Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 47126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 236(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 157(@300wpm)
“Don’t you ever order me around again! I’m not your fucking mate. You gave up that right when you chose Lori over me. I’m just a human, remember? I’m not really good for anything.” She glanced over his shoulder where the pack stood behind him. “You’re nothing to me. No scent, no mark, I’m done.”
“Elle, let me explain,” he said.
Suddenly, one of her walls came down, and he sensed the pain she was in. His mate was breaking inside, and he was the cause for it.
“That’s how I’m feeling, Brandon. You asked me to give myself to you. I did. I wish I was strong enough to make you feel the kind of pain you’ve caused me.” Tears filled her eyes, and in the next second she batted them away.
With hands on her hips she walked into the diner.
His wolf curled up in a corner of his body in shame. How did Elle know how to break down her walls enough for him to sense her pain? He’d been the one to ask her to give him a shot, and he’d hurt her more than anything.
Hanging his head, Brandon gave himself up to the shame. He closed off the thoughts of the pack.
“What are you going to do?” Drake asked.
When he opened his eyes, Brandon discovered most of the pack had gone. They were going about their business. Only the humans looked at him curiously.
“I don’t know.”
****
Her hands shook as she walked into the diner. Daisy was waiting with open arms and tears falling from her eyes. “I heard about last night. I’m ever so sorry, baby,” she said.
Layla let her go, and Elle went into the arms of the other woman. She didn’t cry. Her tears were all spent, and she refused to waste another moment crying about him anymore.
“I can’t ban him from the diner. He’s still my alpha,” Daisy said.
“I don’t mind, Daisy. I’m going to work ‘til the end of the week, and then I’m going. I can’t stay here with him anymore. I’m going back to the city.”
Daisy held her tighter. “Running away is not the answer.”
“No, it’s not, but for now I need it.”
The woman sighed. “Okay. Let’s get the food started. I sense a hungry pack.”
Neither woman spoke as they prepared the diner ready to receive customers. When the first lot of pancakes were cooked and the bacon was sizzling in the pan, Elle opened the door. Pack members looked at her with pity. She ignored their pitying stares and concentrated on getting the customers served without a hitch. Filling cups with coffee, writing orders down, and serving kept her mind occupied. With her hands and mind busy Elle didn’t get a chance to think about everything that had happened to her.
“He claimed her last night and then went straight to Lori.”
“We should have known he wouldn’t keep her. He can’t stand humans.”
“She could never be our queen. She’s too damn weak.”
Elle listened to their comments when she turned her back. None of them said the words to her face. She smiled as if nothing changed.
When a set of faces entered she didn’t recognise Elle sensed the pack change. Daisy came out of the kitchen wiping her hands on a towel.
“Alaric, what can we get you gentlemen?” Daisy asked.
Elle wiped down a table and moved past them. She went into the kitchen to find Layla checking them out.
“Who are they?” Layla asked.
“Visitors I guess.”
Tucking her hair behind her ear Elle waited for the older woman to come back to the kitchen.
Layla asked Daisy the moment she came into the kitchen. “They’re the bears. A pack of them reside near our pack. The forests are thick enough that they’re close but not so close that we feel threatened. Alaric is the leader, and he travels with his strongest. I never remember their names. Brandon is not going to like this.”
“Why?” Elle asked.
“When a meeting with the other creatures of the Otherworld happens, he keeps them in a house far away from the town. If the bears are in town then it won’t be long before more start making their way here,” Daisy said.
Picking up her writing pad, Elle made her way to their table. “What can I get you?” she asked.
The leader, Alaric, looked her up and down. “I, for one, would like an explanation.”
She lowered her pen and stared at him. “Why?”
“Rumour is Brandon was fucking a human last night. Vamps don’t know our kind, but I know enough about the wolves to know Brandon wouldn’t be fucking a woman who wasn’t his mate.”
Elle hated the way he was describing what happened between her and Brandon. “What’s that got to do with me?”
Alaric grabbed her wrist and inhaled. The entire diner froze.
“Your scent is covered with his. You may have washed him off in the shower, but his scent is still there.”