Chapter Fifty-Three: Harlow

“I need to see my sister. And Brielle. I’m thinking about staying.”

Caelan was leaning against the wall, outside of a door that Harlow was certain that Briar was on the other side of. She’d figured out that the man seemed extremely protective of her newly discovered sister and she had a strong feeling that he would be near her whenever he could be.

Letting her eyes drift over the tall, strong man, she wondered for a moment if Torin had missed his chance. After all, he couldn’t know Briar all that well. She had only left the pack around a week earlier and in that time he had met her, lost her, and somehow developed feelings that were strong enough that he was willing to chase her across the width of more than one country to track her down.

Harlow shook her head. She couldn’t even imagine anyone feeling that strongly about her. Hell, the man she’d had the longest relationship with, by far, in her entire life, had been willing to sell her to get ahead in his attempt to take down Theon.

“She’s busy. You can try back in a few days. Once all this,” he waved to the door behind him, “is over.”

“I need to see her now.” Harlow frowned up into the dragon shifter’s blue eyes, trying not to give in to the urge to look away that she felt building in her chest.

“Why? If you’re thinking about staying you can think about it a little bit longer. It won’t kill you to wait. You’ve been offered a job here. All your needs will be met while you stay in that suite, at least for a few days. And Brielle specifically told me not to let anyone in this room that wasn’t on a very short list that she provided me.”

“Look, Caleb-”

“Caelan.” He corrected her, his eyes scanning the hallway behind her.

“Caelan. I need to see Briar. It’s important.”

“I feel like you aren’t telling me everything, Heather.” The smirk on his face told her that he’d purposefully misremembered her name.

“Maybe not. But it’s in Briar’s best interest that she talks to me before this goes any further.”

That seemed to get the man’s attention, because he straightened and stared down at her for a long moment. Harlow forced herself to stay still under his icy blue gaze and finally he gave a small nod, as the corners of his lips turned up into a smile.

“Tell me why and I might change my mind.”

“So that she doesn’t make the biggest mistake of her entire life.” Harlow’s voice was barely louder than a whisper, but she knew that he could hear her perfectly.

“Ok. You’ve got my attention. But she’s already signed the contract. And once it’s signed no one gets out of it without completing the terms. She’s stuck here for at least a year.”

Harlow shook her head. “There’s a first time for everything. I just need to see her and make sure she has all the information before she goes through with this.”

“And what if you tell her this and it makes what she’s doing even harder than it already is.” Caelan’s voice was low as he spoke, his eyes fixed on Harlow’s face. She looked so much like Briar, but he could see that their personalities were like night and day. While it was hard for him to imagine Briar working for Mr. Rose, he could see Harlow fitting in just fine. Her personality seemed harder, and in certain ways more resilient than Briar’s. Somehow he just knew that this job would crush Briar’s spirit, even if she could force herself to go through with it.

“Then at least she has all the pieces of the puzzle. I just know that if I were in her shoes I would want to know if there was a man out there who cared nearly as much about me as this one cares about her.”

“There’s someone in love with her?” Caelan’s forehead wrinkled as his brows shot upward. “Not that Alpha that she rejected?”

“No. Not Theon.” Harlow shook her head before letting out a sigh. “Please. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt Briar. We may not have been raised as sisters, but I do believe that’s who she is to me. She’s gone through enough.”

Caelan nodded in obvious agreement.

“I think I heard something down the hall over here. I’m going to go check it out. You better not be standing out here by the time I get back.” He turned and walked off at a fast clip, without looking back over his shoulder.

Harlow knew that she didn’t have much time before he returned and so she squared her shoulders and took a deep breath, steeling her nerves as she raised her hand and knocked on the door, trying to portray more confidence than she felt.

Of course, Briar wasn’t the one who answered the door. It was the man that had been part of the team getting her ready, but when he saw Harlow his face lit up and he reached out, pulling her inside without saying a single word. He closed the door behind her as Harlow’s eyes scanned the large room. She could see the back of the photographer, but she couldn’t see Briar beyond the lights that were pointing away from where Harlow was standing.

