Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 152666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 763(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 509(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 152666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 763(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 509(@300wpm)
Was this why Granny had taken her in? Had she felt this magic and either succumbed to it—hard to believe—or realized its uniqueness and wanted to see how it developed?
Unlike her mother, though, Aurelia’s animal had budded. It just hadn’t risen to the surface. Was that by Granny’s design—she had demon connections and could use their magic to ensure Aurelia’s beast stayed hidden—or because Aurelia believed it didn’t exist at all? Either way, the lack of appearance by an animal had helped Granny manipulate this woman. When sheer force hadn’t worked, Granny switched tactics until she’d found something that had.
I took a step forward, my whole body taut. My true mate huddled at the base of the tree, hugging herself. The bond that united us yanked at my middle, demanding I look after her. Demanding I make this right.
Duty was a hard master.
Wrestling for control, I stepped backward again. We couldn’t waste any more time fucking in the trees and staying entwined for half the night. The best I could do would be to give her a minute and stop tormenting her with the reality of who Granny really was.
Shouts and yells echoed through the trees. Wood clanged and horses whinnied. Donkeys sounded what I’d come to recognize as an alarm.
A thrill of adrenaline went through me.
“Alpha!” Tanix shouted. “We’ve got a problem.”
“Aurelia, hurry.” I ran at her as she turned around, her brow pinched and confusion evident. Her eyes were haunted.
I grabbed her under the arms and hoisted her up like a child.
“What’s happening?” she asked in a small voice, her fingers digging into my shoulders.
I held her tightly so that she didn’t jostle as I reached Tanix, who was visibly coiled for action.
“They escaped,” he said as we jogged out of the tree line. Horses danced and stomped their hooves, sensing commotion and ready for battle. They’d been bred for warfare.
“All of them?”
Hadriel was still on his horse and his attention was directed our way. I didn’t dare leave her with him in case this was the enemy’s first attempt at coming for Aurelia.
“Hadriel, with me,” I called out, just as Tanix said, “Yes.”
Tanix directed us toward the rear of the procession.
“Who?” Aurelia asked with alarm, struggling against my hold. “Who did you take?”
Her ability to pivot for the sake of her community or for survival was awe-inspiring. I’d just turned her world upside down but she was ready to face the next obstacle. Knowing how shitty her life must’ve been up to this point, it was no wonder she took terrible situations in stride.
“We captured some of Granny’s patrol,” I quickly told Aurelia so she’d stop struggling. “In wolf form, I can suck them into the pack and force a bond with them. It gives me complete control. When I’m in human form, a few powerful wolves in the pack can hold the bond I created and consequently hold my control. Only in human form could they have the free will to walk away.” To Tanix I said, “How’d they get free?”
The horses back near the carts were visibly agitated. The donkeys had their ears back, tension wound through their withers, clearly wanting to bolt but held in place by the harnesses. People ran here or there, clothes were scattered on the ground. Wolves darted through the trees.
Instead of answering, Tanix stopped in the area where the prisoners had been kept, grouped together and flanked by two pack members. Nova turned from talking to one of the pack and stepped up quickly, her eyes tight. It meant she didn’t have a handle on things and was likely angry at herself because of it. I never needed to reprimand this wolf, she did a great job of that on her own.
“Alpha,” she said, shaking her head. “We were in position, same as yesterday. Our people didn’t notice any real change, just that suddenly the pack bond seemed a bit slippery with one, then the next prisoner. Then the other few. Nothing came of it, though. There was no change in their demeanor.”
“Why wasn’t I alerted?”
“You were, uh, otherwise engaged.” Her gaze flashed to Aurelia.
“I instructed them to monitor the situation closely,” she went on, “until you could be reached. The moment we stopped, though, the prisoners scattered. One blink and they were gone. They barely needed to flex to rip the pack bond. Grasping at them through it was like running fingers through water. Speaking of water, there’s a creek that runs parallel to here. It’s wide and shallow, and they all ran through it. We have yet to pick up their scents outside of that creek. We’re still looking.”
“Dante, Sixten?” I asked.
“Organizing the search effort,” Tanix responded, his clothes at his feet. “The prisoners escaping shouldn’t have created this amount of chaos with the horses.” The look he gave me was pointed, meaning there was a large predator out there, helping to create a diversion by scaring the animals.