Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 137004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
“Hey, Dante, do you remember that time when you and I went ice-skating and I got a concussion after falling?”
He sighed inwardly. Laurie liked to talk about “old times” a lot, something that agitated the hell out of Jaime, who was now stiff in his arms. Ignoring Laurie, he curled himself even tighter around his mate. “You’re doing so much better than I would be if the situation was the other way around,” he said quietly.
“No, I’m not. I just know perfectly well that the best way to annoy an attention seeker is to not give them a reaction.” That wasn’t to say that Jaime didn’t often visualize cutting off the bitch’s air supply until she resembled a Smurf. And it would be so easy to do it now that Bitch Face had moved to the end of the sofa, putting herself within arm’s reach.
Laurie continued, “Do you remember how you picked me up and took me to—”
“It won’t work,” Greta told Laurie with a huff, gaining the attention of most in the room.
Laurie smiled nervously. “I’m sorry?”
“You want to cause a little rift between my Dante and Jaime. It won’t work. They’re solid.”
“I’d never hurt Dante like that.”
Dante almost laughed as snorts erupted from both Greta and Jaime, who gave each other looks that said, “Is this female for real?” Apparently, they were prepared to band together against a common foe.
“Don’t think I don’t know what you did to him all those years ago,” Greta snarled. “You and Blane deserve each other, in my opinion. You could never have made a good Beta female. That requires loyalty, you see. That’s something you don’t know anything about. Not like Jaime. No. Our Beta female could wipe the floor with you any day.”
Jaime exchanged a stunned look with Taryn, who was on the reclining end of the sofa, chuckling silently. “Thanks, Greta.”
“No problem, sweetheart.”
“She’ll be vile to me again when Bitch Face is gone,” Jaime whispered to Dante.
“Yep,” he agreed with a smile before reading the text message he’d just received from Ryan, who was guarding the gate. “They’re here.”
Wanting to give Shaya a warning so that she could be as prepared as possible, Jaime looked over to where she was seated next to Taryn and gave her a subtle nod. She responded with a tiny, but grateful, smile.
A few minutes later, Don entered the living area with Tia, Nick, and Nick’s Beta behind him.
Their eyes ran over everyone in the room as they smiled, and everyone exchanged polite greetings—
other than Nick and Shaya.
“Where’s my nephew?” Don gave Taryn a gentle kiss on her cheek and peered down at the sleeping baby in Shaya’s arms. His smile was filled with pride. “Look at the little guy. He’s so tiny.
Can I have a hold?”
“Sure.” Shaya carefully handed him to Taryn’s uncle.
“Meet Kye River Coleman,” Taryn told Don.
“His name suits him. I like it.”
“Give him here,” said Tia excitedly. Disgruntled, Don handed the baby to his mate. “Aw, he’s so gorgeous.”
“Don’t you be getting broody,” Don told Tia. “The girls are hard enough to deal with.” Nick shook Trey’s hand and gave Taryn a smile. “Congratulations.” Peeking at Kye, his brows arched. “Wow, he’s just Trey with Taryn’s hair.”
Tia nodded in agreement. “Want a hold?”
“Um—” But Tia was already placing Kye in his arms. A little awkwardly, Nick cradled the baby and a little smile surfaced.
He peered over at Shaya, and what passed between them was a longing so deep and so primal that it made Jaime hitch in a breath, bringing back a lot of memories. It had been pain and pleasure.
She had no idea how they’d both ignored it for so long. Jaime wondered if this moment might do to him what it had done to her and Dante: strip him of his defenses and doubts and give him a moment of pure clarity.
Apparently it did, because quickly Nick looked away and handed Kye over to Grace, who was waiting impatiently for her turn. “Um, I have some things I need to get done. Don, I’ll send an enforcer to pick you and Tia up in a couple of hours.” In other words, he needed to get out of there and away from Shaya fast.
Looking confused, Don said, “Okay.” Then the Alpha and his Beta were gone.
Tears immediately pooled in Shaya’s eyes, and it was a blow to Jaime’s gut. Using the distraction that Kye created, Shaya stealthily left the room.
“I need to go see she’s okay,” Jaime told Dante, who nodded and allowed her to stand.
When she found Shaya sitting on the edge of her bed sobbing her heart out, Jaime sat beside her and curled an arm around her. “Oh, honey, I’m so sorry.”
“I’m not entirely surprised that he left again without speaking a single word to me,” said Shaya through her tears. “I know why he can’t claim me. Nick’s in high demand with the females—I’d be challenged by a different one every five minutes if I tried to hold a position as Alpha female. I guess I just hoped that if fate had matched me up with an Alpha, then there was a reason for it, a way to still be bonded to him.”