Bonded ✔️

Chapter 27

Lincoln shifted his body, causing me to lift my head off of his chest and look at him with a curious expression. He placed one of his hands against my cheek and quickly pressed his lips against mine, "My dad wants to know where Wyatt and I are, so it looks like it's time for the everything to be set in motion."

Worry ate away at my stomach, but I nodded my head in agreement. The sooner that Lincoln was pack in his territory, the quicker he could start recruiting people to fight with him against his father. However, the tight feeling in my chest was a reminder that there was at least a small part of me that wished that I could walk away from my life as Alpha and be with him without worrying about the consequences.

There was a bigger part of myself that knew that everything I was going through was serving a purpose. Someday there would be another girl tossed into the position of Alpha, and if I did nothing else in my entire life, I would make sure that her path to power was easier than mine.

Lincoln looked into my eyes, and I couldn't stop myself from lowering my lips onto his. This would be the last time that I could show him affection in this way until the region was stable again, and there was no telling how long that would take. Resting my forehead against his, I closed my eyes, "When we leave this room everyone has to be convinced that we are enemies, but how am I going to explain my mark?"

"For now, we'll tell everyone that I revealed my true intentions to take over your pack after marking you. You can say that everything up to that point had been an act on my part," he twirled a piece of my hair around his finger and tugged slightly. "You may hear awful things from my father, but you have to remember that none of it's true."

"If nothing else, we'll be able to reassure each other through our mind link," I reminded him while standing up. He pushed himself up from his chair and contorted his face into a look of mock anger. His eyebrows were pushed together and he wore a deep scowl on his face.

"Do you think this will convince anyone that I have been harboring a secret plan this whole time, and actually hate you?" Lincoln joked in an attempt to lighten the mood. It worked, and a small chuckle escaped from my mouth.

Patting him on the chest softly I smiled, "Maybe tone it down a little bit, then I'm sure it'll do the job."

He nodded as if he was taking the advice seriously and wrapped one of his arms around my waist as we walked to the door of my office. We paused when we reached it and he looked at me with a serious look, "No matter what happens we're going to be fine, I'm not going to give up on this."

A lump formed in my throat with his words. The road ahead of us was sure to be full of difficulties, and as optimistic as he was being, I knew that there was a chance that both of us wouldn't make it out on the other side. I gave him a tight smile anyways, "You should leave by yourself. I'm going to tell my pack to not speak to you as you leave, it should be a good indication that something is wrong. I'll be able to tell them in a pack meeting later about the new alliance with Jackson after I've explained what's happened with you."

"Our guest from Alpha Taylor's packs will be leaving immediately. No one is to communicate with them on their way out, and that's a direct order," my voice sounded harsh and clipped, exactly how it would if Lincoln had actually betrayed me like we wanted them to believe he had.

Lincoln removed his arm from my waist and took a deep breath before he pulled the door open and took a step out of the room. He turned back to me and looked at me for a few seconds before walking away. My body immediately sagged as the adrenaline that had kept me upright left my system.

I closed the door and walked over to the couch that was against the once of my office walls. Climbing onto it, I curled myself up in the fetal position and burrowed my face into one of the pillows before screaming. My lungs burned, but I continued until my voice gave out. Tears pricked the corners of my eyes, and I wiped them away in frustration.

There was no telling how long I laid there feeling sorry for myself, but I was pulled from the haze of self-pity when I heard the creaking noise of the door opening and turned my head to find Rowan stepping into my office. One look at my face and the small smile that he had been wearing was wiped off of his face, "Shit, what's wrong?"

I sat up so that he could join me on the couch, "I'm tired of talking about sad stuff, didn't you say that you had good news for me?"

The smile returned to his face in full force and he walked across the room before sitting next to me on the couch. He grabbed my hands, "We found out yesterday that Leila is pregnant, I'm going to be a dad."

Unadulterated joy flooded through my body as I pulled him in for a hug, "That's amazing Rowan, you guys will be amazing parents."

"No, shut up, I'm not done," he chuckled pulling away from me. "We want you to be the godmother, and Leila is adamant that with you in the baby's life they won't even need a godfather. She says you'll be more than enough."

New tears made started spilling from my eyes, but this time they were from happiness. Rowan wrapped his arms around me, "I know that everything seems awful right now, but this has reminded me what really matters. You're like family to me Har, and we're going to get through this together. Our pack is strong, you are strong."

-------

The pack had surprised me with their support when I told them about the situation with Lincoln, and about the new alliance with Jackson. The women all felt awful about Lincoln's "betrayal", but the men just seemed happy that we finally had an ally. Regardless of their support, there was still an underlying sense of worry throughout the pack because we all knew that we had enemies. 

There was one thing keeping spirits up though. Leila and Rowan were both beacons of hope for our people. She was glowing, and my heart swelled with happiness each time she walked into a room. The promise of new life was a moral boost for the pack, and we all anxiously awaited the arrival of our newest member.

A week had passed since the plan had been set in motion. There had been no more trespassers on the territory, and Lincoln had told me that everything seemed quiet in his pack. It felt like we were all waiting for the calm before the storm, but I had been trying to remain optimistic.

I was seated at my desk planning the border patrol schedule when Jonathan walked into my office with a concerned look on his face, "Malcolm sent a messenger to the border. He's requesting a meeting of the regional Alpha's on his territory."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "That's not what we were expecting. Did he say why?"

"Apparently he wants to discuss the state in the region since you and Jackson are now aligned. The messenger said that you're allowed to bring one person with you, so I'm assuming that will be Rowan," he explained.

I nodded, "Rowan will come with me. I'm just surprised the Lincoln didn't mention this to me."

Jonathan shrugged his shoulders, "With all due respect, Lincoln should be the least of your concerns right now. I'll tell Rowan to come up so that you can tell him what's happening."

When my office door shut my brain went into overdrive trying to figure out the real reason why Malcolm would want all of us on his territory, and none of the reasons were good. 

---

One chapter left and it will most likely be the longest one part chapter of the entire book, what do you think will happen?

I'm making a playlist for Bonded and thought it would be cool to get your input! If you have a song that you feel relates to Harley, or her relationship with any other character (including Linc) comment here or send me an message ! If you don't mind give me an explanation for why you picked the song as well!

Much love <3