Nina shook her head, her usually full lips thinned. She held up her hand to thwart Wanda’s oncoming tirade. “So Harry drank your sperm smoothie?”
Mara blanched. “Yes. I’d put it in a vitaminwater bottle, fully intending to take it home and you know—”
“Break out Helga’s turkey baster?” Marty asked sweetly, finally speaking.
Mara grew defensive. “I would have bought her a new one.”
“Comforting, I’m sure,” Marty groused. “Do you have any idea, aside from Harry, the million things that could have gone wrong with this plan? How many screws are loose up in that genius brain of yours? And before you say it, I totally get your desire to have babies. I don’t know what I did before Hollis and Nina’s Charlie. But if you’d come to me, it would have saved an innocent man’s life, Mara!”
Wanda straightened and buttoned Mara’s lab coat with motherly hands, smoothing it over her shoulders. “It’s bad enough to hurt yourself, but an innocent? I think the pack’s going to be far more inclined to punish you for that. You know what happens when we turn without provocation.”
Remorse streaked her eyes, fear steeped her belly. “I do. There’s fire and a ritual and sometimes a full moon trial. So here.” She held out her hands. “Put the cuffs on me and take me to the council.”
Nina slapped at her hands. “We’re not gonna rat you out. We ain’t no snitches. But we gotta figure out a way to help Harry adjust so he keeps right on working here like nothing happened, if we hope to keep this fuck-uppery out of the council’s hands.”
Wanda shook her head in an absolute fashion. “How are we going to do that? He’ll smell like a werewolf. The others will know instantly!”
Right. Good noses. The lot of ’em. She was sunk now.
“Forget that right now,” Marty added. “First and foremost, we need Harry’s cooperation.”
Nina’s finger flew up in the air. “Exactly! It’s also contingent upon Harry. Maybe he’s a snitch, ’cus Christ knows he uses a lot of big words and comes across as a real rule follower. What if he wants to see the council and rat on you? The bits I got from reading him over the phone was this dude likes control and order.”
“And you just brought chaos and disorder,” Wanda moaned.
Mara blew out a breath of pent up air. “Then I’ll just go to werewolf jail.” She could do jail. As long as they let her have some chemistry books and some toilet paper, she’d survive. It wasn’t like she had a social life she’d miss, other than lunch with her likeminded friends during work hours, and the occasional girls’ night out at Subway where they brainstormed, of all things, ways to infuse antioxidants with moisturizer.
Nina rolled her eyes, thumping her on the shoulder with the heel of her hand. “We’re not going to let your brainy ass go to werewolf jail. We’ll convince him—or he dies. He has choices. They’re just limited.”
“I can’t die. I have children to care for.”
Four heads turned Harry’s way. He’d managed to inch his way up the wall, using the lab coat Wanda had placed over his naked length to keep himself covered.
Mara’s first thought was, how much had he heard? Her second? Wow. He looked rough and pale and, damn it all, still adorable. No one should be this adorable when they’d just had their body turned inside out. His dark eyes, dreamy and fringed heavily with thick lashes, scanned the four women. She couldn’t place what that assessment meant, but his wheels were turning.
Then Mara cocked her head after processing his words. “Children?” As far as she knew, he was single, although that could explain why he’d rebuffed her lame advances. If he had a significant other, that would almost make her feel better.
“My sister’s children. She . . . died,” he murmured the words from lips that were bloodied from slamming into the wall. He used a thumb to swipe at the corner of his mouth. “About a year ago. They have no one else. So if you’re the Nina I was on the phone with, while I was ultra respectful of your feministic overreactions and threats of brutality, when it comes to my niece and nephew, I’m just warning you, I’ll fight back—because they need me right now. So back off.”
Mara’s heart melted. Right there in her chest, but she couldn’t speak. Couldn’t apologize for what he’d go through. Couldn’t apologize for her part in this. Couldn’t anything. Period.
Nina held a hand out to him. Mara had to give him credit. Harry didn’t balk. He didn’t turn his nose up at it. He didn’t cringe. Harry considered. She watched him weigh his options in his mind by applying logistics and common sense to the overall situation. Just like she would have if the tables were turned.