“Harlow, right?” Harlow forced her attention back to the tall man standing in front of her. She couldn’t remember his name.

“I’m Stephen.” Harlow simply nodded and attempted to smile, as she tried to find her voice. The plan had seemed simple in her mind when she’d planned it out, but now that she was in the room she found herself at a loss. What was she doing? She was surrounded by shifters, types she hadn’t known existed before the last couple of days, and while supposedly she was one too, she’d never actually been anything but an ordinary human in her entire life, so far. She didn’t have super powers and couldn’t magically transform into something else.

“I was hoping to see my sister.” Her voice was hardly more than a whisper, but the man in front of her smiled broadly and gestured for her to come further into the room.

“Come right this way. I think she’ll be happy to see you. We’re just finishing up her photos and she seems a bit overwhelmed. Oh, she’s putting on a brave face, but the nerves of what she’s doing are definitely getting to her. I think seeing a familiar face will go a long way towards calming her down.”

Harlow nodded and walked forward, trying to portray a calm that she didn’t feel.

Five minutes later she and Briar were sitting together on a comfortable couch off to the side of the set where she’d been photographed. Everyone was giving them a bit of space, which made what Harlow had to do a bit easier than she’d thought it would be.

“I have to tell you something. And I wish we knew each other better than we do, because if we did I think I’d have some idea if I was doing the right thing. But all I know is that if I were in your shoes I would want to know.”

Briar’s brow furrowed but she didn’t say anything, obviously waiting for Harlow to continue.

“Torin is downstairs. He came after you. If he could, I know he would be up here with you. He says that he’s sorry and that letting you go was a huge mistake and that he wants to spend the rest of his life making it up to you. I know he said more than that, but that’s the basic gist. From what I’ve gathered, he and his friends came after you almost as soon as you’d left. And he’d do just about anything to get another chance.”

Briar’s eyes had gotten progressively larger as Harlow had continued to speak. Whatever she’d thought Harlow was going to say, what she’d said obviously wasn’t it.

“He’s here?” At Harlow’s nod she shook her head and Harlow could tell that she was trying hard not to cry. “But I signed the contract. I can’t leave this place for a year. And I have to-” Briar’s voice trailed off and she pressed the back of her hand against her mouth before tilting her head back, trying not to ruin her makeup with tears.

“What if there was a way to get out of it? I’m not saying that there is? But if there were, would you want to leave?”

“Yes.” Briar’s voice was hardly more than a whisper and Harlow reached out and squeezed her hand.

“I’m going to do everything that I can, to help you get out of here. I don’t know if it will be enough, but I promise you Briar, I’m going to do whatever I can to help. I can tell Torin cares about you. You’ll be safe with him. And you deserve a happily ever after, after everything you’ve been through.”

“Don’t put yourself at risk for me.” Briar obviously could tell some of what Harlow was thinking, but Harlow brushed off her concern.

“Some of my actions have caused you pain. I didn’t know it at the time, because I didn’t know enough about werewolves, but you were hurt all the same. I saw what happened to Theon when you-” Harlow shook her head, obviously rethinking her choice of words. “Anyways. I know you were in a lot of pain. And I’m going to do whatever it takes to prevent you from having to endure anything else painful or negative from this point forward.”

“Harlow-” Briar began to speak, but Harlow stood, cutting her off.

“Take care of yourself if I don’t see you again. I wish we’d known that we were probably sisters growing up. I always liked you, but I think we would have been a lot closer if we’d known.”

Briar nodded the tears she’d been fighting, finally overflowing down her cheeks.

“Be careful Harlow. And please. Don’t give up your own future to save me. It’s only a year.”

Harlow ignored the words, pulling Briar into a quick hug before she turned and walked from the room. She had a plan that had been forming in her mind since she’d met Torin downstairs outside the bar. She just hoped that it would work.