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)
I shouldn’t care, but I found myself doing just that for the lord of the manor who intrigued me as much as he infuriated me.
3
LENNOX
The fire in my chamber crackled and hissed, the only sound in the oppressive silence. I leaned back in the chair, staring into the flames, my fingers drumming idly on the armrest. The tea and bread sat untouched on the tray.
I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Aisling. The servant with the sharp tongue and defiant eyes. No one dared speak to me the way she did with that sting in her voice. No one dared to because I scared the hell out of them now.
But Aisling… she maddened me.
Most of the staff tiptoed around me after I was wounded, their gazes averted whenever they brought me something. And I liked it that way. Unease kept people at a distance and spared me their pitying stares. But Aisling… she didn’t tremble. She didn’t cower.
She stood in front of me, chin held high as she locked her blue eyes on me and dared to speak back.
The only ones I didn’t give my icy demeanor to–or tried to tame it down–was my family. I knew how hard it was for them to see me the way I was, terrified they thought I’d die all those months ago.
I tried thinking of anything but her, however my thoughts always came back to the curvy blonde who intrigued me.
My fingers tightened on the armrest, the wood groaning under the pressure. My wolf remained silent, a void in the back of my mind. He had been since I was injured, since the pain—the thought I was truly going to die—left me broken and scarred.
With how my curiosity had surged with her nearness… she might be my mate.
But there was no pull. No surge of recognition.
No primal connection that mated Lycans were supposed to feel.
Just this infuriating need to see her again.
I scowled, shoving myself out of the chair. The sudden movement sent a jolt of pain through my shoulder, a lingering ache from one of my many injuries that wasn’t healing fast enough.
With my inner wolf going silent, unable to help accelerate my healing abilities, I’d never felt more human.
My scars pulled tight as I stretched, a grim reminder of what I’d become.
A broken male.
The room was stifling, like a suffocating weight. I needed air. No, I needed a distraction. From my thoughts of Aisling.
Because this restless energy clawed at my insides.
I left my chambers, the early morning shadows of the manor slowly disappearing as I descended to the lower levels. I made my way to the gym on the lowest level making sure to steer clear of any staff.
The gym was one of the few places where I could lose myself, where the strain on my body drowned out the chaos in my mind.
Once on the lowest level, I pushed the heavy oak door open. It creaked inward, and the familiar scent of sweat and iron greeted me followed by the sound of heavy music blasting through the speakers.
The room was brightly lit, the fluorescent lights glinting off the metal weights. I had hoped it was early enough I’d have the gym to myself. But to my annoyance, I wasn’t alone.
Caelan, my brother and one of my triplets, was there sparring with Tavish, our other triplet brother. Their movements were fluid, precise, the sound of fists hitting bare flesh echoing in the space.
No protective pads for them.
Caelan’s mate Darragh wasn’t in sight, but I knew she was somewhere on the estate. Caelan didn’t like to be too far away from her, and I knew she felt the same.
As it was when you found your fated mate.
“Lennox,” Caelan called, his voice stuttering as he kept sparring.
“Yo, brother,” Tavish said with a grin and ducked what would have been a brutal blow by Caelan. “Finally decided tae join us?”
I grunted, heading for the weight bench. I wasn’t in the mood for their company, but I wasn’t about to retreat to the suffocating confines of my room, either.
“Someone’s in a mood,” Caelan muttered, his grin sharp as he dodged a punch from Tavish.
“He always is,” Tavish laughed.
I ignored both of them, heading toward a Smith machine and loading each side with more weight plates than was probably wise. The strain as I lifted it off the rack was a welcome distraction, the burn in my muscles grounding me.
Five more minutes passed of them sparring before they finally stopped, their harsh breathing filling the gym.
“Let me guess,” Caelan said, his tone half-teasing as he walked over to where I was bench-pressing.
“The staff annoyed ye again?”
My jaw clenched, and I finished my rep before racking the weight and sitting up. “Well, right now, ye’re fucking annoying me so there’s that.”
“Or maybe it’s someone annoying Lennox,” Tavish added, his smirk widening.