I scramble to the edge and see him lying there, motionless but still breathing, battered and bloodied far below.
“Oh my god,” Harper breathes. “Oh my god.”
Cash pulls her into his arms immediately, running his hands over her. “Are you hurt?” he asks. “Did he do anything to you?”
“I’m okay,” she pants, leaning into him while he pulls his pocket knife and cuts the ropes binding her wrists. “I’m okay. I didn’t know if—” Her eyes dart to the side where Lincoln is still on the ground, and a low, miserable sound spills from her lips. “Is he okay?”
That snaps me out of my red haze and I run over to Lincoln. He groans, sitting up slowly, the side of his face covered in dirt and muck. He clutches his shoulder, face screwed up in pain. There’s blood seeping through his fingers from the wound, and his breathing is shallow, but he forces a smile.
“Just a scratch. I’m okay,” he says.
Harper makes a noise that’s half hysterical, clinging to Cash like she might faint if she lets go.
I pull out my phone and call it in, fast and efficient. “It’s not life threatening,” I tell them. “Backup and medics are en route.”
“Can’t wait to be poked and prodded here of all places,” Lincoln mutters.
I help him to his feet and then go to Harper, pulling her from Cash’s arms into my own. I bury my nose in her hair, not caring that she smells like dust and sweat and another man. Right now, all that matters is that she’s here, safe with us.
Slowly, the adrenaline of the fight starts to drain out of me, and for the first time since we got home to find out Harper had been taken, I can feel myself start to relax.
Chapter 47
Lincoln
Thankfully, help arrives pretty quickly. My shoulder is hot and bleeding, and it hurts like a bitch, but all I can really think about is Harper. Every time I look at her, I get hit with a wave of relief that she’s safe. I think about how terrified she looked when we got here, and I see the red marks on her wrists from the ropes she was tied with, and the thin cut on her neck from Geoffrey’s knife being pressed there, and I can only be grateful that things didn’t turn out worse.
Someone cuts my shirt away from my shoulder to look at how bad it is, and I can see Geoffrey being hauled out of the pit he fell into and taken into custody, but none of it feels real. Until I say the thing that I need to say out loud, it’s not done yet.
“We need to take him to the hospital,” one of the paramedics is saying to Everett. “It’s not a critical wound, but it can get infected, and we need to get the bullet out.”
I barely hear what they’re saying as they talk, and I don’t even wince when they put pressure on the wound, pressing down hard. I think someone says something about loading me into the ambulance they came in, but I keep a hold of Harper’s hand like I’m afraid to let go.
“We need to move you, Mr. Daniels,” a paramedic says.
“You’re going to be all right,” Harper murmurs. She strokes the back of my hand and then lets go, and I feel the loss immediately.
Luckily they let her climb into the back of the ambulance with me, while Cash and Everett follow in the truck. They turn on the siren and we get back to town in record time.
I don’t really pay attention to them getting me checked in and all that, just waiting for the moment I can be alone with Harper, so I can tell her. Because she needs to know. That’s the only thing I keep thinking. She needs to know.
Nothing like this can ever happen again, but life is unpredictable. It’s hard to know what’s coming, and if either of us is ever in a situation where we can’t get to each other, I don’t want there to be any doubts about my feelings.
A nurse helps me settle into a bed and promises the doctor will be in soon to assess my wound. Soon turns out to be about thirty seconds, and a harried-looking woman with greying hair comes in to poke and prod at me.
Harper tries to step aside so the doctor can work, but I grab her hand with my good one and pull her back. I need her close right now. I need her to hear this.
“Harper,” I say, my voice low and urgent. “Wildflower. Listen to me.”
“What is it?” she asks, her eyes bright with concern. “Are you okay? Does it hurt?” She scans my face, clearly worried.
“It’s not about that,” I tell her. “It’s just that…” I take a deep breath and let the words come out in a rush. “I’ve been scared to let myself feel anything for anyone for a while. Outside of the pack, I’ve kept people at arm’s length. I thought that was safer. Easier. Loving anyone felt like something too big to even admit, and I wasn’t looking for it. I was just trying to keep my head down and get through the days without falling apart. But thenyou and Cora came into my life and nothing has been the same since.”
“Um, in a good way?”
I smile at that. “In an amazing way. I love you, Harper. Desperately. Totally. Completely. I love your kid too. I love getting to spend time with her, I love that she trusts me. I love that you trust me with her and with yourself. It means so much.”
Harper’s eyes go even brighter, swimming with tears that well up and then spill down her cheeks. She presses one hand over her mouth to keep back a sob and then smiles at me. “I love you too,” she says through her tears. “I love you. All of you. Cash and Everett, and being here with you all. It means so much to me. You mean so much to me.”