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)
I couldn’t ask for special privileges, he was saying.
“It doesn’t matter how much magic you have or who you’re descended from. It doesn’t matter what you look like. It’s nothing personal.”
He always did have a stick up his butt about rules, I remembered then.
And now he was a cop or something.
I wondered how well his uniform fit. I was pretty sure deputies had different types of clothing than police officers did. Hmm.
Both my eyebrows went up a moment later. “It doesn’t matter what I look like?” I echoed.
There was no coyness on his face when he said, matter-of-factly, “Your face has changed a lot.”
It had, but I still didn’t expect him to make a comment about it. But at the same time, I had to fight the urge to stand up straighter. Was that a backward compliment?
I should leave it alone and not pry at the comment, and I dang well knew it, but when did I ever leave things alone? So I asked, drawing my words out, “In a good way or…?”
His eyebrow moved just a little bit. “What do you think?” he replied in that steady voice that held next to no emotion in it.
I blinked, shocked at his bluntness. “Thank you?” It didn’t exactly sound like a compliment. Or an insult, for that matter. I wasn’t sure what it was, but an invitation wasn’t it either.
His gaze swept over me, and I could tell he gritted his teeth. I guess we were done talking about physical appearances. Fine by me. We could’ve been talking about a boring movie for all the emotion he was putting out talking about appearances.
Of all the things I’d inherited from my DNA parents, I would have given them all back except for my good health.
“Are you sure then? That you’re fine with us being here?” I asked. “Because if you don’t want us to join, all you have to do is say the word and we’ll figure out another option. We won’t stay where we aren’t wanted, and that includes you, Henri. I would understand.” It would hurt my feelings, and I might not want to see him for another two decades, but I would take it into consideration.
I wouldn’t beg if it was him who didn’t want us here.
“Understand what?”
“That you aren’t comfortable.” Around us, I explained silently. Or just me. Or just Duncan. It was honestly nothing short of a miracle that I didn’t have self-esteem issues with those kinds of thoughts.
Those amber irises remained level on me. “There’s nothing about either of you that could make me uncomfortable.”
He said that now.
I pressed my lips together, trying to get a read on his careful expression. “Are you positive? Because I don’t care if you hurt my feelings right now, but if you change your mind in six months, it isn’t going to just be me that will be affected by your decision.” I let the implication of who else could be hurt hang in the air between us.
His nod was slow. “I’m sure.”
It sounded sincere, but… I still wasn’t sure I totally believed it. I was going to have to take him at his word. There wasn’t much else to do. “All right.”
Duncan’s growls suddenly got a little louder. He hadn’t moved from his spot at my side, a mohawk lined his back, and those small, sharp white teeth were still very visible. Was he scared of him after what had happened?
“It’s okay, Duncan.” I reached out and pet his back. This was something else we needed to tackle. “This is Henri. He’s Matti’s cousin. He used to be my friend.” I peeked at my old “friend,” but his attention was on my puppy. “I know he was big and scary earlier, but he’s not going to hurt us.” That time when I turned to him, Henri’s eyes were on me. “Right, Fluffy?”
“Right,” he agreed.
Duncan wasn’t buying it. This man had held him up like a ritual sacrifice earlier. I stroked my donut’s back a little more, but convinced, he was not.
“It’s fine,” I tried again, stretching out with my other hand. I set it on Henri’s arm, and what a forearm it was. My fingers couldn’t wrap around it fully, not that I tried, but it was obvious. There were prominent veins along it. For being a man who could turn into a wolf, he was surprisingly not crazy hairy. “Henri’s a friend.”
Those bright red irises flicked toward me, and I took another turn petting his soft back.
“See?” I skimmed my palm up Henri’s arm toward his shoulder, over bulging biceps, and then swept it back down to his hand, cupping my fingers over them and doing it all over again. He was warm, and the rest of his muscles were just as hard as I would have imagined. He could have been a modern-day Paul Bunyan with a handsome face, if I didn’t know the truth. “It’s okay, Duncan.”