Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 118860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 594(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 594(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
She didn’t want to be judgmental about his species. She didn’t know enough to pass judgment on him—not yet. It was difficult to push back her upbringing as an independent woman capable of making her own decisions. She was more human than anything else. Even her shifter side had been raised to be independent.
On the other hand, she felt Tomas’ struggle. That was one of the advantages of speaking telepathically with him that she appreciated. He might be able to read her emotions and her intent, but in turn, she could read his. She saw glimpses of the other males who were shocked that he didn’t do the things immediately necessary to bind her to him. That he hesitated to go against her wishes. He wanted to give her time, but whatever the reason he had come to Peru, he was under a severe time constraint, and he was walking into an extremely dangerous situation. Those were all factors that had persuaded him to go against his instincts to allow her time.
That knowledge helped her to step back from her own beliefs and arguments and listen to him. To truly try to comprehend his life and how hers was so entangled with his. She liked that he had hesitated. That he wanted her to make the decision to come to him of her own free will. She really liked that he wanted to be that man for her that would back her choices, even if his brethren didn’t agree.
That didn’t settle the problem of compulsive behaviors his species had imprinted on them. If he couldn’t resist those behaviors, what would a future with him look like?
Your species can become vampire if they don’t find their lifemate. She made that a statement.
Not a woman. She holds her own light as well as that of her partner. Most women are aware of this task, and it is often a huge one. Should an enemy become aware of the woman who holds the other half of a warrior’s soul, they will do everything in their power to take it from her, including torture. They would slay everyone she loves to force her to turn over that soul. Should they achieve their goal, they can turn that very dangerous hunter into a pawn for their own use.
She poured the boiling water into the small teapot over the infuser and slid a cozy over it to keep it warm. Then she poured water into the tea mug to warm it.
Why wasn’t I told I had this very unique and dangerous task? I had no idea. If some horrible vampire or one of your enemies I know nothing about had demanded I turn over your soul, I wouldn’t have had the least bit of an idea what they were talking about.
I do not know. If you are reborn multiple times before I find you, there is some indication that you carry the soul of a warrior.
Tomas was genuinely puzzled and struggled with an unfamiliar anger that she hadn’t been more carefully prepared—and guarded. He was very aware she had traveled the world in her capacity as an environmentalist, working to save habitats. She had focused on large animals, specifically cats, to do her veterinary work, but she had done so going into many dangerous situations. In his world, she would have been protected by every Carpathian, knowing she carried the soul of a warrior.
Perhaps the lack of knowledge was my protection, she ventured. How would your enemies find me? How would they know I carried your soul?
Vampires and others are capable of scanning memories of humans and shifters. It isn’t always easy with Lycans, but it can be done, depending on the power wielded by the individual.
Do not say “Lycans.” We’re already dealing with far too many scary things. She wasn’t kidding, and she could tell her little outburst left him amused.
No Lycans, he agreed promptly.
That made her smile. The thing was, she liked him. She’d liked him from the very first time he had gone to the trouble of answering her silly letter when she’d written to him with her concerns and ideas. A man, a busy one, one well respected in his field, would rarely take the time to give each line of her letter consideration and then follow through with answers.
Tomas had continued to correspond with her, although long gaps would occur between her letters and his answers. She would worry for his safety and wonder why he had disappeared for so long, but she came to believe he would always reach out to her when he had the chance—and he had. Somewhere along the line, she went from hero worship to thinking there was no one else like him on earth.
She hadn’t considered his age. His father was the leading conservationist for so long, a part of her believed his son was perhaps ten years older than she was. That age gap didn’t seem insurmountable to her, since they had such similar interests and ideas. She had no idea how she had turned her childhood hero worship into a full-blown fantasy that there could be more between them. It was just a little humiliating that he could find those girlish hopes. And maybe that was one of the reasons she had tried so hard to keep him out of her head.