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)
Thank you, I sign again.
“Don’t thank me. Get your mother and sister out. Alive.”
“We will,” Aster makes the yes sign and turns toward the path to take the first step towards Adalwulf land.
“Wait.” I pull her back. “I want you to go with Sully–”
“No.” Moonlight bathes her face, illuminating her fierce expression. She bares her teeth, pointing to herself then me.
My mate is going to stick beside me, for better or worse.
I could order her to stay. It’s safer for her. But something in me yields.
“You need me,” she says, and that’s that. I need her help finding the purification site. Without her, my mission will fail.
I grip her hand tightly as we walk the path that takes us behind enemy lines.
Sully is right, we find the cave and use it to get out. It’s a tight squeeze, tighter than the tunnel I used to find Aster. There’s a moment when I’m afraid we’ll be trapped in the dark, but we make it out.
The land stinks of Adalwulf markings.
We come across a guard post manned by two wolves and hunker down behind a crop of boulders to wait for them to pass. We can smell them. We're downwind, but even if the wind shifts, Sully's scent canceling spray should help us.
The older wolf orders the younger to stay and walks off. I tense, planning to sneak up to the younger and take him out. I move away from Aster, letting my wolf come out enough to turn my fingernails into vicious, curved claws.
I’m about to make my attack when Aster grips my arm and shakes her head. “Don’t hurt him,” she mouths. Before I can do anything, she picks up a branch and leans out enough to throw it over the guard’s heads into the brush behind him. The wolf whirls, tensing at the sound.
And Aster darts away from me, moving too fast for me to stop. She walks right up to the guard, her hands raised. Her back is to me, but she must be speaking because the guard turns again, blanching when he sees her.
My wolf goes nuts. I can’t believe the risk she’s taking. When I get her back to a safehouse, I’m going to spank her gorgeous ass for taking such a risk. For now, I follow behind, a shadow sneaking around the guard to take him unawares when he’s focused on my mate.
Aster
I rise up and walk forward, showing myself to the guard. When he turns, I recognize him as Benji, a young wolf who used to live in Moon Hollow. He’s a lot bigger and broader around the shoulders, but his ears stick out the same way they did when he was a kid. He’s just that–a kid the Warden forced into guard duty.
“It's me, Benji,” I say. “Aster. The Seeress.”
Benji looks at me like I'm a ghost. I wonder what the Warden and Aiden told them about my disappearance, if they told them at all. “I need your help, child,” I say, channeling Oma. “Do as I say, and it will be all right.”
He hesitates. For a moment, he looks like he's going to trust me, but then he opens his mouth to howl for help. In the next second, a shadow pounces on him, and he's yanked off his feet. Noah gets him into a chokehold, a big hand is clasped around Benji’s throat. No, I wave my hands to sign when Noah goes to twist his neck. I make the karate chop into my open palm sign for stop. “Don't hurt him.” I mouth the words clearly, so he can read them.
Noah's eyes are bright as he takes in mine. I feel his rage emanating around him. It’s dark and terrible, like the rage of an alpha willing to do anything and kill anyone to get what he wants. It feels like Aiden.
Or not quite. This rage is protective. Noah would do anything and kill anyone for me, but he’ll also listen when I ask him not to. “Please spare him,” I beg.
With a grunt, Noah puts pressure on Benji’s neck until he goes limp, unconscious but still alive.
Noah signs something angrily, his teeth bared, and his eyes bright gold. He’s pissed that I risked myself.
He strips Benji out of his jacket, ties him up and uses a cloth to gag him, then drags him into the bushes to hide the body. Benji will be able to get free when he wakes up, which makes me feel better. If he can get free before someone finds him, he can make a choice to keep quiet or be punished for failing at his post.
“We have to move,” Noah says. He grabs my hand and together we run with our feet falling into a rhythm. By some miracle, we make it the rest of the way to the tower without being caught. There are a few patrols and guards we have to sneak around–some in wolf form, some in human form, but most of the pack is probably gathered in the throne room listening to Aiden give orders. My heart beats fast from a couple of close calls by the time we get to the purification site.