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)
Fear flickered in his eyes. Casey knew it wasn’t just the prospect of tangling with her mink that spooked him. Like any playground bully, his confidence was shaken when anyone stood up to him.
Ira was a very rigid, authoritarian, anal retentive person who came across as somewhat invincible. But that was the surface. Scratch it just a little, and you’d find he was riddled with self-doubt and a deep sense of inadequacy that he chose not to acknowledge.
His finger shook slightly as he held it up. “You touch me, I’ll sue you.”
That was the best he had? Really? She almost rolled her eyes. “Right. Because the human authorities will totally go up against shifters. They’ll just tell you that you knew the risks when you stepped onto shifter territory and confronted me—we both know that, Ira, so don’t think to threaten me. Now get the hell away from my apartment. I don’t want you here.”
“I’m not interested in what you want. I’m not interested in you. I’m not here for you. I just want to speak to my daughter. My only daughter. My only child, for that matter.”
That should have hurt, shouldn’t it? He was her father, after all. But it seemed that her defenses against him were hard as steel, because his words just had no emotional impact on her. “Well, it seems like your only child doesn’t want to speak to you or she wouldn’t be lying low, would she?”
He peered over her head, trying to see inside the apartment. “Emily! Get out here! You can’t skip your own damn wedding and then think—”
“Whoa, wait, she missed her wedding? Seriously?”
His eyes tightened around the edges. “You know damn well that she did. I’m not sure what reason she gave you for doing it, but she told your mother that her mink wouldn’t accept Theo. That’s a lie. She has no mink.”
Now he was just being deliberately obtuse. “That’s not true. You know perfectly well that her being ‘latent’ simply means her mink has never surfaced. It doesn’t mean her mink isn’t a presence within her.”
“Well if that’s true, the damn animal has just ruined everything for her. But then, I wouldn’t expect any different from such sly creatures. If you care about Emily at all, you’ll send her out here so that she can fix things with Theo and return to her life—a life that doesn’t include shifters.”
Casey slanted her head and stared at him. “It must be weird to live in a fictional reality. Like it or not, neither Emily’s life nor yours has ever been free of shifters. My mother—your mate—is a shifter. All three of your children are half shifter. It doesn’t matter whether they’re latent or not, that doesn’t change what they are. And if you refuse to accept Emily for who she is, and if you insist on ignoring what her current dilemma is, you’re going to lose her. Then you’ll have none of your kids in your life. Is that really what you want?”
He sneered. “Like I care that you and Miles aren’t around. You and that boy brought shame upon the family—the pair of you are an utter disgrace.”
She planted a hand on her hip. “I have no idea what in the world makes you think you’re so superior and perfect, but I have news for you—you’re nothing but a pathetic little man who feels threatened by anyone stronger than him. You hated that you couldn’t control me, so you tried to make me feel worthless and inferior to you. Then I would have been easier for you to manipulate, wouldn’t I? Only it never worked.”
“You think I see you as stronger than me?” he scoffed. “Emily and Miles were special. But you? No. You were always selfish. Ungrateful. Weak. Unfit to be a Frost—”
“And too outspoken and argumentative and not feminine enough—yeah, yeah, you’ve told me all this already. Multiple times, as it happens.”
“Because it’s the truth. If Miles had just kept his distance from you and this pack, he’d never have met the bitch who hurt him, and he wouldn’t have become an addict. Though I have to say that having heroin in his veins is a lot better than the shifter blood coursing through them—that stuff is pure poison. And I’m not about to let it ruin Emily’s life the way it did his.”
Casey studied him curiously. “You know, you were always bigoted against shifters, but you never used to sound so hateful, bitter, and twisted when you spoke of them. And it makes me wonder if you don’t really look down on the shifter DNA your mate and children share. No, you see that it makes us strong, enhances our senses, and helps heal our wounds faster. We make you feel inferior, don’t we?” Oh God, how hadn’t she seen that before? “Knowing your mate could wipe the floor with you if she chose to do so … yeah, you resent that in a big way, don’t you, Ira?”