Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 113944 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113944 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Jaw clenched, Zander drew in a breath through his nose, seeking calm. “I asked her to stay inside.”
An amused Marlon bit his lip as he wiped down the kitchen counter. “But did she say that she would?”
No, she hadn’t. Gwen had done that thing where she nodded her head, and made an mm-hmm sound. It was a sound that usually meant she was going to do whatever the hell she wanted, which was exactly why he’d pushed her to agree to remain inside until he got back from his morning patrol. Her response had been, “If you need me to stay inside, I’ll stay inside.” Yet, she was gone.
“To be fair, she hasn’t exactly gone shopping or anything,” added Marlon. “And there was no way she was ever going to sit around relaxing when she knows she has the hearing tomorrow. She’s actually been pretty calm this past week, all things considered. Plus, she has Ally with her. They only left, like, a minute ago. You could probably catch up with them.”
“Where are they headed?” asked Derren.
“To see Donnie at the outdoor shooting range.”
Zander had seen the range during his patrols. It was a pretty sweet setup. Donnie had constructed a simple outbuilding with a short row of shooting benches on the firing line. Various homemade targets had been set up at different ranges. The closest was approximately twenty-five yards away, and the farthest was more than one hundred yards away. At the back of the range was a wall of rubber tires to stop projectiles.
Zander gave Marlon a curt nod and then strode out of the house, with Derren and Bracken close behind him. As they approached the range, his wolf snorted at the scents of gunpowder, hot metal, and lead. They were faint, which suggested no one had shot anything recently. Apparently, Donnie hadn’t yet begun.
Rounding a cluster of trees, Zander saw the two females crouched near a huge black case, which Gwen was looking through like it was a treasure trove.
When his mate pulled out a whopper of a gun, Zander growled, “What are you doing?”
Chewing gum, she gave him a cursory look, then focused on the weapon. “Flossing my teeth. What does it look like I’m doing?”
Even from there, he could smell the gum on her breath—it was strawberry flavored. “Put that down before the damn thing goes off. I thought you were inside the house.”
She sighed. “This again?”
“Gwen.”
“I can’t talk. I’m introverting right now. You’re disturbing me. That’s not good, because I’m already pretty disturbed.”
“Gwen.”
“Stop being snippy.” She eyed him, dubious. “You’ve been moody lately.”
He had. It was wearing on both him and his wolf that they hadn’t yet claimed her. Especially because they knew she would be safer with the bond. Zander would be able to sense her and feed her energy if need be. “You said that you’d stay inside.”
“No, I said that if you needed me to stay inside, then I’d stay. But you didn’t need me to; you just wanted me to—there’s a difference.”
Zander opened his mouth to argue . . . but he couldn’t. It had been a sneaky move on her part—a move similar to those he’d seen Shaya use on Nick dozens of times. He should have recognized it. He shot Ally a hard look. “I would have thought you’d have kept her inside.”
Ally shrugged. “I didn’t really want to bring her out here, but I couldn’t claim that she was breaking a promise to you. Plus, she has her own mind. I’m here to protect her, not smother her or tell her what to do.”
“Awesome,” breathed Bracken, staring at the array of weaponry in the box. Zander didn’t have a clue what the models were—he fought with tooth and claw. But Bracken was a Call of Duty addict, so he probably had a fair idea of what he was looking at.
Zander turned back to his mate. “Not sure if Donnie will like you touching his stuff, Gwen, but I really don’t like it.”
She pursed her lips. “Hmm.”
“Gwen.”
“Don’t interrupt me while I’m ignoring you—that’s just rude.” Gun in hand, she clicked the mag into place and then swerved to face the targets. “There are ear and eye protectors in the box, if you want to use them.”
Wait, she was planning to shoot? Before Zander even had the chance to object, she fired. Several times, in fact, sending shiny casings scattering across the ground. By the end, Zander was gaping, because she’d hit every single target dead-on.
Bracken gave an appreciative whistle. “Wow.”
Derren tilted his head, grinning. “You can shoot?”
Gwen shrugged. “I’m not as good a shot as Donnie, but I’m okay.”
“That’s better than okay, Gwen,” said Bracken.
Gwen carefully put down the gun and then looked at Zander. “I don’t know what will happen when I tell the council the truth at the hearing tomorrow, but I know the aftermath will be bad. I intend to be ready for it—hence the target practice. You can stay and watch and frown as if I’m a kid playing with her daddy’s shotgun, or you can go, and I’ll see you in an hour or so.”