Total pages in book: 254
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
But that’s what happened.
The massive black ball of fur tried to turn me into a pancake, and it wasn’t until I gasped for air in shock as I barely managed not to crack my head on the ground that I heard the “No!” Shiloh yelled after everyone else’s mix of noises. But all my lungs could do was rattle as my brain struggled to process what had just happened. It was at that point, despite my eyes watering, that I finally got to absorb the body standing over me.
Literally.
Two humongous paws were braced on either side of my head, and maybe a centimeter from my nose was a face that belonged in geographic magazines…
And the biggest wolf in the universe, who had somehow managed to survive the Ice Age or whatever time period wolves the size of the biggest horses existed, was snarling at me so deeply, so pissed, I should have been scared out of my mind.
I wasn’t.
The most intense amber gaze I’d ever seen was looking down at me. I gasped, “Freaking hell, Henri, what have you been eating? Small children? Minor deities?”
The snarling werewolf suddenly went so quiet it was like someone had unplugged him from a power outlet. He dropped into a sitting position almost immediately, right by my feet. Even his almost-terrifying mouth closed.
Just as quickly as his whole demeanor changed, the wolf turned its head over his furry shoulder. That’s when I caught it. The tiny growl I’d heard countless times, especially when it was within a foot of a raw meaty bone.
Leaning over, I gasped at the twelve-pound black puppy dangling in the air. Its jaws were clamped to the wolf’s tail, the one red eyeball that was visible was wide, and the flame on the tip of his tail was the palest shade of blue I had ever seen. My sweet little Duncan baby, my donut, my joy, my boy, growled even louder, and I’d swear I could see his jaws clamp down even more around the bone and fur in his mouth.
He was attacking the kaiju of wolves.
To protect me.
But even as my heart stuttered in fear and my brain told me to do something, the huge werewolf only stared. At Duncan. Not aggressively. Not in preparation to eat him. In a way that made me think that it didn’t know what was going on.
“Henri! What are you doing?” Matti bellowed. I was pretty sure I could hear him running over my wheezing.
The legs on either side of my feet shimmered for a fraction of a moment before the body looming over me was replaced by two work boots.
Big, human feet.
And above the double-digit-sized boots, which I’d bet were really sturdy, were long, thick legs, an upper body that could’ve created its own eclipse, and a face that… that….
The man there now was looking at me with the same intense amber eyes as before, and he was… he was….
He was holding my baby up by the scruff!
Honestly, I had no idea what came over me. Instinct? Maybe I had hit my head and wasn’t thinking clearly?
I had no clue.
All I knew was that I made an unholy noise right before I rolled onto my side, grabbed the calf right there, and bit it.
“What the hell?” I heard Matti mutter just as I sank my teeth into jeans and muscle. Hard too.
I would’ve made a mama bear proud.
“The hell—” a husky male voice above me growled just as a much younger voice cut him off.
“She saved us! That’s her baby!” I was pretty sure it was Shiloh who screeched, the voice of reason in the madness because I stopped biting the calf in front of me like it was a turkey leg at the Renaissance festival the second I heard it. Above me, the big man had moved his grip on Duncan so he had hands beneath his front legs instead of at the back of his neck.
And Duncan—bless him—was growling in the face of the werewolf man who had been ready to rip my face off seconds ago. If the growling wasn’t enough, he started whipping his head and body from side to side like he was a rabid badger trying to escape. Like he was trying to help me…?
Oh, Dunky. If this man didn’t look like he ate only the best magical organ meat on the market to keep up his size, I might have cried from how proud I was. From how this act of love, of bravery, could be enough to support me through every bad moment I ever had in my life from then on out. He was so small in comparison, and it wasn’t stopping him from putting himself at risk.
For me.
“What’s this?” the man asked slowly, clearly referring to Duncan, before tipping his head down and aiming those familiar eyes back on me. He blinked. “Who’s this?” he demanded, his tone somehow a grumbled mix between confused, irritated, and caught off guard. Mostly irritated though, I’d bet. “And what are you doing here, Matti?”