Total pages in book: 182
Estimated words: 171176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
He wasn't supposed to fall in love.
Weston has made a mess of things. Since he realized the woman he was supposed to find and bring to justice was his true mate, things have spiraled out of control. He's gone from one bad decision to the next, and now the situation threatens to topple down around him.
The good news is, Aurelia isn't responsible for hurting people. She isn't the one who should stand in front of the dragons and plead for her life.
If only the dragons and their kingdom agreed.
Weston must try to relay the truth and protect his true mate, all while she struggles to work through her past, his deceit, and her new life in opposition to the one woman she'd thought of as her mother.
Aurelia must go to war, and Weston will do everything he can to ensure she comes out alive.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
This is the conclusion to the duet and ends in an HEA. All loose ends are tied up.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Chapter 1
Weston
“When someone asks you for a ball peen hammer, do you then take out a steel mace and repeatedly hit them over the head with it?” my wolf asked as I walked away from Aurelia.
She stood on the deck of the ship, watching the distance grow between herself and the only member of family she thought she possessed. Granny was alive and had made contact before I could get Aurelia out of this kingdom and away from her greedy grasp. Things just got a whole lot more . . . delicate.
Saying I felt sick to my stomach was an understatement.
“I wasn’t lying,” I replied. “I did betray her. At first I did it on purpose, when I didn’t really care about her emotions. Then I did it out of fear. She should know the truth.”
“She’s open-minded. She would’ve listened to the truth, not your self-loathing summary of it, you moron. Turn around and go back to her. Explain everything to her. She has been very patient with you so far. That won’t last forever.”
“It shouldn’t. I don’t deserve it.”
I could feel my wolf seething within me. “Turn around and go back, you miserable prick, or I will assume this body and do it for you. Be there for her. She’s a smart woman who has been ruthlessly manipulated and abused from a very young age by someone she trusted. Someone she thought of as family. She’s probably damn confused right now. Granny twisted that woman’s head all up with lies, torture, and then gifts. Whatever was in that note probably is an extension of the abuse. It’ll be hard for her to steer her way out of that by herself. She needs support.”
Yes, she did, but the support she needed right now wasn’t mine. I’d damned myself in her eyes. In my own eyes, as well. I’d betrayed my true mate—someone I should be protecting at all costs. It killed me, searing my insides with regret and remorse. No, from me, she needed the truth. Her support right now would come from her budding friendships, people I would also use to help me steer the situation in a way that would hurt Aurelia as little as possible.
Hadriel stood at the bow, leaning over the edge, moaning. He was not great on the water.
“Already?” I asked, stopping beside him. “We’ve barely left the docks.”
The captain of the ship walked up and motioned at me, needing a word. I nodded but didn’t move. This had to be seen to before I checked in on the pack and crew.
“Why the fuck haven’t they invented a boat that doesn’t rock?” Hadriel asked, groaning again. “I should’ve taken Finley’s elixir a half-hour earlier. It hasn’t kicked in yet. Fucking boats. Fucking waves. Fucking fuck!”
He groaned again and leaned farther over the side.
“I need you to pull it together. Granny made an appearance.”
“What?” He straightened up, wobbled, and gripped the handrail. His knuckles turned white. “What do you mean, ‘she made an appearance’? Did she try to board?”
“No. She made a show of waving goodbye. She threw on a red cloak at the end of the docks. She must’ve seen Aurelia looking out, obviously looking for her, but waited to catch her attention. Then she waved.”
“A red cloak?” He put a hand to his stomach and turned toward the water for a moment. After a deep breath, he turned back. “Like that one Aurelia was captured in? Tanix had to take it off her when he was tying her up because it was getting in the way.”
I thought back, only vaguely remembering what he talked about. I hadn’t paid much attention to her clothes.
Hadriel nodded. “Granny’s good, I’ll give her that. That was obviously a well-received gift with an emotional connection. She clearly used it to remind Aurelia of their ties. What was in the note?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t ask.”
“You were too busy making a shitshow of the whole situation,” my wolf grumbled.
“I’ll have a look at it. What do you plan to do?” Hadriel asked.
“I want you and Dante and Nova to give her your time and attention. She might not ask for help, but she’ll need it. You need to provide it. After I’ve checked on everything, I’ll tell her the truth and stand in my own judgment. I’ll also pull out her wolf so she can heal and get acquainted.”
Hadriel turned, groaned again for a moment. “What truths do you plan to tell her?”
The captain cleared his throat, his hands behind his back. I needed to see to my duties.
“What do you mean? I need to tell her everything I’ve been keeping from her. Why I didn’t tell her about Granny, why she feels this connection—”
“No.” Hadriel put up his hand. “Fuck, throw up or don’t, you know? This is bullshit.” He spat over the side. “All due respect, Alpha, but don’t tell her about the true mate thing just yet. She doesn’t know what that means. She has zero frame of reference for it and will just view it as more betrayal. She won’t realize you were in the same position she was, and she certainly won’t realize what absolute hell it was treating a true mate like you did, readying to take her to her death. It’s not anything like the Granny thing, which, yes, was definitely pretty shitty and all on you. A true mate bond is special. Don’t tie it into you hiding the fact that you faked both the cold-blooded murder of her quasi family member and that you didn’t care how she felt.”