Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 113319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
She turned away like she’d just dropped a mic, strutting past two people who’d been blatantly listening in and staring to boot. Coming to a stop in front of Austin, she took his hand and gazed adoringly up into his eyes. He bent to her, a shifter and therefore not needing a piece of jewelry to show the world where his devotion lay. His posture screamed mine and his lips touched hers softly.
“What do you say we go see what Jimmy got for Christmas?” she said.
“Sure. Lead the way.”
After they left, Aurora drifted in closer.
“Two things,” she said, finishing off the last of her food and holding the empty plate. “First, where’d Mimi go?”
“Front room with Patty,” Broken Sue said. “Next?”
Her brow quirked in a slight expression that meant bollocks to Niamh. These two were just too much work when they were together.
“Does that mean it’s go time? Was that enough of Jessie pushing back?”
Niamh pointed at Lottie, who’d moved farther into the kitchen, and Niamh could see she was speaking to Jessie’s ex. He looked a lot more haggard than he had in the pictures Niamh had seen. The man clearly wasn’t aging well.
“Look at the state of that woman,” Niamh murmured. “She’s all flustered. I’d say that was Jessie pushing back. Green light. Let’s rule this party.”
“Right. Okay.” Aurora looked around, and her gaze finally landed on Broken Sue. “Susan? Shall we mingle?”
“Sure,” he replied, a smirk showing through his hostile expression.
“Do you know how? I’m not good at this sort of thing. Mac got the social genes. I got the…”
“Scary genes?” Niamh finished. “And what are ye on about, asking this one if he knows how to mingle? He’s bloody useless at making friends. Everyone knows that. Make the best of it. Yis go and drift that way. Ye’re both attractive and look the part. Hopefully that’ll be enough.”
“What are you going to do?” Aurora asked Niamh.
“Drift the other way and annoy people. I’ll bring the cooler.”
“And everyone knows you excel at that,” Broken Sue said.
“What are ye, Captain Obvious?” Niamh refilled her glass, refilled Broken Sue’s as well, and put the bottle away before picking up her cooler. “Or maybe I’ll hang around here. I haven’t decided yet. I need to feel things out.”
Either way, it was time to make people uncomfortable and hopefully cause havoc.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Aurora
“So…” Aurora passed Sue so she could get a drink, a white wine because it was easy, and then pointed toward the kitchen. “What do we do, do we just…go over there and stand around a little? Or…”
He glanced down at her. “You really are bad at this. Did you not talk to anyone in your pack?”
“I did, yes. Because I knew everyone in my pack, and if I didn’t, they knew me. Did you not grow up as an alpha’s kid?”
“No. I grew up as the adopted son of an older couple. I was shy and a late bloomer.”
“Ah.”
She nodded, no longer focusing on their surroundings. It wasn’t prudent to ask more, given their respective positions within the pack hierarchy, but this was a family event, so she was just gonna kinda drift along and see what he’d say. She knew he’d shut her down if she overstepped.
“So you got picked on quite a lot, then,” she surmised, taking a look around again. The setup of this house was a little odd. The kitchen was off to the left, and in it was another little, round table setup. Through a short hall of sorts to the right there was a family room out of the way, with a Christmas tree and people chatting.
They headed in that direction, meandering slowly.
“We should look friendly,” she whispered as people glanced their way. This place was busy and pretty crowded. Gazes stuck to them, and some people outright stared, but no one stepped forward like they would’ve in her dad’s pack.
“I am. I’m containing my aggression.”
That probably wasn’t going to be enough, but whatever. Judging by the body language of the people around them, they were making everyone uncomfortable just by walking around. Alpha energy for the win.
“I did get picked on, yes,” Sue said as they arrived in the living room. Jessie was sitting beside Jimmy on the couch, looking over something in his hands. “Mercilessly.”
Austin stood near her. Another woman Aurora didn’t know sat on the other side of Jimmy, with tanned skin, straight black hair, and a big smile. Mr. Tom was off to the side, watching Jimmy and the room. He took his protection duties very seriously, it seemed. Jimmy was a cool guy who was easy to hang around with, though, like Jessie, so maybe Mr. Tom just enjoyed his company.
“It wasn’t usual for a kid to get adopted into the pack,” Sue said. “We grew up in a rural place. Secluded.”