Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 112089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Wings snapped out ten feet away, like a sail swiftly catching a hard wind—Nathanial, his clothes shed, and now in his other form. Jasper was next, his wings not as large but the snap of their opening just as eager.
“Yeah, I gotta join.” Ulric jogged away with a huge grin, tossing aside his clothes.
“Let yer primal side rule,” Niamh pushed. “Ye aren’t just a mage, you are also a gargoyle. Remember? If ye want to meet the cairn leaders who are sure to come, ye need to act like one of their kind. One of yer kind—Jaysus, Earl, shift quick, would ye? If your bollocks were any lower, they’d trail along the ground behind you.”
Sweat ran down my face. My shirt was plastered to my back.
I shook my head. I hated this. I’d made peace with the necessity of killing enemies in order to protect myself and my people, but Zoe was part of the pack. She was an ally. I didn’t want to kill her, but if I completely gave in to my gargoyle, I wasn’t sure I could stop myself.
“Nature is savage, and so is magic,” Ivy House said. “The shifter was warned.”
Before I could shake my head again, I felt another wave of Broken Sue’s power. This time, though, it wasn’t directed at Niamh, and it wasn’t hostile. It was directed at me—a message of support from my brother in arms—and it pushed me over the edge.
FOUR
Austin stood stoically, as befitted his position, trying to temper his boiling rage at Brochan’s proximity to Jess. He knew his beta had pure intentions, but Austin’s animal didn’t care. What in God’s name were they doing?
“Should I head over there, Alpha?” Kace asked so quietly that Austin barely heard.
“No,” he answered in an equally hushed voice. “That’ll make the delay look worse. Brochan can handle it.”
He sure as hell hoped so, anyway.
A thrum of wings vibrated the air, and gargoyles started flying in from all directions. Those in the audience shed their clothes immediately and rose into the sky.
Nathanial rose to join them with a snap of wings that reverberated across the large field, drawing everyone’s attention upward. Jasper followed suit. In a moment, Ulric joined them. Then Mr. Tom.
Nathanial sailed to the middle of the field and then stopped, working his wings in fast, shallow movements. A loud, rhythmic throbbing, almost like the wing beats of an enormous hummingbird, permeated the space. In a moment, more gargoyles joined from God knew where, easily finding their place in the formation of those already present. Within five minutes, the entire host was soaring around the field in a tightly kept formation, waiting for their leader.
Waiting for Jess.
Pride filled Austin’s heart.
It was time for his mate to shine.
Brochan turned around with the fluidity born of a predator, but his shoulders were tight and his hands fisted. He walked across the field, not looking up as everyone else had done. Instead, he stared straight ahead before rolling his head. His shoulders were next before his hands flexed and fisted again. He was fighting his animal. Austin was all too familiar with the signs.
Kace adjusted his stance, his disapproval plain. The beta was showing lack of control. But Austin knew Niamh wouldn’t have caused such an extreme reaction in a man who was usually so collected. No, Brochan must be reacting to Jess.
Moments later, a huge wave of power washed over the field, blistering in its intensity. Brochan stopped in his tracks, his whole body going taut.
“Holy—” Kace tensed as well.
A heady pulse thumped in Austin’s chest, wild and raw and free, vicious and primal. Fuck, but it felt good. The power pulsed all around him, constant and insistent. It was like a drumbeat. A command to march.
Jess’s gargoyle had emerged.
Brochan started walking again, his pace faster. His eyes burned with purpose and drive by the time he reached Austin, the usual pain and misery buried.
A spark of fire drew Austin’s notice. Flame raced across the grass as the phoenix lifted off the ground. Sebastian’s and Nessa’s hands started moving, containing the spread of fire as a peal of thunder jiggled Austin’s stomach. Hollace followed Cyra upward, his great wings like those of the gargoyles. His lightning streaked the air around him, following Cyra’s trail of fire.
Jess walked forward, and in the time it took for the others to get airborne, she’d shed her clothes without any of her usual modesty or hesitation. She walked toward her challenger, strong and sure. Her hair blew in the soft wind, flaring out and catching the sunlight.
She let out another pulse of power, and Austin tore his gaze from her to marvel at the crowd. All around the field, people stepped forward almost eagerly. Unwittingly. Pack members.
A second group had all shuffled back, clutching at each other or themselves, stunned mute. Non-pack.