Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33372 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 167(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33372 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 167(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
“Which one do you think it is?”
“I like to think it’s the whole different blood thing. The other suggests there was someone within the pack who wanted to poison my mom, and I don’t like that.”
No one was ever found. Her father couldn’t figure it out. Neither could her mother.
She had never been sick with any of her other children. Patricia had given birth to four healthy wolves. They had all made the transition at eighteen years of age.
Karina knew from birth she’d been smaller, weaker. No one would allow her to forget it. She had even heard that her father wouldn’t touch her in the first few months after she’d been born. She cut those thoughts off, instantly.
“And you’ve not been able to turn?” Rage asked.
“Nope. I can’t hear random conversations. I don’t have excellent hearing. I’m always having to rely on my brothers and sister. I don’t have that lovely sense of smell. Yeah, that one is quite freaky. Rose told me there were a couple of bunnies in the forest, and I don’t want to know why she could smell them. I don’t want to think of my family as killing bunnies in wolf form. I cannot watch any of those animal documentary things. The whole dog-eat-dog world. Don’t like it.”
Rage burst out laughing.
She loved the sound.
“I can’t open jars either, which my brothers and Rose find amusing. Dad had to buy me a tool because it’s so bad. Everyone else, pop, and the lid is off.” She mimicked opening a jar for everyone else. “Not me, I look awful, red face, gritted teeth, the works.”
“Do you wish you were a wolf?” he asked.
“Sometimes. I think it might be a little easier for my parents, for the whole pack. No one says anything, but I am the odd one. The outsider. When they go out hunting, I stay home. It gets kind of lonely.”
“They don’t allow you to go out in the full moon?”
“No. They don’t want me to get hurt.”
“You’re pack. Even in wolf form, they’d be able to scent you. I can tell you’re a Westblood, by scent alone.”
She chuckled. “Yay, that can be my superpower. I smell real bad.”
“I didn’t say you smelled real bad.”
Karina laughed. “Please don’t worry about it. At least I know I smell of pack. That is kind of nice.”
“How about at the next full moon, you and I go out?”
“Together?”
“Yes, I’ll take you into the forest.”
“And have your wicked way with me?” she asked, kind of kidding. Was she kidding? She didn’t know if she was or not.
“If you’d like me to.”
Karina looked into Rage’s eyes, and there was something, a gleam, or a hint, a promise.
“Yeah, I don’t think my dad would allow us to do that. He didn’t want us to come here, so I don’t think that’s going to happen.” She wanted to break this … feeling. She had no idea what it was, but it was sweeping over her whole body. Her nipples felt tight and hard.
“You’re my mate, Karina. Your dad can try, but I won’t let him come between us. If you want to spend time with me at the next full moon, then say the words and I’ll make it happen.”
Could she do that? What if it angered her father? But the truth was, she was so curious about what it would mean to be in the moonlight with Rage.
In her mind, she imagined him naked. All the pack ended up naked after their initial change. Most of them abandoned their clothes. For days afterward, Karina often gathered up the clothes and placed them in a large box in the town square for others to come and claim. After twenty-four hours, the box was empty.
“I’d like that.”
“Then consider it done,” Rage said.
Her heart raced and she felt a tightness in her gut. This wasn’t fear, though, but anticipation.
They finished their meal, which was amazing. She loved every forkful, and the pudding was just as delicious. She didn’t think she’d love such dark chocolate, but it was glorious. Everything was amazing.
Rage drove them home, and she was aware of the curtains twitching once again. He got out of the car and walked her up to the main door.
There was no way for anyone to be sneaking looks at them, unless they were behind the main door.
“I had a wonderful time tonight.”
“I did as well,” he said. He reached out, tucking some of her hair behind her ear, and then gripped the back of her neck, pulling her in close. “Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to control myself when I’m around you?”
“You’re having to control yourself?” Karina asked.
He pressed his face against hers. She felt him inhale. “Around you, always.”
“Rage?”
“I want to kiss you.”
She had never been kissed before like this, apart from that other kiss they had shared, but that didn’t count because he’d done it to silence her.