Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 112089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
In a moment, it was as if the sound in the bar turned back on. People started to move, and laughter and the crack of pool balls rose in a fresh chorus. I belatedly realized that all had been still and quiet a moment ago.
I turned back to Austin’s glittering eyes.
I knew that look. It matched the delighted, smug pride flowering within the bonds.
“I just made everyone watch me greet you again, didn’t I?” I said with a heating face.
A grin worked at his lips. He nodded slowly.
I leaned against the bar, suddenly exhausted. “Why didn’t you stop me? You know I hate when I do that. My stupid gargoyle is making me into a diva.”
He ran his thumb across the back of my hand. “You are my mate and the co-ruler of this territory. You should be a diva. Besides, I like when you flex your power. I wouldn’t dream of stopping you.”
I shook my head at him. “Incorrigible.”
“Yes. What can I get you?”
An hour later, Austin was finally able to get away. He walked through the bar with a stoic face and powerful yet graceful movements.
The crowd peeled away, out of his path, giving him plenty of space. Their gazes lowered. Their bodies stooped just enough to ensure he couldn’t take their postures as a challenge in any way. They were showing their deference to their alpha and my mate.
My gargoyle practically glowed with the display, humming inside of me as Austin stepped in behind our group. I ran my hand down my face, trying to breathe through the sudden desperation to get to him.
“Hey, babe,” he said.
Sebastian hopped up like he’d been goosed and cleared out of the way. “Here. Here you go, alpha.”
“We were just talkin’ about all of that,” Niamh said, exasperated, having given Sebastian a rundown on how to act near shifters. He was apparently starting to embarrass her.
“There is confidence, and then there is dealing with him,” Sebastian murmured. “When dealing with him, asserting myself will just get me killed.”
“Or at least in a world of pain.” Austin gave him a nod of thanks before pulling the seat out a little, widening the triangle into a circle. I doubted Sebastian could tell that he was joking. “I’ll stand. Have a seat.”
Austin slid his arm around the back of my chair. I leaned into his hard body, soaking in his warmth. Lost as I was to his proximity, I didn’t notice Broken Sue walking up with a glass half filled with brown liquid.
“Alpha Steele.” He looked at Austin. Then me. “Alpha Ironheart.”
I frowned at him. “Alpha Ironheart? Since when do you call me alpha?”
It was Austin that answered. “Since you annihilated your challenger yesterday, spanked a mage, and owned your place as the co-ruler of this pack. No offense, Sebastian.”
“It’s fine,” Sebastian murmured.
Broken Sue’s eyes glimmered, and it was as close as he ever came to a smile. “All due respect, alpha, but I don’t know about spanked. Sebastian’s power shocked the whole territory.” He directed his next comments to Sebastian. “I think it was your collectedness under fire that people are talking about most, though. You showed your experience. Well done. You’ve inspired confidence here.”
“Hear, hear,” Logan, a shifter who often sat near us, said quietly from the stool beside me.
Sebastian ducked his head. “Thanks. I’m in no hurry to repeat it, but thanks.”
“I get that.” Broken Sue shifted his attention to Niamh.
“I don’t need yer praise,” she told him.
“Good. I couldn’t bring myself to give it.”
Austin’s phone trilled. He reached behind and pulled it out of his back pocket, looking at the screen. A hard expression clicked onto his face as he answered the call.
“Yeah?” His eyes stared straight ahead. I felt his blast of emotion through our bonds. “Where?” He paused for another moment. “Get him to storage. We’ll be there shortly.”
He ended the call and slid his phone back into his pocket. His gaze zipped down to me. “We found a mage at the edge of the territory. He booked a room, and when asked if he was going to present himself to the territory alphas, he sneered. The hotel reception clerk called our people. When the mage went to get a bite to eat, my people joined him. He tried to attack them, but they managed to knock him out and haul him away. He’s being kept now. We need to question him.”
Sebastian let out a large sigh of what seemed like relief. His expression was lost behind his placid magical mask, though. I couldn’t get a read on his emotions.
Regardless, it didn’t really matter. An enemy was in our territory. That, or a friend who didn’t know how things worked here. This situation needed to be approached with caution.
So why was my gargoyle gearing up to approach it with violence…