Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 92043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
“Luce,” Charlie whispered sympathetically.
“If only a mate could get with the program from the beginning,” Chance joked, leaning back in his chair. “Things would be so much less dramatic.”
Lucy narrowed her eyes. “Charlie fell head over heels for Zeke the moment he met him,” she ground out, setting her hand on her brother’s shoulder. “I don’t think it made anything less dramatic for him. Do you?”
Chance’s chair dropped forward with a thud.
“Not another word, Happ,” my dad ordered as he stepped back into the room. “Lucy, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Go spend some time with Ulf.”
Reese was glaring at Chance in exasperation. I probably was too.
“Charlie?” Lucy asked quietly.
“Go,” he ordered her softly. “I’ll see you in a bit.”
As she turned to me, she let me take her hand and tug her out of the room. We were silent as we headed upstairs. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on her, but I knew that she resented the fact that we had to leave her brother behind.
“They love him already,” I assured her as I closed the door behind us. “He’ll be fine.”
“Your brother’s a frigging bully,” she snapped, letting go of my hand.
“He’s a pain in the ass.”
“What is his deal, anyway?”
“Who knows?”
“He’s been an asshole since we met,” she griped, shoving her hair away from her face.
“You really want to discuss Chance right now?” I asked as she tore off her T-shirt and fanned herself with it, pacing across the room.
“I’m pissed. Drama? I can show him dramatic if he wants,” she said darkly.
I caught her around the waist on her next pass.
“How about you show me something instead?” I asked, pulling her toward me.
“Oh, that feels good.” She sighed with relief as I tucked my hands under her tank top. “This crap is really inconvenient.”
“Life usually is,” I agreed, pressing my lips against her forehead.
“This isn’t going to go away, is it?” she asked, leaning into me.
“Never,” I murmured against her hair.
“I should probably stop being a little bitch about it, huh?” she asked, her words muffled against my shirt. She tipped her head back. “Charlie was all in from like the first minute.”
“It’s different for everyone.” How many times had I told her that? In some ways, it was convenient that Lucy had seen the mating bond firsthand, but the comparisons she made weren’t helpful. Zeke and Charlie’s relationship had been different, not better or worse, but their own.
“Still.”
“Reese and Beau cemented the bond right away,” I told her. “And they couldn’t stand each other. So it could be worse.”
“They seem to get along fine, now.”
“They’re obsessed with each other,” I agreed. “Now.”
“It’s not like I’d ever get sick of looking at you,” she mused, her cheeks pulling in as she held back a smile. “And I don’t mind your company.”
“High praise.”
“I’m a tough critic,” she replied with mock seriousness.
“We’ll wait as long as you need.”
The playfulness disappeared from her expression. “I never imagined that our lives would go like this,” she said. “One day, Charlie and I are quitting our jobs to travel for a year, and the next he’s some Vampire’s mate. I’d finally gotten my head wrapped around that little curveball when Zeke tells us that there’s some conspiracy going on, and he has to leave—which was bad enough—but then he insisted we follow this elaborate plan to get back to the United States if he doesn’t come back because we might be in danger.”
“You guys have been through a lot,” I soothed, pulling her closer.
“Then you show up,” she said, reaching up to run a finger down the front of my throat.
“And scare the hell out of you.”
“I mean, I did all right,” she said. “I got past Danny and Chance.”
“You weren’t expecting me.”
“Understatement.”
We smiled at each other.
“It’s a lot,” she said, her smile dropping.
“I know. For me too.”
“But you’ve been looking for your mate, right?” she asked as I shuffled her backward toward the couch. “It couldn’t have been that much of a surprise.”
“Believe me, it was,” I replied as I pulled her down with me. “I was searching for my brother’s mate. I didn’t see you coming.”
“Do you think Charlie’s okay?”
“I think he’s getting a little better every day,” I replied honestly. I squeezed her thigh. “But, baby, I think expecting your brother to ever fully heal from this?” I shook my head.
“So he’ll just never be happy?” she choked out.
“I don’t know.” I didn’t have much experience with mates who’d lost their other half. It didn’t happen often, and those left behind rarely chose to go on without them. “I’d like to think that eventually he’ll be able to enjoy some of the things he did before.”
“He has to, right?” she asked almost desperately. “All pain fades with time.”
I nodded, even though I couldn’t imagine it. I’d been with Lucy for mere days, and I couldn’t even comprehend going on with my life if she were suddenly lost to me. The memory of the hopelessness and frustration that I’d felt before I’d found her was enough to make my stomach turn. I’d spent my life waiting for her. What was left for me if she was gone forever? All hope lost. All purpose gone.