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)
“That’s a stupid question. Of course they do.”
“I felt your pain fade. You’re healed now?”
“I’m healed.” Eli walked out of the lodge and sat on the porch step, intending to wait for her.
“Did Ignacio send the falcons?”
“Probably. But he’s denying any culpability.”
“Bastard,” she spat.
“Yeah.”
“What exactly happened?”
By the time he’d finished giving her a bullet-point version of the fight, excluding the ugliest aspects of it, he heard a car approaching. “I take it you’re here.”
“I’m here.”
“Good. I’m sitting on the porch.” He ended the call and waited.
Moments later, a car drove into the lot. He recognized the driver as one of the females who worked in the bakery beneath Casey’s apartment. He gave the baker a nod of thanks, and she gave him a quick wave in return. Once Casey slipped out of the car and shut the door, her pack mate drove off.
Eli stood. “Come here, baby.”
She walked into his open arms, buried her face in his chest, and fisted his shirt. “Sorry I yelled at you. I don’t handle fear very well.”
Hugging her tight, he nuzzled her hair and breathed her in, taking the scent of her into his lungs, letting it steady both him and his wolf. “You don’t need to apologize.”
“I could feel your pain, I had no idea what was happening or where you were or if you’d be okay.”
The shake in her voice made his chest ache. Sliding one hand up her back to palm her nape, he pressed a kiss to her temple. “I wouldn’t have done too well with that kind of fear either.”
Casey drank in his scent, so fucking relieved he was okay. She’d known through their bond that he was fine, but she’d needed to see that for herself before she could fully believe it. Her mink had needed to see.
Earlier, Casey had felt his agitation at first but hadn’t thought much of it. Then there’d been a spike of anger that was quickly buried under a strange numbness. And then there’d been nothing but pain, and she’d been so terrified for him that she couldn’t see straight.
It had only made it worse that she had no way of knowing where he was. She’d felt utterly helpless. Useless. Even now, the fear clung to her like a bad smell. She just couldn’t quite shake it off, though having him there with her—alive, well, and safe—was helping it slowly drain from her system.
With a growl, she pulled back a little. “I can smell them on you. My mink wants to go hunting.”
“How about we shower instead?”
“You should be angrier than this.”
“Believe me, baby, I’m thoroughly pissed, because this was a strike at you.” Eli was just set on burying his fury so that he didn’t exacerbate her own. “I’d love to rip Ignacio’s throat out, but we can’t prove it was him who sent the falcons. And we need to be sure, because a battle means people will die. We need to be one-hundred percent certain that the people we’re tearing into deserve it.
“When my old pack was at odds with coyotes, the pack’s rival pack orchestrated on attack on our Betas, making it look like the coyotes were responsible and tricked them into going to war. They all realized too late that the people they were slaughtering were innocent of the crime. Pups became orphans. People lost their mates, friends, and family members.”
She sighed. “Okay, yeah, I get that we can’t just storm Ignacio’s territory, but that doesn’t mean I can’t really, really want to.”
He kissed her. “No, it doesn’t.”
“How will you get proof that it was Ignacio?”
“A confession from the falcons would have been nice, but the one I let live flew away. I figure they were mercenaries. They did leave cell phones behind.” Leading her to his SUV, he retrieved the smoothie from the cupholder as he told her about the text message on the burner phone.
“Let’s hope Donovan can find out who sent the text.” She melted into him, settling as his own sense of calm moved through her. “Thanks for the smoothie.”
“You’re welcome.” He rubbed his nose against hers. “Stay with me this weekend. All weekend.”
“I didn’t bring enough clothes.”
“That’s fine. You won’t need them for what I have in mind.”
Her mouth canted up just a little. “I had the feeling you’d say that.”
Just then, the front door burst open and Kathy stepped onto the porch, her breaths coming hard and fast. She looked Eli up and down. “You’re all right? I heard what happened.”
“I’m fine,” he told her.
Her gaze sliced to Casey and hardened. “I hope you’re happy with yourself.”
Casey’s spine snapped straight. Oh, the bitch had not just said that. “Excuse me?”
“If you hadn’t brought Ignacio into Eli’s life, none of this would have happened.”
Wow, she’d really gone there. Casey’s mink lashed her tail, snarling. “Don’t tempt my inner bitch to come out, Kathy—it doesn’t play nice.”