Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Hmm, thought Riley, apparently she hadn’t wiped off all the mascara after all. “I know, which means I need to go shower.” At that moment her cell began chiming again. “I’ll meet you guys in the kitchen soon, okay?”
Dexter gave a reluctant nod, and she ruffled his mop of blond curls before turning away.
Tao watched Riley quickly retreat into the bathroom. He’d like to stick around and eavesdrop on her call. Instead he turned to the kids looking up at him. Savannah’s gold, unblinking eyes were staring at him steadily. The impish viper shifter might be only four, but she was a fearless little thing. She also considered him the enemy, which was kind of understandable. He hadn’t been what anyone would call welcoming when they first arrived.
It wasn’t that he didn’t like kids. Tao had worried that they might hurt the Alpha pair’s son, Kye—especially since Dexter not only was a cheetah cub but could already partially shift. But the kids had quickly grown on Tao and, honestly, he felt like a bastard for initially being such an ass toward them.
Clearing his throat, Tao said, “Morning.”
The cub pulled a crumbling half of a cookie out of his pocket and held it out. Dexter was a hoarder, so heaven only knew how long that cookie had been in his pocket. Still, Tao took it to be polite. “Thanks, little man.”
Dexter just nodded; he didn’t say much in general. Unlike Savannah, the two-year-old had warmed up to Tao.
“Why are you in Riley’s room?” asked Savannah suspiciously, cocking her head and making her little caramel pigtails bounce. She was mightily protective of Riley.
“I just needed to talk to her about something. Why don’t you go wait for her in the kitchen? I’ll bet Grace has made your breakfast by now.” But Savannah continued staring at him, her gaze unblinking. “I’m not going to hurt Riley.”
“You growl at her. And you do it a lot.” Her little nose wrinkled. “That’s mean.”
“Only because she purposely drives me . . . You know what? Never mind. Let’s just go have breakfast. Riley won’t be long.”
Tao hustled them out of the room, closing the door behind them. Shooting him one last suspicious look, Savannah took Dexter’s hand and walked ahead of Tao as they moved to the ladder at the end of the tunnel. Incredibly agile, the kids easily scrambled up the black metal ladder. Once on the first level, the kids then turned down the tunnel that led to the kitchen while Tao went down a separate tunnel toward his bedroom. He didn’t pass any of his pack mates along the way, which meant it was likely that they were already in the kitchen.
After taking a quick, refreshing shower and some much-needed Tylenol, Tao pulled on some clothes and made his way to the kitchen. As he entered, his stomach rumbled at the sight and smell of the delicious spread on the dining table—scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, fruit, cereal, and biscuits and gravy were among the selection. Grace, the pack’s cook and mother hen, stood at the stove while the rest of the pack sat around the table.
Sinking into a chair, Tao loaded his plate with food as he scanned the room. Riley hadn’t yet arrived, which made him frown. He saw that many of his pack mates looked as if they were suffering from serious hangovers, especially Ryan’s teenage cousin, Zac; he’d been allowed only one beer, yet the kid looked dead to the world.
Makenna in particular, who was filling Savannah’s and Dexter’s plates, seemed badly hungover with her puffy face and the bags under her eyes. She knew the kids well, since she worked at the homeless shelter where they’d stayed before coming here with Riley for sanctuary. It was only later that Tao had figured out that Riley didn’t need sanctuary at all.
Lilah, Grace and Rhett’s pup, giggled loudly and clapped at something Kye said. Pretty much everyone at the table winced at the sounds.
Jaime slapped her hands over her ears, looking close to tears. “Sound is pain.”
Dante began massaging her temples. The Beta pair were an extremely tight couple, most likely because they’d known each other since childhood. “Did you have a good birthday?” he asked Tao.
Tao nodded. “Thanks to all of you for the party and presents.”
His pack mates gave him strained smiles, with the exception of Jaime’s brother, Gabe. Leaning his head on the table, the submissive male lazily lifted his hand to acknowledge Tao’s words. He’d most likely meant to give him a thumbs-up or something, Tao couldn’t be sure.
Gabe’s mate, Hope, said, “I hope you liked the cake that Grace and I made.”
“There’s still some left,” said Greta.
Marcus’s head snapped up. “There’s cake left?” The male enforcer ate like a horse and, like his mate and fellow enforcer, Roni, he was obsessed with cake.