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 don’t think my wolf would agree.”
“Oh, she’s fine. The animals we turn into all come out super primal. It takes a second for the wolf to acclimate to the human world and for the human to acclimate to a more primal set of feelings and emotions. Usually, we have to battle this as we go through puberty, with all the hormones and insanity rolling around. You’ll probably have a much easier time of it. Here we are.”
He motioned for two men to open the grand front door and I couldn’t help the small “Whoa” that escaped as I took in the interior. The grand foyer had huge ceilings that went up into the heavens and a wide, sweeping stairway descended to the center of the main floor. Stone and crystal glimmered and shone everywhere. It was gorgeous and decadent, and there was no way I belonged here.
I tried to scoot back out the door. “Is there a servants’ entrance or something I should be taking?”
He slapped my hands away from plucking at my drab brown clothes. “Don’t be absurd. Not that long ago, people were running around with big purple dicks strapped to their person. Cocks and vadge everywhere. No one is going to bat an eye with your drab chic attire. Come on, up this way.”
“I don’t think there is anything chic about it.”
“It’s fun to pretend. Come on.”
The servants all wore a similar sort of attire, a regal red-and-gold shirt with a high collar and black slacks with black shoes. They didn’t hurry but they didn’t dally, most of them walking straight and tall like they were the most important people in the world.
“Hadriel, you’re back,” someone said as they made their way down the hall toward the stairs. He was a weaselly character with a wispy combover. “We missed your little prick around here. We had no one to laugh at.”
“I’ve heard what you’ve been saying about me, Liron.” Hadriel waggled his finger at the other man. “Not wise for a guy who doesn’t know which hole he should stick his dick into. People don’t laugh at you because they are too busy groaning you showed up at all. You ruin every party you attend.”
“Eat lint.”
“Lick a mushroom.”
I could feel my eyes widening at the exchange, loud and public and clearly antagonistic but not in an overly threatening way. This sort of behavior lined up exceptionally well with the sorts of stories Hadriel was always telling.
Liron stalled when he noticed me, stopping to stare. “Who’s this?”
I recoiled, not wanting to be sucked into whatever was going on with them. I was definitely not on this level. I would listen and laugh at the stories, but I was not even remotely comfortable enough to engage.
“Don’t you worry about it,” Hadriel replied. “And don’t think for one second she’ll appreciate your advances. She’s taken.”
“By whom? You?”
“By Nonya.”
“Who’s Nonya?”
“Nonya fucking business, jackass. Be on your way. There’s got to be a set of stone balls for you to dust around here.” Hadriel guided me up the first few stairs.
“Hello, lovely lady,” Liron called after us. “You just let us know if you want an actual good time, not what that idiot calls fun.”
“Says the king of cornholing women,” Hadriel shot back. “Do us all a favor and fall down the stairs.”
“You first,” Liron said.
I barked out a laugh before quickly covering my mouth.
“Don’t mind him.” We reached the second-floor landing and continued up the next set of stairs. “He’s left over from the curse days. He is an ab-solute disaster. He kicked me out of an art class because I did watercolors of dicks. The literal worst. If we ever get an orgy together in the woods, we have to be very careful not to let him know, or he shows up with dick in hand and no idea what to do with it. It’s no wonder the dipshit hasn’t procreated.”
“His stories didn’t do that exchange justice,” my wolf said, and I was a little too bewildered to agree.
“Speaking of group activities, on a scale of one to ten, how embarrassed are you that you banged the beta in front of an audience?” Hadriel asked as we walked up the next flight of stairs.
I grimaced. “I hadn’t actually thought about it.”
“Good. Don’t. It was insanely hot. So you have a four-way bond now, huh? That happened?”
I clutched his arm, intensely curious about it and hoping he’d give me answers. “Yes. Why is it so rare?”
“He didn’t tell you?”
“He said I wouldn’t understand. Is this yet another thing he’s keeping from me?”
Hadriel trudged up the last of the stairs and started down a long hall. “It’s true you wouldn’t understand. This affects him more so than you, I think, so maybe cut him a little slack. Now that your wolf is out—or not suppressed, at least—it’ll probably be easier to explain.”