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)
“Stop picking on the poor thing and calling her names, you’re gonna hurt her feelings.”
“What feelings? She’s a stone-cold killer.”
“Then why piss her off?” Madisyn picked up the garbage bag and hauled it outside, ignoring Bracken as he trailed behind her, muttering under his breath.
Casey turned to Eli. “I can’t tell whether she’s messing with him or not.”
“Oh, she’s messing with him,” said Eli. “Madisyn likes dicking with people in general, but she persistently does it to him. We all love it, because it brings out some of the old Bracken; the parts we thought died along with his family. She probably teases him so often because he hogs so much of her time and gives her very little space. You think I’m bad—he’s ten times worse. If Madisyn was on a soccer team, he’d observe every practice and possibly even insist on hanging with the coaching staff during games.”
Casey snorted, scrubbing sticky stains from the kitchen countertop. “Like you haven’t thought of doing both those things.”
Of course Eli had. “Only because I like watching you play and want to be close in case you need me.” Hearing his phone ring, he pulled it out of his pocket. Eli felt his brows draw together as he saw Adrian’s name on the screen. “Hello,” he greeted. What the Alpha said next made Eli grind his teeth. “Yeah, I’ll tell her.”
Ending the call, he pocketed his cell and turned to Casey. “That was Adrian. The young girl working at the bakery beneath your apartment has been dating one of Ignacio’s cats. She claims he did ask questions about the Hounds and that your name cropped up a lot in the conversations. It was all disguised as pillow talk but, yeah, I’d say she was being milked for information on you.”
Casey cursed and slapped the wet cloth on the counter.
“Now will you consider that just maybe I’m right and he believes you’re his true mate?”
She shoved a hand into her hair. “I just don’t know why he’d ever think that. I never came onto him or—”
Eli caught her face in his hands. “I am not for one second suggesting that you did anything to make him believe it. He got the idea in his head somehow. It could be that he just didn’t know how else to explain why you drew him.”
“Drew him?”
“You’re a very compelling person, Casey. And you’d be ten times more compelling to someone with the kind of demons he possesses. You’re everything that the people who let him down, including his mother, aren’t—strong, protective, loyal, caring. It makes sense that you’d be a temptation to him; that he’d want to possess you.”
“If you’re right about that, he’ll try to kill you.”
“I know. But I’ll be ready when he does. Although I might not have to wait until he comes to me. You remember the falcon I let live?”
“Yes.”
“Cain thinks he might have an idea of just who it was—apparently, there was a particular group of falcons he knew who were also hired thugs. He’s having some of his associates from The Movement check it out.” Eli stroked her bangs away from her face. “This could all be over soon. When it is, we can forget about that fucker and get on with our lives. Move in together. Have our mating ceremony. Maybe have a pup or two. Or a mink—I’m not fussed so long as they’re healthy.”
“You have it all planned out, huh?”
Bracken followed Madisyn back into the lodge, saying, “Well, when you find my scalp pinned to our front door, you’ll feel like a bitch for not taking me seriously.”
Madisyn scratched her cheek. “I don’t see how a mink could hammer a nail into a door. She’d be more likely to just use your hair to feather a nest or something, so there’s really no need for the drama. Honestly, you always insist on making a mountain out of a molehill.”
Bracken threw up his arms. “I give up.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“You are evil, Roni,” Eli hissed, marching into the dining area of the main lodge the next morning. “Totally. Fucking. Evil. What the hell did you put in my toothpaste?”
Fighting a smile, Casey sidled up to him. Did she like that the siblings pranked each other so often? No. Especially since it was only a matter of time before she got caught in the crossfire—something Marcus had warned her of. But Casey couldn’t deny that the pranks could be entertaining at times.
Sitting at the table, Roni lifted one shoulder. “It might have been a numbing oral gel. I know it had ‘maximum strength’ printed on the tube.”
Casey had figured as much. The she-wolf was ruthless.
He gaped at his sister. “Are you fucking kidding me right now?”
Roni’s eyes flared. “What I did was tame compared to your little stunt.”
Eli curled an arm around Casey’s shoulders. “Casey could just as easily have used the toothpaste, Roni—did you think of that?”