Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
I turn, the odd moment gone, and see Meg is hiding her eyes.
“Everyone’s seen it, Meg. I’ve been caught naked by every photographer in the States. This body was named ‘hottest royal bod’ four years in a row. Everyone wants a piece of this.” Dante grins and motions up and down, indicating his perfect form.
Meg sounds as though she is sick. “Gross.”
I bite my lip. Not all things are good in this place. I still do not understand half the things Meg and Dante say to each other. I know the words, but not the intentions behind them. Since that moment when the three of us snuck from the camp, I have been a bit lost. The words they speak at each other do not match the tone. They do a lot of a thing they called joking. It involves insulting each other in a manner that would have made them outcast from the pack were they pack members speaking to their betters.
I almost liked it better when we were silent, prowling through the forest to get away from the men who captured us. Dante ordered me to return to my wolf form after he kissed me. That was a moment I loved. His mouth played across mine, lighting up my skin. It felt like he needed me in that moment.
He does not need me anymore.
We seem to be safe in this part of the forest. Perhaps the time is here and I should explore on my own. I can sense that these woods are deep. I can lose myself here and never be found.
“Kaja.” Dante’s voice adopts that slightly hard tone he uses when he is taking control. That deep tone forces me to turn my focus on him. He is knee-deep in the water. He holds his hand out. “Come with me. Take off the shirt, and we’ll get you clean before we bed down.”
This is not a good idea. Though my heart races at the sight of him, it would be smarter to leave. He is playing some sort of game. He wants to be with me, but not forever. Wolves mate for life. I never expected I would have a true mate, but even a mistress has a role in the pack. I am not sure what Dante believes my place to be. He signed the important things called papers that made me his, but then talks about where he will put me when our mating is done.
I am not sure of anything.
I shake my head. “I do not like the water. I am clean enough.”
When we bed down for the night, I will sneak away. He will not hear me. He will not look for me. I will watch over both Dante and Meg. I will stay in wolf form, and they will never know that I follow them. When I am sure they are safe, I will disappear. I can stay in these woods and never leave my wolf form. My two-legged nature will fade after some time, and the wolf will be all that is left. It will be easier. The wolf feels, but not as much as my woman self. The wolf never cries.
I turn to aid Meg in her preparations. Meg is creating a small nest in which to rest. She gathered leaves and vines to make a bed. I do not need such comforts. I will change and be perfectly fine, but Meg obviously want some softness. After the day she had, she deserves it.
I am about to lean over and gather leaves from the ground of the forest when a damp hand reaches out and grabs my elbow. I turn and looked up into stern eyes the color of the forest. Dante’s jaw is set in a firm line as he towers over me. He is so beautiful it hurts my heart to look at him.
“It wasn’t a question, Kaja.”
I try to pull away, but he holds tight. “I’m tired. I wish to rest.”
It would be easy to refuse, to run, if he didn’t move me in a way I never felt before. I was sure he would not come after me when I went to save my gnome captor. I stared up at the ogre and realized that death was there for me. I planned to go down fighting, but I knew I would go down.
And then Dante was there, yelling at me, his face contorted in rage and some strange worry. For me. He was so much smaller than the creature, and he only had me to distract the ogre, yet Dante triumphed. The ogre fell.
It took a piece of magic to force Dante to his knees.
That was the moment—when Dante was struck with the nightmare magic that caused his big, beautiful body to shake—when I knew I should leave. I felt the howl in my throat. It stuck there because I forced my jaw to stay closed, but the mating howl is inside me, and it is only for this man.