Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 140412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 702(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 468(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 702(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 468(@300wpm)
“No.” I laugh softly. “They could probably get all of this cleared up by next weekend.”
He smiles. “There she is.”
I raise a questioning eyebrow.
“My mate.” He bumps his fist lightly under my chin. “The woman who hasn’t balked at a challenge yet.”
I look away. “We don’t have much time. You should go pack.”
“You should rest,” he argues.
I shake my head. “No. I’m not going to run off to the wilderness without a change of clothes. Multiple changes of clothes, actually. I doubt there’s a washer and a dryer.”
“I’ll help you,” he says, standing and retrieving my largest bag. “Just tell me what you need.”
“I need you to go pack your own stuff,” I say with a tired laugh.
“I don’t have any flannel, so I doubt there’s anything appropriate for me to bring along.” He disappears into my closet with the bag and calls back, “How many evening gowns do you think you’ll need when you’re being ripped apart by polar bears? Or can we skip those?”
I laugh and cover my face with my hand, then get to my feet.
In the parking area behind the private entrance to the residence, I hug Tara, Ryan, and Hannah.
“I’m leaving you in charge of the royal office while I’m gone,” Nathan tells Ryan.
Sputtering at his sudden, serious promotion, Ryan assures him, “I will do whatever is asked of me, Your Majesty.”
“There will be times we can’t communicate safely. During those times, I trust you to make decisions in my absence that will protect and sustain this pack.” Nathan puts his hand out for Ryan to shake.
And instead, Ryan drops to one knee and kisses the royal ring.
“Oh my god,” Hannah mutters in embarrassment.
But hey, it’s not like Ryan is as used to be around Nathan as Hannah is. To Ryan, Nathan is still the king, not a friend’s mate.
“I don’t know if this is safe. You, pregnant, going out into the wilderness. What if something goes wrong?” Hannah asks as I power down my phone and hand it over to her. We can’t take any devices with us; they’re too easy to track.
I’ve been trying not to think about that, but I can’t think of a reasonable alternative. “What if I stay and someone bites off my other hand?”
“Good point,” she says, tears shining in her eyes as she goes in for another hug.
“Everything is going to be fine,” Tara reassures me. Before, it would have been Clare’s job to make sure Tara and I hold it together, but now, Tara and I just have to lie to each other.
“It will be.” It’s going to have to be. “Xiao is going to bring letters back, when she does a supply drop. We’ll be in touch. It just won’t be as immediately in touch.”
“We survived five years apart. A few months is nothing.” She throws her arms around me one last time.
Well, I hope just the last time for now.
“Your Majesties?” Xiao prompts us as she shuts the trunk. “We should move.”
“Right.” We wanted to be out before sunup. “Okay, guys.” I give them all a tight smile. “Don’t fuck it up while we’re gone.”
“We’ll do everything we can to get you back, safely, before the baby comes,” Ryan promises.
“All you have to do is sit on your ass and worry about growing that baby,” Hannah adds, and I laugh, but I have to look away before they see my tears.
Nathan and I slide into the backseat of the car—not our usual royal sedan, but a generic four-door family car that won’t garner any attention on our way out of the city.
I think about Ashton’s warning to me about the pack’s control of the police and fear slices through my heart. What if they’re waiting for us? What if they know our plan?
“We’ll drive to Moosonee. There’s a plane we can take around Hudson Bay. I can put it down right in the lake by the cabin; no track in or out,” Xiao briefs us.
“You can fly a plane?” I’m impressed.
“A small one, yeah.” Her eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror. “I’ve got you, Your Majesty.”
I give her a close-mouthed smile and look away as she steers the car down the drive. The towers and gargoyles of Aconitum Hall watch us go, and I watch back, all the way to the gate.
Nathan squeezes my hand. “We’ll be back.”
Will we? We’ll be far from home, under the protection of people who have worked with our enemies for millennia. People who put a spell on us, who are using us as tools to bring about a hopefully metaphorical apocalypse. We will rely on thralls for food, for safety, for shelter, all the things we thought we provided to them.
Every werewolf in the world has believed that simply being in our magical presence was enough payment for the class who serve us. We gave them access to our homes, our lives, our secrets.