Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 131137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 656(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 437(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 656(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 437(@300wpm)
“We saw you and Nick on the news,” said Taryn, arms folded across her chest. “We left Dante and Jaime to hold the fort while we came here. The reporter said there’s some kind of shifter war going on, but that made no sense to me—every shifter in the world is on their best behavior right now, not wanting to give the human extremists anything to work with.”
Shaya sighed. “You can thank those extremists for what happened. They did it to get a reaction from Nick. It turns out that the guy running the local extremist group was one of the prison guards when Nick was in juvie.” When Taryn showed no surprise about Nick having been in juvie, Shaya frowned in confusion. “You knew about his past?”
“Only what Dante told me: that he killed a human and injured two others while defending himself and his sister.”
Shaya inwardly sighed in relief. She was sure Nick wouldn’t like all his past to be common knowledge.
“You can’t seriously be thinking about mating with him, Shaya.”
“There was a lot I didn’t know about him.” Aware that Nick’s pride would balk at others knowing about his health issues, that Nick wouldn’t want to be viewed as having weaknesses to anyone, she didn’t elaborate. “And nobody can say he hasn’t earned a chance, Taryn. I put him through an alpha’s version of hell—rejected him, stomped on his pride, and even went on a date with another guy.”
“No way!” Taryn seemed pleased about it.
“But he’s still here. He’s apologized, he’s done sweet stuff for me, he’s bought me gifts, he’s fixed the little messes in my life, and he’s just generally been here for me. It’s like, wherever I look he’s there, just like—”
“A mate,” finished Taryn with a sigh. “Okay, I get it; he’s been a good Boy Scout. But how do you know that will last?”
“I don’t. I can only give him the chance he’s earned.”
“And if he messes it up?”
“I make a margarita with his balls.”
Taryn laughed. “I have to say I was impressed when I heard he’d given up his position for you. I’d expected him to return to his pack at some point. But he never did. He kept searching for you. What are you going to do about your living situation? You only took on the lone-wolf lifestyle to hide from Nick. Does this mean you’ll come home now?”
Shaya ran a hand through her curls. “I don’t know. Nick offered to join the Phoenix Pack.”
Taryn’s jaw almost hit the floor. “You’re shitting me. He hasn’t asked you to go back to his old pack?”
Shaya shook her head. “He knows his wolf would find it hard to obey someone less dominant than him, and he doesn’t want the position of Alpha, so he has no intention of returning. I’m just going to take things one step at a time. If things turn out badly, I’ll probably come home. But if they don’t…well, that’s a decision Nick and I would have to make together. But I couldn’t ask him to join the Phoenix Pack, Taryn. I couldn’t ask someone as powerful as him to serve and obey someone else.”
Taryn nodded in understanding. “It wouldn’t be right. Well, there’s no denying that he’s trying hard to win you over. I still don’t like him for how miserable he made you.”
“But you’ll give him a chance just like I am. You’ll wish me luck, like I did for you and Trey,” prodded Shaya.
Rolling her eyes, Taryn said, “Fine.”
Smiling, Shaya threw her arms around her best friend, who returned the hug. “I’ve missed you.” She pulled back. “And I’ve missed Kye. How is he?” Although the fact that she chatted with her pack over Skype at least once a week meant that Shaya had watched Kye grow, it wasn’t the same as being with him.
“You can find that out for yourself,” said Taryn, urging Shaya to follow her to the pack’s Toyota Highlander that was parked behind Nick’s Mercedes. “Now that I know there’s no chance of a fight breaking out and no blood will be shed, I can get him out of the SUV.” When Shaya’s face lit up, Taryn snorted. “I wouldn’t get so excited if I were you. Old Mother Hubbard, who has spent the past five hours driving me insane in the SUV, is waiting with him—she insisted on coming.” Taryn was referring to Trey’s grandmother, who was very possessive of Trey, Dante, Tao, and the enforcers and didn’t like females around them. “She hovers around him unhealthily like she does with Trey and her other ‘boys.’ It’s disturbing.”
As Taryn slid the side door open, Greta huffed at the Alpha female. “I heard that, hussy. No respect.” The arguing that went on between them happened daily.
Taryn gave Trey’s grandmother a sweet, mocking smile. “Oh, I’m sorry, was I supposed to break the habit of a lifetime and bring joy to your day?”