Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 120031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
“You know this isn’t a simple hobby for me. I didn’t train this hard and long to fuck it up at the last minute and let my teammates down by not being at my best.”
Eli squeezed her nape, getting it. “All right.”
“You need to talk this over with your Alphas first and be sure they’re okay with me joining your pack.”
He snorted. “Are you kidding? They keep bugging me to ask you to move here.”
Casey suspected that was mostly because they didn’t want him moving to her territory, but it was still nice that they wanted her there, whatever the reason. “You sure they’ll be fine with it? I know Shaya’s happy for you, but sometimes I get the feeling that our mating makes her … not sad exactly, but … I don’t know, I can’t really describe it.”
Eli rubbed her thigh. “It’s not about us. You know it’s not common for true mates to recognize each other at first sight, right? Many things can block the frequency of the bond, which means some people can go a long time without sensing it. But Nick and Shaya recognized each other straight off. The thing is … Nick initially walked away from her.”
Casey blinked. “Walked … he walked away?”
“Yes. It’s a long story, which I’ll share with you another time because we’ve got a busy morning ahead of us. He did it thinking it was best for her. Months later, he realized his mistake, tracked her down, and did what was necessary to fix his fuckup. Luckily, she forgave him. You’ve seen for yourself how happy they are. But hearing that I claimed you instantly, with no hesitation whatsoever, must remind her of the simple and painful fact that he didn’t do that with her.”
“Ah. If you’d walked away from me that night, I think it would have killed something in me. I think I also might have killed you. I’m not as forgiving as Shaya.”
“You say that as if I could have walked away from you.” He cupped her jaw and breezed his thumb over her lower lip. “From the second I realized you were mine, you became the most important thing to me. I honestly don’t know where Nick found the will to stay away from Shaya. If what he told me was true, she did initially try to take his head off with a bat.”
“Can’t say I blame her. I’d have done a lot worse in her position. But then, I’m not as good a person as she is.”
Eli smoothed his hand up her back and tugged her closer. “You might be a proper badass, but you’re all soft and squishy on the inside. Don’t think I haven’t seen you passing candy to the pups when you think no one’s paying attention. Adrian told me about some of the things you take upon yourself to do for your pack mates, like checking on or doing favors for the elderly or pregnant members.” He almost smiled at her blush.
“Until you came into my life, I had spare time—it was no biggie to spend some of that time helping the more vulnerable members.”
“Soft and squishy,” he repeated in a whisper.
“Whatever.”
He chuckled. “Back to what we were talking about earlier … If you need time before moving here, I’ll give it to you, but I can’t promise I won’t grumble about it when the mood strikes me.”
“Knowing you as well as I do, I wouldn’t expect anything different.”
Eli kissed her. “Let’s tell Nick and Shaya about your decision, and then we’ll need to tell Adrian.”
“Okay.”
He smiled. “Okay.”
A short while later, Eli and Casey sat opposite the Alpha pair in Nick’s office. Eli could almost feel his brother’s relief when she revealed that she was willing to switch to their pack. He also felt Casey’s surprise when Shaya pumped her fist and hissed, “Yes!” Nick only rolled his eyes at his mate.
“We really appreciate you agreeing to join our pack, Casey,” said Shaya. “We know it can’t have been an easy decision to make, and we hope you know that we don’t just want you here so that we can keep Eli with us. You’re our family now, and family is important to us.”
Casey swallowed. “Thank you. I will be continuing to play for the Hounds—I hope you can support that.”
“It’s not a problem for us,” Nick told her, hooking his arm over the back of his mate’s chair.
“There will be times when my pack commitments might collide with my training sessions or the games themselves,” Casey pointed out.
“We’ll make it work.” Nick held up a hand, adding, “And before you say it, yes, I do know you’ll need a place in the hierarchy. Adrian told me about the skills you possess and the amount of training and experience you’ve had. He said I’d be a complete fool not to welcome you into my ranks as an enforcer. The things I’ve heard about you from Eli supports that theory. My brother’s Head Enforcer; I trust his judgement. If he says you have what it takes to be an enforcer here—and no, he wouldn’t say that simply because you’re his mate—I believe him.”