Accidentally in Love with the Best Friend

j.u.s.t.i.n.’.s....p.o.v.

“It must have been the mate pull - I don’t know how else to really explain it.” I sighed, running a hand through my hair. Despite my father’s wishes, I wasn’t going to do the paperwork, not after a moment like that with my mate. It was already Saturday and I still was hung up on what had happened.

“Well, she returned it, right?” Jeremy asked, and I nodded. “Then at least you know she feels at least something for you.”

I shook my head, still trying to process this. When I had leaned in to kiss Harper, I had expected her to pull away, or even say this was a mistake. What really sent me through a loop was the fact that she instead pulled me closer and returned the kiss.

Oh god, now all Seth could think about was recreating that scene, and - I tried to clear my head but his thoughts would not go away.

We were currently sitting in my room, and heard a crash from down below as well as a loud voice yelling. Looking at each other, Jeremy and I took off out the door and down the stairs. Even though we had a lot of people here, no one ever made that much noise.

When we reached the floor that the sounds were coming from, we walked stealthily, searching for the room that it was coming from.

“I am not going to let him keep us apart! She’s mine."

I recognized the voice as belonging to Toby. Then it hit me - what if he was talking about Harper?! How dare he say that about someone, especially if it was my mate! He would pay!

“Then why are you letting him have her if she is yours?” A voice I had never heard before asked.

“I’m not! Fine, you know what? I’m gonna change this! I am going to take back what is rightfully mine.” My jaw clenched as I heard Toby continue, Seth wanting nothing more than to take him down on the spot.

“And how are you going to do that? Kidnap her?”

“Sure, why not? I know you saw them kissing in the office. I’ll just get ahold of Justin’s phone and text her to come over. I’ll make up some junk about Justin having feelings for her and then, BAM! My little Harp gets thrown into the back of my truck to stay with me forever.”

I suppressed a growl. He was mental - completely psycho. Harp wasn’t going anywhere near him on my watch.

Just as I was about to burst into the room and tear apart anyone inside, Jeremy pulled me back. “Justin, think reasonably here. I know you’re mad - I am too - but just wait for them to head outside. That way we can pull them away and get information to kick them out of the pack.”

Knowing he was right, I nodded in agreement, before looking back at the door. “He won’t get far. And honestly, if he tells Harp to come over, I’d feel better having her by my side.”

We pressed our ears against the door as we continued to listen.

“So, you just expect her to come here and walk straight into your trap? I think Harper is a little smarter than that.”

“We’ll put the truck off the back of the house, and then tell her I’ll be in a green jacket. As long as I keep my back to her, it’ll be too easy.”

“So why is Justin so protective of her, wanting you too apart and all?”

“Well, either he feels like her older brother or likes her more than he should. Daddy wolf wouldn’t be happy to hear that, would he?”

I sat outside by the pool, watching as Toby set the truck up. I was planning on pulling Harp into my protective embrace the second she walked out. Then, I would have Jeremy take down Toby while I interrogated his buddy, who had appeared to have left already.

I was fine sitting down, waiting for the perfect moment until I saw the cage.

In the back of the truck was a metal cage, along with a collar tied to one of the bars. He was going to treat my mate like a flippin’ dog!

A feral growl left my throat before I began charging at Toby, my patience already gone. He turned around, suddenly shocked to see me, before he was on the ground, my arm wrapped around his neck.

He started struggling in my hold, trying his best to defend himself. We both knew who was going to win, though, since I was almost a full grown alpha and he was lucky to be a part of the pack.

I let Seth take over, he started throwing punches at Toby, hitting him everywhere, without giving him time to recover.

I knew I couldn’t kill him, but in that moment, I wanted to make him feel like death would be the easy way out.

Then, just as I was about to knock him out cold, a hand that sent sparks through me tugged on my arm. I paused and turned to see a very pissed off Harper glaring daggers at me.

“What is your problem?!” She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. “Just because you hate Toby doesn’t mean you can beat him up like this!”

I looked down to see a bruised, bleeding and broken Toby giving a grateful smile up at her.

How dare he?! Just before I could swing again Harper hovered over Toby’s face, telling him how sorry she was that this had happened.

How dare he!