?”

She switched her gaze to me and that smile she wore for Harley specifically faltered and now she was looking quite disappointed.

“Oh… uh… sure,” she murmured as she grabbed a couple of menus. “Is this your girlfriend?”

“She’s my mate,” he announced proudly as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

Her eyes grew large, and I could see them growing misty with tears.

“You found your mate?” She asked, her voice coming out weakly. “Like, your true mate?”

“That’s right,” Harley said proudly.

He was completely oblivious to this woman’s hurt expression and feelings.

“I see,” she said, lowering her gaze. She then cleared her throat and turned away. “Right this way.”

She took us to a booth in the back of the diner and Harley waited for me to sit before he sat.

“Thanks, Lisa,” he said, taking the menus from her.

She nodded and then gave me one last look before going back to her station.

Another woman, a much older one, approached the table. She had kind old eyes and grey hair that was curly and pulled into a messy bun. She had flowers on her cheeks from what looked like a baking session and a pen in her ear and in her hand like she had forgotten where she left her pen previously and grabbed a new one.

She had a notepad in her other hand, ready to take our orders.

Her smile grew when she saw Harley.

“Hey there, Harley Bear,” the woman said, reaching out and rubbing the top of his head like he was an animal.

He chuckled and shook his head, trying to get her to stop, but I could also tell that he secretly loved it.

“I thought you forgot about me. You never come by to see me anymore,” the woman continued, pulling her hand back and placing it on her hip.

“I’ve been kind of preoccupied lately,” Harley admitted, his cheeks reddening.

“I’ll say. I heard the rumors, but I didn’t think they were true. Though there was no way my Harley bear would find his mate and not tell his gran about it.”

Harley’s face reddened even more.

His gran?

“I’ve been meaning to come by, but I wasn’t really sure how to explain the situation,” Harley said sheepishly.

“You mean the fact that she has multiple mates?” The woman said, a bit of amusement in her tone. “Is it true then? Is she the Moon Queen reincarnated?”

Harley opened his mouth to say something but then he closed it, unsure of what to say exactly. I could tell he was uncomfortable with this topic, and I couldn’t blame him. It was about me and they were acting like I wasn’t even there.

I think Harley could sense my discomfort because his eyes widened and then he cleared his throat.

“This is Anila, by the way. My mate,” he said, motioning for me. The woman’s eyes grew large when she looked at me and then she reached her hand out for me to take.

I took it and I immediately felt the warmth and comfort radiating off her.

“Hey, sweetheart. Sorry. I didn’t realize he brought his mate with him. I’m Evelyn, most call me Eve.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Eve,” I said, trying my best to smile at her and not feel awkward.

“Anila, this is my grandmother,” Harley surprised me by saying. “She basically raised me from when I was a cub.”

My eyes grew large as I looked between the two of them.

“Like your real grandmother?” I asked, my mouth nearly hitting the ground.

Harley smiled and then he nodded.

“This is why I wanted to come here. I wanted you to meet her,” Harley explained. “Yes. My real grandmother. She’s my father’s mother. When my mother died, I didn’t really have anyone other than my father and he was so busy being the Alpha that he didn’t have much time to raise me. So, my grandma Eve raised me.”

My heart swelled from that story, and I couldn’t help but give them both a genuine smile.

I came to realize that I didn’t know much of anything about Harley, and I grew sad from that. I guess I never really bothered to get to know him before. I wanted that to change though; I wanted to know everything I could about my mate.

“And I loved every second of it,” Eve said, giving him an affectionate smile. “But anyway, can I get you some coffee or something to drink?”

“Coffee would be great,” Harley said. “Does coffee sound okay with you?”

“Yes, that’s perfect,” I agreed.

“Coming right up,” she said as she turned and hurried away.

“She seems really nice,” I said, once we were alone.

“My grandmother is the best,” Harley confessed. “I’m not sure what I’d do without her.”

“What’s your father like?” I asked.

He shrugged.

