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)
She took a deep breath, and the tension seeped away from her shoulders. “You make it hard for me to stay mad at you.”
“Don’t be mad.” He brushed his nose against hers. “I messed up, but I’ll make it up to you.”
“Oh yeah? How?”
He knew his smile was nothing short of wicked. “You’ll find out when we get home.” She might not have moved in with him yet, but his lodge was still their home as far as he was concerned. “You forgive me?”
She sighed. “I guess so.”
He pulled her close and kissed her. He was just about to try luring her into leaving early, but then Shaya sidled up to him and gestured for him to go.
“Not sure why male wolves have a problem understanding that girls’ nights don’t include them, but you need to leave us to enjoy the rest of our evening,” said the redhead. “No way are we ending it early because of some cougar bitch.”
Eli frowned. “Casey was almost attacked—”
“Oh no, don’t try using that ‘all my protective instincts are telling me I have to stay close to her, it isn’t my fault’ bullshit,” said Shaya.
Damn, that was exactly what he’d meant to do. It was no surprise that she’d seen it coming—she was mated to an Alpha who was just as overprotective as Eli.
“Go on now, go patrol the club and we’ll pretend you’re not doing it just so that you can keep tabs on Casey.” Shaya looked at her. “I don’t know how you deal so well with it. Nick drives me crazy when he gets like this, which is why he never comes along to girls’ nights.”
Casey shrugged. “To be fair, Eli did warn me that he’d be clingy.”
Eli’s brows snapped together. “I said I’d be all up in your space and want more of your time and attention than I was entitled to.”
“All I heard was ‘clingy.’”
He nipped her lower lip in punishment. He wasn’t clingy, it was just that … “I waited a long time for you. I like having you close. I see no reason to fight that.”
Shaya’s expression softened. “Aw, that was sweet. But you still can’t have her back yet.” She snatched Casey’s hand and dragged her away, laughing at his growl.
Bracken and Zander crossed to him, their mouths tight and their bodies tense.
“I don’t know why they have such a problem with us sitting at their table,” said Bracken. “It’s downright unsocial. Not to mention discriminating against the male gender. And I don’t care what Madisyn says, I don’t monopolize her time. I just don’t like being excluded. I think that’s natural.”
“Gwen accused me of being unreasonable, if you can believe that.” Zander shook his head. “She’s a human in a place full of shifters. Of course I’d want to be at her side. The only saving grace is that she’ll be hammered soon—drunk sex is always fun.”
Bracken’s brows lifted. “Yeah, there is that.”
Eli hummed. Normal sex with Casey was phenomenal. Drunk sex would be out-of-this-world. “I guess we should buy them more drinks. Maybe send over a tray of shots.”
Zander pointed at him. “I like the way you think. Shots it is.”
Later that night, Eli learned that drunk sex with his mate was as outfuckingstanding as he’d anticipated.
Eli stormed into the living area of the main lodge the next morning, his fists clenched. “Do you have to be such a fucking child, Roni? Really?”
His sister didn’t even look up at him. She was busy playing a game on her phone.
Kathy sighed. “Will the pranks never end?”
“I’d say it’s unlikely,” said Marcus, who then turned to Eli. “What did she do?”
“She duct-taped a fucking air horn to the wall behind my bathroom door,” said Eli. “I got up in the night to take a piss. The door hit the horn and, fuck, the noise was a bitch.”
Roni finally looked at him. “What did you expect? You removed my showerhead and poured grape Kool-Aid in it! I was not imfuckingpressed when I had myself a purple shower.”
Kathy looked at her daughter. “Ah, so that’s why I keep smelling grapes.”
Just then, Nick strolled into the room and nodded at Eli. “You’re here. Good. Shaya wants to go to the outdoor mall to buy the pups new shoes. I want you and Zander to come with us.”
Ally sat up straight. “The mall? I am so there. I love the—”
“No fucking way,” Derren clipped.
Ally arched a brow at her mate. “This is not up for debate, sunshine. I’m going.”
He shook his head. “Not happening, baby. Malls are crowded. It would be too difficult to protect you there.”
“Protect me from what? Bar code scanners? You need to stop being so overbearing. I’m pregnant, not ill. Derren, I need to get air. Me and my wolf are going crazy being cooped up here. I love our territory, but it’s starting to feel like a prison.”