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)
“Where’s the captive?” I asked the first gardener I came to. Aurelia needed to shift, and time was of the essence. I had more work to do on my hunt for castle gossip about Granny. I hadn’t found squat so far. People were acting cagey with even the most benign lines of questioning. It was making me nervous. We had been gone from the kingdom for a while. I was starting to worry that one of her minions had sneaked in and compromised some of the castle inhabitants. Assuming I found them, the dragons would not deal with them kindly.
Poor Aurelia. That poor woman could not catch a break in life. It was beyond depressing at this point. Her first shift wouldn’t even be normal.
Instead of having calm and sensible wolves on hand, they were bringing in a bunch of dragons. The powers that be worried Aurelia’s wolf would go nuts and fight everyone or try to wrestle the bond away from Weston. Aurelia’s wolf was an alpha, after all—one with substantial power. Without training, they could be unpredictable, and therefore, a real big problem.
It was probably a wise move. Her wolf seemed volatile and, honestly, foolish. Crawling out of a library window? Who did shit like that? Encouraging half the castle to run down the hall from an unseen foe? It wasn’t helping Aurelia’s image.
The gardener woman pointed to a crowd at the corner of the Everlass fields at the edge of the woods. A canopy of trees loomed over them, providing shade.
“Right, okay.” I marched that way, mopping my head with a handkerchief because of the heat. Today was a terrible day to shift; it was much too hot. My wolf was not looking forward to it. I’d volunteered, though, wanting to see if Aurelia could assume control over my bond from Weston.
Okay, I had to admit it, I was fucking excited. I’d never in my life heard of a wolf as powerful as Weston. Some came close, but even those that we’d met hadn’t had his natural finesse. I wondered if she did. She certainly had the determination. If anyone could best him, it would be her. And I was here for it.
I shouldered into the quiet group, all of whom were looking down on the glowing pink flower nestled within four Everlass plants. That they’d allowed her to plant an unknown flower amongst their precious Everlass was . . . surprising. Fucking shocking, actually.
The flower glowed, the intensity of it strengthening ever so slowly.
I found myself watching just to see when it would actually peak, then shook my head because the plant had just turned me into a zombie like everyone else.
“Hello?” I said to Aurelia, who was opposite the group from me.
She looked up in surprise. “Is it me you’re looking for?”
I hooked a thumb behind me. “Time to shift.”
“Oh.” She nodded, looking down at the flower again. “Okay.” She straightened slowly. “Okay, hopefully it makes it.”
The flower did look dramatically droopy.
“We can call in Nyfain and Sable. They can sing it to better growth,” Arleth said, staring at the flower like she was transfixed.
“You guys are all fine with the flower being in the Everlass, huh?” I asked as Aurelia stepped away.
“In the dragon weed, you mean?” Arleth cocked her eyebrow at Aurelia, her lips pursed in obvious scorn. A couple wolves in the group snickered. Aurelia must’ve dropped her nickname for it accidentally.
“The roots of this flower are shallow and fragile.” Delaney, once Arleth’s lady-in-waiting and now her best friend, straightened up. “Apparently they rely on the roots of the plants around them. We’re not sure exactly how that occurs. This one was found between four Everlass plants. Even though someone trampled all over those plants, they survived and didn’t seem troubled to have this plant in their midst. None of the other plants in the field were at all disturbed. We’ve never seen that happen. Usually—”
“It’s okay, I don’t need to know the details.” I waved her away. “I wasn’t that interested. Well, I hope it goes well. Aurelia, my love, we need to go.”
I tsked when she walked around the crowd, her clothes still a mess, burn marks and all manner of things still evident.
“This is why you wore drab clothes, isn’t it?” I said, cutting across the grounds toward the area where she’d be shifting. “You exploded yourself too much for nice things.”
“Sorry about these.” She plucked at the ruined jacket. “I haven’t exploded things while making product in . . . well, years and years. Not since the beginning, really. It’ll be worth it, though, you’ll see.”
“I also see you’re getting quite familiar with Hannon.” I watched her reaction closely as I lifted my eyebrows, having heard from various sources that the beta’s true mate was seen walking, sitting, and conversing closely with a prime eligible bachelor. Everyone wanted to land that phoenix, but he was incredibly selective. He didn’t usually give anyone so much attention. “What’s that about?”