Total pages in book: 218
Estimated words: 212458 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1062(@200wpm)___ 850(@250wpm)___ 708(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 212458 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1062(@200wpm)___ 850(@250wpm)___ 708(@300wpm)
“Why are you doing this?” I screeched.
“I need to replace money immediately or I’m fucked. Like… prison fucked. I asked you to help me.” He pointed the gun with accusation, “Made you a generous offer and you acted like the bitch you are and refused and now… you’re gonna help me. You’re gonna help me, Amelia, and then you’re gonna keep your bitch mouth shut about it or else I’ll come back and shoot your boyfriend. Maybe other people in your family, too. You hear me? Just marry me and we’ll get an annulment as soon as my money comes in.”
He got his car door open and tried to get me in, but everything in me told me to fight getting inside that car. And that’s when Mason pulled in. Mason pulled in driving a car I’ve never seen and then without any fear – no not just fearless, absolutely enraged, he shifted into a wolf and covered my body with his to protect me from Rick who was threatening to shoot.
Mason put himself in the path of bullets for me!
Well, I guess I got in the path first because the second Rick pointed that gun at Mason, something came over me. Fear. Blood-curdling, genuine fear. No way could I let Rick hurt Mason and for a split second I was terrified he would shoot him until I saw the gun fall.
I don’t think I’ll forget that feeling of being under his fur, the fear that Rick would shoot Mason as a wolf, I won’t forget the fear of that for the rest of my life. I also won’t forget the sounds Mason made, the growling and snarling, the snapping of his jaw. I could sort of see Rick from under Mason’s wolf’s body and Rick was truly terrified.
I’ve been pacing for the longest time, not sure what to do. I’m absolutely not going downstairs and being in the same space as Tyson. Fuck that. So I guess I’ll just pace instead.
***
It’s been a while. A long while, actually, and I need my magic bean water, so I go down to the kitchen and from my periphery see him straighten.
“Don’t try to leave. I’ll stop you.”
I pretend he doesn’t exist. I make coffee. Ignoring the big jerk sitting on the couch watching television. I stare at the dripping coffee, willing it to brew faster.
I feel him at my back. I cringe.
“I didn’t mean to hurt my Ivy.”
I say nothing.
“I love her,” he adds. “She’s everything to me. I’ll spend my life trying to make that pain up to her.”
I spin and glare at him. I give him my absolute maximum glare. His eyes exude sadness. His posture exudes shame.
“Mason is distraught. The whole council feels it. We’ve felt it for the last two days. He regrets hurting you,” Tyson says.
I spin around again to watch the coffee brew.
He keeps talking. “As soon as I saw him once he had you, he was the Mason he was supposed to be. Not the Mason I met at the dance. That wasn’t your Mason. This is your Mason. The man who threw his body on yours today to protect you, the man who revealed his wolf despite how dangerous it was, because he needed to protect you and that was his priority.”
My body is ready to buck with sobs, with more vomiting, but I beat it back and stone-faced, I wait for enough coffee to drip in the coffee pot to get my fix. Once it surpasses the 2 mark on the side, I take it out, pour my mug, nab a sponge to wipe the sizzling mess off the burner, and stick the pot back on. He’s still standing behind me.
I see my bag on the kitchen table, so I take it upstairs with the cup, continuing to ignore him. I close the doors and fish my phone out of my bag. It’s dead, so I charge it and pace some more.
When there’s sufficient charge for it to turn on, I send a text message to Bailey.
Can you find out for me what’s happening at the town hall?
She phones me.
I answer. “Hey.”
“What do you mean?”
I bite my lip. “I’m not sure if I should tell you so maybe you can poke around and see what you can find out.”
“Okay. I’ll do that.”
“Call me back.”
“Okay.”
“Bailey?”
“Yeah?”
“Did it feel really, really good to punch her?”
There’s silence for a beat and then she lets out a long breath. “So good you don’t even know, girl. I heard her bones crack.”
I snicker.
“I’ll call you back,” she says.
Half an hour later, she calls me back and says, “It’s locked down tight as a drum. There’s a council meeting and they won’t let me in. And Tyson’s not there. What’s happening?”
I hold the phone.
“Amelia, tell me!” she exclaims. “I’ve got a very not-happy feeling coming from there.”