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)
“What?” Sue asked, crawling toward Ivy House now.
She didn’t comment, having thought she’d been perfectly still.
“What?” he pushed, echoing her from earlier in the day.
She sighed and then told him.
He parked in front of the house and sat for a minute. “You are an incredible blend of two amazing alphas, Aurora. They are yin and yang, but they have blended in you. Aljoe saw that immediately. He is dedicating a lot of time to your training because he sees your limitless potential. If you trust nothing else in life, trust that. Trust in yourself. When it’s time to choose your placement, you will choose what fits you best, not the other way around.”
She clasped her fingers in her lap, not knowing how to explain what his words meant to her. Not sure how to express her gratitude, knowing she’d repeat those words to herself over and over in times of doubt.
He inclined his head, and she knew she didn’t have to. He read it in her body language, and for once, she was thankful she couldn’t hide the finer details from him.
“How much do you bet Jessie is going to be underdressed?” he asked, opening his door.
And just like that, the heaviness of the previous moment evaporated. She smiled, thankful for that, too.
“Nessa talked to her. She said she was very specific. Jessie knows the dress code.”
“I know. Hundred bucks?”
“You’re on.”
7
Jessie
“Why is Niamh here?” I asked as I adjusted my earring. I could feel her in the main sitting room, one of the few we collectively used. We needed to do something with the other ones but had opted to wait until after the conclave.
“Don’t know.” Austin finished fixing his hair before kissing me on the cheek and heading into the bedroom. He wore a white button-up, with three buttons open to show the beginning of his pecs, and jeans that were somewhat more fashionable than mine.
“Do you think I should put on other jeans? These are more dressed down than yours.”
“I think they’re fine. You look great,” he called.
My red top had a bit of inlaid sparkle to it—a dressy sort of casual to fit Nessa’s criteria—and plunged down toward my cleavage. A trio of dainty gold necklaces draped across the exposed skin, and diamond studs adorned my ears. To complete the ensemble, leather boots with pointed toes peeked out from under the cuffs of my jeans.
Mr. Tom was in the kitchen, working on dinner. It was probably why Niamh was allowed to hang out without being pestered to move along before our guests arrived. Surprisingly, he also hadn’t come up to pester me to ensure my outfit matched the brief.
Then again, it was stylish/dressy casual attire. It wasn’t that big of a stretch from normal.
Austin was at the dresser, choosing which watch to wear. I opened my mouth to tell him I was going down, but twinges of unease filtered in through my various connections. For the feeling to pull me out of my daily life meant they were stronger than normal.
I paused, my hand on the door, seeing if the emotional load would increase. That would usually mean danger or an issue.
“You good?” Austin half turned to me.
Instead, the feeling dimmed, if not totally slipping away.
“Yeah.” I patted the doorframe. “I’ll meet you down there.”
“Yup. I won’t be long.”
The hall was quiet, all the doors closed. Ulric and Jasper were in their rooms. Hollace and Cyra currently flew over the town and beyond, checking over the patrols as they made their rounds. Edgar was sitting in the middle of the wood, doing God knew what.
None of them would be attending the dinner tonight, this not being an official meeting. We’d decided that something informal would be fitting in case the sisters had jet lag, and also to introduce the team that would be helping to style them for the conclave. Tonight we’d all dress down, and tomorrow we’d have a formal dinner in one of Austin’s restaurants, where we’d show them the glitz and glamour befitting a high-profile situation.
I wondered how the sisters would react to our eclectic crew. Aljoe said they were open-minded and mostly easygoing…but that was for shifters. Aljoe was starting over with us on the heels of living in a dirty camp, skating along rock bottom. He basically took what he could get. I didn’t have high hopes that he was correct in his assessment.
Which made this smaller, mostly “normal” crew tonight a good way for the sisters to get their feet wet.
Nessa and Sebastian were in separate rooms, using the facilities so they didn’t have to go all the way home to freshen up. They could do dressy casual in their sleep.
“Hey.” I walked into the sitting room. Niamh sat in the recliner, flicking through a magazine. She had a beer next to her on the end table, sitting on a doily. “You know Aljoe and them are coming over now-ish, right?”