Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 107670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
He might have spent a night in her bed, but it hadn’t meant anything to him. Not once in her life had she ever kidded herself into believing he was attainable or could ever care for her. He would always long for the mate he’d lost, which was perfectly understandable.
Even if that night had meant something to Jesse, there could never have been anything between her, a half-human female who had no wish to be in a pride or pack or anything else, and Jesse, a male shifter who was an enforcer and whose family despised her.
It was a harsh reality, but it was a reality she’d just have to live with.
Back aching, Jesse Dalton sank into the sofa after a long day of building the outdoor play area. Every single one of the thirteen adult wolves of his pack had helped build it using only natural materials. There was a fort, a tree house, swings, tree stumps, a slide, a sandpit, and log tunnels. And now everyone was relaxing in the main lodge, where the Alphas lived.
Well, “lodge” wasn’t quite the word, in Jesse’s opinion. The three-story building was more like a rustic mansion—all timber and stone and large glass dove windows. The rest of the Mercury wolves lived in smaller yet similar hunting lodges that were scattered around the vast, wooded land. The place was both wild and peaceful, and it would sing to any wolf’s soul.
“The kids loved it, didn’t they?” said Shaya, the Alpha female. She had designed the outdoor play area and was rightfully proud of it.
“They did,” agreed Eli, their Head Enforcer. A dopey-looking Labrador, Bruce, lay at his feet. “Considering we only have two pups in our pack, do you think you might have gone a little overboard?”
“Hey, if my old pack had a play area like that when I was a pup, I’d have loved it,” said Bracken. The enforcer had grown up in the same pack as Jesse and another enforcer, Zander. Their old pack was nothing like this one. The Mercury Pack was a close-knit bunch that protected their own fiercely.
Jesse, Bracken, and Zander had been Mercury wolves for over three years now. It was a small pack, but it was by no means weak—particularly since their Alpha, Nick, was powerful and dangerous.
“Cassidy’s settling in so well,” said Shaya. “Everyone at the shelter warned me that it’s often hard for kids to adjust, but Cassidy already considers this her home.”
Cassidy was a four-year-old pup the Alphas were fostering, who had been staying in a shelter for lone shifters up until eight weeks ago. A friend, Makenna, worked at the place, having once been a loner herself until she mated with a Phoenix Pack wolf—a pack that was very closely allied to Jesse’s.
Ally, the Beta female, gave a soft snort. “It’s not like she was reluctant to come with us.”
That was true. Jesse had accompanied Shaya and Ally when they went to the shelter to donate clothes. Cassidy—who they had never seen before that day—had been waiting for them with her backpack full and announced, “I’m ready to go with you now. Did you bring Willow with you?”
It turned out that Cassidy, like Ally, was a Seer. She had foreseen being fostered by the pack and was more than ready to come, eager to meet the Alpha pair’s three-year-old pup.
“Makenna was surprised that Nick was open to fostering,” said Roni, a female enforcer who was also the sister of both Nick and Eli. Roni was mated to a Phoenix Pack enforcer, Marcus. The pair acted as enforcers for both packs. “In fact, I was too.”
Jesse had been just as surprised. “He doesn’t exactly welcome outsiders.”
Shaya snickered. “He doesn’t exactly welcome insiders.” Nick was highly antisocial, which was tempered by his mate’s warm nature. As Shaya was a very compassionate and positive person, it often came as a surprise to people that she was also handy with knives and a shotgun—that was thanks to the teachings of her human, ex–Navy SEAL father.
Knowing there was a small chance that Nick would accept an outsider, Shaya had simply taken the child home. Cassidy had happily skipped into the main lodge and chatted to a confused Nick like she’d known him for years. The Alpha male had just sort of stared at her, totally bemused.
“I’m glad Nick was okay with it,” began Ally, “because I wouldn’t have had the heart to take her back to the shelter.”
Derren, the Beta male, leaned into Ally and nuzzled her neck. “And you like the idea of being around and tutoring another Seer.”
Ally smiled at him. “Of course. She’s a good student. Bright. Tries hard. She just needs help vocalizing what she’s foreseen. It’s hard for a child’s mind to translate an adult situation. I only had someone to guide me for a little while.”