Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Tao picked up his mate’s hand and traced the wolf tattoo on her inner arm. She’d gotten it done the day after their mating ceremony, while he’d had a raven tattooed on his chest, just above his heart. “Did you have this done on your inner arm to help cover your scar?” He didn’t think the scar was bad, but it was a reminder of what Shirley had done to her. Tao would have wanted to cover it too.
Sage and Ruby had been disappointed to hear that Shirley was dead. Since she’d attacked both their daughters, the Alphas had wanted to kill her themselves. Cynthia had taken a bullet to the stomach, thanks to Shirley, but she was okay—albeit allegedly shaken up. Like Tao gave much of a shit either way.
“No, I thought about having the tattoo done on my chest like you did,” said Riley, “but I want it where I can look at it whenever I want to.”
Tao smiled. “I guess you picked a good place for it, then.” He could remember the ceremony as if it had been yesterday, remember the violet dress that matched her eyes, remember the tender look on her face as she’d spoken the ceremonial words, and remember the huge celebration that had followed.
In addition to the pack, lots of other people had been present—including his parents, his brother, Max, Ethan, Lucy, Madisyn, and the Mercury Pack. Max and Ethan had already been on their territory, since they’d turned their brief visit into an extended stay. They didn’t leave until a few days after the mating ceremony, taking Lucy with them.
His mother loved Ethan and Max. Literally adored them. She’d had them over for dinner five times during their stay with the pack. She’d also made a full apology for her behavior to Riley, whom she’d promptly fallen in love with. Riley seemed to have forgiven Avery for her initial rudeness, and there had been a couple of occasions when they’d banded against Greta for the sheer fun of it. He suspected that Greta, being a little warped, had enjoyed the sparring just as much as they did.
Greta hadn’t made many disparaging comments at the ceremony, though—that was probably because her boyfriend, Allen, had been there. She didn’t seem to like exercising her bitchy muscle when the guy was around, which meant the females were all hoping Greta and Allen imprinted on each other at some point; maybe then they’d all get a damn rest from Greta’s bullshit.
Tao frowned as he heard the crunch of twigs and pine needles. Whoever was walking around these parts better head the other way; he wanted time alone with his mate. “Do you realize something?”
She propped her chin up on his chest. “What?”
“Three times this week”—a leaf fluttered down from a branch and landed in her hair, so he plucked it out and put it on the grass—“you slept the entire night through.”
“Sort of.”
He frowned. “Sort of?”
“Well, I did wake up, but I managed to get back asleep using the mating bond.”
He blinked. “I don’t understand.”
“The first time I woke up, I was totally wired and decided to just get up, but I was afraid of waking you. So I tapped into the bond, into you, to check how deeply you were sleeping. I felt how tired you were, how at peace your mind was, and how relaxed your body was. The next thing I knew, my eyelids were heavy and my mind had calmed down a little. It had to have been less than a minute before I fell back asleep.”
Hope shimmered through him. “And it worked three times?”
“Yeah. I thought the first time was a fluke, but apparently not.”
“This is fucking great news; why didn’t you tell me?”
She touched his face. “You have to understand that I’ve had insomnia for a long time. I’ve tried pretty much every supposed ‘remedy’ you can think of, and none of them worked. The idea that I might have found a way to fall back asleep that didn’t involve disturbing your sleep . . . I didn’t want to jinx it.”
“I get it.” He kissed her. “Let’s hope it keeps working . . . although I really have no issues with fucking you back to sleep.”
She smiled against his mouth. “Well, I have issues with you having too much broken sleep, so I truly hope this continues to work.” He kissed her again, deeper this time. She moaned as his fingers sank into her hair, holding her close as he took and tasted. Her insides melted even as her body flared to life.
A twig snapped close by, and then there was a loud hmph. “Here I am going for a walk, minding my own business, and I come across this. Must you do it out in the open where all and sundry can see you?”