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)
“You should take one, too. It would make things a lot more pleasant between us,” I said, adjusting my seat so that I was comfortable again, my groin over his hardness, my body draped around his. Hadriel was fun and funny and I enjoyed riding with him, but this just felt so fucking good. If only I’d liked this guy, nothing in the world would’ve been more pleasant. I wouldn’t have needed a relaxant at all.
“What does the drug do when taken in wolf form?” he asked, kicking his heels to the sides of the horse to get it walking again.
“I don’t know. I haven’t ever heard of someone consuming it like that. Occasionally people in the village would take it and then shift into wolf form. It negates the effect of the relaxant, which is the fail-safe for shifters.”
“Fail-safe?”
“Yeah, I bake in ways to stop the journey.”
“The journey meaning the high, correct?”
“It’s not always a high, like with this relaxant. But sure, the high. If the journey takes a sharp turn and lands you into a nightmare, you’ll want to get yourself out. The fail-safe isn’t always the same for each product. With this one, for anyone who can shift, it’s just that—shift. The effect goes away almost completely, and when you shift back it’ll be gone. That’s why there is really no point in taking it if you’re planning on shifting, like to hunt, for example. I would assume that eating it when in wolf form won’t have much of an effect at all.”
He shook his head, half twisting to try and look behind him, probably to get the reactions of his people, following behind. “I hadn’t heard about that.”
“Maybe the instructions didn’t make it to you on your high horse.”
“Drugs don’t come with instructions.”
“They do if the trader is knowledgeable in any way. Granny always passed on pertinent information about anything I made.”
“News to me.”
I quirked an eyebrow. I’d wager most of the shadow market world would be news to this guy. He was clearly a rule follower, wound tightly and always on the straight and narrow. I wondered if he ever actually lived, or if he was too busy being a good guy all the time.
Although . . . did good guys really take women hostage and then fuck the sense out of them?
“That’s all that the drug does?” he asked. “Relaxes you?”
The product’s effect started to take hold, unwinding my muscles and smoothing out the tension in my shoulders. I sighed and slunk down a little more, moving my arms to encircle his waist and resting my cheek against his shoulder.
“That’s all I know, yes.”
“No one mentioned that it would dissolve a pack bond?” one of the guys behind us asked.
I thought back to when I’d first made it and we were testing it, getting feedback from various people in the village. “People always tested it in human form. Finding out about the effects when shifting was an accident. I wouldn’t know about a pack bond. Honestly, I don’t even know if my village was a pack. Granny would’ve been the alpha, I guess, but she didn’t engage much with the village. We didn’t have a mayor or anything. No real leadership besides her.”
“You mentioned they hunted,” another guy said, the one I hadn’t been able to cleave in Granny’s cottage. “Did they all hunt together? The same people, every time?”
My muscles unwound further and a tranquil hum settled within my body. Weston’s heat enveloped me and I could feel his heartbeat, slow and steady. My thoughts were just as slow, drifting along, taking in the day, warm and pretty, the sun a buttery yellow.
“I don’t think it was the exact same every time, but always a similar grouping,” I said, letting my eyes drift shut and snuggling a little closer into Weston. “The idea of hunting has never really appealed to me, but I wanted to go along with them. They always came back so refreshed, with their hair mussed and their eyes sparkling. Energized, you know? They would always joke with each other and nudge. They did seem like they had a bond, though I’m not sure who the alpha might’ve been. They didn’t really seem to have any kind of structure. They just seemed . . . happier. Included.”
I knew my voice held the longing I felt but thanks to this product, I didn’t care.
“I’ve never taken this product under duress. It’s incredibly pleasant. Good job, me.”
“You’ll have no more of it,” Weston growled. “It’s a wonder you’re not addicted already.”
“I am not a person who forms habits out of my products. While this is nice when riding atop a handsome stranger I don’t like, it would get in the way of my being productive. The fear of failure makes me thrive. Remembering the stakes in my life keeps me producing. If I stopped caring about those things, my world would fall apart.”