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)
Once Casey was ready to leave, she pulled a granola bar out of her duffel and slung the bag over her shoulder. “Bye guys,” she called out before biting into the bar.
She’d barely made it a few steps outside when Preston came prowling around the side of the building and stalked toward her, his eyes cold.
“You couldn’t have called Mallory about your news? You don’t think it’s shitty that your cousin is going to hear about your mating via gossip?”
Casey frowned. “You say that like she’ll care either way. It’s not like me and her are close or anything. If I recall correctly, I heard she’d imprinted on you through the grapevine.”
“You two might not be close, but she does care about you.”
“That’s unlikely, but whatever.”
“It’s true. And she’s going to be upset when she hears you’re leaving the pack.”
Casey’s frown deepened. “Who says I’m leaving?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, Eli Axton is a wolf, Casey. He’ll want you to transfer to his pack—wolves don’t like living amongst other breeds of shifter. He didn’t warn you about that? I’ll bet there are a lot of things he hasn’t told you. I’ve heard plenty of rumors about Axton and his pack. Some are good, but a lot are bad. Letting someone you barely know claim you … Fuck, Casey, you’re smarter than that.”
Her mink hissed. “I don’t know at what point you reached the conclusion that this is your business, but it’s not, so back the fuck off.”
A muscle in his cheek ticked. “You can’t be pissed at me forever, Casey. I’m sorry if it feels weird for you that I’m mated to your cousin now, but you should have made your peace with it at this point.”
Casey could only stare at him. “You think I’m mad that you mated Mallory? Really?” He had to be kidding. Seriously. He had to be.
“You’ve been upset with me since the day I first started dating her.”
“No, I was upset about the reason you started dating her. Mallory didn’t deserve to have you use her like that.”
“And I regret it. Believe me. I hate that there’s this big secret between me and her. Honestly, it’s a wonder the imprint bond ever fully formed. It took a while. You’re going to have the same problem with your true-mate bond.”
“Say again?”
“It’s not such a bad thing to let people in, Casey. But you’re set on keeping everyone at a distance. Look, I get it—your family isn’t worth shit, and being disowned like that would give anyone trust issues. I can understand why you stuck to shallow relationships and ruined anything that even had the possibility to become more. But how can you ever expect your mating bond to fully snap into place if you’re set on leaving everyone before they can leave you?”
Okay, that made her spine snap straight. “I don’t abandon people. I’m loyal to the people in my life. I’m there for them whenever they need me. Playing amateur psychologist doesn’t suit you.” She was a private person and found it hard to trust, sure, but she didn’t keep people at a distance or fear being disowned again.
“You never let guys get close to you. You told them it was because you were waiting for your true mate, but that was just an excuse to hold them at bay. How you expect to fully bond with Axton when you’re scared to let people in, I have no idea.”
She could only gape at him. “You really don’t know me at all, do you?” She shook her head. “I have to go, I’m starting my enforcer shift soon.”
“Casey—”
She slammed up her palm. “We’re done.” She sharply skirted around him and walked en route to her Alpha’s house.
Preston was wrong about her in so many ways. She didn’t expect people to leave her just because her parents and sister had shunned her. No. The way Casey saw it was that if they could so easily toss her aside, they’d never loved her in the first place and weren’t the kind of people she needed in her life.
She’d never been good at relationships, no. But she was so used to people treating her like an outsider that she never really knew what to do with anyone who tried getting close. At the same time, though, she’d always craved a connection with someone. Had always wanted what her grandparents had—a bond true and deep. A partner whose love and acceptance wouldn’t be conditional.
She’d fallen short of every standard her father had. Even before he’d discovered she could shift, she’d never been “enough” for him. He’d nitpicked at her constantly. In his eyes, she’d always been too much of this or too little of that. To put it simply, Ira had never seen any real value in his youngest daughter.
That had stopped hurting her a long time ago, though, because she’d come to see something else. Ira had taken such a natural dislike to her merely because he couldn’t control or manipulate her the way he could her sister and mother. He resented Casey’s strength. Resented her. It was Sherryl who’d pointed that out.