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)
Her brows knitted together, and determination steeled her expression. “I hate this.”
“I know. But you knew this would happen eventually. When you need to break us apart, do it. Do not give a warning, and do not try to coach either of us out of the darkness. You break it apart, hard and brutal, and start healing immediately, okay?”
The breath left her in a gush. “I really hate this.”
“I know.” He squeezed her upper arms as Tristan and Brochan stepped closer. He lowered his voice, for their ears only, as Drex conferred with his people. “I have more power, but he has a lot of access to his beast. He’ll lean in hard and lose himself quickly, but I won’t be far behind. It’ll probably be a grisly battle. Jess, remember what we talked about. You need to let it go long enough for there to be a victor but not until death. This one might be close, and it is going to take all your power to tear us apart. You need to allow enough time to do that. Remember?”
Her power started to pump, blanketing the wood and everyone in it. The resident shifters all stiffened and looked over. Jess didn’t notice. Her focus was on Austin. She stepped back without a word and shifted into her gargoyle. If she needed to get physical while she applied her magic, she’d be hardier in that form.
Austin turned and exploded into his polar bear form.
4
Sebastian
“Anyone need a beer?” Niamh called, bringing out the ugliest cooler he’d seen in a while. It was a vintage model from the seventies and showing its age. From all appearances, it had been kicked around for decades.
“What do I do?” Sebastian asked in sudden panic as Drex handed his muumuu to the man at his side. There was a burst of light and heat, and Drex shifted into the largest Kodiak bear Sebastian had ever seen, slightly shorter than Austin’s polar bear but more muscled, similar to their natural counterparts. Austin would be taller when on his hindlegs, but not enough to make a difference. This beast would give Austin trouble.
Laying a hand on Sebastian’s shoulder, Broken Sue stepped to his side. “Stay close to Jessie, if you can,” he told Sebastian. “Follow her lead. If she has trouble separating them with magic, jump in and help but do what you can to prevent her from physically engaging in the fight.”
“I’m not going to be sucked in and have to fight her after this, am I?” he asked, allowing Broken Sue to herd him closer to the circle being formed by the resident pack. They’d all shifted into human form, dwarfed by the two huge bears.
“No, this is between the alphas.”
Well, that was good news, at least.
“I’m Vessa, the beta of the Stonefang pack,” the woman wearing a sleek pantsuit and large diamond earrings said from the other side of the circle. “I, with the help of Dan”—she nodded to the man in the tailored suit— “usually shift to help end the fight, often with help from others. We’ve never overseen a fight of this magnitude, however, or with powerful magical workers waiting in the wings. We don’t wish to cause alarm by shifting or give the impression that we’re attacking, but we need to provide the protection our alpha is accustomed to.”
“Shift, if you like,” Broken Sue growled, “but Jessie will handle it.”
He didn’t offer any other information or give the other beta further notice, a huge slight in the mage world. Then again, Broken Sue never really cared about such things or spared the feelings of anyone outside his circle.
Vessa looked at Dan for a silent beat before they disrobed and shifted into their respective animals, a cheetah and a timber wolf. No one else from their pack returned to their animals. Broken Sue and Tristan stayed as they were.
“Hey,” Nessa said, bounding up with a beer. She sported a gleaming smile. Nothing ever phased her, even two massive animals with a crapload of power about to rumble on a dirt road in the middle of ass-crack nowhere where Sebastian would somehow have to keep Jessie out of the fight.
He’d get sucked into it, he knew he would. He always seemed to, somehow, and then he’d scream in front of all these strangers as Austin Steele barreled down on him. It wouldn’t be the first time, and he vividly remembered the last.
“Want one?” Nessa indicated the beer. “Niamh is passing them out like party favors. Too bad Edgar isn’t here to wrap it in a doily.”
Sebastian grabbed Nessa’s arm and threaded through the widening circle after Broken Sue. Jessie stood just behind Austin in her gargoyle form, waves of shimmering pinky-purple light shedding from her rough skin. Her wings were delicately tucked against her back, and none of the resident shifters could seem to avoid looking at her for long.