Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71314 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71314 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
I don’t know how much time has passed, but I bet it’s too much. Damnit. I trusted my father, and that was a mistake.
I rattle the bars of my cage in fury, knowing that somewhere out in the world my mate is scared and in the custody of ruthless pack scientists who are using her like a guinea pig, not caring about what she wants, or whether she lives. She could be dying right now, agonized and afraid, calling my name, and I am not able to respond because I have been put away like a pet fucking dog in a crate.
“Easy,” Karl says. “You’re only working yourself up.”
“Please let me out,” I ask through gritted teeth. “She needs me.”
“She needs me,” Karl mocks me in a high-pitched tone.
“Dude, you’re forty, you can’t talk like that.”
“She’s doing fine. She’s going to be everything she’s always wanted to be, or she’s going to be… not a problem anymore. Relax and stop acting out. You were always so dramatic.”
“And you were always a kiss-ass. You think if you keep doing Daddy’s dirty work, he’s going to love you? He doesn’t care about any of us. He uses us. That’s it.”
“You just wish you were the favorite son,” Karl says.
“You’re not the favorite. Neither of us are. We’re not even in the will, Karl. His real kids are the ones who’ll inherit. We’re useful pawns. Nothing more.”
Our father mated a lot of females, but he only really ever loved one, the woman he is still married to, one who has given him three sons since they started coupling. They’re all under ten years old, and they are all treated better than the rest of us ever were.
Karl calls me something foul and walks away.
“Go babysit the real heirs,” I call out to him. “Maybe if you suck up to them hard enough they’ll let you live in the pool house when you’re older.”
He leaves, and I have achieved nothing. I curse myself. I could have maybe talked him into letting me go if I’d been a bit more diplomatic, but like everyone says, there’s nothing like going home to make you feel like you’re five years old again. Karl and I are back vying for the attention and affection of a man who really doesn’t see us as anything other than tools to use. It’s time to grow up and separate from the man, even if it means being exiled from the pack.
I’d spend the rest of my life defending myself from my own kind as long as I had Callie by my side. I have to get her back. I have to hope she is still alive. If she’s not… I’m going to burn this place to the ground.
Time continues to pass. It feels like every minute is closer to an hour. Seconds are torturous. I am kept helpless in this fucking cage.
“I hope you’ve learned your lesson, boy.”
Orion looms out of the darkness at some point.
“Please, Father, let me out,” I say. “I promise I’ve learned my lesson.”
It makes me want to be physically ill to hear those words coming out of my mouth, but I’ve already decided I’m going to do whatever it takes to get out of here, including lie through my teeth.
To my surprise, Orion unlocks the cage doors and actually allows me to step out. My immediate impulse is to run to my mate, but I don’t know where she is, so that impulse just turns into a dithering energy that does very little for either of us. I’ve got to do some recon.
“Well,” he says. “I’m glad to hear that. The good news is you were right about the girl. She’s much stronger than we gave her credit for, and much more intelligent than any of us realize. I’ve had word she’s escaped the facility. We need you to track her down.”
“What the fuck!” I say, forgetting myself immediately. “What facility did she escape from? What was done to her?”
“There’s a lot of wet around New Orleans. Wouldn’t want her to stumble into the bayou and become a meal before we even know if the process worked.” He doesn’t answer, he just winds me up with a vague but dramatic comment designed to get me stupid and emotional. He doesn’t want me to think about any of this. He just wants me to do as I’m told.
I am so furious I could kill my father. He knows it too. There is no way to hide this level of violent impulse, to make it acceptable or submissive, or even polite. My instincts are telling me to tear him limb from fucking limb and feed the pieces to the alligators.
“There’s no time for revenge,” he says. “Your mate is in the wind, and frankly, I don’t think any of us can predict what will happen if she’s not captured. I’ve prepared you a car and the address of the facility is already loaded in the GPS. Anything else you need, just call.”