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)
“Ignacio isn’t a person who’d stand back and deny himself what belonged to him,” said Marcus as he pulled open a pack of potato chips—the guy never stopped eating.
“He also isn’t a person who’d claim his true mate,” said Eli, sure he was onto something here. Despising that he was onto something. “I’ve met guys like him before—they see a true-mate bond as a weakness.”
Bracken gave a slow nod. “One of my old pack mates had that attitude. He claimed that having a mate made a man vulnerable; that by binding yourself to another person in such a way that their death could cause your own, you were giving them the ultimate power over you. ‘Fate won’t control my life,’ he used to say, ‘I choose my own path.’”
“Ignacio has certainly chosen his own path,” said Madisyn, sitting cross-legged on the rug, absentmindedly tracing the little scorch marks on it that were courtesy of the log fire. “He wanted to be an Alpha more than he wanted his true mate. He proved that when he claimed Dahlia.”
“But it’s not a real mating,” Caleb pointed out. “It’s just a façade. He could walk away from her at any time.”
“Not without giving up his position of Alpha,” said Zander, stroking Gwen’s thigh. “He won’t want to do that. He wouldn’t have forsaken his true mate in the first place if having the position wasn’t so important to him.”
Nick leaned forward in his seat and braced his elbows on his thighs. “Let’s consider what we know about Ignacio. His life’s goal was simple: become what his father always wanted to be and then use his position of Alpha to cut his old pride off from their alliances, which he’s been very successful at so far.”
“Yes,” said Shaya. “He wants power. Wants to isolate his old pack. Wants all the right connections so he has pawns to play in his games. And those wants won’t just go away, because they’re motivated by his own personal demons—the powerlessness he felt as a kid, the hatred he feels for his father, his disgust in his old pride. He probably planned his revenge very carefully. It no doubt gave him purpose.”
Eli nodded. “He made sacrifices, bound himself to someone he doesn’t care for. If he doesn’t get his revenge, all that will have been for nothing. He also can’t afford to lose his power. If his true mate was to then come along, he wouldn’t abandon his plans for her. But I think he’d want to watch over her.”
“He’d need to be very careful about it, though,” mused Cain. “He wouldn’t want to risk that anyone would even begin to assume she was his. Wouldn’t want her to be targeted by his enemies, and he wouldn’t want it to be known that he has a vulnerability. People would use her to get to him, just as he strikes at people’s loved ones to hurt them.”
“And given the way he’s acted toward Casey, who’d ever think he believes she’s his?” Eli folded his arms. “I don’t like that I could be right, but I do believe I am.”
Casey sighed, so done with this conversation. The cougar had never given her any indication that he saw her as anything but a pain in his ass. She’d certainly never done anything other than be a pain. Surely he’d have treated her much differently or, at the very least, left her well alone if he believed she was his mate.
“I can see why your thoughts have taken you down this road, Eli.” Sort of. “But come on, he harasses me for money. He plays little mind games with me. He even tried blackmailing me into throwing a fight at The Den. Who would do shitty stuff like that to someone they thought was their true mate?”
“I don’t think he did those things to hurt you,” said Eli. “I think that was about control. You said yourself that you got the feeling he likes pushing and cornering you.”
“Control,” echoed Cain with a nod. “That would make sense. He’s all about control, and he’d want to have some form of it over her.”
“I saw for myself that he enjoys playing with her,” said Eli. “But what if he wasn’t toying with her to be cruel? What if he did it because it was the only form of interaction that he’d allow himself to have with her?”
Casey scooted forward in her seat, still unconvinced. “But—”
“You held a blade to his throat, Casey,” Eli reminded her. “A blade. He didn’t retaliate. Didn’t even demand vengeance, although Dahlia did. My guess is he knew you’d wrestle it from him.”
Casey felt her face scrunch up. “You think he wanted me to hold that knife to his throat? Seriously? I mean, I’m trying to be open to what you’re saying, but it’s just not adding up for me.”