Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 47519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
“Oh!” Purse clutched tightly, she scurried off the couch and over to Brian. “Who is he?” She wedged her breasts against Brian’s arm, placed her cheek on his shoulder, and blinked up at him, eyelashes batting like hummingbird wings. “I’m scared, Alpha. Stop him.”
Keith scoffed. “Girl, there’s humiliating and then there’s whatever this is. Please, do yourself a favor and stop. You’re embarrassing yourself with this Annie Wilkes impression.”
“Who’s Annie Wilkes?” Brian asked as he tried to extricate himself from Cringey’s grasp.
“You know, Annie Wilkes, from the book Misery? That superfan who’s totally obsessed with the main character so she kidnaps him, and at first, she comes across as sweet but eventually she brings out the axe and…” Keith snapped his arm in a whacking motion. “Bye-bye foot.”
Brian frowned.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Keith asked. “I didn’t write it. Blame Stephen King.”
“Uh,” Brian said.
“Alpha, help me.” Claire flung herself against Brian’s chest.
Keith looked to the side, held up two fingers, and said, “We’ll be back in two and two folks. We’re talking with Cringey Claire who is trying to flirt for what’s seemingly the first time in her life.”
“Who are you talking to?” Brian asked.
“The audience at home.”
“Keith? We are at home and there is no audience.”
“We’re at home but I was doing the Chuck Woolery thing from Love Connection.” He raised two fingers and rotated them. “Two and two. Get it?”
“Who is Chuck Woolery?”
“He was the host of Love Connection. That game show.”
Brian stared at him blankly.
“You’ve never seen Love Connection?”
He shook his head.
“Oh. I guess it is kind of old. The ladies who worked at the Alpha house watched that game show channel when I was growing up so I was introduced to the classics. Sorry you missed out.”
“Alpha, he’s scaring me.” Claire’s tone had gone from over-the-top fake to genuinely fearful.
“He’s harmless,” Brian said as he shook her off.
“He doesn’t seem harmless.”
“I have to agree with Cringey on this one,” Keith said.
She hid behind Brian.
“Claire, honey, come on out from back there and sit down,” Keith said. “I’m going to do you a favor and show you the right way to seduce a man. I’ve had no trouble getting him into bed and I didn’t have to drug him to do it. We can start with a strip tease.”
“Drug me?” Brian said. “What do you mean?”
“I’ll try not to be offended that you’re showing no interest in the strip tease offer, and that’s a question better directed at our new friend Cringey Claire.” Keith tipped his head toward her. “Claire, why were you trying to drug Alpha Berger?”
Brian looked over his shoulder at the woman still clinging to him. “Did you drug me?”
“No, Alpha, I promise!”
“Want some tea?” Keith walked toward her and held the glass out.
“I didn’t mean any harm, Alpha. I just wanted you to like me.”
“She means the naked and sweaty type of like,” Keith said as he took another step. “You know, the type of like we get up to when we’re alone.” He flicked his gaze to her and grinned menacingly. “Isn’t that right, Claire?”
“Alpha Berger, save me!”
“What did you do?” Brian shouted as he flipped around to face her.
Claire blinked once, twice, and then she turned tail and ran to the door.
“Hey!” Brian yelled.
“Let her go.”
“You said she drugged me.”
“Well, she tried to anyway,” Keith said.
“Then I need to stop her.” Brian started walking away but Keith stepped in his path.
“If we keep her here, they’ll know something’s up.”
“Who?”
“The Ruperts.”
“The Ruperts? Her ancestors are from Purple Sky but she grew up in a pack up North. Today’s her first time in this area. What does she have to do with Rupert Jackson?” Brian asked.
“I don’t know.” Keith shrugged. “That’s why we have to let her leave.” He held the tea up to his nose and sniffed. “That way they’ll make their next move and we can figure it out.”
“Stop that!” Brian put his palm over the top of the glass, blocking him.
“I’m not going to drink it. I just wanted to check if I could identify the scent.”
“If it’s poisonous, you shouldn’t inhale it.”
“It’s not that type of poison,” Keith assured him.
“How do you know?” Brian tugged the tea away.
“She poured something into the glass and sat next to it for a while before you came in. If it was transmitting some sort of killer vapor, she’d be a goner.”
Brian blinked at him a few times, took a deep breath, and then blinked again.
“I’m thinking some sort of aphrodisiac. I don’t suppose you have a lab here that can test that drink?”
Brian parted his lips, tilted his head to the side, and blinked some more.
“I’ll take that as a no.” He bit his lower lip and sighed. “Welp, that leaves us with a couple of options.”
“I have no idea what’s happening. Keith, what is happening?”