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)
Sherryl swallowed and took another step back. Casey knew it wasn’t so much the threat that had rattled her, it was that Casey had dared to threaten her. Sherryl hadn’t been trying to bait her as Eli thought. No, she’d simply believed she could do whatever the fuck she liked, certain that Casey wouldn’t attack. Sherryl had been sure she had the upper hand and that possessing Casey’s secret gave her power. Now the bitch was realizing that that wasn’t so true after all.
Her mink’s muscles quivered as she glared at the other female, back arched, claws out, scraping the ground with her feet. She wanted to dive at the little bitch and rain fresh hell on her. “If you push this, Sherryl, it will only end one way,” Casey cautioned.
“Yeah, with Mallory kicking your ass,” Sherryl spat, backing up again.
“No, with you dead.”
Sherryl shot both her and Eli a snarl before pivoting on her heel and striding away.
Once they were alone, Eli slowly crossed to Casey and splayed his hand on her back. “You okay?”
She took a long breath. “Yeah.”
“I know you probably don’t want to hear this, but I have the feeling that you will have to take her down one day—and not in a way where she gets back up.”
“So do I.” Rolling her shoulders, Casey turned to face him. “But I’m going to hold out hope, however pointless it may be, that she chooses to heed what I said.”
“There’s nothing wrong with hoping.”
Casey gave his hand a little squeeze, silently thanking him for his support. “I appreciate that you stood back and let me deal with her—I know that wasn’t easy for you.” She’d sensed how hard his protective instincts had hammered at him to intervene.
“I won’t lie, baby, if she’d made even one aggressive move toward you, I’d have been on the bitch before either of you could blink. You’re thinking I never would have hurt her because she’s female. You’re wrong. I’m capable of more fucked-up things than that.”
“You don’t eat people, fuck animals, go on killing sprees, or rape and pillage—that’s good enough for me.”
“We’re back to that?”
“It would seem so,” she said, feeling her anger drain away. Just having her mate—so solid, dauntless, and unflappable—right there, filling her senses and emanating a warm yet dark protective energy, was enough to steady and soothe Casey. His supreme air of unshakable cool always rubbed off on her and settled her mink. “By the way, don’t think I don’t know you’re hard as a rock right now.”
A smile tugged at his mouth. “Watching you shoot that bitch’s shit down, owning your strength and defending our mating … I ain’t gonna lie, it was a total turn-on.”
She rolled her eyes. “You ready to go?”
“I’m ready.” He kissed her forehead, draped his arm over her shoulder, and led her toward his SUV. “Come on. I’m taking you back to my lodge so I can feed and fuss over you.”
She felt his need to cosset and take care of her; to tuck her away somewhere safe, away from Sherryl and anyone else who might threaten her. And although her highly dominant nature bristled at the thought of being mollycoddled in any way, she didn’t fight him. Knew he needed this. “What are you cooking this time?”
“You’ll see.”
As he drove them to his territory with one of his big hands splayed on her thigh, Casey found herself marveling over how quickly and effortlessly he’d become part of her everyday life. Really, he’d slotted into her world like an Eli-shaped spot had been waiting just for him to come along and fill it. Which was sort of the case.
Maybe it was because they had similar duties and responsibilities that their worlds seemed to just fit together seamlessly without disrupting the other’s schedule. Of course, she didn’t doubt that he’d take up more of her time if he could. She knew he didn’t like sharing her attention with even a soccer ball. It was kind of cute.
She also knew they needed to have a long conversation about which of them would switch packs. But each time she broached the subject, he gave her that “there’s no rush to decide” speech. She recognized it as a stalling tactic, of course. He was buying himself time, hoping he could make her fall for his territory. Her mate was sneaky that way.
She hadn’t complained, though, because he’d also done things such as work enforcer-shifts with her on her territory and explored every inch of it, getting a taste of what his life would be like if he were to switch to her pack.
Although he seemed content enough while there and she believed he’d fit in her pack just fine, one thing bothered her—if he transferred there, he wouldn’t be able to keep the position of Head Enforcer. Adrian had told her that he’d be more than happy to have Eli as an enforcer but that he couldn’t bump aside his present Head Enforcer without good reason.