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)
Nick swore. “Fine.”
“Run me through your list of other suspects, tell me about them,” said Cain.
“It’s a long list, so it could take a while.”
“I have time.”
“Dude, you really have to stop brooding.”
Eli did a slow blink and looked down at his mate, who was lying on the sofa with her head pillowed on his thigh. “I don’t brood.”
“Then what have you been doing for the past half hour?” she challenged.
“Watching TV with you.”
“You’ve been lost in your own thoughts. You didn’t even notice when I pressed mute.” She sat up and straddled him, her far-too-knowing eyes raking over his face. “Talk to me.”
He settled his hands on her hips and shrugged. “You can already sense what I’m feeling.”
“Your emotions only hint at what’s going through your mind.” She tilted her head. “The guilt you were feeling earlier is heavier now. Like a weight on your shoulders. Please tell me you’re not tormenting yourself with what could have happened earlier. That doesn’t help.”
He sighed. “I know. I know it’s senseless. But I just keep thinking that if Ally hadn’t been there at the mall—and she almost wasn’t, because Derren tried ordering her to stay behind—Cassidy would be dead right now.”
“You don’t know that for sure.”
“I do. I saw the wound. It was fatal, Casey. The bastard shot to kill. If it weren’t for Ally, my niece would be gone. She would have died in my arms.”
“But she didn’t. She’s tucked up in bed, safe and well. Because you shielded her from the other bullets and got her to safety. If you hadn’t done that, it wouldn’t have mattered that Ally was there. You didn’t fail Cassidy, Eli. Just like you didn’t fail Roni, despite what you tell yourself.”
He scrubbed a hand down his face. “Fuck, I let Roni down in too many ways to count.”
“It’s hardly your fault that you weren’t there the day those humans tried assaulting her.”
“Maybe not, but …” God, he did not want to talk about this. He really didn’t. But Zander was right that secrets could block the mating bond. What if Eli was the reason the bond was incomplete? In any case, she deserved to know everything. She’d been honest and open with him from the start; she was entitled to that same courtesy.
Eli took a deep breath. “Just before Nick left for juvie, he told me to look after Roni. I didn’t even manage to make sure she had the time and space to heal from the attack.”
“She did heal. Well, she’s about as healed as anyone who’s been through that kind of hell could be.”
“That’s mostly thanks to Marcus.” Eli slipped his hands under his mate’s shirt, needing the feel of her skin beneath his palms. “I mentioned my old Alpha, Floyd, to you.”
“You did. You said he was an asshole.”
That had been an understatement. “Floyd didn’t have a mate. He had a harem. And if someone didn’t do as he asked, he’d threaten to add one of their female relatives to his harem.”
“And he wanted you to do something for him?”
“He wanted me to duel in an illegal fighting ring. It didn’t matter to him that I was only a juvenile. He threw me in that pit over and over. Every battle was a fight to the death. There were no rules, referees, or healers. They didn’t give you weapons. Not even when you were pitted against multiple opponents.” He ground his teeth, preparing himself for the pity that would no doubt ripple down their bond. But it wasn’t an echo of pity that touched him. It was sheer rage.
“That motherfucker.” His mate looked ready to go on a killing spree.
To Eli’s shock, he almost found himself smiling. “Floyd kept Roni in the main house with him as ‘insurance,’ just as he did the relatives of others he had do ‘favors’ for him. That’s what he’d call it. A favor. He only forced the most dominant young males in the pack to fight in the ring, but it wasn’t because we were the toughest.”
“It was a twisted form of domination,” Casey guessed. “He was keeping you all in line by using your love for your relatives against you. Making you feel helpless. Making you feel powerless against him.”
Eli nodded. “I hated that I couldn’t get to her; that I couldn’t protect her.” His sister had been through enough.
“You did protect her. It can’t have been fun for her to live in his house, but I’m damn well sure that life would have been a waking nightmare for her if she’d been part of his harem. I’m just so sorry that you were put in that position, Eli.”
“Each time I fought, I hated myself and Floyd a little bit more. I tried rallying the other fighters into banding against him, but they were afraid of their loved ones being hurt. It was a relief when Nick took over and helped us fix the pack.”