Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
More laughter.
My hackles are rising, not because they’re mocking me, but because their words stink of jealousy and hostility. Those tones don’t verge on disgust. They dive right into it and emerge covered in it.
I creep closer, wanting to see who is saying these horrible things. I can’t go into the room, but I can hide underneath a side table in the hall and crouch beneath it. It has some kind of a fabric throw on it that keeps me hidden from casual view. It’s perfect.
Well, right up until Cain’s concerned tones ring out through the halls, carrying as if they’re coming through some kind of public address system.
“My mate is missing. Please keep your eye out for a young woman answering to Kira.”
“Someone call the dog catcher,” the unseen voice snarks under their breath. There’s a mixture of males and females in the room, and none of them are being particularly nice.
I, of course, am not missing.
But I am hiding, and I don’t want to come out of hiding. One, they’d know I was here, and two, if I come out of this wolf form somehow, then I’ll be standing naked in front of a bunch of strangers.
Maybe I can sneak back up to the room without being caught. I know Cain is going to be very unhappy about this. He didn’t like it when I got out of bed back at his apartment. I have to wonder what kind of thrashing this is going to earn me.
Still, there’s a chance I can talk my way out of this somehow. Especially if I can get back to his room. I might be able to convince him I curled up behind a tapestry or something.
“She’s close.”
Oh my god. He’s already here. He must have come down the stairs and down this hall and… does he have my scent? I can hear Cain’s voice far too near to be of any comfort to me. I don’t know who he is talking to, and I don’t care. All I care about is what he wants, and what he’s going to do to me.
Hopefully he will walk right past my hiding spot, and…
I hear him sniff. My entire body stiffens. I know in this moment that I have fucked up. Horribly. Irreparably.
“What is that smell?”
Oh no.
His feet move closer, expensive shiny shoes approaching my position. I feel a wave of fear. Oh god. Oh no. He’s going to find me.
What am I going to do?
The same instincts that got me into trouble in the first place now get me into so much more of it.
Cain
Suddenly, a side table erupts into a streak of pale caramel chaos as none other than my absolutely filthy mate decides to flee. She is covered in bits of green and brown, which must be from a poorly maintained pond judging by the way they absolutely reek.
She runs a great deal faster in her wolf form than I can in my human one, but she is not hard to track due to the fact that her paws leave big muddy stains in her wake. In her panic, she rushes through scores of people, knocking a few of them over and leaving them covered in pond scum.
Suffice it to say, this is not the introduction I had planned. The debuting of a new alpha’s mate is usually a big affair. The beautiful woman is honored in a ceremony including a banquet. Kira should have come down these stairs while wearing a beautiful gown dripping in ancestral jewels.
Instead, she has spread a trail of filth and destruction which requires me to stop and pick up several of my pack members, one of whom I suspect has sprained an ankle. A shift will mend that, but still. This is not acceptable. Not in the slightest.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes, my alpha,” Fenella says. Fenella is in her sixties, and the nicest person I know. She is wearing one of her best dresses, and that dress has clearly been ruined by her brief, rough encounter with my feral little mate. “I am sorry for getting in your mate’s way,” she apologizes timorously.
“Don’t apologize for that. I owe you an apology for my mate’s behavior.”
“Of course you don’t. I’m sure it was just an accident,” she says, submissive and generous to a fault.
“Do you need any help?”
I could not be more pleased to see Bardo. He has appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, to come to my aid. Thank God.
“Could you please help Fenella? I need to find my mate.”
He takes over, which seems to please her. There is nothing like a handsome, virile male to settle the nerves of a female, and vice versa.
I continue up the stairs, taking them two at a time. There are so very many of them, giving me enough time to consider the situation I am in.