Total pages in book: 182
Estimated words: 171176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
I stared at him intently, half wanting to throw him overboard. The truth was not a pleasant thing to hear.
My wolf said, “He has a very good point. Not to mention, I want to meet her wolf and establish a bond before the human is told. The wolf will make better sense of it than the human. Then I want all four of us to walk through that situation together, helping the human through her past as a cohesive unit.”
He was making a very large assumption that the human would want anything to do with me after this, and that her wolf wouldn’t take her side over ours.
Despite the desire to just be done with all the secrets, I found myself nodding. They both made good points. Besides, Aurelia needed to physically heal and deal with her separation from Granny before she took on anything more. She needed a vacation from her life; too bad that was the exact opposite of what would come next.
“Fine. Take care of it,” I told Hadriel, knowing he’d do whatever he wanted anyway. Fortunately, he had experience in these matters. I was damn lucky he’d wanted a break from castle life to visit his home kingdom. It felt fated, somehow.
Hadriel
Once Finley’s seasickness elixir started to work, I pushed away from the railing and wobbled my way down the gangplank or whatever the fucking side of the ship was called and tried to find Aurelia. I hated ships and boats and large spans of water. It made me question why I’d come on this rotten trip, with all its bugs and trees and sticks poking my balls.
Aurelia wasn’t at the back of the ship, nor the front. Fuck.
Taking a deep breath, I went toward her room. Seasickness was always worse on the inside of this stupid vessel.
The door to her and the alpha’s chambers was closed. I knocked lightly.
“Pretty bold,” my wolf said, “putting her in his quarters when she probably hates the sight of him.”
“Hate or anger or desire, they’ve always been in the same space. She craves the proximity as much as he does. I’m wondering what’s going to happen when they get to the castle and she gets put in the dungeon.”
“They wouldn’t.”
“How do I fucking know what they’ll do? Finley is pissed about the drugs, and she gets crazy when she’s pissed. We might all have to ride it out until she can be talked around.”
My wolf did the equivalent of rolling his eyes. He didn’t believe me.
Truthfully, I doubted the royalty would shove Aurelia into the dungeon once they learned she was Alpha’s true mate. Not only would that be cruel to their prized commander, but there were plenty of us who would speak on her behalf. Finley might be unpredictable when pissed, but she listened to reason.
Still, I hated being sick, I was in a shit mood, and if I wanted to talk about horrible fates involving dungeons, I fucking would.
No answer came from within the room.
“I am not the alpha,” I called through the door, “and I am still feeling sick and fucking terrible. Can I come in without you hurting me in some way?”
“I’m not going to get up,” I heard.
That didn’t trouble me.
The quarters were as fine as they ever were: fit for a king and queen. Which on a ship meant all of fucking nothing. The quarters were no better than a decent inn.
“Hello, my darling. How are you faring?” I closed the door behind me and crossed to the table and chairs at the end of the room.
Aurelia lay on the bed, over the covers, limbs straight, staring at the ceiling. Her expression was devoid of feeling, but I knew it was a survival mechanism. She was trying to shut down the gut punch of emotional pain, probably confusion, and certainly the sting of betrayal.
“Are we doing okay?” I hazarded.
“Did you know?” she asked softly. She still held the note in her hand.
“I heard that first night, yes. I was told to be on my guard—that Granny and her chief bruiser had escaped.” I wanted to talk about the body they’d found but felt that could come after she acclimated to this. Granny’s shenanigans left a lot to unpack, and Aurelia would need to take it a bit at a time.
“Why didn’t you tell me? Did Weston ask you not to?”
“He didn’t mention it, but I heard from the others why the decision was made not to tell you. He’ll explain all that to you. I think what we really need to focus on is the fact that she lives, yes? Your found family member still lives. Aren’t you thrilled?”
A tear leaked out of her eye. “I should be. I mean, I am . . .” She continued to stare at the ceiling.
Curious response.
“May I?” I stood and reached my hand out so she would see it with her peripheral vision.