Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
9
ALARA
In deference to my brother, Booker stepped back just enough to make it seem like we hadn’t just been wrapped around each other. Caelan came to a stop a few paces away, tension tightening every line of his body.
He flicked a glance to Booker’s arm. “Your injury. How deep is it?”
“Superficial,” Booker answered.
I exhaled softly and slid my fingers into Booker’s, relieved that he wasn’t hurt badly.
Booker’s hand tightened around mine, and my brother’s Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat as though the gesture hit him harder than he expected. His gaze dropped briefly to our joined hands before returning to my face. I caught a flicker of acceptance in his eyes.
Then he let out a weary sigh. “Get some rest, Alara.”
I nodded, my chest loosening for the first time since I met Booker. “I will.”
I tugged gently on my mate’s hand, guiding him toward the stone steps that led to our family corridor. His fingers laced with mine in easy acceptance. Heat bloomed low in my belly when I realized where I planned to take him.
No man but family had ever been allowed in my private quarters, but bringing Booker there felt like the most natural thing I’d ever done. I didn’t let myself second-guess what I was doing. If I paused, even for a heartbeat, I might lose my nerve. So I guided Booker down the corridor, past the carved archway that marked my family’s private wing, and straight to my room.
I pushed the door open, my cheeks filling with heat as he stepped inside.
The space wasn’t grand by any stretch, but it was mine.
Booker stopped in the center of the room, and his wolf pushed so close to the surface that the energy buzzing off him felt like he’d shed his skin for fur any second.
“He likes it here,” Booker explained. “Surrounded by your scent.”
My heart tripped, and I reached blindly behind me to close the door.
We didn’t rush toward each other. Instead, we settled side by side on the edge of my bed, our shoulders almost touching.
I traced a fold of the blanket with my fingers. “I used to stare out that window for hours, trying to imagine what the world looked like beyond our mountains. Forests without these cliffs. Cities lit up at night. Oceans.” I sighed. “But every time I mentioned wanting to explore, Caelan shut it down. He said my place was here.”
Booker’s thigh brushed mine. “And you listened because you didn’t want to disappoint him.”
My throat tightened. “He’s not just my alpha. He’s all the family I have left. But I wanted more. Even before I met you.”
He turned slightly, his blue eyes locked on my face. “What stopped you?”
“My echo-sense.” The words felt strange spoken out loud. Nobody outside the chain even knew I had it, but Booker was my fated mate. He could be trusted. “I can feel emotional residue—like fingerprints left behind by people. The stronger they feel something, the more there is for my echo-sense to find. Fear, deceit, danger. Sometimes even joy.”
“That sounds like it could be a lot to deal with.” He reached for my hand and set it on his thigh, interlacing our fingers.
“I inherited it from my mother after she passed when I was seventeen, and I had trouble filtering it out at first. The elders said it made me too vulnerable to be far from home.” I shrugged. “But I’ve learned how to deal with it over the past five years. Now I have a good handle on it.”
Booker’s brows drew together, and his head tilted to the side. “That shows a lot of strength.”
A small, startled laugh slipped out of me. “If only my brother and most people around here would see it that way.”
“I’m not most people.” He leaned back a little, bracing one hand behind him on the mattress, eyes steady on mine. “And I can understand the frustration to a certain extent. Balancing life between two packs wasn’t easy either. Timber Ridge was home because of my parents. The Wilderness Pack became home because it made sense for the kind of man I am. But even with both, I never felt rooted. Not really.”
I flipped my hand over to squeeze his. “I’m sorry.”
“I do now, though.” He reached over and brushed a knuckle along my jaw. “You choose where home is, Alara. Not your bloodline. Not tradition. You.”
The simplicity of his response undid something inside me, especially since it sounded like that was what he’d done in leaving his childhood pack.
“I want you,” I whispered. “And the future fate saw when it tied us together, wherever that might take us.”
Booker’s gaze darkened, and his thumb stroked the corner of my mouth. “Careful, kitten. If you say things like that…”
“I mean it,” I cut in, breathless.
His control slipped just enough that his pupils flared, gold burning at the edges of his irises. We gravitated toward each other without thinking. My hand slid up his chest, feeling the steady hammer of his heart. His fingers curved around my waist, and the world narrowed to the warm press of his breath against my lips.