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)
Sensing Harley’s mood darken, Jesse slid his hand around her nape. His wolf pushed against his skin, wanting to rub up against her. “Feel free to leave without us,” he told their visitors. “Harley and I will catch up.” The words were pleasant but the “fuck off” was clear in his tone.
Shawn looked about to argue, but then he took in the sight of all the Mercury wolves closing in and seemed to think better of it. He inclined his head. “Fine.” He urged a sullen Lily to a small and particularly shabby motor home. Within moments, they were gone.
No one spoke, as if at a loss for what to say. Then Roni whistled. “Wow. And I thought my mom was embarrassing.”
“We can go see Clive another day if you want,” Jesse told Harley.
She inhaled deeply. “I’d rather just get it over with.”
“All right.”
“Zander and Bracken will follow you there,” said Nick. “It’ll be better to have two vehicles in case someone tries to strike at you.”
Zander rubbed at his jaw. “Lily is more exhausting than I remember.”
Harley gave a wan smile. “Yeah, she’s actually more pleasant when she’s drunk. Go figure.”
“I don’t get the feeling that you’re as close to Shawn as he seems to think,” said Shaya.
“I’m not.” Never had been.
“Should we expect your family to show up soon?” Marcus asked Jesse.
“No.”
Ally’s brow furrowed. “You don’t think they’ll find out?”
“They’ll find out. But they won’t call me or visit me—they’ll give me the silent treatment as a passive-aggressive way of communicating their displeasure.”
Shaya rolled her eyes. “Families can be so dumb.”
As if to back her up on that, Bracken’s family drove past them. Nat gave a regal wave, and Kim pointedly ignored them all.
As everyone walked back to the main lodge, Harley dragged her heels a little so that she could speak to Jesse without being overheard. “You really think your parents will give you the silent treatment?”
“Yes, even though they know I don’t give a fuck if they approve or not,” he replied. “I never sought their approval for anything.”
Confused, she said, “They always seemed good to you.”
“They’re not bad parents or bad people. But my mother is every inch the demanding ‘I want things my way’ person that I am now. She considers herself the family matriarch and thinks all decisions should be run by her. Part of her respects me for not bowing down to her, but the other part of her is angry that I ‘defy’ her.”
“But you’re not defying her. You’re just being you.”
He smiled, liking just how well she got him. “You’re right. But in her mind, if I do something she doesn’t approve of I’ve done it to spite her or to punish her or to annoy her.” He was used to it at this point. “A side effect of being so dominant is that you can start to believe you know what’s best for everyone.” He was guilty of that sometimes.
“What about your father? Is he submissive?”
“No, but he might as well be.” Jesse sighed. “My mother is more much dominant than him, and that’s changed him. It’s not that she bullies him or uses it against him. In fact, she treated him as an equal right up until he stopped acting like one. He simply folded under the weight of all that dominance. When they argue, he backs down. When she wants something, he gives it to her. If she asks him to do something, he does it without question. Not because he wants to behave that way, but because he doesn’t have any fight in him.”
“That’s not a healthy relationship.”
“No, it’s not. She doesn’t like it. She doesn’t want a meek servant; she wants a strong male who is her equal. But he just folded under the weight of her personality until he was a shadow of his former self.” He squeezed Harley’s hand. “That’s not something I’ll ever have to worry about with you.” Which was essential to him, because if his mate couldn’t push back, he’d destroy something inside her . . . and that wasn’t something he’d be able to live with.
Clive Vincent didn’t look like a killer, Jesse thought. In fact, he was the epitome of average. Average height, average weight, average looks. The kind of person who could easily blend in and not stick out in a person’s memory . . . if it weren’t for those brutally cold gray eyes. They remained locked on his daughter as she and Jesse entered the small box room and took seats opposite him.
There were four guards, which was a little excessive in Jesse’s opinion. All of them watched Clive carefully. It wasn’t just that they appeared to fear him. It was that they also didn’t seem to quite trust how the visitation would go.
It occurred to Jesse that they could be worried how Clive would react to the presence of his only daughter’s mate. Well, up to this point, he still had yet to acknowledge him. Jesse didn’t get the feeling that the wolf was being rude. It was more that he simply didn’t find him significant . . . as if Jesse was interchangeable to him. For the moment, Harley held all his attention.