Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 113406 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 454(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113406 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 454(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Unable to argue that, he instead said, “Tell me about the sows.”
“You haven’t given me your agreement. This situation is different, yes, since the sows struck at you. I’ll tell you what you need to know, and you can discuss it with your pack. Not that you’ll need to—Dawn intends to call your Alphas tonight. But on future occasions, you’ll need to keep the matter to yourself, hang back, and let her deal with it as she sees fit.” Madisyn spooned more ice cream, her eyes on his. “Can I trust you to do that?”
“You can always trust me.”
“Which doesn’t answer my question.”
A muscle in his cheek ticked. “If you ever tell me anything in confidence, I will never share it with others,” he promised. “And unless it would put you in direct danger, I will heed Dawn on shelter matters.”
Knowing that was the best deal she’d get, Madisyn nodded. “The sows are part of the Maverick Clan. They’re from Philly, and they pose as an MC.”
“I’ve heard of them. Haven’t heard good things. What do they have to do with the shelter?”
“They’re looking for someone who used to stay there. Daisy. They believe I know where she is, which I do. The Alpha wants her badly. When I wasn’t inclined to share Daisy’s location with the sows, they felt the need to communicate their displeasure about that.”
“And who is Daisy to the Alpha? Someone he wants for a mate?”
She shook her head. “Someone he wanted to snatch from another bear clan as an exertion of his clan’s dominance over theirs.”
Bracken stilled with his spoon halfway to his mouth. “What?”
“Each new Maverick Alpha takes a female from the clans under their control. The guy’s not looking for her because he cares for her. He’s doing it because her getting away makes him look weak. It could give the others the idea of rebelling or fleeing, and he needs to nip that in the bud. Going back home with her will make a point that running away is pointless.”
Disgusted by the clan’s behavior, Bracken felt his mouth tighten. “You’re right—going back home without the female will weaken him. An Alpha can’t show weakness around predators if he intends to maintain control. They won’t just drop this and return to Philly.” He pointed his spoon at her, insisting, “If any of them turn up here or at the shelter, you call me.”
“If they come at me again, they’ll be off solid food for six fucking months.”
Bracken’s mouth twitched. “Yeah, I don’t doubt that you can deal with the sows just fine. But this isn’t a simple case of Madisyn versus some bears. They hurt you. They drew blood. Instead of accepting defeat, they crashed their fucking car into me. My pack will never let that go, and the Phoenix Pack are just as pissed about the whole thing. If any of the clan shows up—and they will—you don’t try to deal with them alone. You call me.”
Understanding the situation was a lot bigger than she’d realized, she relented. “Fine.”
Bracken gave a satisfied nod, relieved she hadn’t fought him on it. She was so used to dealing with things on her own that calling on anyone for anything would be a big adjustment. “I know Taryn and Trey offered you a place in their pack. You turned it down. Why?”
“You’re full of questions tonight.”
“This is how two people get to know each other.” And Bracken wanted to know every single thing there was to know about his little cat. Wanted to know her better than anyone else ever had or could. “Why would you want to go it alone? Why would you want the risks that come with being a loner?”
“It only sounds odd to you because you grew up in a pack. I’ve always been a loner.”
“When you mentioned your parents last night, you talked about them in the past tense. What happened to them?”
Dropping her spoon into the empty bowl, she swallowed. “Plane crash.”
“How old were you?”
“Twelve. I was on an overseas school trip, so they decided to go on a trip of their own and . . .” She rubbed her arm. “When it landed, the plane exploded on impact. No one survived.”
Their deaths had left a huge void, especially as the loss was so sudden. Returning from a trip to hear that her parents were dead had taught her that nothing was certain, that things could be taken from you in the blink of an eye. Losing her parents took away a little of her innocence and made her look at the world differently. It no longer felt like a secure place. She never bothered to consider the future, because she’d learned that one’s path could change so drastically so very fast.
For a long time, she’d thought it was better to hold back from people than to love them—then it wouldn’t hurt so bad if she lost them. As such, she’d doubted her ability to form healthy relationships, but that had changed, thanks to her friendship with Makenna and Dawn. Still, she had a habit of keeping people at bay even though a feeling of incompleteness taunted her. She knew she wouldn’t be able to do that with Bracken. Knew he wouldn’t allow it. It both scared and comforted her.