Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
He hadn’t told me that.
He nodded, as though hearing my thought. “The realization shocked me. Scared me, honestly. It’s why I apologized. Why I backed off. And in the end?”
“They were impressed that the locals would help, and the basajaunak…were the basajaunak?”
“Yes, but also, in a moment with just the two of us before our final goodbyes, my brother complimented me on how I’d handled that situation. He’d been impressed that I’d allowed it. That I’d let you handle your side of things, even though it didn’t follow custom. At the time, he couldn’t believe I’d been that calm. No alpha likes to look messy on arrival like that. Our training forbids it. To do so, to look messy, makes the leadership look weak. It was only after getting to know you and your people, and seeing how you lead, and learning how incredibly effective your style of leadership is with the power amassed in your crew, that he came to respect my reactions. To him, I proved my growth as a person.”
Now I teared up for a different reason. “Why didn’t you tell me all of that?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I didn’t really believe it, or thought that if I voiced it, the shine and glimmer would wear away, and it would stop being true. But…well…”
“Here we are again.”
“Here we are again, and this time, I’m calm. Like I said, I expected it. And what I said was true—it’s better they know about your leadership now than find out as a surprise.”
“Okay, but let’s get serious. The colors of suits, fine. The extra person…sure. Hopefully, it means we can keep her, because from what I’ve heard so far, she’s invaluable.”
“Did she say I was invaluable?” Fred asked from the back. “Is that what she said? I’m eavesdropping as much as I can, but I’m no bionic woman.”
“Yes,” Mr. Tom said. “Now, shh. The miss doesn’t like to be reminded we eavesdrop.”
“Seriously,” I said to Austin, lowering my voice a little more. “Burn marks on the suit? Rips and stains? A line that looks like a snake slithering through the grass—no, I don’t have to look back to know it. It’s happening. I can feel it happening. This is on a level…”
I shook my head.
“Calm,” Austin murmured, squeezing my hand. “It’s what we have, and what we have is incredibly effective in battle. We might not show well in a line, but what we bring to the battlefield is plenty.”
He really had grown as a person, because I just couldn’t with all this. For months we’d practiced. Two months! How was getting in a line so damn difficult?
“Two people,” Austin said as we entered a square flanked by two large buildings. Each was named and featured two double doors evenly spaced apart. Above each double door was an A or B. The doors on the building to the left stood open—clearly, the place we were headed, though you wouldn’t know it from the silence. At the top of the square was a food truck serving barbecue, and off to the side was a makeshift bar. Attendants stood idly, not stoic like shifters but with nothing currently to do.
“That’s what we’re having for dinner?” I asked.
“No. That’s what the personnel will have. They’ll bring in more trucks as the meeting wears on. This is for the setup crew, probably. Only the alphas will be served dinner from the kitchens, after our discussion. The kitchens aren’t nearly enough for a full-scale dinner for all of our crew.”
“Gotcha.”
Austin slowed as we neared the first set of double doors on the left, under A. He kept hold of my hand and finally stopped just before the door. Through it, I could see most of a pack lined up at a diagonal in the back corner. Standing out front was a woman with dark skin, a loose black dress, and no shoes. I bet she didn’t have underwear, either. It would take very little time for her to change shape.
Of the Ivy House crew I could feel through the bond, the line was about as straight as it would probably get.
“Ready?” Austin asked.
“Two people?” I asked belatedly.
“Two extra people. I included Aurora,” he replied. “I want her to see what this is like, and I want her to do damage control.”
I hadn’t noticed her slipping into the line.
“Damage control?” I whispered, trying not to move my lips as we entered the huge space. The partition down the middle had been pushed away, merging areas A and B.
“For you. If something unexpected happens to me, she needs to keep you from killing everyone. She has experience jumping in front of very dangerous people. Before you ask, she volunteered for the job.”
Had she been wearing a suit? Honestly, I hadn’t even noticed. I had no idea what she was wearing.