Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 120031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
“I’m entitled to my opinion,” Kathy clipped.
Nick sighed. “Be honest with yourself, Mom. Your problem isn’t that Casey is a mink. Not really. It’s not even that you simply hate change. You found it difficult to be happy for me and Roni when we found our mates, and that’s because you know what it would do to us if we lost them. You’ve been through the loss of a mate, you came out the other side of it, but you didn’t come out of it whole. You don’t want that for us, and that taints this for you. But you can’t let it taint things for Eli.”
Some of the bluster left Kathy. She sniffed. “I have a few things to do.”
Nick watched her hurry out of the room. “She’ll be fine, Eli. Don’t let this put a downer on finding your mate.”
“Nothing could,” said Eli. “On the subject of Casey, I need you to ask Donovan if he can track someone for me.”
Nick’s brow furrowed. “Who?”
“Her brother.” Eli told them about the business with Miles and Ignacio. “Miles has now gone into hiding, and Casey says he’s damn good at it.”
Nick twisted his mouth. “Well, that explains it.”
“Explains what?”
“Why I got a call from Ignacio literally minutes before you arrived. He wants to meet with me today, and he asked that you be there.”
Eli narrowed his eyes. “Fucking did he now?”
“My guess is he wants to talk you out of involving yourself in this situation with Casey.”
His wolf snarled. “There’s no chance of that happening.”
“When he hears she’s your mate, he’ll know that. It should be enough to make him back off. He’s a cold motherfucker and he’s strong, but you could take him. And if a Head Enforcer defeated him, his pride members would lose respect for him. Some would challenge him for the position of Alpha. He won’t want that. As for her brother, I’ll talk to Donovan. If anyone can find Miles, it’s him.”
“What time do we need to leave for the meeting with Ignacio?”
“Noon.”
That meant Eli had time to tidy up his lodge—he didn’t want it looking a mess when Casey arrived. First … “I’ll go say hello to the girls,” he said, referring to his nieces. “I’ll meet you in the parking lot at noon.”
Eli headed outside and strode over to the play area, where Caleb and Kent were monitoring the pups. The mated couple did a double-take at the sight of his claiming mark, and then they were practically bouncing up and down in delight. He was just telling them about Casey when the pups spotted him.
“Uncle Eli!” Eleven-year-old Cassidy dashed over, making her long, blonde ponytail swing from side to side. “I had a knowing about you earlier, and I just knew you were going to bring a woman here to meet us.”
He smiled at the little Seer, who often had visions and knowings about her pack mates. “I’ll be bringing her later. Her name’s Casey. You’ll like her.”
“Is she your girlfriend?” asked Willow, tilting her head. With her red curls and pixie facial features, the ten-year-old looked a lot like her mother, but she had Nick’s green eyes.
“No, she’s my mate.” Eli told both girls about Casey, sure they’d welcome her. They were wide-eyed to hear she was a mink.
Given how close the pups were, a stranger would never guess that Cassidy hadn’t come to live with the pack until she was four. Nick and Shaya had adopted the little girl from the homeless shelter for lone shifters where Madisyn worked. Cassidy had foreseen that she would join the pack. Unlike Ally, she had more knowings than she did visions.
Saying goodbye to his nieces, Eli headed to his lodge and tidied up the place, which mostly involved decluttering and then tackling his laundry.
As promised, he went straight to the parking lot at noon, expecting to find Nick and whichever pack mates were coming to the meeting. There was only Zander, who was sitting in the driver’s seat of the SUV.
Eli slid into the front passenger seat. “What’s the delay?”
“Nick and Shaya are arguing,” said Zander. “He told her that he wanted her to stay behind.”
Eli winced. Highly dominant, very unsociable, and annoyingly tyrannical, Nick was pretty much the opposite of his mate. Shaya was a bubbly, impish, warm soul who had an enviable ease with people. But she also had a wicked temper, and Nick had a terrible habit of prodding said temper—especially when he insisted on her skipping meetings for her “safety.” That kind of overprotectiveness didn’t fly with Shaya.
“Well, they need to hurry, or we’ll be late.” Eli snapped on his seatbelt. “Was it just me or did Ally look really pale earlier?”
Zander grimaced. “It’s not just you. Derren said her morning sickness is bad and she’s not sleeping well. I think it bothers her more that her abilities are playing up. It means we’re relying on Cassidy for warnings of danger—she’s just a kid, she shouldn’t have that kind of shit to worry about.”