Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 129691 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129691 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Alex wasn’t sure what could have caused a rift between her and Mateo. The two of them had “clicked” in a way that few people did, which was why some of the pride suspected they’d eventually imprint on each other. Alex had prepared himself for it. He often told himself he’d handle it just fine. He often told himself he didn’t share his beast’s possessiveness of her.
He was often full of shit.
Alex wasn’t anti-social, but he had a low need for social contact. He liked silence and solitude. But there was something … steadying about Bree. Maybe because he felt a sort of kinship toward her—they both knew what it was like to care nothing for the person who’d been put on the Earth just for you.
Freya had been visiting her relatives in his pride near the time of her death. There’d been no rush of emotion when he first met her, no compulsion to be near her, no nagging suspicion in the back of his mind that she could be his true mate. He’d been attracted to her, but he hadn’t acted on it, because they’d both been involved with other people.
He couldn’t say he’d grieved for her the way her family and boyfriend did—he hadn’t known her. He hadn’t spoken to her much before that night when a car rear-ended Greg’s while they’d all been on their way home from a shifter club.
Alex had hit his head hard enough to pass out. When he’d woken, he’d found that both Greg and his other pride mate were unconscious. But Freya … almost her entire body had shot through the front window of the car—she hadn’t been wearing a seatbelt.
Alex had gone to check on her. He’d known from the sound of her sluggish heartbeat and shallow breathing that she was dying. She’d managed to open her eyes and look at him. It was then—while he’d been dazed and concussed—that he felt the pull of the mating bond. But then the life faded from her eyes, and the pull faded right along with her.
If they’d been mated, he could have pumped strength into her system through their bond. He might have been able to save her. Instead, he’d only been able to watch her die.
Was it only natural that he hadn’t cared for Freya, given that he hadn’t known her? Probably. But he couldn’t help feeling that he should have felt some flicker of emotion for her; that he should have at least felt compelled to be near her. He hadn’t, though. The only female who’d ever drawn him was Bree.
Alex didn’t admire a lot of people, but he admired Bree Dwyer. Life had thrown blow after blow at her, but she’d never crumbled or wallowed. Over the years, he’d watched her grow, mature, and strengthen—the female had a spine of steel.
With her outta-my-way attitude, she was not your typical, gentle, soft-spoken omega. She moved to the beat of her own “I’m not giving a fuck” drum. Any attempt to pressure her into compliance would often earn you a vacant stare. Alex got that vacant stare a lot.
Bree’s omega abilities had been weak when she was a child, but that had changed when she reached puberty. At this point, she was stronger than Dani—something he knew ate at the primary. Especially since omegas didn’t stop growing in power until their mid-thirties. Dani’s power was at its maximum, but Bree’s could still grow.
The entire pride knew that Bree should be primary. More and more were instinctively seeking her out for help—it was only natural for members to go to the strongest omega. He knew Bree didn’t want the position, but she might not have a choice. There was only so long her cat would tolerate taking orders from an omega less powerful than her.
Bree sighed. “Yeah, I figured you wouldn’t admit it,” she said, sounding far calmer than she looked. But that was Bree. She didn’t overtly react to anything. Didn’t yell or throw shit or point fingers. She spoke with no inflection, staring at you with a glint in her eye that dared you to push her too far. And if you did, well, she would ruthlessly fuck your shit up.
Alex certainly wouldn’t test her. He was a wolverine; he could take on a pallas cat. That didn’t mean he wanted to. Their animals were cuteness on toast with a smattering of weird. But that overabundance of fur was nothing more than a fluffy cloak that hid the disturbing reality that they were the living embodiment of crazy.
“Well, I’d say we’re done here,” she declared.
“We’re not done until you fill in the blanks for me. I’m just as confused now as I was when you first walked in here.”
Her face took on a haughty expression. “That doesn’t sound like my problem.”