Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Hayes inhaled deeply. He hadn’t yet figured out what she meant when she said something like that because like earlier in the day, she was indicating someone had arrived before Hayes could sense them in any way.
He grabbed her chin as he approached the front door. She was in a strange trance like he’d never witnessed from her before. He wanted her full attention. “Look at me, Rylee.”
She blinked a few times and glanced around as if just then realizing where they were. Meeting his gaze, she licked her lips.
“You do not leave my side for any reason. Understood?”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“Good girl.” He hated this. His heart was racing. He finally understood how Gavin, Felix, and Damon felt when their mates behaved so unpredictably. His Little girl was shaving years off his life.
He could finally scent the arrival of their backup and opened the door. Lights were on all around the perimeter of his house. They always were.
Four wolves bounded into the clearing, one of them much larger than the others. That would be Khloe.
Hayes stepped onto the porch, holding Rylee on his hip, unwilling to put her down.
Rylee had a grip on the front of his shirt over his chest, and she fisted the cotton tighter as she twisted her head around in both directions, breathing hard.
“Talk to me, Baby girl,” he encouraged, unnerved by how focused she could get. He’d heard that Molly got like this when she was listening to her surroundings, too. Apparently Rylee had a similar reaction when focused on scents.
“Bears bounding this direction,” she murmured.
Felix shifted to human form.
Khloe turned in a slow circle. Isaac and Jayce remained in wolf form, prowling around the clearing as if expecting a fight. They growled under their breaths repeatedly.
“Lion,” Rylee whispered.
“Lion?” He didn’t mean to doubt her. Never. But it had been a long time since a lion had been spotted in this territory, and why would it be stalking their house? That wasn’t normal behavior. Plus, Rylee would have never smelled a lion in her life. How could she know their scent?
“Shifter,” Rylee added.
Hayes frowned. “Another wolf is coming, or more bears?”
She turned to face him, eyes wide. “The lion.”
He gasped. “How do you know that?”
“I have no idea. I just do. Male.”
Felix was close enough to overhear. His brow was furrowed as he held up his phone. “Molly says the bears are close. Surge and Thorn.”
“They are,” Rylee confirmed.
Hayes took her chin again. “We have no reason to doubt Surge and Thorn, but do not give the bears any more information than necessary, Little one.”
“I won’t, Daddy.”
They’d gone over these instructions before, but it was worth reiterating.
The two bears rushed into the clearing seconds later. They’d obviously come quickly. They were panting as they came to a halt, squaring off with Khloe before all three of them shifted, leaving only Isaac and Jayce in wolf form.
“What’s going on?” Hayes asked. He wanted to hear from the bears first. No small talk was necessary. Business first. Surge and Thorn had come onto Alpha Protector territory with information on several occasions. They had never done so in the middle of the night.
Surge turned toward Khloe. “You saw us coming.” He wasn’t asking.
She nodded.
“Do you know why we’re here?” Thorn questioned Khloe.
She nodded again, not giving away anything. Good girl.
Surge ran a hand through his hair and sighed. The odd abilities several recent wolf mates were popping up with had to be even more unnerving for the bear shifters than the wolves. “A pride of lions is in the area.”
Hayes nodded as if he knew more than he did. He was fucking impressed with his mate, though. “How many?”
“Not sure. We’re aware of about a dozen. They circled three of our women. Nearly scared them to death,” Surge said.
“How long ago was that?” Hayes asked.
Thorn stepped closer. “About an hour. The women were up late talking in the backyard of one of their homes. They were blindsided.”
“They didn’t scent the lions?” Felix asked. This was baffling coming from bear shifters who prided themselves on the fact that they had stronger powers than the wolves, and in fact one of their rogue members had used his masking power to prove he could sneak into the valley and kidnap without being detected.
Thorn sighed. “No.” That had to be difficult for him to admit or swallow. “No one scented them. Three men were in the house when it happened. They were unaware until the women came in to tell them.”
Hayes rubbed his girl’s back. She had her head on his shoulder now, but she was still loosely stuck in her trance, not letting her guard down.
Surge shifted his gaze to Rylee. “Your new mate has powers, too.”
Hayes nodded. “We don’t fully know what her abilities are yet,” he hedged.
“But Khloe wasn’t the only one who knew something was happening,” Thorn added, stepping closer. “Your mate knew it also.”