Total pages in book: 203
Estimated words: 199654 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 998(@200wpm)___ 799(@250wpm)___ 666(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 199654 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 998(@200wpm)___ 799(@250wpm)___ 666(@300wpm)
“Fuck,” Mase mutters.
All of these guys look pissed on my behalf.
I finish with, “And puts a spell on me so I can’t lay a hand on Bailey for seventy-two hours. I do not fucking deserve this shit.”
Bailey’s father looks livid. “Fuck,” he mutters to Carrie, “And you wonder why I don’t want the Youngs in my house?”
Tyson blows out a whistle. Mase is flexing his jaw muscles, having second-hand anger, and Riley’s mouth has dropped open, but he’s got his eyes on his mate, who is shrinking slightly under his gaze.
Carrie puts her arm around Bailey, who isn’t looking at any of us.
Danica’s eyes flit up from an examination of her fingernails to level me with a dirty look before speaking.
“And I feel strongly enough about this that I’ve come back and rescheduled my vacation. Since you’ve said what you’ve said, I’ll add that I’d like to call a vote with my sisters to make it longer than three days.”
“This bitch,” I mutter, gesturing and looking to my council co-alphas for support.
They all look ticked. Except Grey. He’s just watching, not outwardly reacting.
“Easy,” Riley warns me.
But fuck this shit.
Bailey stares at Danica with wide eyes. “I’m sorry about your vacation, Dani.”
“Don’t be. I made my choice.”
I scoff with bitter laughter. “So I get back here after a long fucking flight, worrying about my mate and dealing with torture of being cut off from her, being locked up for days, dealing with that Starling coven bullshit, and you guys who mated already can appreciate what that might have been like, but imagine being locked away from her for days while seeing she’s in danger, then she disappears and when you finally get to her you reach out to finally, finally fucking touch her, do you get how it felt to instead fly back ten feet to land on your ass feeling like you stuck your fingers and your toes into electrical sockets?”
“Shit,” Linc mutters.
Tyson growls. Yeah, he can imagine.
Joel looks pissed on my behalf.
“Rikki?” Rye asks, and his expression is hard.
Erica squares her shoulders and looks him in the eyes.
“You said nothing to me,” he says.
She has no response, but she bites her lip, looking a little contrite.
“Cancel it, Danica,” I demand.
“No,” the blonde bitch calmly denies.
“Let me and Bailey work out our shit ourselves.”
“Feel free to work out your shit,” she responds, “with actions. Words. Without touching her.”
“I’ve got some actions in mind,” I fire back and give Bailey a carnal once over.
She startles, going wide-eyed.
“Actions she doesn’t want. Which is why your way of–” Danica holds up air quotes – “fixing it has been taken off the table.”
“Cockblocked by witches,” I mutter. “This fucking coven.”
“Cockblocked?” Bailey whispers with disgust. “You’re a pig, Jason Creed. A disgusting pig I want not one thing to do with!”
Graydon and Greyson both look away, Graydon’s mouth contorting with a lip curl.
Bailey’s mother’s face is red.
“Maybe you shouldn’t be here for this, Carrie, Graydon. My apologies,” I say. “I’m not thinking clearly, what with this nonsense. I don’t mean to be disrespectful to you.”
“Agreed,” Graydon says. “Let’s go, Care.”
Carrie says, “Before we go, have you figured anything out for us?”
“Not yet,” Erica responds. “But we called Aunt Mimi and she’s spit-balling with Lucinda Walsh and some other SCC elder witches. We’re hoping to hear back soon.”
“Thank you,” Carrie says. “Let’s go.” She grabs her mate’s hand and pulls him out of the solarium.
“Right, so, all this should be between Bailey and Jase.” Grey speaks up. “I don’t think any of us should be involved. I get that the coven might have had to make some moves to get them into the same space for Fate’s sake, and I’m not experienced enough yet to understand why the choices that were made were made. Obviously, the Starling issue is a whole other set of nuances that have to be dealt with and if the council needs to get involved from a security perspective, I vote we absolutely should ensure they face consequences. Besides that, I think we should be out of their relationship.”
“I stand by my decision,” Danica says. “Jessie is on Bailey’s side, too. I plan to discuss further sanction options with my sisters.”
“Nobody should ever get between an alpha and his mate,” Rye says.
“Obviously, the coven doesn’t agree with this pack rule,” Erica states.
Rye’s eyebrows fly up. “Well, you’re not just in the coven, little witch; you’re also part of the pack. And as your mate, I’m telling you I don’t want you getting in the way of one of our alphas claiming his mate, especially not one of the council. That’s not just affecting Jase, it’s also affecting Linc and Joel.”
“You’re worrying about how all this impacts Jason, Lincoln, and Joel, but what about Bailey?” Ronnie asks.
Erica adds, “Exactly. You can tell me what you want and what you don’t want, Mister Wolf, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to change how me and my coven decide to help Bailey.”