Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 109329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
She grinned. “I have been known to put someone that treated them badly down hard. Friendship is give and take.”
“Indeed,” he growled, and she wondered which stories he’d heard. Ulric and Jasper were the ship captains of the S.S. Shenanigans. There was no telling what they’d get up to. It was a riot.
She followed him out of the house and closed the door, making sure it was latched properly. It had to be for the ward to work. She always made sure to check it.
A sleek gray Range Rover waited beside the curb with gleaming tires and shining rims.
She whistled. “Are we showing off our salary, Susan?”
He used to drive a brown Honda with chipping paint, something he picked up when he’d decided to stay, not caring what it looked like, just that it worked.
“Company car.” He circled around and opened the passenger door before walking to the driver’s side. Being half feral and roaming the wilds hadn’t rubbed away his innate need to be a gentleman. “We need to show well when the other packs come. There is no wealth in the shifter world like Ivy House wealth. Austin wants to make sure they know that. It’ll cut the legs out from under the generational packs that prop themselves up by their bank accounts. Austin and Jessie will show they don’t need to play the game—they’ve already won it. It will shift focus to their goals.”
Aurora breathed in the new-car smell as she closed her door with a cush. Luxurious leather seats matched the leather on the dash. He pushed the button to start it. “Plush.”
“This will go off road if I need it.” He pulled away from the curb.
“And scratch the paint?”
The little twitch of his head said he knew it was a joke. His answer was serious, though. “If we’re besieged by mages, I don’t want to be dead in the water.”
“Truer words.”
He turned in the opposite direction as Ivy House. “We need to make a stop before dinner,” he explained.
The soft sounds of jazz played on the radio as he took a winding road toward a recently acquired farm. Jessie and Austin planned to turn it into more housing. Mimi had already gotten fast-track approval for a condo complex in another part of town and had broken ground a couple months ago. She was not one to be stopped by red tape, making it known that she would not suffer bureaucratic bullshit when providing something the community needed.
People tended to just get out of Mimi’s way.
This area would be another opportunity for housing, though they weren’t yet sure what type that might be. Probably family homes available for purchase so magical people could start putting down roots. This place would not always be a military zone.
“If they don’t have their bank accounts to prop them up, they’ll find something else,” Aurora said as Sue pulled onto an offshoot dirt road. Dusk darkened the horizon.
“It’s the thing they reach for first. As they scramble, we’ll have moved on to things that really matter. The smaller packs will rally, we think. Then, when the big, generational packs choose something else that makes them superior, we’ll cut that down, too. They don’t have anything we can’t combat. We plan to prove it…and then move on.”
Menace infused his tone. She knew Uncle Auzzie would’ve delivered that speech the same way. Probably had when they’d discussed it. They did not plan to give these alphas, sitting on inherited thrones, any leeway. Anything they thought made them better than other packs would be thrown in their faces. The convocation wasn’t about status, it was about protection and efficiency, and Uncle Auzzie was prepared to ram that message down their throats, his acceptance within their community be damned.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d guess you are taking me out here to kill me,” she said when Sue stopped beside a dying tree, split by a lightning storm at one point or another.
“How could I? You’ve proven you don’t stay down.” He pushed open his door.
“Am I following you?” she asked.
His posture seemed ambivalent, but when she got out to follow, she didn’t mistake the pride taking over. She wasn’t required to, but he applauded her for wanting to get involved.
As if I’d ever stay behind. She rolled her eyes. He clearly didn’t know her very well.
Two wolves in human form waited at the boundary line. They looked over when Sue and she emerged from the trees. A field stretched out behind them, then more trees, and finally the gradual incline of the land.
“Report,” Sue barked.
Rammi, the woman in charge of this section of the perimeter, turned to face them. “Magic.” She pointed at a spot about ten feet away. “A few hours old. Leading up to the boundary and then disappearing.”
Tingles worked up Aurora’s spine. They’d been waiting for this. Sebastian was working on combating this exact issue, working so much that he had to now be drugged to sleep by Mr. Tom.