Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 116662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
“Yes.” Isaiah rested a hand high on her upper arm. “He acted alone; only had a getaway driver with him. Both of them are dead now, and their vehicle is on fire.” One of the enforcers had dumped it in an isolated spot far from here before setting it alight.
Havana went to speak, but then her phone rang, and she scrambled to answer it.
Isaiah turned back to his mate. “You’re good?” he asked, lightly palming the side of her head and breezing his thumb over her now healed graze.
“Helena came.” Quinley fisted his long-sleeved tee. “You’re not hurt?”
He shook his head. “I wasn’t part of the struggle to capture Tommaso. Other enforcers nabbed him before I got there. He was the one who shot your cat.”
“Bastard,” she tossed out.
Havana stood upright, pocketing her phone, and then clapped twice. “Right, Frick and Frack, time to go.”
Like that, the two brawling animals went still.
“Now,” pressed Havana.
When the animals hurried over to their prospective piles of clothes, Isaiah again turned to Quinley. “I noticed the front door took some bullets. Not the window, though. Either they guessed our security is so tight it’d be bulletproof or they somehow learned of it.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” said Quinley.
“Why does your snake hate my bearcat so much?” Aspen demanded of Bailey, both females now almost fully dressed—they only needed to slip on their shoes.
“There’s no hate,” objected the mamba. “Just love. The purest, purest love.”
“I have more puncture wounds than a goddamn pin cushion,” Aspen bit off.
Bailey inched up her chin. “Blame Havana.”
“Why would I do that?”
“She didn’t tell my snake to stop.”
Aspen all but jammed her foot in her sneaker. “Havana shouldn’t have to. You should have told your mamba to stop.”
Bailey flicked out her hand. “I don’t interfere in her business; she doesn’t interfere in mine. That’s how we roll.”
“Roll. Differently.”
“Why?”
“All right, enough,” Havana cut in. “It’s time to go, so let’s get gone.”
Her faux fur ankle boots now on, Bailey turned to Isaiah. “I dug the bullet out of your wall. I’d give it to you as like, you know, a memento or whatever. But Aspen’s bearcat stole it and shoved it down my snake’s throat. She barfed it back up pretty quick, thankfully. Quinley then trashed it.”
“Unnecessary story.” Aspen shoved the mamba aside and beamed up at Isaiah. “Congratulations on the start of the imprinting process, by the way.”
Bailey’s lit up. “Ooh, yeah, congrats!”
Havana smiled. “We’re thrilled for you.”
He looked at each of the three females. “Don’t say anything of it to anyone.”
“We would never,” Bailey assured him.
“Ever, ever,” Aspen added, tugging on her other sneaker.
Havana gave a solemn nod. “It’s your news to deliver.”
Isaiah sighed, sensing … “You’ve already told people, haven’t you?”
Aspen pulled a face, sheepish. “Only Blair.”
“And Elle,” said Bailey.
Havana cleared her throat. “And Bree. Oh, and—”
“Go,” he told them, pointing at the door.
All three said quick goodbyes to Quinley as they melted out of the room and then promptly disappeared out of the house.
Rolling his shoulders, he let out a long breath and refocused on his mate. “Come here,” he coaxed, opening his arms.
She all but fell into them, her own arms winding around his waist.
He held her close, rubbing his chin on the top of her head; needing the contact and sensing she needed it too. His cat pushed against his skin in an effort to be closer to her.
“I was worried you’d get shot the moment you went outside,” she said against his chest. “I thought maybe the shooter was trying to lure you out of the house.”
“It wouldn’t have been Tommaso’s plan. Not when he’d be aware that we’d quickly work out his position. He needed to take a few shots and then run—plan successful or not.”
“I can’t believe he really came here, knowing the pride’s security would be stepped up and that we’d naturally be alert for a sniper. It’s reckless.”
“His pack has escaped consequences for so long it’s likely made them arrogant.”
She let her head fall back, revealing a pensive expression. “Huh. It would explain why they came after this pride in the first place. Only absolute dumbasses would target pallas cats.”
“I think the pack views it as pitting their strength against ours. The more powerful and dangerous the shifters they target, the more invulnerable they feel. But they’re not invulnerable, and they’ve forgotten that.”
“Samuele’s death should have served as a reminder.”
“It did to some extent, because the pack hasn’t tried swarming our pride. His death probably shook them a little. Then they came at me, but that didn’t work out. So they went after you, which also resulted in nothing. Each failure would have been unexpected and shook them that little bit more.”
Quinley really hadn’t thought about it like that. It made sense, though. The pack weren’t accustomed to being thwarted. Bending Alphas to their will over and over, evading detection and consequences, had made them cocky. It had really only been a matter of time before they became careless.