Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 78069 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78069 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Macauley should’ve known they’d be in his cabin waiting for him and wanting answers. Wrath and Adres’s battle had probably woken the entire city. Macauley put his hand up to try to ward them off. “It’s all right. I’m all righ—”
“You smell awful! Like smoke. And what the hell happened to your clothes?” Anna asked as she hurried to a basket of unfolded laundry Macauley had on his sofa and threw a pair of blue sweatpants at him.
He caught it and used it to cover his junk but didn’t put them on. He needed a hot shower and five minutes alone to think.
“Was that Wrath out there tonight? We tried to come find you but Justice forbade any of the pack from going up the mountain,” Anna argued. “What the hell was that all about? We’re your betas. We should’ve been permitted to go!”
Anna was his second beta, but she acted as his first. She was fiercely protective of him and had been reprimanded more than once by Justice for jumping to Macauley’s defense, not caring who she offended. Not to mention how quick she was to show off her fighting skills.
“Did Wrath kill someone? We heard prisoners were escorted to holding cells in the war room,” Bundy said with excitement lacing his deep voice. He was twenty-four and had been waiting for a fight ever since he’d been named his beta.
“Guys, can you wait outside for me… please. I just need a minute.” Macauley rubbed at the tension building at the base of his skull.
“Alpha… are you sure we can’t—”
“He said to wait for him outside,” Anna snapped. “Now, move.”
Macauley touched his third beta, Rich, to reassure him when he walked past. He was the quieter of the three, but his wolf was anything but. “I’ll be out soon.”
Before Macauley could step into his bathroom and get the water started, his siblings’ voices all blared in his head at the same time.
“Mac, are you home?” Justice asked.
“Were you hurt, brother?” Taleb inquired next.
“We need you in the war room, Mac.”
Macauley gritted his teeth to keep from barking at his family. “I know, Justice. I’m coming. Give me a sec—”
“Are you sure you weren’t hit with one of those darts,” Farica urged, pushing her comforting energy at him.
Her soothing abilities enabled him to release the breath that’d been caught in his throat for a while and got his hot water running. His head was all over the place, and he couldn’t answer one question before another one was fired at him. Not to mention his mind was still fucked-up by Adres’s gift.
He had received a head from a horseman.
What did it mean that Adres hadn’t hesitated to kill for him? And that Macauley had liked it. His wolf had been proud to receive it.
Guys, guys, I’m fine. Yes, I’m home. No, I’m not hurt, not even a scratch. Justice, I need to take a quick shower, then I’ll be headed towards you. Macauley stepped into the shower, groaning at the high-pressured water beating against his chest. And Farica, I was not hit, I promise. If I was, I wouldn’t be talking to you now.
My gods… I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you… I wouldn’t—
He could feel her anguish, but he didn’t have the strength to console her. Instead, he told them goodbye and hurried to clear the link… meaning the conversation was over. They weren’t forceful with their communication if one of them was done talking; it could cause a splitting migraine if either of them pushed too hard.
Macauley began to wash quickly, not having the luxury of enjoying the peace and quiet as he scrubbed away caked-up dirt and grime. He continued to replay the details of the fight in his head to keep them fresh, knowing he was going to have to give a full account to his brother and the vampire king in front of their entire court.
However, all he was able to focus on was Adres’s frustrating scent… or lack thereof.
Adres had slowly allowed Macauley to smell a bit more of him than he did at their first encounter, but it wasn’t near enough to satisfy him or his wolf. The small amount he did get had been good. Really good. When Adres had permitted him to get as close as he did—so close that Macauley had felt the vampire’s cool breath on his jaw—he’d caught the scent of berries beneath the potent smell of leather and darkness.
His heart began to beat faster, and his cock got heavier, which was confusing the hell out of him. It was no secret he adored the ladies. When the female betas went into heat was one of his favorite times of the month, always being one of the first to offer his services. Never had he gotten a fucking chub from thinking of another man’s scent, so he was sticking with his original theory that Adres was someone important to him.