Bonded ✔️

Chapter 23: Part Two

Standing at the edge of my border, I found myself surrounded by four men as we waited for Jackson to arrive. Conversation buzzed around me, but I remained silent as I planned out the ensuing conversation in my head. There was no denying the fact that I was still shaken up from my earlier confrontation. My arm was screaming in pain as the bone starting to heal itself, and my emotions were all over the place trying to deal with the fact that I had just killed a person for the first time outside of a combat situation.

To my left, Rowan and Lincoln were discussing what had occurred with the trespassers only hours before. Lincoln had killed the other werewolf who had been poking around my territory, but he did not recognize him as a pack member. That meant that Jackson or Alpha Bennett were working with Malcolm. They were trying to decide which was more likely, but my guy was telling me that Jackson had nothing to do with the trespassing.

Shifting my head slightly, I noticed that Jonathan stood silently, monitoring the surroundings for any immediate threats. Wyatt was near him, but he was looking in my direction with an emotionless expression on his face. In my gut, I felt like he knew what I was going to have to do. Pulling my eyes from his gaze, I looked down to the ground, guilt starting to eat away at my stomach.

The talking around me stopped, and I looked up to see that we had been joined by Jackson Connor. He was accompanied by his younger brother, whom I had not seen during my visit but knew held the position of Beta for his pack. Jackson's face contained a friendly smile, and it only grew wider when he noticed the new mark placed on my neck. He was clearly unable to sense the intense worry and discomfort that I was feeling.

"Harley, I didn't know that you had found your mate! It's a treasured gift, congratulations," Jackson wasted little time crossing my border and shaking my hand. A trickle on irritation filtered through my body when he came into my territory without my permission, but I swallowed it down because there were much bigger things to worry about.

Jackson walked past me to shake the hands of the men who had accompanied me, and when he reached Lincoln a burst of laughter left his body and he pulled Lincoln in for a brotherly hug, "Damn Linc, the Goddess must have really been listening to all those prayers you sent up about wanting to be Harley's mate during training."

My mate's cheeks turned red instantly, and his eyes flickered to mine. I couldn't contain the smile that made its way onto my face at his discomfort. There were so many things that we hadn't had time to talk about because of our current situation, like all those summers and the feelings that had transpired between us. It was mind blowing to try and figure out if those feelings were completely our own, or if we had been influenced in some way by our mate bond before we had even been aware of it.

Snapping back to reality, I cleared my throat gaining the attention of Jackson, "You're right Jackson, it feels amazing to have found my mate. That's not the reason I asked to meet with you though, there are more pressing matters at hand."

"I'm not sure what I have to do with anything regarding-"

"We just killed two people who had been entering my territory through the disputed land and were threatening to start a war against my people. One of them belonged to Lincoln's pack, and we aren't sure about the other," I cut him off with a sharp tone. I didn't have time to do anything but get straight to the point. The lives of my pack members were at stake.

Jackson's brother made his way toward me with his face twisted in anger, "If you're trying to insinuate that we had anything to do with this, you're mistaken."

"I'd stop right there if I were you," Rowan interjected before I had a chance to respond. He positioned himself between the two of us and steadied himself by spreading his feet slightly, distributing his weight equally between his legs.