Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 87968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
“Well, he is,” I said flatly, trying not to shiver when I thought of the pack leader’s slitted blue eyes raking over my naked body. “He was determined to…to breed me.” The words seemed to stick in my throat, but somehow I got them out.
“I know,” Nick said grimly. “I was praying I could get my shotgun and get back to you in time. Why the hell didn’t you stay up in Massachusetts where you belong?”
“What?” I stared at him, fury rising in me all over again. “You know where I live?”
He shrugged uneasily, his broad, bare shoulders rolling.
“Of course I do. Got to keep tabs on my little sister, don’t I?”
I was getting angrier and angrier.
“You knew where I was and you didn’t even think to get in touch once?” I demanded, leaning over to slap him on the chest. “What happened to always sticking together, Nick? What happened to ‘family’? Do you have any idea how lonely I’ve been since you left? Do you have any idea how much it hurt? You—”
I shut my mouth abruptly, appalled that I’d admitted my vulnerability so openly to him. But the fact that he’d known my location and hadn’t even dropped me a line to say “hi” hurt almost as much as his original betrayal. It was one thing to lose track of each other after he left and I was moved to another foster facility. But to think that he had known where I was all this time and he hadn’t come to me…well, that was a punch in the gut.
Nick looked even more uncomfortable.
“C’mon, darlin’—you know why I couldn’t come see you,” he muttered. “You know what almost happened—the reason I had to leave in the first place…”
As a matter of fact, I didn’t know—that particular memory was still in a locked room along with the other terrible things that had happened in the foster home we’d shared. I had a vague idea, but I didn’t want to go there now.
“Nothing could have been bad enough for you to leave me when you promised you’d always be there,” I said fiercely. “You swore we’d be together forever—you were the only family I had left, Nick!”
“It’s because we’re family that I had to leave!” he exclaimed. “I couldn’t risk breaking one of the Unbreakable Laws, Kira—you know that!”
“Like the one that says a Were isn’t supposed to breed a female in his Fur Form?” I demanded. “If you weren’t intending to break any of those precious ‘Unbreakable Laws,’ then why were you in that clearing tonight?”
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, tousling it. In the dome light of the truck’s interior, it looked like a golden halo around his head.
“Look, we can talk all about why the two of us came back to Wolverton, but first let’s get inside the cabin and get you fixed up,” he told me. “You’re all over bites and scratches, darlin’.”
He nodded at my body and ankle and I realized two things—first that I was still stark naked and second that the scratches from the tree bark all over my front were stinging and my bitten ankle was throbbing. Nick was right—our reunion (such as it was)—would have to wait. Right now I needed to get cleaned up and tended to—especially my ankle.
“All right,” I said stiffly, reaching for the door handle.
“Whoa—wait a minute. Hang on a sec!” Nick protested.
He was out of the truck in a flash and around to my side before I could say a word. Opening the passenger side door, he held out his arms to me.
“I can walk,” I protested, not wanting to be near him again—to be so close to his warm scent which gave me so many forgotten feelings.
“Bullshit,” Nick said, frowning. “On that ankle?”
I looked down at my mangled ankle and winced. I didn’t think the bones were broken or it would hurt a hell of a lot more. But it was still in pretty bad condition—McCain’s teeth had really done a number on me and it was a mess of blood and torn flesh.
Still, I didn’t want to let myself be close to my “big brother” again.
“I can at least try,” I said, lifting my chin.
“No, you can’t—I won’t let you.” Reaching into the cab of the truck, Nick scooped me into his arms and held me against his broad, bare chest. He kicked the door shut with one foot and carried me around to the front of the cabin.
“You don’t have to do this, you know,” I told him, trying to hold myself stiff in his arms and not notice the warm scent of his skin. “Take care of me, I mean. You gave up that particular burden a long time ago—I don’t expect you to pick it back up again.”
He winced as though I’d hit him.