“He’s a strict man, but he kind of has to be because he’s the Alpha of our bear pack,” Harley answered. “But he’s a good Alpha and he’s training me to be an even better one. Our relationship is mainly all work. I can’t remember the last time my father told me he loved me.”

I felt sad for Harley hearing this story.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “At least you have your grandmother for that part.”

He nodded, a smile on his lips.

“Yes,” he agreed. “I’m grateful to her for that. I’m also grateful to have Xaden as my best friend.”

“You guys never told me how you met,” I told him.

Harley laughed.

“He was the scrawny guy at Alpha camp when we were kids,” Harley explained. “Every summer we had to go to Alpha camp. It was a collection of both wolf and bear shifters. Xaden was probably the scrawniest one of us all and because of that, he was an easy target.”

“He was bullied?” I guessed.

“Yeah, he was,” Harley said, shaking his head at the memory. “I stood up for him and beat the shit out of the punks who were doing it too.”

I smiled at that thought.

“I bet you were huge even then,” I blurted.

This made Harley laugh.

“Yeah, I was a pretty big kid,” he confessed. “After I beat up Xaden’s bullies, nobody messed with him again. We became fast friends, and we remained friends even when Xaden grew muscles and was able to stand up for himself.”

“I’m glad you were there for him,” I said, reaching out and touching his arm gently, watching as goosebumps formed on his skin.

“There were a lot of times he was there for me too,” he confessed. “I’m not sure what I’d do without him.”

I smiled at that thought.

“Me neither,” I confessed. “Xaden saved me from my old life and brought me to my new life. I’ll be forever grateful to him for that.”

Harley nodded.

“I’m glad he did,” Harley said.

Eve was back with a couple of mugs and poured coffee into each of them.

“Can I get you started with food?” Eve asked, looking between the two of us.

“Yeah, I’ll do French toast with a side of sausage and bacon,” Harley told her.

“That sounds good,” I agreed, my stomach growling furiously. “I’ll do the same.”

“Absolutely,” Eve said as she wrote that down and hurried away to fill those orders.

Once we were alone again, I looked at Harley who was studying me with an affectionate look in his eyes. It made me blush and I had to bite back a grin.

“Will I ever meet your father?” I found myself asking.

Harley raised his brows at my question.

“Would you want to?”

I nodded, which surprised even me.

“I would,” I admitted.

“Then yeah, at some point I can take you to meet him,” he said sweetly.

“I’d like that.”

It didn’t take long for our food to be ready, and we dug in. It was delicious and I shamefully ate every last piece of food on the plate. While we ate, Eve sat with us for a few minutes between customers and talked with us a little more.

I got to know her a little better and I really liked her. By the time we were finished with our meal, she wouldn’t let Harley pay for it. She told him it was on her, despite him insisting.

We thanked her and then I watched as Harley hugged her tightly. She chuckled and hugged him back and then to my surprise, she hugged me. I could feel that hostess’s eyes on me from the front of the diner and even noticed it too.

“Don’t mind, Lisa,” Eve whispered. “She’s had a crush on Harley for years and I don’t think he’s ever noticed.”

“She makes it so obvious though,” I murmured, trying not to sound like a jealous schoolgirl.

Eve chuckled.

“Yeah, I told her that he wasn’t interested and that she needed to move on. But she’s always had hope that they would one day be together. I hope now she realizes that’s not going to happen.”

I looked over my shoulder and at Lisa, meeting her eyes which were burning daggers in my flesh.

“I hope so,” I murmured.

We finished saying goodbye and then we left to go back to campus. If we didn’t hurry, I was going to be late for my first class of the day.

But just as we stepped foot back onto campus, a loud alarm sounded in the air, causing me to freeze entirely. I heard screaming and the sounds of panic. My heart jumped into my throat when I saw the red warning lights flashing around the school buildings.

“What’s going on?” I asked, as Harley took hold of my hand and started to pull me in the direction other students were running. It looked like everyone was going into the dorms.

“There’s only one reason I’d known for these red warning lights,” Harley said, breathless as we ran.

“And that is…?” I prompted, panic starting to consume me.

“Dragons.”