Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 138217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
Pavel’s father, Akili, took Arwen’s hand and drew him into a hug that ended with a companionable slap on the back. He was a few inches shorter than his mate, but built wider, with acres of heavy muscle. His skin was rich brown, his hair tight black curls that had skipped a generation, and his palm bore the calluses of a man who worked with the soil and the earth, his face creased with laugh lines.
“Oi!” Viktor said when Mila went to Quyen first. “Favoritism!” he complained morosely. “How quickly they forget which parent pretended to be a damn grass-eating horse for them.”
Mila laughed, conversation overlapped, loud and vibrant, and in that moment, Arwen could all but see the luminous threads of love that crisscrossed the family. It was in this generous and affectionate soil that Pavel had been planted, and where he’d grown.
As had the man who walked in just then, Theo’s hand held in his.
The movement around the table was quieter this time, the family taking in Theo with the same careful intensity with which they’d first taken in Arwen. He could feel her trepidation, the tension in every cell in her body. But Theo Marshall was used to hiding her emotions, used to putting on a stone face, and it was that face she showed Yakov’s family.
O Bozhe! Arwen wanted to leap across and whisper that that wasn’t the way to win the hearts of this group, but it was too late, and she was exchanging stiff greetings with each of the elders before sliding into a chair next to Pavel, with Yakov on her other side.
Chapter 52
Knew you wouldn’t get back till late so made you your favorite pasta and left it on the counter. Insulated container so it’ll stay hot. Watered your plant while I was there—poor abused thing looked about to keel over. I like your cat.
I don’t have a cat.
I think you have a cat now. Little bitty orange ball of fluff was sunning herself inside your apartment when I walked in. I went out to the grocer and got her a fresh piece of fish.
A cat can’t just move into my apartment.
I see you’ve never met a cat.
You’re joking right? Funny. Haha. But thanks for the food, Arwen. You’re a good friend.
(2 hours later)
Arwen, there’s a cat on my bed. It’s . . . meowing. What do I do with it?
Just love her. Easy.
—Message stream between Arwen Mercant and Genara Mercant (15 July 2083)
HE SHOULD’VE TELEPATHED her, Arwen thought too late, feeling awful about not thinking to give her a heads-up. He’d been around bears far longer, knew exactly how they reacted to coldness.
Pavel’s hand on his neck, massaging with the firm strokes that he knew Arwen loved. “Stop worrying,” his lover murmured in his ear, quiet enough that it would reach Arwen alone. “Yakov’s Psy can take care of herself. You just look after my Psy. He’s pretty special.”
Arwen’s heart melted.
He didn’t know how he’d been lucky enough to find such an all-encompassing love—and such a good man. Pasha called him loyal, but no one did loyal better than a bear. Once they found their people, bears stuck like superglue.
Arwen wanted the same kind of love for Theo. Because he could see the emotional bruises on her with stark clarity now. He wasn’t reading her. She’d just lowered her guard with him . . . had begun to trust him in a way subtle and unexpected. Theo might put on a stone face, but below that, she was a softness of wounds.
She needed warmth and love and acceptance.
“I want this to go well for her and for Yasha,” he whispered to Pavel. “She’s not like how she’s portraying herself.”
Pavel raised an eyebrow. “Silver,” he said in a quiet reminder. “Not exactly cuddly. Ever.” A chuckle. “And, you might not have noticed, but we adore her. Let Theo do her thing.”
Arwen went to reply, then shut his mouth. Pavel was right. His sister wasn’t only the StoneWater alpha’s mate in word, she was treated that way by the entire clan. They saw past her outwardly icy demeanor to a love for the clan as deadly and protective as a blade.
Bears, he remembered, were far, far cleverer than they liked to pretend.
“So,” Viktor boomed, “I hear you’re taking advantage of Yakov.”
Theo’s eyes widened . . . but she didn’t look away from the dominant bear. “I’m quite certain that there are very few people in the world who could take advantage of your grandson,” she said with diction precise and tone calm, while Yakov sat beside her with a smug look on his face.
The look of a bear who was proud of the person they’d chosen as their own. And the nonchalance of a man who knew his person could handle what was being thrown at them.