Runes of Mortality_A Reverse Harem Urban Fantasy

  "Wait, Harris!" I shout from the door, and he turns to me, looking a little shocked, but more worried than anything else.

  "Are you alright?" he asks none too gently as he grabs my shoulders, pulling me closer, and looking me up and down.

  "Yes, but I could use a lift home," I say gently as I pull away from him a little, enough that he drops his warm hands.

  "Sure, I was just taking my sister home. My parents are going to kill her for sneaking out tonight. So, I'm sure she needs some extra time to come up with a decent excuse," he laughs, opening the back door for me.

  As I get in, I look behind me to see Wyatt watching me from the door. I swear I'll never forget the look he has on his face as watches me get into the car. He is looking at me like he is a starving man, and I am his meal. I gasp before slamming the door shut and closing my eyes for a second, resting my head against the cold leather.

  "So, what's your name?" the girl in the front asks the minute I get in. I smile as I hear her draw out the sentence. I open my eyes to see a pair of light-blue ones sparkling at me.

  "I’m Winter, and you are?" I put on my seat belt as Harris gets in.

  "I'm Katy. How do you know my brother?" she smiles, but it looks cheeky.

  "You should be thinking of excuses to help yourself, and not asking questions," Harris answers her question as he looks at me in the rear-view mirror. I smirk at him when I see he is trying not to laugh, and he winks at me.

  "They are going to ground me for life, anyway,” she says to Harris with a huff and looks back at me, “so, do you have a boyfriend?" she asks, clearly not concerned about her parents, and I look her over now. She has the same light-brown hair as Harris and matching blue eyes, that are lighter than most. I would guess she is around sixteen, making her way too young to be here. She is wearing a purple dress that is as short as mine but makes her look a hell of a lot older than she is. I can see why Harris’ parents are going to be mad. I’m guessing the amount of makeup she has on isn’t going to help her case. She doesn’t need it, though, I can see under it all that she is very pretty.

  "No. I'm escaping a bad date, actually," I mutter as she laughs.

  "Harris should ask you out, he wouldn't be a bad date," she winks, and I see Harris blush.

  "I'm not dating anymore, but if I was, Harris would be a good choice," I say gently, letting them both down easily.

  "You should change your mind. You’re really pretty." She sighs, finally turning around. Harris asks for the address, so I give it to him before opening my phone. I'm surprised not to see any messages from Alex. I send her a quick one:

  Date was awful, shame the hot ones are always crazy. I got a lift home. I will see you tomorrow. Love you xx

  I missed out on the start of the argument, as I was texting, but from Harris’s angry face he isn’t happy.

  “There are loads of them around right now, Katy. I don’t want to find you sneaking out again!” he shouts, leaving me to wonder what he is talking about. Katy is looking tense in her seat at whatever it is.

  “I know. But, I never get to leave the pack,” she says looking out the window with a long sigh. I’m sure that I see tears in her eyes as she picks her nails, looking worried.

  “It won’t always be like this, but please, for me, don’t leave again without one of us.” He stares at her through the mirror, and I see her lower her gaze quickly.

  “I promise,” Katy says with a frown, and Harris nods, looking back at the empty road. I watch as he turns to look at me, and a grin lights up his face when he sees what I’m wearing. Typical guy, but at least he has the common sense to look back at the road after a second, not voicing his opinion.

  “What’s a pack?” I ask clearing my throat and hopefully my red cheeks from Harris’s stare. I remember reading about packs of wolves in class, but I don’t think they are talking about that. Maybe it’s some kind of gang or a name of a house, I don’t want to guess because I’m sure I’m going to come up with something worse than what it actually is. I glance at Harris who isn’t answering my question, so I repeat myself.

  “Oh, it’s nothing important,” Harris says quickly, all the while he is glaring at Katy like a parent whose kid just told someone a big secret of theirs. I glance back at Katy, who looks very guilty, as she shrugs at me, and avoids looking at Harris at all. This night is proving to be all kinds of confusing, and I’m pretty sure forgetting it is the easier way. No one says anything else while we drive home, and a tense silence descends on the car.

  "Are you going to be okay to walk in? I don't think I can get in the car park with the gate down,” Harris looks at me, as he stops on the road outside my building. The whole building is close to the university, so it has to be on lockdown after a certain time, and you can only walk in, past a locked gate. I’m lucky the gate’s broken, so you don’t need a key to get in. Well, unlucky in certain ways because it means anyone can get in.

  "Yeah, I'll walk in. The gate is open,” I say to Harris, and he nods, watching me closely like he wants to say something, but I get out of the car before he can.

  "Bye, Katy, and good luck with your parents," I say through the open window, and I laugh, hearing her grumble before I move away from the car. I wave them both off before opening the broken gate to the locked car park, the door is slightly open anyway from our neighbours. The car park is almost as big as the building in length, and you have to walk across the whole thing to get to my building. My building has three flats, on three levels, and we have the bottom one. The car park is empty, besides my car and one other. I walk slowly; only the dim lights of the street lamps near the building are lighting my path, showing me where I’m going. In the distance, I notice a big, dark shape lying next to my car, near the door to my building. I run over quickly, my footsteps being the only noise in the dark night. I’m hoping the person is okay and pull my phone out of my bag as I run, to call an ambulance, but as I get closer I see it’s a wolf.

  Could my night get any weirder?

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