Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 116535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
He frowned. “I don’t want or need them to be my damn friends. I have you.”
Bailey cleared her throat with a cough. “What am I, chopped liver?”
He gave her a confused look. “We’re not friends.”
Bailey gaped. “You don’t count me as one? Seriously?”
“No.”
“God, tigers are so rude.”
“He thinks of you as family.” Aspen elbowed him. “Right, Camden?”
“No.”
Even though she knew he was kidding, Aspen swatted his arm. “Camden.”
He lifted his shoulders. “What? You want me to lie to her?”
Aspen nodded. “Yes. Yes, I do.”
He looked at Bailey. “You’re like the sister I never wanted and am glad I don’t have.”
The mamba smiled and put a hand on her chest. “Aw, thanks.”
Camden raised a brow at Aspen. “Happy?”
“Yeah,” she replied.
“Good.” He squeezed her nape. “See you at the center.” With that, he headed to his car.
Bailey’s smile turned wicked. “So, Aspen … I couldn’t help but notice the bite mark on his jawline. Or that those marks on your neck are fresh. Let me guess … he was all pumped up on battle adrenaline last night, and you guys ended up horizontal.”
As she and the mamba had pre-agreed that they’d take Aspen’s car this morning, Aspen walked toward it as she replied, “Something like that.”
Bailey gave a little clap. “This is so cool.”
“Why is it cool?”
“Because I’ve spent years watching you two try to ignore the chemistry you have. It was maddening. I was starting to think you’d never act on it. Which would have been super shit. Yeah, yeah, you’re worried this will mess up your friendship. But in my mind, it’s better that you two explore this. Life is for living. And, personally, I wouldn’t want—what is it, what’s wrong?”
Aspen squinted as she examined the door of her car. “Someone scratched the paint with a key or something. Look.”
Bailey came closer and studied it. “Does that say ‘For T?’”
Aspen’s blood ran cold, and her instincts screamed at her. She grabbed her friend’s arm and pulled her away from the vehicle. “I don’t like this. Move.”
As they both backpedaled fast, Bailey asked, “Why? What does that mean? You know what the T stands for?”
And then an explosion filled the air.
Hearing the blast, Camden swung around just as Aspen and Bailey went zooming backwards and crashed into the ground. His heart in his throat, he sprinted over to them. Aspen lifted her head and blinked hard, dazed. But Bailey didn’t move, unconscious. And the car … shit, it was engulfed in fire.
A fire that could have swallowed Aspen as well.
Fuck. His stomach bottoming, he carefully scooped her up. “You’re all right, baby, I have you.”
One of the pride rocketed to his side. “What the hell?”
“Grab Bailey,” Camden told him.
Joaquin lifted the mamba, who was still out cold. Together, he and Camden took the two females into the lobby of the complex and set them on the sofa near the window.
Camden squatted in front of a still-dazed Aspen as he examined her. She had ugly grazes here and there, and there was a fucking goose egg on the back of her head. Otherwise, she seemed fine.
No relief fluttered through him, though. No gratitude. No appreciation. Only a red-hot anger so strong it left no room for any other emotion. It squeezed his lungs, twisted his guts, and pumped through his bloodstream. He breathed through it, keeping it contained, determined to remain in control. Aspen did not need him losing his shit right then.
His cat was no calmer. His ears twisted back, the beast roared and paced and pawed at the ground. His rage fed Camden’s, making it harder for Camden to keep his cool.
Aspen looked at him blankly. “My car exploded.”
Camden clipped her hair behind her ear. “Yeah,” he gritted out, shaken by how close he’d come to losing her. Someone would pay for that. In blood.
“My car exploded,” she repeated, the haze beginning to clear from her eyes. Then it was gone, and her spine snapped straight. “I need to call Havana—”
“I called Tate,” Joaquin cut in. “The Alphas will be here soon. I also called Sam. He’s on his way down here to heal you both.”
Bailey groaned as she stirred. “Fuuuck.” She lazily straightened in her seat, prodding the back of her head. “What just happened?”
Aspen tipped her chin toward the window. “That happened.”
Bailey’s mouth dropped open as she saw the raging fire. “Holy Jesus. Thank fuck you pulled us away from the car.”
“Why did you move away from it?” Camden asked, curling his hands around Aspen’s calves.
“Someone had scrawled letters into the paint,” Aspen replied, giving him an odd look. “It said, ‘For T.’”
Sheer surprise slammed into Camden. Motherfucker. He rose to his feet, retracting his fingers like they were claws.
Bailey narrowed her eyes at him. “And clearly that means something to you.” She flicked Joaquin a brief glance and then looked at Aspen. “You’ll fill me in soon?”