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)
I force myself to keep my shoulders back and stand up straight, but the pressure comes from all sides.
But I am the Seeress. I was trained to stand in the presence of Alphas and guide them. My pack might have tried to crush me, control me, but I’m still here, standing on my own two feet. And I’d rather stand strong and be slain by the Blackthroats, my pack’s sworn enemy, than cower before them.
In the room full of intense Alpha energy, Madi’s aura is sweet and light, but grounding. Like a good cup of cinnamon tea after a long walk through a storm. It helps to remember Noah considers her a friend.
Madi signs something to Noah. I catch what I think is a thank you–an open hand from the chin.
Noah nods gravely. He’s also in protective mate mode, keeping me tucked against his side, on edge as he faces off with the most powerful wolf in the state.
But then again, according to the Blood Heir Alpha Rites, Noah is also a powerful male. Perhaps powerful enough to take on Brick, not that I want to see that happen.
Madi points at me and spells O-K with her eyebrows raised.
Noah’s fingers fly too fast for me to decipher what he’s saying, but my intuition tells me he’s explaining the fits I get when I have powerful visions.
“I wasn’t honest with you, sir,” Noah begins.
Blackthroat frowns. “No shit.” His aura pulses with power–reds and oranges burning like hot coals and rising into a fierce, fiery amber.
Madi rests her hand on the back of his neck and kneads the muscles there. Just her touch softens the anger in his aura a little.
“My grandmother isn’t sick.”
“I’m stunned.” Brick’s flat expression and voice drip sarcasm.
“I was born into the Adalwulf pack.”
This startles Blackthroat, not that he shows much emotion. But he does blink as he absorbs the information. His aura pulses bright, and his lips flatten into a thin, dangerous line.
“Have you heard of the Moonborn?”
Brick narrows his eyes. “The witchy cult where Odin bred his fanatics?”
“Yes. My mother is one of them. But Odin would’ve killed me because I am deaf, so she told everyone I died and gave me to her mother to raise.”
Some of Brick’s irritation seems to drain away as he listens.
“I came to Wall Street to work for Adalwulf Associates to infiltrate their pack. When they wouldn't hire me, I tried to come at it from another angle.”
“Working for me.”
“Yes.”
“What is your endgame?”
Noah looks down at me. Then stares at the desk for a moment, like he’s thinking. “It’s changed.”
“Because of her.” Blackthroat lifts his chin toward me.
“Aster is my mate.”
“I knew it.” This comment comes from one of the males against the wall.
Noah doesn’t see him because he’s focused on Brick, but when I look over, he follows my gaze.
The man signs and speaks to him. “I remember when you saw her outside Brick and Madi’s wedding.”
I look up at Noah. “You saw me?”
He nods, that hint of a smile playing around the edges of his mouth as he stares down like he’s drinking me in. “I recognized you from my dreams.”
Blackthroat clears his throat, so I lift my chin in his direction to shift Noah’s focus. My mate looks back at his boss. “I planned to destroy them. Now I just want to get my mother and sister out.”
Brick runs a hand over his beard, considering us. “The tiara heist was you?”
“Yes, sir. Just to fuck with them. Aiden wanted the tiara for a Moonborn ritual, so I took it. I ran into Aster there and put a tracker in her purse to locate her. I found her imprisoned in a tower. Starved.” His arm tightens around me.
I flinch. My pride detests that he’s outing Aiden’s treatment of me, but his indignation also makes my nose burn. Seeing it through his eyes brings home just how mistreated and abused I was. I spent my life excusing the mistreatment as necessary for me to achieve the role as Seeress, but none of that seems to matter anymore.
I don’t care so much about being Seeress. Or about the Adalwulf pack. Not the way I care about the male standing beside me.
The human, Madi, looks at me with a form of shocked sympathy. Brick also turns his penetrating gaze on me as he says to Noah, “So not only were you reckless, showing your wolf to humans, you also kidnapped the most powerful member of the Adalwulf pack and dumped her on my doorstep.”
“He didn’t kidnap me,” I say. My voice is a bit raspy, but it comes out strong. “He rescued me.”
Brick’s eyes narrow, and I feel the full weight of an Alpha stare. The pressure is so intense, I can’t draw a full breath. “I’m supposed to believe that?”
“We came here to warn your mate. I mean you no harm.”