Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 138217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
This is what happens when you don’t follow orders, Theodora.
“You’re dead,” she muttered vengefully under her breath. “Blown to so many pieces they had to scrape you up.”
“Who’s that?” asked the bear with preternatural hearing.
“My dear departed grandfather.”
Yakov snorted from where he was on his haunches unscrewing a plate off the wall. “Sarcasm suits you, Thela.”
Grinning—though it was likely a terrifying twist of the lips, complete with bared teeth—she continued on with her search, while Yakov worked with predator silence in another section of the room.
Every so often, she’d find herself in a position from where she could watch him—the flex of his thighs, the muscle of his shoulders, those fascinating veins on his forearms, the frown lines that formed between his eyebrows when he was concentrating, it all compelled her . . . aroused her.
Her breasts suddenly felt swollen, the skin too sensitive, the fabric of her bra an abrasion.
But it wasn’t only how Yakov moved, the warm hue of his skin, the rich silk of his hair. It was the lines in his cheeks that said he laughed often and the sparkle in his eyes when he was amused. How he didn’t condemn her for the rage within. How he’d lain quiescent and allowed her to caress his bear.
She could never imagine this man becoming cold and angry and distant.
Bears don’t do that shit. We’d rather punch someone full in the face than go about trying to be stealthy and sneaky.
“Yasha?” She loved how that affectionate diminutive sounded on her tongue.
Concentrating hard on whatever he was doing, he just made a “Hmm?” sound in return.
“When you were small, did you ever go to bed mad at your twin?”
“No. We just stayed up fighting until our papa or mama came in to tell us to go to sleep. And then we fought in whispers until we figured out which one of us was wrong and needed to apologize.”
A grin thrown over his shoulder, her favorite dimples on full display. “It wasn’t until we were much older that we realized our parents could probably hear the whispering. They were either too exhausted to be bothered by it—or they decided to leave us at it. Conflict resolution. Bear style.”
Theo swallowed.
No, Yakov wouldn’t fight with silence or distance. He’d stand toe-to-toe with her and demand they have it out. After his answer about his twin, she was certain he’d refuse to move until they worked out the problem, a literal wall of stubborn, immobile bear.
Another woman might’ve found that overwhelming or aggravating in the extreme, an affront to her need for space to process her emotions, but Theo wasn’t that woman. Her chest constricted at the idea of having a man like Yakov in her life, a person who’d never make her guess at his emotions, or who’d threaten to shut her away from his warmth as a punishment. If he committed, he’d commit.
One hundred and twenty percent.
Until it drove her crazy . . . but made her feel safe down to the bone.
Wanting that so much it hurt, she made herself remember why she was here, the answers she didn’t know. Because she might yet discover that she’d sold out the lives of others in order to earn her grandfather’s approval.
If she had, it wouldn’t matter how much the idea sickened her now. She’d still have to pay the price of her evil, and part of that price would be to sentence herself to a life without joy. Especially when it came to a bear with a laugh that dug into her shattered and scarred heart and made itself at home.
Throat tight, she began to check the set of narrow drawers beside a patient bed.
Nothing.
And more nothing.
Until, at last, they moved on to the next room.
1976
Handwritten message from Bien Nguyen to Déwei Nguyen (3 May 1976)
Son,
I drove to the den to tell you this news in person, but your alpha says that you’re out deep in the territory with Marian, with no plans to return for a week. She’s promised me she’ll hand-deliver this letter to you as fast as she can, and assured me that no one else will read it.
I must trust her, because you have to know the terrible news.
Kanoa died by suicide two days ago. We’re only just hearing about it because your sister suffered a severe psychic break on finding him and was taken to the hospital, where she was put under sedation. It took the authorities in Hanoi this long to find our information and contact us. With Hien having just moved employers, no one seemed to have her emergency contact information on hand.
We don’t know too much yet. We hadn’t spoken to Hien for a few days, as she and Kanoa were having a little vacation break at home to recover from the move, and who wants their parents to intrude on that? We were happy for them. Things were going well, with none of the concerns of early last year.