Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 49459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Magdalena was an Otherworld female my father trusted impeccably. She was half Lycan, half witch, who appeared elderly although no one knew how old she actually was. Not only did she use magic for the good of the clan, she was also a healer and had been called an oracle for her sight into the future for some.
She’d created protective wards around the estate and also gave my brother Caelan a gold medallion talisman. I knew she’d been called to help heal me when I’d been brought back to the estate. Although my memory was foggy of most everything that night, I’d felt her magic move through me.
“And if it’s no’ the Therabus?” Tavish asked because we were all thinking it, though his tone suggested he already believed it was our enemy. “What if it’s something worse, something we’ve never dealt with before?”
“Then we end it just the same,” Banner said, his voice hard and steely like iron.
“We move now,” I said, taking the lead, feeling myself grow stronger just from this moment.
For a heartbeat, the room was silent. Then Caelan smirked, that feral grin I knew so well. “Bossy fooker, aye?”
There were a few chuckles, but otherwise, the room was filled with aggressive Lycan males ready to kill to protect what was theirs.
My father’s eyes gleamed with something fierce and dangerous. Pride. For too long, he’s been watching me mope in the gloomy darkness I’d let consume me.
Not anymore. Not when I had a female worth more to me than anything at risk.
The estate came alive with motion—warriors roused from sleep, armor donned, and weapons gathered. The scent of steel and leather filled my nose as we stepped out into the chilly night air. I closed my eyes for a second and let the deep, steady thrum of determination vibrate through me.
But even as I’d prepared—strapping on my weapons, and checking my blades—I couldn’t shake the memory of the last time I went into battle and how I came out of it worse for wear.
But then the image of Aisling pushed those thoughts away, and I focused. I couldn’t shake the need to see her.
I knew she’d gone home for the night. But I had to be certain.
Once outside, the wind slapped against my face, and my blood rushed through my veins.
If this enemy came for her—if they came for any of ours—I would tear them apart with my bare hands.
Wolf or no wolf.
10
LENNOX
The forest swallowed us as soon as we left the estate’s outer wall, the darkness thick, the cold sharp enough to bite through leather and steel.
We split up thirty of the Guard and took different points of the estate border with my brothers leading the way. The only constant sound came from our boots grinding leaves on the hard ground and the occasional growl from a Guard wanting to shift.
We didn’t bring ATVs out here, didn’t saddle up horses for this trip. We needed to be as silent as possible.
Every breath I drew in tasted wrong. Like the flavor of something terrible about to happen. And beneath the weight of duty, beneath the burn of my need to face whatever enemy dared come this close to my family’s home, was the worry that coiled tighter and tighter with every step we took.
Aisling.
I knew her little cottage sat beyond the main estate wall, tucked against the forest’s edge and on the property her family owned. I inhaled deeply, and although my senses were dulled with my wolf silent, I could still scent a storm coming, the promise of rain lingering in the air.
My mind kept flashing to her, of what she’d look like waking up next to me—blonde hair a mess from sleep, blue eyes soft with exhaustion.
“Lennox.” Tavish’s voice cut through the storm of my thoughts, and I stopped, looking over my shoulder to see Tavish and Caelan watching me. “Ye’re moving like ye’re fooking chasing something. We’ll get there, brother. We have tae go slow and think rationally, though.”
I closed my eyes, realizing how frantically I’d been moving through the forest. But my panic and fear had been increasing the more I thought about Aisling. My jaw ached from how tightly I’d clenched it. “We donna have time tae wait. They’re near, and if they’ve been watching, it won’t be long before they strike.”
I didn’t say what I feared most.
Cian came up on my other side, his expression grim. “We’ll get them, Lennox.”
I growled low, the sound spilling from my throat before I could stop it. “We sure as fook will because I need tae make sure she’s safe.” I hadn’t meant to say that last part out loud, but the truth was out in the open.
I could see the confusion then the realization in my brothers’ faces. They knew this was about so much more than getting our enemies, but they didn’t press.