Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 152666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 763(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 509(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 152666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 763(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 509(@300wpm)
There was something about him that made me want to trust him. To believe him. He was odd, no doubt, but he seemed completely genuine.
Regardless, I doubted very much I had a choice. Either I took it with him voluntarily, or the alpha would likely be brought in and force me.
As I drank it, my soft ugh of disgust couldn’t be helped. This stuff tasted like the inside of a sweaty shoe.
“Okay,” he said once I’d finished, taking the empty mug, “let’s get you up and out there. You’ll be riding with me today.”
I stood, my hands clasped as though still shackled, trying to keep my voice from showing how uncomfortable and awkward I felt. He seemed incredibly blasé about riding in close proximity, but I knew from experience how uneasy I made people. How afraid they were of catching my “affliction”.
“I should probably give you some distance,” I said. “I’ll walk.”
He turned a little sideways and narrowed his eyes dramatically at me.
“What’ve you heard?” He lowered his brow. “Who was talking, Kurt? He gets all his information from Liron, that cornholing dickface. Are you really going to trust a guy who doesn’t know which hole he’s sticking his dick into? No. Besides, that rash had nothing to do with the orgy in the woods. Well, it did, but that was because I was on hands and knees leaning over the wrong bush. When the railing from behind got a little extreme, I leaned too far down into the bush and suddenly I’m a sexual pariah. It was the plant that gave me the welts! The plant! Finley patched it up in no time. I wasn’t even contagious! Besides, it’s gone now. You have nothing to worry about.”
“I—” My brain filled with static. I blinked rapidly. “I—”
He waited patiently for me to get my thoughts together. It was not easy.
“I didn’t hear anything about you, no. I was just trying to make things easier on you.”
“Oh good, that’s a relief.” He reached out to loop his arm through mine, probably so that I wouldn’t run. I shied away and he stuck out his hands. “Look! It’s gone! Seriously, the rash is gone. It wasn’t even contagious! It was months ago. You’re blowing this way out of proportion.”
I knew my lips quirked as I struggled with the budding smile. “I believe you. We have plants like that here. No, it’s not that. It’s just—”
“Oh, my horse? Because Jenkins can take more weight, don’t worry about him. He’s a feisty stallion prepared to hold the likes of the largest dragons. You’re a waif who needs a little more nutrition in her diet and I’m lean. He can easily and comfortably hold more weight than us.”
I blew out a frustrated breath. “I know the alpha wants me watched, but I’d be a real idiot to run in the middle of the day with wolf shifters all around me. I wouldn’t get far. So I’m fine to walk. You don’t have to share air space.”
“Listen, love, I have no fucking idea what we are talking about, but I do know we are wasting time. The alpha is impatient to go and you holding things up is just going to enrage him. I do not want to deal with an enraged alpha wolf. Sure, usually I’m pretty sure he won’t lose his mind and accidentally kill me, but today he’s acting a bit manic. I don’t want to put him to the test. Get your cute little ass sashaying to the door, please. Let’s go.”
“It’s just . . .” I flinched away when he tried to loop my arm again to head to the tent flap.
Before I could spell it out—because he did not seem to be getting that I was letting him off the hook—I noticed the group of people waiting just outside the tent. They stared at me, one and all, their gazes curious or hostile, a few taking a step back as I neared.
My body had gone rigid. I could ignore this type of scrutiny in the village; it was something I’d grown used to shrugging off. But these were powerful strangers. Dangerous warriors. Their hostility made me freeze up, worried about what they’d do and reminding me of a violent past that had sent me running.
“I’m not contagious, either,” I murmured with a tight jaw, passing the onlookers by. “But I understand you wanting to keep your distance. It’s nothing new. I’ll walk.”
“Ooh, what’s this now?” Hadriel hurried to get closer. “What sort of sexual affliction did you catch, how did you get rid of it, and what were you doing when you got it? Tell me everything!”
I couldn’t get a handle on this guy. Was nothing he said ever normal?
“Not—no,” I said quickly, a wave of heat rolling over me as my mind replayed the many things I’d done with the alpha last night.