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)
“Shit,” Grey says.
Shit, indeed.
“I mean, if it were someone in my pack, I’d want due diligence, so I get it,” he adds. “What are you thinking we should do about this? Want me to talk to them?”
“I want to attempt a locator spell before we give them the news. Maybe we can find her before they hear she isn’t here.”
“Okay,” Grey readily agrees. “Lookin’ forward to seeing how that works.”
Dani turns her attention to me. “Are any of Halla’s belongings here?”
“Possibly in the trailer,” I reply. “But if you can do a locator spell successfully, can’t Halla’s family do one as well?”
“They’ve never met her, so while it’s possible, it might be more fruitful if we do it because of your connection with her as well as the fact we can use some of her belongings. But Aphra Starling has been missing for five years and none of their spells worked to find her. Their coven leader says they’ve been worried about her. They’ve never met Halla, didn’t know she existed, and are anxious to meet her.”
“Whoa,” I say.
“Vivi sensed some dissent there. If Aphra put a block to stop her coven from finding her, that block might extend to her daughter.”
“Oh no,” I say. “Aphra never told me about her family, her life before Wyatt took her. I don’t even know how Wyatt wound up with her. He never said and I never asked.”
Dani says, “I’d like to do two spells. Look for your brother as well as Halla. They might not be in the same location. Greyson, you can help. Stacy, if you could see if you can find me some of Halla’s belongings we can give it a whirl?”
“Sure.”
Grey pipes up, “Let me walk Stace to the trailer to fetch that stuff first, Dani, yeah? Riley’s brother Brody is there with his newly identified and unclaimed mate so it’s… delicate.”
***
“Why are things delicate here? Is Addy okay?” I ask as Grey and I walk down to the trailer.
“You smell Brody’s claiming scent yet?” he asks.
“I don’t know what that would smell like, but I don’t think so.”
“When it happens we’ll all smell it and know just what we’re smellin’. He hasn’t claimed her yet because she’s been through a lot, obviously. While I trust Brody, I’m not sending you into a den where a wolf shifter has been waiting almost a day to claim his mate for the first time. Where he’s holding his temper being pissed at what she’s recently been through. Brody’s someone I’m tight with, someone I trust. But as your mate and protector I won’t ever put you in front of an alpha fighting off the rutting urge.”
“Eek,” I whisper.
“Yeah, Blossom. Eek.”
“I hope he’s as kind and gentle with her as you were with me.”
His eyes warm for me and he grabs my hand and squeezes it affectionately as we continue walking. But I’m feeling troubled for Addy, wanting to put her mind at ease if at all possible.
“Not to worry, babe. This is Brody we’re talking about. He’s a Savage.”
“Pun unintended? Because… well… not sure that makes me feel better. Tyson Savage kidnapped Ivy and he has a track record of getting pretty extreme about… mating. And I heard about Riley Savage and Erica’s mating from your sister and it sounds like…” I put up air quotes with my fingers, “Savages” I drop my fingers “can get pretty … uh… savage in the mating department.”
He tips his head in a way that shows I’m making a good point.
“Then again, it’s not just the Savage family, is it?” I add. “Because Bailey said Mason walked up to Amelia at the gas station and kissed her, then kidnapped her and brought her home to claim her. Then you and I both know you carried me out of that cell to your house to claim me, almost getting into a fight with the alphas on your council, deciding to wait because I was scared, then very creatively claimed me a few hours later anyway.”
“Ended the runnin’ away were doin’, though, didn’t it?” he asks, mischief filling his features as he lifts my hand to his mouth and kisses it.
I beam a smile at him. “Sure did. But me sneaking off aside, I suspect the Arcana Falls extra alpha alphas have a difficult time with a lowkey claiming.”
Grey throws his head back and laughs. “Good point.”
And it’s good to see him laugh. So good.
He kisses the side of my head. “Love to see that smile, Blossom. That dimple. Don’t see enough of it.”
“I was just thinking the same about you. Haven’t seen enough of yours in the past couple days.”
“Yeah, well, things have been a little…crazed.” Darkness clouds his expression.
“Understatement. Are you nervous about the Starling coven?” I ask.
“Not particularly,” he replies. “We did nothing wrong.”
“I’m worried about Halla,” I admit. “She’s a beautiful, sweet little girl. We all got really close to her. I hope she’s okay.”