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)
I shrugged because I really didn’t know how to answer that. I felt . . . fine. Normal. I had power and I knew it. I was almost certainly faster and likely stronger than before, but I didn’t have any proof. I felt my animal pulsing inside of me, a comforting kind of hum as she basked in Weston’s wolf’s proximity, but otherwise I just . . . felt like me.
“How is it going with your wolf?” he asked, and I found myself wishing I knew more about this four-way bond that made him so sure she was a wolf.
“She seems sort of headstrong.”
“The more powerful animals tend to be. Once a wolf settles into a pack, he or she usually calms down.”
“And I’ll be able to do that? Settle into a pack? At least for a little while, maybe, until the dragons decide my fate.”
His power pulsed and his wolf did the equivalent of pacing. It was such a trip that I could feel that! That I knew what it meant!
“Please stop mentioning that,” he ground out.
“Sorry,” I whispered, watching the people we passed. Most of them wore well-made clothes in fine fabrics. Nobility, maybe? That, or this kingdom had money at its disposal and the people prospered because of it. Even the small, out-of-the-way village had seemed well taken care of: well fed, well dressed, everyone groomed. My village must have seemed poor and shabby when they invaded. We certainly hadn’t had any of this finery.
“In answer to your question, I don’t know.” He glanced at a woman on the road, a pretty lady with a gorgeous dress and long, flowing hair. She waved at him, her face lit up in delight. It was clear she knew him. Intimately, if I had to guess.
An uncomfortable tightness squeezed my chest. My wolf coiled within me, teeth bared.
I looked away. Maintain logic, maintain logic, I said inwardly. His personal life had nothing to do with me. He was home now; he had to resume his life regardless of what our animals were doing.
He dropped his hand to my thigh, rubbing supportively. He’d felt my jealousy through the bond and was offering comfort. My heart swelled, and I tightened my arms around him a little more. It was a small gesture, but until I could figure out all these primal urges, it was welcomed.
“What are the complications of my joining a pack?” I asked, seeing another woman light up. This one looked more hopeful. My guess was she didn’t know him well but wanted to. I put my forehead against the center of his back and closed my eyes. It was probably time to go ride with Hadriel.
“Your power and our bond. I can easily dominate most wolves. They fall in line. Yours . . .”
“You can easily dominate me.”
“Physically, yes.” A rush of desire surged through the bond from all four of us. Weston took my hand and slipped it under his shirt, my palm on his warm skin. I started tracing his muscles absently, eyes still closed so that I didn’t see anyone else look at him like their next meal. “Magically, likely not. I’ve never heard of an alpha pair who were—” He swallowed. “Who shared a four-way bond. I don’t honestly know how it works, and I can’t have you jeopardizing the safety of the pack.”
“I would never do that,” I said in a rush of anger. “I would never put other people’s safety at risk for my own benefit.” I paused. “Aside from that issue with the drugs, obviously.” I sighed and turned my head so my cheek rested against his back. “Kind of a black mark on my character, that.”
“Granny’s addition is hurting people, not your product.”
I scoffed. “Agree to disagree.”
“We can’t afford to agree to disagree on that, Aurelia. You can’t own the story that you’re hurting people, not if you want an escape from the dragons’ wrath.”
“All due respect, Alpha, but this isn’t your life. I know it’ll affect you now, but you and your animal really should’ve thought of that before you pushed all of us into a bond. You should’ve thought of your pack, too. I will travel my journey, come what may. I will not make light of what—”
I’d opened my eyes to stare at the back of his neck in frustration when, out of the corner of my vision, a throb of pink glowed. Not a lighter blue, not a heavier green, but pink!
“Oh gods!” I swung my focus right, ignoring the people on the road looking at me in confusion at my outburst. The swell of pink increased, localized to a little area beyond the trees and nestled within taller plants I couldn’t really make out in the strange blue of my new nighttime vision. “Oh my—”
I scrambled off the back of the horse, easily dodging Weston’s attempt to twist and grab me. The horse grunted and kicked, its hoof nearly clipping my side. I ducked around it, in between people, in front of a donkey pulling a cart, and practically dove into the bushes. The pink glow continued to swell, growing in both size and strength as I got closer to it.