Series: Werewolves of Wall Street Series by Renee Rose
Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 78974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78974 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
“That kind of magic requires a great sacrifice to the Grandmothers.”
“Then give them what they need! If you can’t make this happen, the Blackthroats will take over our pack, and we will lose everything.”
Oma looks like she ate something sour, but she inclines her head. “Very well.”
The Warden turns and walks away, his robes flapping about his legs, his hands clasped behind his back.
* * *
The vision fades.
I’m engulfed in the deepest sense of warmth and safety. Amber and pine and delicious male fill my nostrils. I draw a deep breath and try to force my eyes to open.
I remember sitting at the kitchen table across from Noah, and then there was blinding pain as a vision filled my head. It was the same one Oma described so many years ago.
Noah, wearing the Adalwulf mantle, standing on the broken stone dais, destroying everything. Fate, this is bad.
I start to tremble again with the significance of it.
Strong arms tighten around me.
Noah.
My eyes finally remember how to open, and I twist to look up at him.
I’m in his arms again, nested on top of his body on the couch. He quiets the visions. Soothes my frayed nerves. I stifle a groan. My stomach is queasy, but I draw in a deep breath to calm it.
Noah kisses my forehead, and something warm and syrupy pools in my chest.
I blink up at him. He’s the enemy. The male who could destroy my pack. And I’m snuggled in his arms, melting over forehead kisses.
I scramble back out of his arms and onto my wobbly legs. How long was I asleep? He must’ve held me the entire time!
It’s crazy how much I want to crawl right back onto him, to drape my body over his and soak up that feeling of safety he gives me.
But he’s not safe. I’d be a fool to believe he was.
He climbs off the couch, his brows down with concern as he watches me square off to him.
“You’re here to take the Moonborn down, aren’t you?” I demand.
He looks at me for a long moment then nods.
“Because they wanted you dead?”
“No.” He shakes his head. “For my mother.”
His mother. Of course, he has a mother. I don’t know why I’m so slow to put this all together. What had Oma and the Warden said about him all those years ago?
He was born of the Blood Heir Alpha Rites. The true first-born.
The pup Odin Adalwulf should have claimed as his own. Instead, Oma swapped the pup with Aiden because Noah was born deaf.
Noah is the true alpha of the Adalwulf pack. Chosen by the Grandmothers to lead.
A sensation like lightning shoots through me, and my knees buckle. Noah arrives at my side in a blur, catching my elbow to steady me. Should I tell him? If he knew, would he stop his assault on the pack and the Moonborn?
But no. There will be war regardless. He’d have to kill Aiden and win over the pack to lead. I don’t want him harmed.
He’s still holding me. Once again, he’s my support, a solid frame I can lean on. We fit together perfectly.
I can’t lose him.
I lick my lips and force myself to speak. “Wh-who is your mother?”
Noah hands me a laminated photo from his back pocket. It’s worn, like he carries it with him at all times. It’s a photo of a teenage girl with brown hair and kind eyes.
She looks familiar.
Then I realize she looks like Oriana, Liora’s daughter. Same gap between the teeth and dark blue eyes.
But this photograph is old. It’s not Oriana.
It’s Liora.
I gasp. “Liora is your mother.”
Noah nods. “You know her.”
“Yes. I-I love her. She was one of my mothers until I was sent to serve as acolyte to the Seeress.”
“Not your biological mother,” Noah clarifies, and I can read the alarm in his eyes.
“No,” I assure him with a relieved laugh. “We’re not related.” I point between the two of us.
His shoulders relax. “Good. I need to see her.”
I nod. “Of course you do,” I whisper, blinking back tears. The Liora in the photograph has a sweet, peaceful smile. The Liora I know is capable of smiling, but all I can remember is the pain in her voice and the shadows in her eyes as she pleaded with me to save Oriana.
I don’t need the Sight to see that Fate brought Noah on this mission right now because Liora needs him. She came to me for help. She saved her son from Oma and the Warden’s machinations, and now she’s trying to save her daughter. I’m not strong enough to wield any influence over the Warden and Aiden.
But Noah is. He’s the true Adalwulf heir. An alpha wolf. More powerful, even, than Aiden.
Ignoring the realization that I’m betraying my pack, my family, and everything I’ve worked to become, I square my shoulders. “I’ll take you to Moon Hollow.”