Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 137004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
“I don’t want you near her. She’s unstable. You didn’t see what my mother did to Marcus.”
“Jaime isn’t rogue.”
“She almost is. There’s not much difference between the two, trust me.” He turned to the male.
“On the count of three, Dominic. One…two…thr—”
“No!”
The wolf flinched at the noise, surprised. Her mate was there now. He was in front of her. The Alpha couldn’t reach her. Her mate had protected her. Again.
Dante had never been so damn scared in his entire fucking life. Who could have blamed Trey for attacking the wolf before she had the chance to attack his son? But Dante just couldn’t allow any harm to come to Jaime. He couldn’t. Everything inside him rebelled against it, balked at it.
“Dante, move,” gritted out Trey.
“I can’t,” he said in an agonizing whisper.
“Hey, look.” Taryn sounded surprised, intrigued, and amused all at once.
Dante turned to look at his mate, who had now hopped down from the chair. She gave Trey a disgruntled look and settled beside Hunk at the base of the crib.
“I can’t believe I never thought of it before.”
He turned back to Taryn. “What?”
“My grandmother was the same.”
“Taryn, what the hell are you talking about?” demanded Trey.
She rolled her eyes at his tone. “Our son’s a healer.”
“A healer?”
“My grandmother was a healer, but she could only heal psychological wounds. She was the only reason my father survived my mother’s death. She didn’t help me with it because the other person has to want her help, and I didn’t want help from anyone. I was too deep in grief.” Dante frowned, still a little confused. “So…Kye’s an empathic healer?”
“No, that’s different. He won’t be able to help with emotions. Only mental scars. I thought Hunk followed him around because he was being protective, but Hunk was an abused cat, right?
Clearly he’s still got a little mental trauma, and so he’s drawn to Kye. It’ll make him automatically protective of Kye, too. That was how it was for my grandmother, anyway.” For the first time in a month, optimism flowed through Dante. “You’re saying he can heal Jaime’s wolf?”
“Um…no.”
“No?”
“He’s just a baby, Dante. But clearly, Jaime’s wolf finds his presence soothing, calming. You need to take advantage of her lucidity and try to gain her trust now while she’s receptive to you.” Trey shook his head. “No chance will I let her anywhere near my son while she’s in that state.
I’m sorry, Dante, I really am, but just as you need to protect Jaime, I need to protect Kye.”
“That’s the thing, though, Flintstone—she’s not in a state anymore. If there’s one thing I can guarantee she won’t do, it’s hurt Kye. Like Hunk, she’ll be protective of him.” Trey ground his teeth, scowling at Taryn. “We can’t—”
“Zip it, Trey. If that was me needing help, you’d be singing a different tune. Do you really think I’d do anything that would put our son in danger?”
Seeming to accept her point, albeit begrudgingly, he turned back to Dante. “We’re not moving from the room, and if she tries to hurt Kye, you won’t save her from me. Understand?” Dante gave him a curt nod, though he had no intention of letting Trey harm her. He looked at the wolf and then back at Taryn. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Sit with her. Talk to her. Touch her.”
“She never wants me near her.”
“Probably because she didn’t feel safe before. You can’t expect her to feel safe when she’s in a cage—it totally negates the chance of it. I’m not judging you for it—you didn’t have a choice. She wasn’t in a state that meant you could free her. Now she is.” Still unsure and off-center, Dante scrubbed a hand down his face and inhaled deeply. Taryn was right, though: the wolf did find Kye’s presence calming. Well, that was a start.
Slowly he crouched down, expecting the black wolf to growl and warn him away from her.
She didn’t, to his utter shock. She just watched him with alert eyes, keeping her chin resting on her forelegs. Hunk, on the other hand, hissed loudly at him. Dante was so close to hating that cat.
Feeling reassured, he sat cross-legged in front of her. The wolf continued to watch him, but she didn’t move or make a sound. It was strange not being growled at after four weeks of it. “Hey.” No more words came to him, most likely because there were other people in the room. He felt awkward and stupid. But they weren’t important, he told himself. All that was important right now was his mate.
He concentrated solely on her, blocking out everything else around him. “So you got out, huh.
I’m looking forward to hearing the story behind that. I know why you still haven’t retreated. I know you still feel like you have to protect yourself and Jaime. But you don’t. Not anymore. All the danger…it’s gone. It’s all over now. And I’m right here. I’ll keep both of you safe. Jaime knows that.