Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 81808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
“You call the police?”
“Of course. And they told me they were on their way out.”
I exhaled sharply.
“It’s all right, honey. You don’t have to come riding to the rescue all the time. We can take care of ourselves as well now and then.”
“I know.” I felt the tears welling up in my eyes.
“And I have always wanted to shoot these guns. They are powerful,” she went on excitedly. “Merritt, you should have seen it. They went down like a ton of bricks.”
I smiled on my end, blinking to clear my vision.
“It’s gonna be quite the Thanksgiving here today. And our feast was delivered from The Bower just like every holiday.”
I was glad to hear it.
“Come on by and see me tomorrow, all right?”
“Yes, ma’am, I will,” I promised.
“Happy Thanksgiving, honey,” she murmured and then hung up.
When I turned, Cole was there, human again, taking me into his arms. “Everyone all right at the shelter? I figured that’s who you were calling.”
“Yes, thank the goddess, everyone is fine.”
“I didn’t want you to have to make the choice between me or the––”
“It had to be you, Cole, there was no other decision to be made. But I need to have faith that people can save themselves too. It doesn’t always have to be me. Not everything is just on me.”
“No,” he agreed, lifting my chin, checking my throat, apparently having seen what Justin did to me as well. When he smoothed his hand down over my blood-covered-but-unmarked skin, he sighed deeply. “And I’m here to help you just like you’re here to help me.”
“Yes,” I husked, barely able to speak as he hugged me again, holding me tight.
Slowly, I became aware of the activity around me, easing back from Cole and looking over the scene.
Pack members had grabbed Abel, had done the same to Justin, and now he was on his knees with his son, hands tied behind his back with rope. They were all calling him a murderer, the killer of their beloved alpha, the man who had betrayed the sons of their alpha as well.
Every fleeing man had been caught. I would have tried to run too if I’d seen my alpha die. The giant green wolf had not eased their terror in the least, and now they all stared at Cole and me warily.
They surrendered their weapons, the guns and blades collected immediately by members of the Swann Pack. Working as one, supporting Cole, they marched the intruders back to where Abel was and forced them to their knees in the grass behind him.
I heard Reggie let out a scream of victory, and when I looked around, I saw him, in a beautiful spinning motion worthy of some first-rate CGI, cleave Tuss’s head from his body with a sword. It was wildly impressive, and when Reggie’s fiancée went flying into his arms, he looked like a Viking on the field of battle.
Narah was unceremoniously shoved to the ground beside her bound husband and son, tears streaming down her face.
When I heard someone call Cole’s name, I turned and saw Evan running and Ondine walking from the cabin Matthias had come from earlier.
Evan didn’t stop, didn’t even slow down, he ran right to his brother and hugged him tight, even though Cole was naked and covered in blood, dirt, and grass.
Ondine moved up beside me, and after a moment, dropped her head onto my shoulder.
“I suspect that was quite the show you put on for the alpha of the Haviland Pack,” I said softly.
“They had guns. When did wolves start carrying guns?”
“I know.”
“They had us in a reinforced concrete basement built under whichever one of the cabins it was. It’s where Abel planned to keep Evan after he gave Cole to Matthias.”
“Did the men who were holding you tell you that?”
She nodded.
I looked over at Evan. “He had to have been terrified.”
“No. He had faith in his brother, and you. It was me he was worried about.”
“Well, they were holding a gun on you.”
“It was mostly just a small space, and you know I hate those.”
“I do,” I said gently, putting my arm around her, tucking her close. “But that’s why I couldn’t detect either one of you, the thick concrete wouldn’t allow that.”
“Yes. And the men, there were three of them,” she explained, “they grabbed us before we even got to see Abel or Narah.”
Which was why I couldn’t sense a lie on either of them, because they hadn’t been. They had never seen Evan.
“There was a lot of blood on your coats.”
“Yes. Once I got my bearings—again, hard to do in a small space—I had the three see one thing, while I had Evan cover his eyes and told him not to be deceived by what he heard. They were convinced they’d gutted me.”
“Did you have Evan keep his eyes shut the whole time?”