Total pages in book: 173
Estimated words: 168701 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 844(@200wpm)___ 675(@250wpm)___ 562(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 168701 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 844(@200wpm)___ 675(@250wpm)___ 562(@300wpm)
“Nobody seeks to control her,” Aviva states, “And she’s likely mated to you because of the strength of your pack. You’re her protector. She was humbled, yes, taught the importance of balance, of following the rules. The news of her strength should not be widely shared as it would leave her vulnerable. And not only would your mate be too powerful for her maturity level if you’d mated right after she cast that spell, her location here and proximity to Greyson, also of the Young coven are factors.”
Grey straightens up in his chair and looks confused.
Lucinda interjects, “Two Young coven members mating here, linking the coven and the pack further churns up a new, large hornet’s nest of power here. You all have to be cognizant of that. Young coven: you need to direct Greyson Blackwood at the same time as guide your sister to keep both of them on the right path. If either of them veer into dark territory, it’s on you all to report them to us.”
“What the fuck?” Grey mutters.
“Greyson Blackwood has potential to be a powerful warlock,” Aviva advises. “With training he can be. He should have been the oldest of a family of at least three, which was what was in the cards for Graydon Blackwood and Soleil Young if they’d remained mated. Greyson’s mother’s actions impacted that. When Greyson mated, he inherited the powers of what would’ve gone to his unconceived siblings as well as what was stripped from his mother. Wolf shifter matings are always monumental. They’re that much more so with this pack due to the sorcery involved in forming this pack and linking its alpha males.”
Greyson looks at his father. His father says nothing, but holds his son’s stare and it’s obvious that Graydon either has very strong opinions on all of this or maybe even has some knowledge of this part of things. Though I doubt he knew he should’ve had three kids with Greyson’s mother. And I had no idea Greyson would come into his mother’s power when he mated.
“Erica,” Aviva calls out, “I would love to invite you to come to train with me at my sorceresses’ retreat in Albania. We can help you learn to-”
“No,” I reply.
All eyes cut to me.
“Absolutely not,” I continue. “I don’t trust you people as far as I can throw you. And believe me, I wanna fuckin’ throw all of you.”
“Riley,” my mate whispers with panic in her voice at the same time as Mitch says my name in a warning tone.
“Mr. Savage?” Aviva’s tone is placating. “Please understand, we only want to help. She needs help learning to not only wield but control the powers she has. And the SCC and all supernaturals could benefit greatly from her participation as well. Your soulmate is a loving and caring person, so she’ll get a lot out of this as well. She-”
“No,” I repeat. Everything in my gut tells me this.
My mate squeezes my hand.
“What sort of interference was there?” she asks Aviva and Lucinda, then turns her gaze to Mimi. “And how much of this did you know about?”
Aviva speaks. “Lyrica Young as head of your coven when you sat trial, knew everything. I don’t know if she passed it all on to Mimi. But I’m sure Lyrica at least advised Mimi of certain requirements that were not met. We’ve also asked several times for confirmation about the mating, both from Lyrica and more recently, Mimi.”
All eyes swing to Mimi as she speaks. “My sister and I raised and trained our nieces well. Erica advised that she hadn’t mated when you made us work with you to yank her out of there the way we did and as you can see by my niece’s husband’s face, this caused deep damage. We objected to everything done. I did choose to let these two mend their relationship on their own. I did as you asked when he approached me in my covenstead and asked him if they’d mated although I already knew the answer.”
“Yet you did not tell us when she decided to come here to enlighten him. She wasn’t supposed to choose when to do that.”
“Her coven chose the timing,” Mimi advises. “It was within treaty guidelines.”
“Not within sentencing guidelines, though,” Lucinda states.
“And if that means repercussions, so be it. My sister and I have taught these five well. If you take my magic, I have no doubts they’ll take care of me. But I’ve already implemented that my power will go straight to Greyson in the event of my magic being stripped. It will go to him and not to the SCC. My sister bequeathed hers to me upon her death, so if you think my niece and nephew are forces to be reckoned with now, you do not want to get on their bad side now, never mind if you take my magic and he winds up angry with you for it.”