Total pages in book: 202
Estimated words: 193561 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 968(@200wpm)___ 774(@250wpm)___ 645(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 193561 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 968(@200wpm)___ 774(@250wpm)___ 645(@300wpm)
I see she’s shaken. I’m guessing now it’s by the what ifs and by the fact a member of her family was slain by a member of my pack.
I pull her close and kiss her forehead.
“I’m real sorry for your loss, Stace.”
“He was awful,” she whispers. “He hit someone and kidnapped someone else. And that was just what he did tonight.”
“Doin’ your brother’s bidding like you had to,” I put in.
She says nothing, but I feel a reaction from her that has me speaking quickly.
“Not comparing you to him, just sayin’ he’s family to you, so I’m sorry, babe. I’m sure that can make you feel conflicted. I wish I had words that could ease the pain you’re feeling. We were watching the village’s entry points with cameras but now we’ve got paws on the ground, too. We’re code orange. We’ll do our best to ask questions and give anyone from your pack approaching a chance. We don’t strike first and ask questions later. I’ve got you, okay?”
She’s crying. Softly, noiselessly, but with emotion and tears penetrating my skin. Tears penetrating from the outside in, and emotion from the inside out. I don’t like the way it feels, how this deep sorrow oozes from my mate. No, it’s more than dislike; I fucking hate it because it’s attached to a helpless-to-fix it feeling.
I need to make sure that whatever the issues are, regardless of what her brother attempts, that I work to find a way to iron this out with her brother instead of putting him to death. I’ve asked the guys to put the cousin’s body in the walk-in freezer in the basement of the town hall.
When we sit down to work things out with her brother, I’ll be able to give him the body as a gesture of goodwill so their pack can have whatever funeral they wish to have. Even if she says he’s not a good guy, this doesn’t mean others in her family, her pack, won’t want a funeral for him.
I purr for her, and it doesn’t take long before her body settles and her tension ebbs.
I’m not angry with Riley for killing Jimmy. I can’t be. If someone had taken Stacy and I’d found her the way Rye found his mate tonight? I can connect with how that must have felt, the rage that must have spilled out of Rye. Stacy’s cousin stole Riley’s mate, tied her up, and of course it was all really fucking poor timing because of Riley’s mindset.
Riley isn’t right at the moment, and nothing would’ve talked him down. His wolf has been close to the surface, ready to battle, and Riley’s wolf emerged with a vengeance tonight. Rage and frustration has been slow-leaking from him and this burst the bubble, unleashed it all. When someone gets between an alpha and his mate it’s never pretty, Tyson’s recent standoff with Mason is another example. If the rest of the current council and the retired council hadn’t been present, Mase might not have made it out of that and Ty might not have realized how tight we really are, how connected we are to him.
Now that Riley’s claiming scent is in the air and he’s done what he’s meant to do, he should come back to himself. Our vote to lock them down together was the right call. And it’s showing, too, that Tyson is fitting well into his role within the pack as that was his idea.
I pull my wife closer, purring for her while inhaling the fragrance of her skin, her hair, which is for me – helps me calm myself, too.
Stacy and me? Things are off to a rocky start. But I’m determined to make it right by playing things as carefully as I can with her family to minimize the impact on her. To show her how important she is to me.
I shift to wolf before sleeping; I need to stay alert tonight.
***
I wake with her wolf snuggled up to mine, which surprises me. She’s awake and her eyes are on me. Her tail is thumping against the sheets. I shift; she does as well.
I kiss her. “Good morning, wife.”
“Good morning…” she says and lets it hang, as if she was about to add a title as well. Mate? Husband? I yearn to hear it from her.
Sadness creeps into her expression and I’m sure it’s remnants of last night’s news. It’ll take time for her to process the loss. She’s also afraid of what might be coming.
“Can I ask… why do you sometimes sleep in your wolf shape?” she asks.
“To protect you,” I tell her, twirling a lock of her hair around my finger. “As wolf I’m a much lighter sleeper. I want to be able to react quickly if I need to.”
She tilts her head curiously, but doesn’t ask any questions.