Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87502 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87502 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Kor gave her a disgusted look.
“What’s wrong with you people? This girl is a child.”
“She’s not—she’s nineteen this October!” Mrs. Browder exclaimed. “She’s woman enough to bear your heirs—don’t you worry about that.”
“I didn’t come here because I wanted heirs,” Kor snapped, apparently losing his patience. “I don’t want to buy your daughter and impregnate her. I’m not a pedophile or a rapist. Now will you please let me pass? Vivienne and I need to get home.”
Mrs. Browder’s face turned ugly and went from red to purple.
“Oh, so my Cynthia-Ann isn’t good enough for you, Mr. High-and-Mighty Alpha, is that it? You think you can do better with that barren old bitch your uncle used up and threw away?”
If she had been a man, I was sure Kor would have punched her. He looked like he wanted to—his jaw clenched tight, and his hand clamped down on mine in a way that was almost painful.
“Lady Vivienne is a Moon Widow who deserves your respect,” he said, and his voice had dropped to a low, menacing growl. “If you speak ill of her again, you’re going to be very, very sorry when I take over as Pack Leader. Do you understand?”
As he spoke, his chocolate brown eyes went wolf-gold, and he seemed to grow bigger somehow. I saw what looked like a shadow gathering around him—I don’t know what it was, but it wasn’t a normal Shift. It was as though the wolf inside him had another face—a more frightening one than I’d ever seen before.
This transformation was too much for Cynthia-Ann who pulled her hand from her mother’s grip with a squeal of fear and ran away as fast as she could. I saw her look over her shoulder just once, as though to make sure Kor wasn’t chasing her and then she was gone, her long braids flying out behind her.
Even Mrs. Browder looked cowed—though still angry.
“Yes, Alpha Korwyn,” she said, bowing her head unwillingly. “I understand you perfectly.”
“Good. Now leave me the fuck alone,” Kor snarled.
Mrs. Browder gave a stiff nod and stalked off, her shoulders tight with tension. Kor stood there, watching her go, a low growl rumbling deep in his chest. His eyes were wild and though I would have said he was around six foot five or six normally, now he was definitely at least seven feet tall.
What was happening to him?
Whatever it was, it wasn’t a normal Shift. I’d seen enough of those in my lifetime, being raised in the Pack and then sold to the Pack Leader. Every full moon I’d seen the men around me shed their human forms and become wolves. But there was something different about the energy I felt around Kor right now—something that wasn’t exactly a wolf, but wasn’t a man, either.
I felt a cold finger of fear trace down my spine as I looked up at him. Here was a side I hadn’t seen before—a side that wasn’t right somehow—wasn’t normal.
And yet, I felt drawn to him anyway—maybe even more than before. Despite my fear or maybe because of it, I wanted him, even though I knew I could never have him. Not really.
“Come on,” he said at last, looking down at me. “Let’s get the hell out of here before someone else offers me their daughter to rape.”
I only nodded, not knowing what to say and we headed once more to the car.
But as we walked, and he gradually looked more normal again, I wondered what it was that he had inside him and what it might look like when it came out under the full moon.
THIRTY-TWO
KOR
The ride home couldn’t have been more different than our ride into town. Vivienne was silent and withdrawn and there was a pensive look on her face that might have been a combination of guilt, sorrow, and fear. We had put the roof up and there was no music playing—just the crunch of the tires over the road.
I hoped I hadn’t scared her when that awful woman had offered me her daughter. But I just got so angry when I saw the fear on the girl’s face. It made me think of Vivienne being sold to my uncle—how he’d used her and abused her. The thought that someone might look at me and think I was capable of that same behavior enraged me—almost enough to let my Beast out.
Need to be careful, I warned myself. Letting the part of me out that even other Shifters feared would be a sure way to bring an angry mob with pitchforks and torches to the doors of Wolverton Manor. I had to keep better control over myself.
Things hadn’t exactly gone great at the Council meeting either—which might as well have been a town meeting, since everyone who was anyone in the Pack had been in attendance. I felt bad about the way I had handled things.