Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 94234 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94234 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Bell’s eyes glazed over as his smile broadened, a hint of fang peeking out from under his full top lip. “How’d you…?”
“That night you arrived, when Wolf first bit you, he ran away embarrassed, burying himself deep inside me, leaving me to deal with the backlash. I was humiliated, to say the least. I wanted to crawl into a cave and hide in shame. Worst part is it happened in front of everyone. There was no more hiding, my façade was exposed. All the years I’d worn a mask of stability and strength when I was actually a huge mess of confusion inside. My disguise had been ripped off, but Justice wouldn’t allow me to run, too. He made me go to you and apologize. But before I had to take that walk of shame I heard you make that quiet confession to Wick, and it gave me that last ounce of courage I needed to come face you. I was scared shitless that you hated me already.”
Bell knew that it was Alek speaking. He smiled faintly, remembering how shocked and shaken Alek had been after the whole ordeal that fateful night. Bell stared deeper into Alek’s mesmerizing eyes. An ocean of blue surrounded by electrifying reds and oranges. So beautiful. This was his mate. Now all the pieces of the puzzle were there and aligning, allowing him to see the entire picture.
“Believe me now?”
“I do,” Bell whispered. His throat still felt sore, but it was getting better. Starving for blood was like swallowing fiberglass.
“So, can I finish cleaning you now?” Alek smirked.
Bell nodded, spreading his arms and resting them against the warm stones. He leaned his head back and tried to put all the negative thoughts of the feud to the back of his mind and focus on the healing Alek was providing. The water was so tranquil and relaxing, it was as if he had his very own hot tub in the secluded forest during an English winter. It was amazing to watch Alek’s strong body ignite the way it had, to feel the effects of his heat on the bank where he’d sat. His beloved had controlled a god’s power right there before him. A feat never seen before in their lifetime.
“I can’t believe he’s really in there.” He was sure Alek could hear the wonder in his weak voice. “Wrath. He’s not…”
Alek lovingly went about his job of cleaning him and conversing as if he hadn’t just done something spectacular. “Yeah, I know. He’s not supposed to be here on Earth. He’s been confined to the Underworld for like ever. But, the Mother—in her grand design—saw fit to remove him and place him right here.” Alek lifted Bell’s hand and laid it in the middle of his chest. “And when she did, she made us one, but… we rebelled.”
“But why’d the Mother choose Wrath?” Bell asked, softly stroking the wet tuft of hair in the center of Alek’s pecs.
Alek looked at the sky as if he was praying for the answer to Bell’s question. “To assist in the prophesy. To keep the Mother’s shifters safe from the ultimate threat.”
“From being conquered?”
Alek’s mouth was in a tight line when he replied stiffly, “Yes. My father was the great conqueror. Our lineage comes from the first dawn wolf, the original shifter. Descendants of conquerors. But, when my mother died, my father all but faded into a shell of a man. His wolf, once so powerful the ground shook when he ran, became severely depressed. No one had dared challenge him during his reign, but no one wanted to, either. He was adored by all the packs. There was no discord among us and we thrived from one coast to the other. Then in a matter of minutes, it all changed.”
Bell could see the anguish all over Alek’s handsome face. He’d listen intently to learn about his beloved, but if he had to stop—because it became too much—he wouldn’t press him.
“We were all visiting with another prominent pack in the Cherokee Forest that was celebrating something… I don’t know—a true-mating maybe—I can’t really remember. But we’d been on a run that night, my father leading about fifty of us, when suddenly we were ambushed by hunters. It felt like they appeared out of nowhere. We think their camouflage clothing must’ve been sprayed with some kind of chemical or natural pheromones, because we didn’t smell them until it was too late. We defended hard, trying to protect the women and pups. What seemed like hours of fighting for our lives probably only lasted ten minutes. I was fighting alongside Justice when I saw my mother leap in front of a bullet for him.” Alek took a deep breath. His hands were still moving over Bell’s body, but he was hardly paying attention to the bathing, riveted to the story of the Volkov history.