Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 21817 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 109(@200wpm)___ 87(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21817 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 109(@200wpm)___ 87(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
She clears her throat and I squeak out a ‘yes.’
“I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
My stomach drops. I nearly bend over and retch. This can’t be happening. This can’t be my life now.
What was I thinking?
I wanted adventure? Since when does adventure ever end well for anyone?
Maybe there’s a happy ending in movies and in romance books, but real life is always so different. There’s never a hot guy at the end of it, carrying you into the sunset. In real life, you end up with a weird old man like this guy who kind of looks like the Penguin from some old Batman movie.
As I’m being dragged to the exit by my charming new husband, my mind keeps going back to the man who was roaring in agony as he was thrown out. Who was that guy?
The way his warm hazel eyes felt when they were on me… It felt like the wrong man won the auction. It felt like I belonged to him. That possessive look in his eyes made me feel like I was a part of his territory. Like I was his.
“Where are we going?” I ask as Troy grabs my wrist too hard. It hurts and I try to yank my arm away, but he’s got an iron grip on it.
“I’m taking you home,” he says in a chilling voice that gives me shivers.
His four enormous guards surround us as he pulls me outside through a back door in the large tent.
I can’t go with him. If he takes me away from here, I might never be seen again. I might never get out of his clutches.
He pulls out his phone and I glance at the screen, watching as he texts someone named Sylvio to start the helicopter.
We step outside into the dark night and the cool air hits my face. I was enchanted with the gorgeous Montana mountains and the stunning scenery when we were driving in, but now, surrounded by dark wilderness, I’m scared of all the deadly creatures that may be lurking about.
I should be more scared of the dangerous creature clutching my wrist right now. This dangerous creature who is now my husband.
A helicopter at the end of a row of private jets lights up. The huge rotary blade begins to spin as I’m pulled toward it. It roars so loud that the tiny hairs on the back of my neck rise.
Only… the sound is coming from behind me.
We all turn around with a gasp as a huge bear comes charging out of the darkness, thundering forward on massive paws. Its lip is curled up in a snarl over long gleaming white teeth and its eyes… No way… It has the same possessive hazel eyes as the man in the auction. I’d recognize them anywhere. My whole body reacts to them in the same way it did before—erupting in tingles as I’m drawn to that protective stare.
Troy Novak turns to two of the guards. “Kane. Marcus. The one who brings me the severed head of that Kodiak bear gets paid double. I want to hang it over my fireplace.”
I gasp as the two men explode into roaring grizzly bears. “What the fuck?!”
They’re shifters?!
My new husband and the other two guards continue pulling me toward the helicopter as I look over my shoulder, desperately hoping that the Kodiak bear will be okay.
He charges into the two grizzly bears, colliding into them with his massive shoulders and sending them flying to the side. They don’t stay down easily though. I suck in a breath when they get to their paws and chase after him.
The smallest of the bears is the fastest. He leaps onto the Kodiak bear’s back and that allows the other to catch up. It’s a blur of brown fur as the snarling bears brawl it out.
“Stop stalling!” Troy snaps as he squeezes my wrist harder and yanks me forward.
When we arrive at the helicopter, the Kodiak bear launches the two bears off with a furious growl and charges forward. He never takes his eyes off me. He looks like he’s coming to save me, although with my luck, he’s probably starving and has his sights on the tasty girl in the cotton candy-looking dress.
Still, I’ll take my chances with the angry bear over Troy Novak any day.
One of the guards opens the door of the helicopter and waves us in. I can’t get in there. I plant my heels into the ground and slam my elbow into my new husband’s ribs.
“You bitch,” he roars as he grabs me by the back of the neck and tries to force me into the chopper. I grab onto the sides of the door and hold on. “You two! Stop that fucking bear!”
The two remaining guards yank off their shirts and then run toward the charging Kodiak bear. They each burst into grizzly bears mid-stride as I fight with Troy who’s still trying to get me into the helicopter.