Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 44411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 222(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 148(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 222(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 148(@300wpm)
Since the mates of his brother and friends were the ones to fill her closest, she had to assume they wouldn’t have chosen things they wouldn’t wear themselves. It would be incredibly mean to trick the new girl and make her look foolish. She couldn’t imagine any of them were mean, and Daddy insisted she would love them. They could apparently be naughty on occasion, but they were not cruel.
Shifting had been another new element in her life. The first few times she did so were awkward, and it took her a while to get her paws to do what she told them. Walking on four legs instead of two was weird.
They hadn’t left the house to roam in the woods yet. Daddy said it wasn’t safe until she was surer of herself. She didn’t argue with him because she was content being in the house with him so far.
She had been there one week and was sitting in her playpen reading when she sensed someone approaching outside. She sat upright, glancing down at herself, grateful this was one of those rare times she was actually wearing one of the pretty dresses.
Daddy was also marginally dressed in low-riding jeans and a T-shirt.
He jumped from where he’d been sitting on the couch and inhaled deeply.
“Who is it?” she asked.
“My father and several others. Brock, Arion, and Damon. Shit.”
“What’s wrong?” She wasn’t supposed to stand in the playpen, and he reached over the edge for her, lifted her in his arms, and held her against him. She settled on his hip, trembling.
“I don’t know, Baby girl, but it can’t be good. No one would come here and bother us for several more weeks unless it was absolutely necessary.” He rubbed her back, as if to soothe her, but she could feel his tension. He was nervous.
His nerves transferred to her, making her hackles rise.
He closed his eyes. “Shit. All their mates are with them. I don’t like the vibe.”
Leah hugged his neck tight as he opened the front door and stepped onto the porch. She inhaled deeply, scenting the others as they approached. Only the scents of his parents were recognizable to her because she hadn’t met anyone else yet.
A lot of wolves rushed into the clearing all at once, making Leah gasp. She’d seen shifted wolves all of her life but never so many in one place like this. It was startling, and all but one of them shifted into human form as they approached.
Leah held her breath as she glanced around at all these people who would be her friends and family when she got to know them. She was most curious about the lone wolf who had not shifted. It was a female, and one of the men placed a hand lovingly on her head.
“What’s going on?” Elias asked as he stepped to the edge of the porch. He was holding Leah too tightly, but she didn’t want him to let go.
Leah had never lifted her head to see her mate’s parents above the waist at their claiming ceremony, so she hadn’t seen their faces, but she knew their scents as the two of them stepped forward from the crowd.
Owen spoke first, holding Iliana’s hand in his. “We are so sorry to interrupt your honeymoon period. There is a problem with the bears.”
Elias stiffened, and his grip on Leah’s thigh tightened.
Leah probably should have felt weird about him holding her like he was, but she couldn’t bring herself to care, and no one was looking at her strangely. She glanced at her mate. He’d mentioned bear shifters in the area and not trusting them. One of them had kidnapped Suzette on her mating day.
Leah glanced around, wondering which of these people might be Suzette. Two of the women were near her age. They had to be Olivia, Jezebel, and/or Suzette. Was the unshifted wolf the other younger woman?
Leah was relieved to see that the two women her age were dressed the same as her. They had on short pastel dresses that barely covered their bottoms. Iliana, Elias’s mother, was dressed more demurely. Perhaps because of her age?
“What kind of problem?” Elias asked.
“We had a visit from Surge and Thorn,” Owen continued. “They came to warn us that Surge’s brother and his friend have been causing problems. After being MIA for a while, Surge believes they were responsible for a fire that was set not too far from here last night.
“The bears got to it quickly and were lucky enough to put it out, but the scent of their missing family members was strong in the area. In addition, it is suspected the same two bears are responsible for the destruction of property and a few fires on the outskirts of the Grelian territory.”
“Shit,” Elias muttered. “So we’re going hunting.”
Leah stiffened. The idea of her mate leaving her made her feel sick. She was aware he would eventually return to his duties among the Alpha Protectors, but they hadn’t discussed what that would look like yet. The only thing he’d told her was that it was customary for newly mated couples to spend about a month alone without disruption.