Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
We shake hands with the human. Amber is a slender female. She’s not tiny like Rayne but definitely strikes me as fragile. I don’t know how Garrett can live knowing his mate is human and might die at any moment in any number of horrible ways.
Rayne may be small, but she has shifter blood. She has a wolf inside her that makes her powerful. A she-wolf I intend to bring out.
Because I have to know if she’s mine.
We sit down at the bar and Amber asks exactly what happened at my arrest.
I give her my paperwork and the short and dirty version. “There was a party in my hotel room, and the drugs were out. My roommate went out for beer. My wolf got prickly, so I looked out the window and saw two cop cars outside. I told everyone to leave. The cops showed up as the last people were walking out. They saw the drugs and put me in cuffs. I said nothing at the time and pleaded not guilty the next day. That’s it.”
“And we’re talking about cocaine?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You can call me Amber. What amount was found?”
“I don’t know. More than ten grams, I guess. That’s what makes it a trafficking charge.”
“They found it on your person or in the room?”
“The room.”
“Did they give you a drug test?”
“Yes. I was clean.”
“Okay. Sounds circumstantial to me. It might be possible to get the charges dropped. Depends on what other evidence they collected at the time. I can call your public defender and ask to be admitted as your counsel pro hac vice.”
I look at her blankly.
“I’m not licensed to practice in South Carolina, but I can be admitted as part of your team. Chances are good your defender can handle this, though. He or she will know the judges and the arresting officers.”
I bow my head. “Thank you. I, um, don’t have any money to pay you right now, but–”
Amber waves a hand. “It’s all right. I’m happy to help.”
I glance at Garrett. “You could put me in to fight at the next shifter fight club?”
Garrett let Bo fight a couple years ago for cash when he and his girlfriend Sloane were in trouble.
“No. That’s not necessary. Let’s get you back to school.”
Right.
Back to school.
That sick feeling that was in the pit of my stomach the entire year and a quarter I was at Duke returns full force.
“Yeah. I, uh…I’m not in a rush to go back.”
I feel Rayne’s big blue gaze on me, and it makes me itchy. “But he’ll be kicked out of the pack if he doesn’t get the charges dropped.”
I’m warmed by her interest in the case. I didn’t know she’d even paid attention to my situation.
Garrett’s eyes narrow. “So you’re banished if you don’t get it resolved, but you don’t actually care about going back.”
I don’t answer. This is the same thing his father picked up about me that pissed him off.
“Well, what do you want, Wilde? Because I’m not going to have Amber waste her time on you if you’re going to sabotage the results.”
For a moment, I can’t breathe.
“You felt out of place there,” Rayne guesses.
Garrett waits for me to speak.
I don’t really know what to say.
Rayne’s right, of course. I fucking hated living with humans. Pretending to be one. I was homesick every day of my life there. I couldn’t run as a wolf. I never shifted. Hell, I was afraid I’d forget how.
I clear my throat. “I won’t sabotage it. I don’t want to be banished.” That much is true.
“Well, you can come to me if you are. I’m sure you know that.”
My chest tightens, and I nod. “Yeah. Thank you, Garrett.”
Garrett looks at Rayne. “You, too. We have all kinds here.” I remember that the Tucson pack isn’t all comprised of wolves. There are bears and foxes and even some misfits. Defectives, but not like Rayne. Some creatures made in a lab, I heard.
She pales. “Oh. Um…thanks.”
I wrap my hand around her nape. “Rayne’s a late bloomer, that’s all. She has a silver-eyed wolf that’s about to come out.”
Rayne flicks an indecipherable glance at me.
“Regardless,” Garrett says firmly. “You’re both welcome in my pack.”
“Thank you, Alpha,” Rayne says softly.
“I’m not your alpha. But the door is open.” Garrett gets up from the bar stool, indicating the meeting is over. “Are you two driving back tonight?”
“Yep. Rayne has school in the morning.”
“I’ll be in touch, Wilde,” Amber says as we do another round of handshakes.
“Thank you so much. I really appreciate your help.”
“I’m happy to help.”
We walk out to the Jeep, and instead of unlocking the passenger side door for Rayne, I pin her against it facing me and brush her hair out of her eyes. “Did that offend you?”
She flushes. “No. I mean–” She shakes her head. “No. I…wonder what his pack is like. They seem cool.”