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)
“A truck is pulling in behind his. They’re getting out and talking…. I think it might be Dominic? He’s… he’s punching in the code to open the gate,” Ema told us, the only one still paying attention to the camera. “Who is this? Where are Ani and Randall? Why would Dominic allow a stranger in? He knows he doesn’t have that authority! Where is security?”
“Ani is in town, and Randall is off along the western fence right now. There’s no way he can get back in time.” Henri’s entire body, all Viking and warrior pedigree, turned to me. His face though, had Murder Henri written all over it. “I’ll deal with Dominic, but what do you want to do about our visitor, Nina?”
What did I want to do about it?
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly, wondering what in the world Dom was thinking letting a total stranger onto the ranch. It was one thing for Fluff to have allowed the bogeymen to come and go, but even I knew how important their hierarchy was around here. And you didn’t let a stranger in unless the right person said so. Buttttt I was going to let Henri handle it. Him dealing with that asshole seemed past due to me, honestly.
Plus, I had bigger fish to worry about. A box jellyfish to be specific. “I want to tell him to screw off,” I told him, “but at the same time, I don’t really want to put in the effort either.”
But I thought about what Ilya had mentioned. How he wasn’t willing to argue with him. I didn’t see the hellhound brothers lining up to do it either, not at their ages. Franklin probably would, but….
Maybe it wasn’t official yet, but the people here were my people. At least the kids and some of the adults. Since the incident at the river with Shiloh and Pascal, the parents at the nursery had totally changed their behavior. Phoebe and her husband had brought me little things every chance they could, like fresh loaves of bread, jelly that she’d made, and even though I’d only seen him in passing after school before he was herded back to Ema’s house with Pascal where they were busy being grounded, I’d been blessed with more thank-you cards from my favorite satyr.
Every one of Pascal’s family members had either gifted me something directly or they’d left it in the kitchen. A scarf, a beautiful pendant, a painting of the village, candy…. The parents of the rest of the kids had started inviting me to their houses, offered to take Duncan. It had only taken risking my life, but it was all right. I didn’t mind.
And it was them I thought of in that moment.
If it was up to anyone to deal with an aggravated death god, it was me.
Setting my shoulders, I looked up at Henri. “Let’s go with option A. Someone needs to tell him to fuck off.”
There were two, maybe three, distinct choking sounds. At least one of them was from one of the adult hellhounds, the second may have been from Ilya, and the third was definitely from my brand-new uncle. Ema slapped him on the back, he was choking so hard.
Henri ignored them and smiled his Teasing Henri smile. “I can do that.” Right in front of my eyes, Teasing Henri turned into Great Wolf Henri. “He and I are past due for a conversation too.”
I raised my eyebrows at Mr. Protective. “Sure, but not alone. We go together,” I clarified.
That smile got slightly bigger, but he nodded.
Duncan, who had been standing with the older men, turned to us, kicked one leg back, then the other, yawning so wide.
Had I just seen a little flash of red in his mouth? It was there and gone so fast, I might have imagined it.
“Yes,” my puppy said.
“You’re coming too, Dunky?” I asked, not exactly surprised.
“Yes,” he confirmed, trotting over, setting a paw on my foot.
Henri glanced back and forth between us and said, “Let’s go.” Everyone else got a “We’ll be back.”
Franklin hustled over, fidgeting with his belt. “I have a few words for him as well,” he claimed, still looking so aggravated over the situation.
I guess we were all going. I raised my eyebrows at Henri, who seemed just as surprised as I did.
The hellhound men were smiling, even more amused than we were, from the looks of it. But they knew him from their settlement. It was Ema who was frowning in confusion. She didn’t know anything about anything, and she wasn’t going to find out right then either.
“Take your time,” the winking hellhound said as the four of us hustled out of the room, Franklin leading the way, with Henri behind him, then me and Duncan.
We were going to confront my DNA dad—a very old being who had just pitched a fit trying to get into the ranch before one of ours had let him drive on in.