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)
After a moment, Justin replied, “Your terms are agreeable.”
“I want to see signed, notarized documents of transfer, do you understand?”
“I do.”
“You will not stay a moment more on this land, and you will need to find other accommodations away from here for this evening.”
Both Justin and Narah nodded.
“Reggie will watch over you tomorrow, and I never want to see either one of you again.” His gaze went to Justin then. “For what you attempted to do to my mate, I could have your head, but to take a son from his mother is grievous, as my mate stands strong beside me.”
Justin shivered but said nothing.
“No amount of apologies would be enough for me, or this pack, from any of you, so we won’t hear excuses. Instead I order your banishment from the Swann Pack for all time. You will go by your mother’s maiden name going forward.”
Cole turned away from them and looked at the men from the Haviland Pack, seated in the grass. “Who speaks for you?”
One raised his hand, and Cole nodded for him to go ahead.
“I’m Rafe Haviland, nephew of Matthias, cousin of Tuss.”
“Are there any mates at home who will grieve the loss of your alpha and his son?”
“No, Alpha.”
“Will you take your dead with you?”
“We will not. You’ve freed us. I will return and take over the Haviland Pack, release all the women gathered in preparation for our return with you, and find a new direction for the pack that does not include murder, conspiracy, or subjugation, either within our pack or outside of it.”
Cole nodded. “Then we will care for your dead.”
“We thank you, and vow that no one from my pack will ever return here.”
“Keep that promise.”
“We will.”
“Go in peace.”
The men got up, many unsteady or needing help from their pack mates, and trudged across the lawn toward the road, where they’d left the cars they came in.
When Cole turned to me, he smiled for a moment, and then his brows furrowed. “Your eyes are glowing.”
“I know, and I’m sorry, but Abel Swann can never leave here. For all that he’s done, I can’t allow it.” I breathed out. “It’s impossible.”
“I know,” he assured me, “there’s no other way it can be.”
“He needs to come with me to the grove, because what Evan said was right. Sometimes, the only atonement is through blood.”
He nodded.
“I need everyone in the main house. You as well,” I told him.
“No,” he said, and I heard the low rumble of his wolf. “I am the alpha, and you are my mate. I go everywhere you go.”
I couldn’t argue.
He turned to his new pack then.
“First, we need to move these men, as well as the three in the cabin, up the hill to Merritt’s land. Once that’s done, we will all have our Thanksgiving feast together in the house, and I will explain to you all what I intend for our pack going forward, the close family group that I want to create with all of your help.”
As several men came forward to follow Cole’s order, Narah leaned close to Abel, tried to smile, and kissed him softly on the cheek. Then she stood up and moved around him to stand next to her still-seated son.
Justin did the same—leaned close, kissed his father’s cheek, said that he would always love him, then rose with Narah’s help.
For his part, Abel looked from one to the other, then stared down at the grass between his knees.
Reggie walked over to them and untied Justin’s hands, and Narah took her son’s arm and led him toward the house. They had to pack enough for the evening. When Reggie followed them, Helene joined him, taking his good arm. Even though he was healing quickly, she was still careful. I liked seeing that she wasn’t letting Reggie out of her sight, not trusting Narah and Justin alone with him. She would be a wonderful mate for him.
Cole walked over to Abel, dragged him to his feet, and started walking him up the hill toward my property.
“It was good of you not to beg your mate and son to help you,” Cole told him as we walked.
“I don’t want them killed as well.”
“I wouldn’t kill them. Justin’s power has been taken, so he can’t influence anyone anymore, and he’ll have the funds to take Narah far from here. Perhaps the two of them can go to Santa Monica and live near Oonagh. That would be nice for them.”
“Yes,” Abel agreed and then caught his breath. “How can you kill me when I protected you from a fiend?”
“You didn’t protect me,” Cole told him. “You forgot about me completely in your bloodlust to kill my father.”
“You can’t believe everything Matthias said.”
“Matthias spoke the truth,” I told Abel. “And even if I didn’t know that, couldn’t taste the veracity of his words, I would believe him, because at that point, he had no reason to lie. He thought, when he was talking to Cole, that he held all the cards. He thought his men had gutted Ondine, that Evan had watched, and that if Cole didn’t leave with them, he’d kill his brother.”