Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 73170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
He wasn’t ready, afraid of the truth being what he’s always feared. To his credit, he showed how strong he is by giving me permission to call her.
I got her number from Bailey and spoke to her on the phone a few days ago. She was glad to hear he’s alive. I haven’t told her much, definitely not about the fracturing of the relationship between Jared and his animal, but I asked her about their childhood, about their alpha, because I told her I believe Jared has repressed a lot of traumatic memories and that I want to help him through them.
She told me terrible stories about how their uncle treated Jared, how he had some of his betas do the same, tormenting him whenever Jared’s father wasn’t around. Everyone in the pack hated the bullying of a child and knew it was because Jared would likely grow to become alpha, that Michael Stone didn’t want his position threatened, especially by someone he couldn’t smell coming.
Olivia told me she vividly remembers Jared nearly drowning one winter when he was four or five years old after his uncle tripped him on the riverbank and watched him flail in the water after breaking through thin ice. The alpha forbade everyone from helping. But Jared’s sister rushed in anyway and pulled him to safety. She got a bad case of hypothermia and nearly died.
And I think that’s why Jared’s wolf doesn’t like the water. I tried, while my wolf ran with his, to coax him into a calm stream. He refused, barked at me and got as ferocious and angry as he did before the night of the amber moon. I got out of the stream and he barked at my wolf for a long time before he mounted my wolf and I took what felt like a punishment fuck. When Jared shifted to wolf the day after that, I took another run with him and he was over his anger, but barked at me when I got close to the water again, so I didn’t push my luck with the issue.
Jared has no memory of nearly drowning, nor of Ellery almost dying from hypothermia. I know one thing for certain – we are definitely naming our first daughter after his sister.
And the big revelation: Olivia told me, after I asked what happened to Jared’s mother and sister (telling her Jared knows they’re gone but doesn’t know how), that after Jared’s wolf came back the night after killing the alpha to take out more betas, that a beta named Charles decided to take the alpha position. She described this Charles as a slimy fucker who told others he was going to claim the very beautiful seventeen-year-old Ellery as his own. Ellery didn’t want his advances and fought him. Jared’s mom stepped in to help, hitting him over the head with a frying pan. Charles got enraged and killed them both. Jared’s wolf came upon that scene and killed Charles and two of three other betas who had come in during the fight. The one left lived to tell the pack what happened. Nobody else wanted to be the alpha; the remaining betas were too afraid of Jared’s wolf returning.
I held my mate close while I relayed this news to him after the phone call, which I’d had in the camper while he took a walk.
He crumbled to pieces with relief in my embrace. And then he was so angry he wanted to tear shit up, so I told him to give in to the urge to shift and we took a long run together, which seemed to help. His wolf wasn’t in a fit of rage upon arrival, but we ran together for a good long while and when he shifted back, Jared was exhausted and slept for fourteen hours. When he woke up, he smelled our child.
***
I’m mixing virgin mocktails in the blender and Jared is outside barbecuing chicken for dinner when his phone rings.
I answer it. “Hey, Linc. He’s outside at the grill. I’ll bring you out.”
“Hey, Sis. Thanks, but stay with him while I talk to him, yeah?” There’s static. It’s not a great connection.
And it also sounds like something is wrong. My belly bottoms out unpleasantly. I get out there. Jared’s eyes are on me.
“Linc’s on speaker,” I say and set the phone on our fold-out picnic table behind the tailgate grill.
“Linc? Hey,” Jared greets.
He’s smiling, happy. And I’m trying to hide my worry that something is about to change that.
“Hey bro, how goes it?” Linc asks.
Jared smiles wider. “Good, man. Really good. My woman’s pregnant.”
Jared’s eyes travel the length of me and the heat in his gaze has my knees going to jelly. He wants me again. And my body responds accordingly as I bite my lip and give him my best flirty gaze.