Total pages in book: 202
Estimated words: 193561 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 968(@200wpm)___ 774(@250wpm)___ 645(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 193561 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 968(@200wpm)___ 774(@250wpm)___ 645(@300wpm)
Luke speaks up. “If we saw a drone we’d shoot it down.”
As I suspected. I’m sure we’d do the same.
Bailey is quiet for long enough to chew one bite of her breakfast before she turns to my mate and starts on a new train of questioning.
How many females are in Stacy’s old pack? How many around Stacy and Bailey’s age? And now I know what her angle is. This is beyond her typical need to know everything. I pretend not to notice what her true angle is. For now.
***
After wiping the counter, I toss the cloth in the sink. Stacy and Luke are loading the dishwasher and Bailey is putting the leftovers into the fridge.
“Hey Luke, you want, you can go down to the basement and play my game system.”
The kid’s eyes light up but then his shoulders slump. “That’s okay, sir. I mean Grey.”
I frown. “No?”
“Don’t know how,” he mutters.
What sixteen-year-old kid in this day and age doesn’t know how to play video games? Some shifter packs are less integrated with mainstream society than others, but not around these parts, also not around where the Silver Hills pack is located. It’s only half an hour from two different towns, less than an hour from a major city. He shouldn’t be this sheltered.
“C’mon. I’ll show you,” I offer.
He passes Stacy the last dirty plate and follows me.
Though I’m tempted to ask more questions, I should be asking Stacy instead. This kid has had enough questioning since he got here.
***
Stacy and Bailey are at the kitchen island with teacups when I come back upstairs. I gesture with my head for my sister to follow me out of the room.
“One sec, babe,” I say to Stacy’s questioning gaze.
“What’s the matter?” I ask my sister once we’re down a level by the garage.
She looks at me like she hasn’t got a clue what I’m talking about.
“Bailey,” I press.
“What?” Her poker face is completely red now.
“You’re riled about Jase being gone to Silver Hills.”
She folds her arms and squints at me. If I wasn’t already sure, I would be now as this body language is one of Bailey’s tells.
“You’re afraid he’s gonna find his mate out of town.”
She jerks back and can’t hide that I’ve hit the nail on the head. The look of agony isn’t easy to see on my little sister’s face.
I give her shoulder a gentle squeeze. “Whatever’s gonna be is gonna be. Fate has lined up the dominos for Jase and they’ll fall when they’re supposed to.”
I’ve seen that Bailey has had stars in her eyes for Jase since she was a little girl. I’m pretty immune to it at this point, generally ignore it, but don’t like that it hasn’t simmered. She regularly makes little comments about being single and never having been kissed, which as her older brother is something that didn’t bother me when she was a teenager, but she’s got blinders on. Plenty of guys her age in the pack have shown interest in her and she doesn’t compute. I’ve seen it time and time again. She cluelessly misses any and all cues they put out. Because she’s only got eyes for Jason Creed.
“We are so not having this conversation,” she tells me, looking away.
There’s a knock on the door and I smell that it’s Joel right as Bailey advises, “Joel” as if I don’t know the scent myself.
She haughtily marches back to the kitchen.
31
Stacy
Luke has gone down to Grey’s basement to play PlayStation. Bailey and I are perched at the island, drinking tea.
I overheard her conversation with Grey about Jase and when she came in, looking sad, I coaxed to get her to open up and it didn’t take much for the floodgates to bust wide open. She tearfully talked about being in love with Jase since she was a little girl.
Now that it’s his turn in the council birth order to identify his fated mate and he’s left town, she’s terrified it’s going to happen while he’s gone. That it won’t be her he scents as his fated mate. This is why she’s asked me if there are any mating-age women there; she wants to know what her competition is.
And there are unmated women from eighteen to thirty-five. Including girls the same age as me like my cousin Addy, an auburn-haired beauty and my good friend Caroline, a beautiful blonde. And while I won’t wish Jase sees her and decides she’s mate-material for Bailey’s sake, it would be absolutely incredible if someone else from this pack did. If Addy moved here and got to experience this village and how wonderful it is. If we could still be close.
“I don’t know much about this stuff Bailey,” I tell her, “but if I understand properly, it doesn’t matter if there are pretty women there if it’s all about fate, right? Doesn’t it mean he’ll wind up with who is meant for him, no matter what she looks like? Just look at me and your brother.”