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)
Anya is in the middle of it all, stark naked in her human form. For a brief moment, I feel a pang of fear at the notion she might have been killed, but then she takes a deep breath and stretches in the middle of it all, languid as a well-fed cat in a sunbeam. She is a picture of contentment, unconcerned by the fact that her beautiful bare body is being increasingly covered in sanguine essence.
“Anya!” I snap her name as I rush for her, scooping her up from the bed. We are now both absolutely covered in crime scene. I don’t care. The relief at finding her alive is so intense, she could be covered in anything.
“Bring the car around,” I say. “We are leaving this city now.”
I get Anya out of Prague while she is still dozing in her post-shift state. She is not entirely awake yet, because she has fed so aggressively. The car is a mess. I’ve tried to clean her up with towels and wet wipes, but she needs a shower. She needs a full decontamination.
“Hello,” she smiles at me as she wakes up a little more. “What are we doing?”
She’s forgotten how she came to be so full. That’s not uncommon either. Shifters can have quite a bit of brain fog to begin with when they go from one state to another. It’s not just the bones and flesh that shift. It’s the brain, too. There aren’t many studies into shifter anatomy, but I think the brain itself undergoes changes. I think there are memories that can be left behind from time to time.
“We are going home,” I tell her. “You’ve been a bad girl.”
“I have?” She smiles. I don’t like that smile. It’s dangerous. She looks far too happy.
“I mean it, Anya. You were very bad, and you are going to pay for it.”
“What did I do?”
“Sneaked away at lunch, for one thing,” I tell her.
“Oh? Good for me,” she says, unrepentant. “Those things are so boring. I have to sit there for hours sometimes, just listening to the talk. Did I do anything fun?”
I grit my teeth and try not to respond either too harshly, or with amusement. She has a certain streak of rebellion in her that I find quite appealing from time to time, but it cannot be encouraged.
“You almost got yourself killed.”
“Oh, you must be so angry,” she says. “You must be absolutely furious.”
“Yes.”
She covers her face with her hands, then peeks through those still bloody digits. “I’m sorry,” she squeaks. “Some of it is starting to come back to me. I must be in so much trouble.”
“You are,” I say, already feeling my resolve crumbling a little. She’s so adorable, and as for the disobedience and the danger, that’s a part of the nature of being a new shifter. She has instincts and desires. She has impulses she needs to learn to tame. I will help her tame them. I will teach her all the lessons she needs to learn. And I will bury my cock deep inside her because right now there is nothing I want more than that.
She curls up next to me and falls asleep again, entirely contented, and apparently feeling very safe indeed. She trusts me, even when she knows she is in trouble. I suppose that means I am doing a good job as a mate, though I do not know if I am doing anywhere near good enough of a job as an alpha.
Elena meets me on our way in. Anya is still asleep, indulging in the slumber of the righteous. I intend to bathe her and then let her sleep a little more, and then I intend to deal with her.
“Is it true? Did she eat human flesh?” Elena is straight to the point, following us into the castle.
“Not now, Elena.”
“We shouldn’t really be able to stomach humans,” she says, failing to heed my warning. “If she has eaten…”
“Not. Now. Elena.”
She gets the hint and leaves. I am well aware of the fact that eating people is aberrant behavior for a shifter. It is essentially quasi-cannibalism. There can be issues with diseases and some say it can make shifters more like animals. It’s not good to eat people, essentially.
“Bet she got it from her father,” she says, just as she leaves.
“Elena!” I snap her name, thoroughly irritated.
I hear heels click-clacking away at a faster rate. Good. She should stay clear. The last thing I need is someone telling me how to handle my mate. I know what Anya needs.
CHAPTER 7
Anya
I wake up and instantly know I am back in Russia. There is something about the cool air that hits me in a certain way, a scent in the air. My senses seem sharper than before. I mean even more sharp than they already were. The sheets feel extra slippery and smooth against my skin. Everything feels incredibly good this morning. The whole world is glistening with potential.