Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 68913 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68913 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 345(@200wpm)___ 276(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
“And just where exactly did you see her?” I demanded. Striding across to the table, where the five of them were sitting, I leaned heavily on it and got right in Rickter’s face. “You better not have gone to The Doll House and watched my little sister strip.” I didn’t even try to keep the menacing growl out of my voice. “So help me God, if you went down there and saw her naked, you fucker—”
“I didn’t!” Rickter’s narrow, shifty eyes had gone wide as he took in my threat. “I would never do such a thing—none of us would!” He exclaimed and the other Council members shook their heads.
“If you didn’t see her strip, then how do you know her body has ‘ripened?’” I demanded, not ready to let it go.
“I’ve…seen her around town,” Rickter said evasively. “She’s grown into quite a lovely young lady…though rather headstrong, I’m afraid. We of the Council feel like it might be beneficial if she was mated to an older male—someone with the wisdom and life experience to guide her and a firm hand to correct her if she strays.”
“An ‘older male’?” I demanded. “Like say…maybe one of you? Someone on the Council?”
“Well…that would be a wise choice, yes,” Rickter said, nodding as though he had weighed what was best for Delilah and he was only suggesting this for her own good. As if what he really wanted wasn’t to get his greedy hands on her beautiful, curvy body for his own disgusting, lustful reasons.
“The fact that your little sister has one golden eye suggests she has Royal blood in her veins—she would be a fitting wife for a person of authority like someone on the Council,” he went on. “The male heirs she would bear her mate would be bigger and stronger because of her heritage. They would—”
“Listen to me…” I leaned on the table again and glared at all of them, meeting each one’s eyes in turn. “None of you is laying a single finger on my little sister,” I told them. “Especially not you, Rickter!” I pointed at him. “It’s not fucking happening, so just forget it, because I’ll call out any male who tries. And you know how strong my Fur Form is—none of you would stand a chance against my Wolf!”
There were murmurs of surprised and shocked expressions all around the table. None of them had heard me speak that way before—I had been trying to be respectful because they were older than me and supposedly had more experience and wisdom. But this was too fucking much and I wasn’t going to stand for it!
“Excuse me, Packmaster,” Rickter said with elaborate politeness. “But if you don’t mind me saying so, you’re acting more like a jealous suitor than a protective big brother here.”
“What are you trying to say, Rickter?” I demanded.
“Well, just that there have been some…rumors.” He made a face, as though talking about a distasteful subject. “We all know that Delilah spent quite some time living with you, in your home, after your parents died.”
“Are you accusing me of breaking the Unbreakable Law with my own little sister?” I demanded, raising an eyebrow at him. “Are you accusing your own Packmaster of incest?”
“Nobody said that,” Rickter protested uneasily. Now that I had called him out on his accusation, he clearly wanted to change the subject.
“They what are you saying?” I demanded.
“I’m just saying, how can you deny your little sister the right to find a mate and have children of her own?” he exclaimed.
“I’m not denying her anything,” I said mildly. “I’m denying you the right to pursue her. As the only male relative left in her life, that’s my right.”
Which it is—by the Laws of our Pack, I had the right to choose her mate—or to forbid any male I didn’t like from going after her. Is it sexist and misogynistic? Yes. But was I going to use the Law to my benefit and to protect Delilah from this bunch of horny old Weres? Also, hell yes.
Rickter got a sour expression on his face.
“So you’re saying that if another Were showed an interest in her—a younger, inexperienced male—”
“Basically anyone but you,” I said giving him a cheerful grin that didn’t quite reach my eyes. “But yes, she needs someone more her own age. I’m not going to send her off to get mated to someone the same age as her father! That’s not fucking fair to her.”
“But she needs a male with a firm hand to control her! She’s proven that by flaunting her body in public!” Rickter argued.
“She’s got a male with a strong hand. She’s got me,” I growled, losing my patience. “I’ve taken care of the situation and I don’t want to hear any more about it! Now, is there any other Pack business you’d like to discuss? If not, I have several things I have to deal with.”