Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 65871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
“That was stupid,” he snarls. “That was the stupidest thing I have ever seen. How dare you make me watch you die just days after I watched Lilly die.”
“What?”
I don’t know if it’s the adrenaline from my escape attempt, or the fact that my brain is finally starting to consider the possibility he is not lying, but something in his tone rings true.
“Are you serious? Is my mother dead?”
Alexei
The question breaks my heart. Anya is wild, unpredictable, strong, and very, very lucky. I don’t know how she survived that completely mad attempt at escape. If it weren’t for the soul-shattering realization she is finally coming to, I would punish her all over again.
“Yes, little wolf. I am sorry. Your mother was ill. She hid it from you because she did not want you to worry, but it was worse than she knew.”
Anya looks at me for a long moment. She is covered in scrapes and cuts and bruises, and she is wearing clothes that need to be washed. She is a messy little whelp and she needs to be taken care of—even more so now that she has finally understood what I have directly told her multiple times already.
She bursts into tears, a reasonable response. It gives me the chance to pick her up, put her back into the vehicle, and this time make sure the child safety locks are on. I cradle her in my lap as we continue on our way back to the house Lilly owned.
Finally, she starts to ask sensible questions.
“Who are you?”
“I was a friend of your mother’s when she was young. She called me when she found out she was very ill and asked me to find you.”
“But who are you?” Anya asks the question again.
“I am a friend,” I say. “I am a businessman, from Russia.”
“You’re an alpha,” she says. “You made my pack submit.”
“Yes, well, alphas are common,” I say. I do not want to tell her that I am the leader of the largest and most powerful pack in Russia. She has enough to worry about as it is, and this is not about me. I will ensure that she is safe and sound, and then I will go back to my life. The truth is every moment with her is eroding my self-control. I want to be deep inside her. I want to ravage her so completely her animal self comes tearing out of her and she becomes a pure and unchained version of herself.
But she is Lilly’s daughter, and Lilly did not ask me to come and fuck her only daughter. I am here to do the right thing, and the wrong thing could have consequences for the rest of our lives. I am going to keep myself in check, I am going to get this girl back into college, and I am going to return to my pack knowing that I did the right thing.
She shifts in my lap, her soft, round rear pressing against elements of my anatomy. I will myself to not get hard. I fail. I shift her on my lap so there’s less pressure on my cock, but there’s no real way to remain unaffected by her.
She is driving me absolutely mad with desire. I have to think about Lilly. I have to remind myself that I am a good alpha, and this female is too young for me to mate. She’s young enough to be my daughter. I’m here to protect and guide her, and nothing else.
My cock twitches.
I suppress my urges.
The drive takes well over a day. Anya cries herself to sleep in my arms, then wakes up, eats some food, cries, then falls asleep again. Some news is so bad that everything else becomes irrelevant. Just breathing is enough.
We finally reach the place she calls home. It is not a grand dwelling. It is a simple two-bedroom house in the middle of a very small town with one church and a liquor store. There are no schools, but there is a school bus.
I know Lilly escaped Russia in hopes of a better life, but I do not know how this qualified as one. I know she tried. I hope she found peace here, in this little house with hand-painted ceramics. Every inch of this place is a testament to her dedication to homeyness. I can see that she treasured this humble home as much as I did my castle.
The living room now contains an oak coffin, in which Lilly is lying in state. Anya approaches with a miserable, horrified reverence. I made these arrangements, knowing she would need to see her mother. If she simply disappeared, there would always be some part of Anya that couldn’t believe it.
“I’m so sorry, Mom,” Anya says softly. “I wish I could have been here for you. I should have been here for you. I failed you.”