Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33372 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 167(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33372 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 167(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Karina had made him stumble. Now, he wanted her. He’d do anything for her pack, as he would for his own.
“That we look cute together. We’re going to make gorgeous babies.” She blushed and he couldn’t help but smile. “You know, that kind of stuff.”
He wasn’t going to tell her that some of them were spiteful. If they ever hurt his woman, he’d deal with them, but for now, he wanted Karina to relax. The whispering stopped and Karina did eventually relax.
“I guess we better order,” Karina said.
“Yes, you already told me how amazing lunch is, so why don’t you tell me what will be good for dinner?” he asked.
Karina’s face was bright red. He couldn’t recall ever seeing a pack woman blush. Taking a deep breath, he inhaled her scent and even that was sweet cinnamon. His favorite.
“I think the spaghetti and meatballs. They’re winners, if that’s what you’re looking for?” she asked.
“Then I guess I’ll order.” He glanced around and saw there were no waitresses.
“I’m the only one that kind of acts like a waitress here,” she said, wincing as she did. “I can take your order.”
“No, I’ll go and deal with our orders.” He winked at her and then made his way up toward the counter.
He didn’t have to wait too long before another woman came toward him, took his order, and then smiled at him. “Treat her right,” she said.
“I will.”
There was no name tag, but Rage figured he’d get accustomed to the people who mattered to Karina.
Stepping back to the table, Karina once again looked nervous. He reached across the table and took her hand, locking their fingers together.
“Relax.”
“You keep saying that and it doesn’t actually help.”
“Tell me about yourself,” he said, wanting to distract her.
She took a deep breath and then gave a small chuckle. “I think it would be a lot more exciting if you told me about yourself.”
He raised a brow.
“Think about it, you pretty much know my history.” She gave a shrug. “The youngest daughter to the pack alpha, completely human, works everywhere and anywhere.”
“Tell me about that?” he asked.
“About what?”
“Why you work everywhere and anywhere?”
She nibbled her lip and then shrugged. “Okay, ugh, it’s not that complicated. I think to be honest, the pack didn’t know what to do with me. You know the drill. I get sick and injured, and then there’s the fear that I could potentially kill myself. Yeah, there is a thing there. No one wanted to hire me, so no one would. In the end, I hated feeling like I couldn’t help, so one day, I just helped. You know, I came here and saw the mess on the tables, and started to clean it. For some of the couples with the kids that were being a little unruly, I served them and helped where I could. The same for helping at the school. I started reading to the kids to help calm them down before their parents came to pick them up.”
“You made yourself available.”
“Yeah, but I think I prefer to think of it as useful.”
He loved her smile and knew he would do whatever it took to see her always smiling.
Chapter Five
Several Days Later
“And that didn’t terrify you?” Karina asked.
“Nah, what was there to terrify me?”
“I don’t know, being asked to leave, even though it was politely, I’d still be worried with the whole threat of going rogue, and I hear it’s quite an irritation,” she said, trying to make light of it.
“I didn’t have any parents. I was found by an elderly wolf couple, and they knew I was a wolf.” He shrugged. “It’s rare for wolves to abandon their children, but it does happen. No one could have anticipated that I’d be an alpha, and for those alphas, it’s common knowledge that they must either submit to the ruling of another alpha, or go and find their own way.”
“So you went and found your own way.”
“Some of the pack left with me,” Rage said. “So I kind of left with a small pack.”
“People left with you?” For the last couple of days, Karina had spent a great deal of time with Rage.
From the moment she went down to breakfast, he was there and waiting, and until she went to bed. He was there. He’d joined them for breakfast and he took her for lunch. Dinner was either at the diner or at her parents’ place, seeing as she still lived there.
Rage and his pack were currently staying at a small bed-and-breakfast on the outskirts of town. The pack sometimes rented it to tourists or people just passing through. This time, it was all for Rage’s pack.
“Yeah, people left with me. Some of them didn’t want to be under the old alpha’s rule, and others wanted a fresh start. You know the drill.”