Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 108368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Shaya smiled. “Kathy knew you’d missed lunch, and she didn’t think you’d feel like cooking.”
Surprised, Ally raised her brow. “A peace offering?”
“No, this is what packs do. We take care of our own.”
“She’s already eaten,” Derren told her, irrationally offended by another wolf taking care of Ally. “I made her a sandwich.”
“Which he bullied me into eating,” grumbled Ally, carefully taking the plate from Shaya. Peeling back a little of the foil, revealing pasta and salad, she sniffed.
Nick’s brow furrowed. “What are you doing?”
“Checking for poison.”
Shaya rolled her eyes, snatching back the plate. “I’ll put it in the fridge. Take it out when you’re hungry.”
Ally thought it was kind of ironic that saving Shaya’s life through the use of her gift had earned her acceptance, when the very reason the pack had initially been so unwelcoming was because of said gift. It would no doubt gall Kathy on some level, since she’d been clear that she didn’t want Ally to share her visions. To be fair to the woman, though, she’d backed right down and owned up to her mistake by offering her acceptance. Ally could respect that.
When she reappeared on the porch, Shaya told Ally, “Kathy will never be fond of Seers, but you’re now the exception. And please know that I’ll love you forever. To think that I might have missed my daughter growing up, that Nick might have died right along with me . . .” She shuddered, eyes glistening.
Cuddling his mate close, Nick pressed a soft kiss to her temple. He then spoke to Ally. “We won’t forget what you did.”
“Do you have any idea who caused the explosion?” Ally asked him.
“Eli and the enforcers scouted the direction from which the grenade was fired,” Nick replied. “They came across a spot that smelled strongly of foxes, but there were no tracks.”
Derren blinked. “Foxes?” He hadn’t received an update before now, since he’d stuck with Ally as opposed to joining the enforcers.
Nick nodded. “The trail went stale after a hundred feet. It took everything I had not to keep going to hunt them down and rip them to pieces,” he rumbled.
Ally frowned. “Why didn’t you?”
“The last time someone crossed our border was to lure away the males from the main lodge so the females were vulnerable. That was the night Roni almost died.” A muscle in Nick’s jaw ticked. “I won’t make that mistake again, no matter how badly I want blood. Especially not when every instinct I have tells me to stick close to my mate and child.”
“The poisoned animals and rifle grenade have to be related in some way.” Shaya rubbed her temple. “I find it too hard to believe that two attacks could happen so close together unless they were related.”
Derren agreed, but . . . “Using two different forms of attack makes no sense, though. Hell, using a human weapon makes no sense.” Shifters fought with tooth and claw—even foxes, though they could be sneaky, cheating fuckers.
“Unless it’s the extremists.” Shaya shrugged. The leader of a particular group of extremists had also happened to have been a guard in the shifter juvenile detention where Nick and Derren had been incarcerated. Hating Nick for badly injuring him when he’d fought off the bastard’s attempts to abuse him back then, the guard’s group of extremists had targeted Nick—which had simply led to the bastards’ deaths.
To the outside world, the group had mysteriously “disappeared.” Of course the other anti-shifter extremists groups speculated that Nick was responsible, and it was that fear of him that kept the other groups from retaliating. But just maybe their fear wasn’t getting in the way anymore.
“I’m not convinced it’s the extremists,” said Nick. “I think someone’s playing with us. That they want us to be confused about who we’re facing.”
Shaya pursed her lips. “If so, it’s working.”
“Which side of the border did Eli and the enforcers find the foxes’ scents?” Derren asked Nick.
“The side that flows into Miranda’s territory.” Nick skimmed his hand up and down Shaya’s arm. “Which will mean she’ll also try hunting the trespassers.”
“Miranda Whitney is Alpha female of the Sutherland Pack,” Shaya told Ally.
“I’ve heard about her.” Ally swatted away a mosquito. “She runs the pack alone, right?” It wasn’t common for an unmated female wolf to run a pack.
“Yep,” confirmed Shaya, her mouth tightening in distaste. “I don’t like her. But we’re cordial and civil because she’s our closest neighbor.”
Ally understood that. Neighbors often watched out for each other, chased away trespassers, and informed each other of any suspicious activity. Hearing her cell phone ringing, she excused herself and went into the lodge. Retrieving her cell from the pocket of her jacket, she tensed when she saw “Zeke” flashing on the screen. It wasn’t the first time he’d tried calling her since she’d left the Collingwood Pack. Unfortunately, he wasn’t deterred by her ignoring those attempts. Finally the cell ceased ringing, and she exhaled heavily.