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)
“But she’ll have you,” said Derren. “And you can also help her learn how to cope with the sensory overload.”
Being a Seer didn’t just entail visions. They were also highly empathetic, which could no doubt be overwhelming. Picking up emotions caused physical sensations for them; if an emotion was positive, the sensations would be pleasant. But if the emotion was negative, the sensations could be anything from uncomfortable to painful.
“Where are your mom and sister?” Ally asked Bracken.
“Sightseeing,” he replied. Bracken’s mother and younger sister had come to visit for three weeks. In Jesse’s opinion, it wasn’t so much a visit as an attempt to lure Bracken back to their old pack in Arizona. The guy’s mother, a person who disliked the majority of the population, adored her son and preferred to have him close. Bracken turned to Ally and Jesse. “Can I just say I’m sorry about my sister?”
The Seer lightly patted his back. “No need to apologize.”
“Yes, there is,” insisted Bracken. “I asked you guys to train Kim because she said she was interested in being an enforcer. I thought she meant it.”
Ally sighed. “You don’t have to be embarrassed. It’s not wrong that she doesn’t take life too seriously and wants to have fun. But there’s a flip side to all that—she’s operating on her own timeline, so she’s often late. She doesn’t like rules, so she bristles at our orders. In not taking life too seriously, she’s not taking the sessions seriously. That’s the problem.”
“And she pays a little too much attention to Jesse,” added Bracken.
Ally inclined her head. “Well, yeah.”
The whole thing grated on Jesse’s nerves. There was only one female he and his wolf wanted—a pretty little margay shifter with a will of iron and a spine of steel. Jesse knew she was in California, working at a club not far from his territory. He also knew he wasn’t going to let her leave the state. He’d hoped Harley would come to him, had waited patiently, but she hadn’t. One more week. He’d give her one more week. If she didn’t come to him, he’d go to her.
“She gets a little distracted by him,” added Ally.
“A little distracted?” repeated Bracken with a snort. “That’s an understatement.”
“All right, so she melts into a puddle of lust every time Jesse gets authoritative with her,” Ally conceded.
Jesse winced. He’d never thought of Kim that way. She was Bracken’s baby sister and had once been a friend of Jesse’s deceased true mate, so he was . . . well, not nice to her—Jesse wasn’t anyone’s definition of “nice”—but he was tolerant of her. Or, at least, he had been until she started doing irritating shit like sitting too close to him at every meal and, worse, constantly asking him for extra help with combat moves that required him to touch her. She also acted upset whenever Ally passed on any constructive criticism during training, looking to him for comfort.
Until now, Kim had never shown any interest in him. “It’s possible that she’s just trying to seduce her way into the pack by attaching herself to one of the males.” It wouldn’t be the first time a female had tried it. “I don’t mean to be disrespectful, Bracken. I just have to wonder about it.”
Bracken shrugged, unoffended. “I’d like to say she wouldn’t do something like that, but Kim lives by her own rules and I don’t know what they are. She also has it in her head that you and Ashley were once together.” Ashley was Bracken’s other sister.
Jesse jerked back. “That did not happen.” He would never fool around with his friend’s sister.
“I know that,” Bracken assured him. “Even Ashley told her that it wasn’t true. But Kim thinks it is, and she’s always been in some imaginary competition with Ashley. Even when they were kids, if Ashley had something, Kim wanted to have it too.”
“Whatever Kim’s reason is for behaving this way, I think it would be best if Eli took over for you, Jesse,” said Shaya. “Unless you think it might be best to cut Kim’s training short, Ally. It doesn’t seem important to her anyway.”
“Give her a formal warning,” Derren told Ally. “Make it clear what behaviors you find inappropriate and insist that she take the training seriously. If she wants the chance to prove herself by continuing the training, let her have it. But make her understand that she will not get another warning.”
Ally gave a slow nod. “That’s fair. And I’ll have Eli take over from Jesse.”
Sounded good to Jesse.
The sound of footsteps descending the stairs was quickly followed by Nick entering the den.
Marcus cocked his head as he studied the Alpha. “You look grumpier than usual. What’s wrong?”
Nick sat next to Shaya. “I just had a call from Hector Flynt.”
Shaya joined her hands in prayer. “Please tell me his plans for the hotel fell through.”