Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 126030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
“In this, as with the convocation, I think you and Jessie are uniquely suited to see it through,” he finally said, shaking his head. “You deal with chaos and danger on the regular. Sue took me through the town on the way here. You’re primed, and you already seem to handle a lot of power.” He blew out a breath. “Well, I’m on hand to help, as I’ve said.” He held up a finger. “I’m not going back on my word. I’m not joining a pack. I am joining the Ivy House crew and corresponding convocation.”
“It’s the details,” Austin said with a grin. It slipped away slowly. “I’m sure you know that this is…beyond helpful. This’ll push us forward an incredible amount. Your help is a blessing I never would’ve dreamed of. This is all highly unexpected.”
“For myself, included. Yours and Tristan’s teams are inspiring. You’ve done incredible things with them. But Jessie’s team is special. Odd. Horribly so. But very special. I find that I fit in there, and I’ve been told it’s the beginning of the end for me because of it.”
Austin laughed. “Very likely.”
“I’ll independently talk to Jessie about all this, of course, but I know she’ll say yes. She’s gone out of her way to help me. I see now why Sue and Tristan think she is the glue. Because she is.”
“Yes. I couldn’t do any of this without her.”
“No, you couldn’t. What is it Jessie keeps saying as a mantra? If we can help, we should. She’s right. And this time I don’t have to do it on my own. It’ll be nice to join a team rather than create and lead one for once, I’m not going to lie. I would like to ask a favor, though.”
Austin sipped his drink and waited, still prepared to offer the world.
“My sisters are too…humble, apparently. I hear you know your way around being a showy bastard. They might need your help. I was always more focused on being a scary bastard. I never really worried about flaunting my money and looking like a peacock. My sisters didn’t get any training on that front.”
“I know something about that, definitely.” He laughed. “I was the black sheep younger brother, after all. Nessa and Sebastian are also excellent. Tristan. We have a few divas in this outfit.”
John smirked. “I’d appreciate it.” He nodded and started to rise but hesitated. He clearly didn’t want to, finding himself just as relaxed as Austin was.
“Please.” Austin gestured at the plate. “Have a sandwich. Mr. Tom would be all too happy to give you abuse about it while he brings in another couple.”
John laughed gratefully. “I’ll take you up on that, thanks. Despite the house’s antics this place is comfortable. I might take Jessie up on staying here for a while. There’s obviously plenty of room.”
“Plenty, yes. She’d be happy to have you. She likes to make sure people are fitting in.”
“The glue,” John murmured with a little smile.
Later that night, with Jess sleeping soundly and the darkness laying heavy across the backyard of Ivy House, Austin sat at the little table in their room and called his brother.
“This better be urgent,” Kingsley answered in a sleepy voice.
“You will never believe who has just moved into Ivy House.” He was going to let John declare himself on his own terms, but some things you had to share with family just to make them real. “You’re sworn to secrecy.”
He heard the shuffle of the phone as Kingsley moved around.
“Who I shared a meal with in the little study,” Austin continued. “Who I talked about pack politics with and who I am bringing into our crew as a specialized unit.”
“Who?” Kingsley asked. “It better be someone good after all this build-up.”
He paused for a moment. Butterflies filled his stomach. “Yazanth Golden Fang.”
The silence stretched. And stretched.
“Fuck off,” Kingsley finally said. “No way. No way! Are you serious? It’s really him?”
“The legend in the flesh.”
“I studied everything that guy did. I owe a lot of my early enforcer strategy to him. And you shared a meal with him?” The breath went out of Kingsley. “Unreal. How did this all come about? I heard he was exiled, though that didn’t make much sense. That he was dead, too, but no body ever turned up, obviously, so that was highly suspect.”
“I heard of a rogue, went to offer him a place to live, and that ferocious beast came bursting out of the trees. Jesus, Kingsley, the stories don’t do him justice. I had a moment of panic before I got my senses together. He has a…way about him. People gravitate to him.”
“Power?”
“A little less than mine. I could take him, but it would be a knock-down, bloody, ear-detaching sort of fight. He’d give me a run for my money. He is what we’ve always heard.”