Series: Werewolves of Wall Street Series by Renee Rose
Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
“Yes.” I didn’t see the woman’s features clearly but got a sense of who she was.
“That’s Eleanor Harrington, Madi’s grandmother. Madi didn’t have a relationship with her until recently, but now they’re close. Eleanor chose Madi as her successor to take over the family business.”
“So they’d eat together regularly.” Which means I don’t know if the vision I saw was from the past, present, or future.
* * *
“Something terrible is going to happen. I don’t know how exactly, but Vera plans to harm Madi.”
Noah’s forehead knots. I can smell the worry in his scent. Madi is his friend.
I lick my lips. I can’t believe what I’m about to say next. “We have to warn her.”
Chapter Sixteen
Noah
“This is a bad idea,” I say just to make sure someone says it. Aster sits next to me in the passenger seat of my car, her mouth set in a stubborn line. It’s late afternoon, and we’ve driven to the Berkshires.
“You're sure about this?”
“Yes,” she says, but shakes her head. Her body is contradicting her words, a sure sign she isn’t sure, but she opens the door and gets out. I follow quickly, feeling the need to protect her.
We’re parked right on the edge of Blackthroat land. We’re not sneaking in. No, we’re going to walk right in and wait for their guards to sound the alert and capture us.
It won’t take long.
I’ve already sent an email to Brick saying that I’m practically on his front doorstep. “You wanted me to present myself by the end of the week? Well, here I am.” I may have sounded a bit more cocky than I needed to, but my wolf required a show of strength. Brick might be the alpha of the biggest and most successful pack in the States, but I’m an alpha, too, and I have a mate to protect.
Beside me, Aster shivers. All her life she’s been told the Blackthroats are evil, and now, here she is, about to walk on their land and claim sanctuary.
It’s like handing your enemy an atomic bomb and asking him not to use it on your pack. Except you’re the bomb.
I can’t imagine what this is like for her. I want to toss her over my shoulder, bundle her back in the car, and drive until New York is a distant memory. Fuck these packs and their twisted hierarchies. Fuck destiny. I just want to be with her.
Maybe when this is all over, and I’ve gotten my mother and half-sister out.
“It’s all right. I won’t let them hurt you.” I wait for her to sign ok and take her hand, lending her my warmth and strength. After a moment, we both start walking. We leave the car hidden in the woods and enter the forest, tromping silently over the leaves.
The air seems to shimmer when we step on pack lands. I can smell the sentry markings. At one point, I think I see a furry head disappearing into a grove of mountain laurel, but the markings around the boundary are too strong for me to catch the wolf’s scent.
Maybe I was imagining it.
At the foot of a towering pine, a cluster of purple and yellow crocuses are in bloom. Aster stops a moment to take in the sight. I take it as a good sign.
The next moment, we’re surrounded by wolves.
They were so fucking fast, I never even scented them. Aster must not have heard them either.
There’s at least five of them, four in plain sight and one a dark shadow in the trees.
I wonder how long they’ve been watching us.
I start to raise my hands in a show of surrender, and the wolf closest to me bares long white fangs.
Sully steps out of the shadows. Noah, he signs. “We’ve been expecting you. But who is this?”
“I’m Aster Adalwulf. The Adalwulf Seeress. I claim sanctuary.”
Instantly, the rest of the wolves bristle. A hand movement from Sully I don’t catch, and behind him, a wolf I didn’t even notice before dashes off, probably to send a message.
Shit, we’re in it now.
They march us through the woods on foot. Sully leads the way, and his enforcers close ranks around us but make sure they don’t get too close. I keep my arm around Aster. She’s a bit glassy-eyed, and her steps are unsteady. Maybe she’s fighting a vision.
This whole thing sucks. I like Sully. And I have no doubt he’d slit both my throat and Aster’s if we make a wrong move. Any trust the Blackthroats had in me is gone. If I’m lucky, they won’t think I’m a traitor. I’m counting on them to be smart enough to hear us out.
Finally, the Blackthroat Mansion appears. It’s one of those Gilded Age mansions with multiple wings and a large circular driveway in front of the house. We leave the forest just as a helicopter is setting down on a helipad on the manicured lawn some distance from the house.