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)
Stacy is sitting on the couch, nibbling on her thumbnail. She looks like a fish out of water.
“Hi. How are ya? Settling in okay?” I ask, setting my tote on the coffee table, the trash bag on the rug.
“I…yeah. Thanks.” She clears her throat.
“Honestly?” I prod.
Her face flushes pink. “I… don’t know actually,” she says with a shrug while watching me fish through my tote, pulling out the bottle of coconut rum.
“You guys drink that orange juice we brought over?” I unearth two tetras of pineapple juice, too.
“It’s still there,” she replies.
“Want a beverage?” I ask.
It’s only two in the afternoon but I do plan to loosen her up with liquor. I want to know more. I also want her to relax and feel at ease.
It worked wonders with Amelia when she got here and it seemed like it could have helped with Erica before the council carted her off to be locked down with Riley as Cicely cracked open a bottle, so I’m gonna try it with Stacy.
I had suggested to Grey that I bring some of the other girls over with me to welcome her properly, but Grey thought it might be a little soon for that and asked me to put her at ease, befriend her, but plan something like that with some of the other women a little later on.
So, it’s just me today. I’ll have to be mindful I don’t get drunker than she does before she starts opening up.
“I…okay,” she says softly and follows me to the kitchen where I pour us drinks, adding ice.
We both hop up on stools at the kitchen island.
“How’s mated life so far?” I ask.
She gives me a surprised look but says, “It’s good. He’s… he’s really… um… kind.”
“Cheers.” I hold my drink out. “To Greyson Blackwood.”
She lifts her drink, bumps mine with it, then we both take sips.
“I’ve known most of my life that Grey was born to be a leader and a husband. He’s always been so protective. You’ll be the envy of a lot of the unmated females in the pack. The super alpha pickings are slimming down and everyone’s watching.”
She smiles hesitantly and takes another sip of her drink.
There’s uncomfortable silence for a long minute when I decide to fill it, hoping to put her more at ease.
“Girls from other packs are often jealous about the alpha situation here, wishing they could live here and have more chance of landing a super alpha or even a regular alpha. I can’t imagine in smaller packs with just one that it’s the same culture since girls won’t necessarily be clamoring the same way.”
“I have no idea. This is my first experience with females in another pack.”
“Really?” I ask.
She nods. “We kept to ourselves at home. And nobody in my pack was clamoring for our alpha.” She makes a face of distaste.
“Unattractive?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “My brother is considered attractive. But he’s as mean as a honey badger. Are you… um…unmated?”
“Never even had a boyfriend. That could be because of who my brother is. It could also be that nobody is interested.” I shrug.
“You’re very pretty. You have a great figure. Beautiful skin. You seem very nice. I’m sure there are many males who are interested.”
I shrug. There’s only one male I want to be interested in me, and he seems like he still sees me as a six-year-old in pigtails.
“I’m not overly familiar with mating to one person,” she says. “Our alpha doesn’t really believe in one mate per alpha, so all this is new to me.”
“Doesn’t believe in it? How?” I ask. “How old is your alpha?”
“Twenty-nine.”
“And he’s sexually active, I take it…”
“To put it mildly,” she mutters.
“No offspring, obviously.”
She shakes her head.
“Well, that he hasn’t had kids yet should tip him off. Alphas can’t mate until they knot their fated mate. After that, they can mate again if they lose their mate, reject her, or she’s barren. He’s not curious about the fact that he hasn’t had kids yet? Clearly he knows he’s not found his soulmate because he wouldn’t have knotted yet.”
She shrugs and takes a big sip of her drink. After swallowing, she adds, “He doesn’t ponder life stuff with me, so I don’t know. This is really good.”
And it is, but I suspect she wants to change the subject.
“It is, isn’t it?” I take another sip and decide to lighten the conversation. “I’m not much of a drinker but this combination – a Malibu sunset – it sounded yummy. I forgot the grenadine, but I figure it’s mostly for color. I was going to make it for our next girlie get together at Amie’s because she loves watching the sun set over the lake behind their place, but she and her sister are now pregnant, so it’ll be a while before we have a cocktail get together. I guess you and me are test pilots. If I am gonna drink alcohol, I prefer to drink alcohol that tastes like juice.”