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)
“Albeit royally,” Arleth told Finley. “With icy disdain and well-placed bursts of rage.”
“Yes, yes, fine.” Finley waved her away. “Professionally speaking, I’m going to treat him like a piece of shit. No hard feelings.”
“Their court now knows that his blood daughter exists,” Hannon said, checking in on how I was feeling. It was really very nice having someone who knew what was going on without my having to speak it aloud, especially considering it was something I’d been trained against by many long years with Granny and a village who didn’t want to hear my voice. “They know her power and are eager for a connection. They don’t know anything about her fairy magic, though. I didn’t have details on that information.”
“They’d only want her more if they knew how hard the fairies were trying to get her, ‘dirty blood’ and all,” Finley said. “The fairies don’t want to share, though. It would be a mess if all this was in their hands.” She nodded at me. “You made the right decision. Nyfain won’t let them push you around because he would die before he let them push him around, and you’re in his care. You’ve got the angriest fucker in this world on your side. You’ll come out just fine.”
“So he doesn’t have any fairy in him?” I asked Hannon.
“No. That must’ve been your mom.”
“Except I know for sure both my grandparents on her side were wolves. That’s my lot in life, then? A family full of cheaters?”
Finley quirked an eyebrow at Arleth, and I wondered what that was about. Finley then laughed.
“Your dad is gross, yes. Sorry about that, but look, he gave you a healthy dose of power. Take it for what it’s worth. Your grandparents, though? Honestly, you have no idea. Maybe your grandma got involved with a fairy, it didn’t work out, and your grandfather claimed your mom as his and then helped raise her. That happens all the time. Maybe they both had fairy blood and that was why they found each other, but neither wanted to admit it. That happens, too, in that secular kind of kingdom. No one wants to be different. Without asking them, there really is no way to know what went down. You should give them the benefit of the doubt. All of them. Except your scourge of a father. Fuck that guy, the cheating bastard.”
“I got the feeling that he and his mate are together simply to further their bloodlines,” Hannon said. “I don’t think she is faithful, either.”
“But did she send her kid away?” Finley demanded. “He sent his pregnant mistress to another fucking kingdom, Hannon. Then just pretended his child didn’t exist. That’s a rare level of fucked up. I’m glad it worked out this way—now he gets to meet her at court and see what he tossed away. He’ll also get to deal with her very powerful mate, who I will make sure has the best gods-damned status of his kind just so he can toss it in that turd’s face. We don’t need longevity as a kingdom; we just need a shitload of gold. Fuck that guy. Fuck that whole kingdom.”
She nodded adamantly, and I wrestled with a smile, my entire being feeling light and content. No, I didn’t need a specter from the past. I had these people, who clearly cared about me and would battle on my behalf. I had Weston. It was more than I could’ve ever asked for.
“Wait until he meets the very mean protector of her asshole,” Vemar growled.
“Yeah, or deals with Hadriel’s very cutting jabs,” Finley added. “Or the host of dragons that will have her back—”
“Okay, okay.” I put up my hands, my smile winning. “It’s really sweet that you all have my back, but I’m not putting much effort into caring about him one way or the other. Yes, he did my mom wrong, and, by association, me too. But Granny did worse. I need to focus on that first.”
“Speaking of that,” Hannon said lightly. “The Flamma court wanted to know why it took people so long to find this very strong wolf. I got the feeling they didn’t really believe me. I recounted your story, Aurelia, about your being suppressed and Granny telling you that you didn’t have magic in an effort to keep you content in her trappings. I might’ve embellished a little about your setup.”
“I doubt that is possible,” Vemar murmured.
“I mentioned that Granny knew Aurelia’s history as well as I did, and how easy it was for us to put a possible name to her bio-dad. They were already displeased with Granny because of the types of products crossing their borders, but it had never been personal. Now it is.”
Finley furrowed her brow. “You didn’t tell me this.”
“I wanted Aurelia to be the first to know. I don’t know if they are going to take any action against Granny, but they might cite a grievance with the Red Lupine court.”