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)
I’ve had it with the stench of this place, with the attitudes of most of the weak and beaten down males. I have no direct experience living under a tyrant of an alpha, being broken into submission like they are, and maybe it’s just not in my chemistry because of what I’m made of and where I come from, but it also makes no sense to me regardless of being alpha. We’ve got hundreds of betas in our pack, but they’re still males. They’re still protective. They have opinions and wants and needs. They get passionate about things and will stand up for what they believe in.
This pack still has sixty-some members and had over a hundred a year ago. Surely that number of people could’ve done something about Meadows. They could’ve reached out to the SCC. They could’ve reached out to another pack. If nothing else, the men could’ve practiced shifting in secret, gotten together, shifted all at once and went after that shithead. They may have lost a few men along the way, but he couldn’t have fought off ten or more able-bodied men at once.
I just don’t fucking get it.
Jase is doing everything he can to help as Jase always does, but he’s restless, fretting about his sister being stuck with this fuckhead brother-in-law of mine. And his, I guess. There’s no sign Sherry has been here and the scent trail dead-ended across the lake from our village. Clearly Meadows still had enough herbs to mask their scents.
I give Jase credit for spending the night here last night instead of going off to continue looking for him, but he said he didn’t want to be out there aimless when he could be here lending a hand.
Once he knew Dani was coming this morning, he was on fire to ask if she could do a spell to locate his sister. With no leads, no scent trail, but with what my wife said about how Meadows will be fixated on money he thinks he’s owed from renting those girls out, it’s something at least.
And there’s my cousin Dani now, pulling in behind a courier truck who’s presumably bringing in some supplies the SCC rushed last night.
40
Stacy
“Anya Starling would like me to bring Halla to them as soon as possible,” Dani casually says after handing out the last dose of her healing elixir in the mess hall. “I haven’t met her yet. Is she here somewhere?”
“We don’t know where she is,” Grey replies. “Meadows took her somewhere after he took the girls and dropped them off at the massage parlor, which was two days before the attack on Erica’s birthday. Talked to Stacy’s cousin Luke and he said their convoy stopped thirty minutes from here for half an hour on the way to The Falls. He wasn’t in the same vehicle as Meadows, was in the back of a windowless van, but Meadows was heard on a phone call that was presumed to be with a witch going over his need for more potions. Half an hour is the same distance as the place Brody rescued the girls from last night.”
Dani’s eyes flare with alarm. “This could be a problem,” she says. “Obviously my first concern is that a little girl is missing, but also, it needs to be said that things are tense after what happened with Aviva Starling. The Starling coven leader Anya has her hackles up. Big time. And we expected Halla was going to help smooth some of that out.”
“Lay it out for me,” Grey requests.
“Well,” she replies, “to begin with, the Starlings are asking for a formal investigation against our coven. Particularly you, Aunt Mimi, Erica. Also the pack because of Riley’s involvement.”
“Mitch filed his report,” Grey reasons. “Didn’t Lucinda Alexander do so as well? Have they read them?”
“Reports have not only been filed, I’m told copies were supplied to Anya. But also, Vivi explained things to them in a courtesy call, but questions are still being raised. They want due diligence, want to know there was no negligence on our side because Aviva died. They’re also beyond unhappy about their ancestor’s wand and cauldron not being returned to their coven. Lucinda called Vivi and said they got on the phone to her when they were notified those would go to the global shifter archives, and to say they’re incensed about that is putting things mildly. Lucinda wanted assurances that those artifacts are safe so got on the phone with Erica last night to ask that the pack does their best to guard them but also to get them to Bucharest as soon as possible as she’s uneasy with Anya Starling’s reaction. I was planning to bring Halla home to Marblehead and then pack for Bucharest immediately, getting on a plane before the Starlings came to Marblehead to pick up Halla. That way the artifacts would already be out of their reach. When Vivi brought up Halla and Aphra, giving them that update she could tell returning Halla to them would be a good olive branch. Now telling them that I’m not returning her because we don’t know where she is? Based on Vivi’s conversations with them so far, which were contentious at best, it won’t go over well.”