Total pages in book: 203
Estimated words: 199654 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 998(@200wpm)___ 799(@250wpm)___ 666(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 199654 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 998(@200wpm)___ 799(@250wpm)___ 666(@300wpm)
“That’s okay,” I say.
I feel silly for coming here. I think my common sense has vacated the premises. Because of course there’s not much a healer like Cat can do for my situation. A healer like Dani, maybe, who could potentially cast a spell on me to help me cope with all this. Maybe Dani should be my next stop. And Ronnie, if she’s feeling up to it. If Ronnie touches me while I hear the pup, what would she see?
I drive to Drowsy Hollow and there are no vehicles parked behind the dry cleaners where the Youngs have their covenstead and the apartment upstairs, so I wander the town a while, poking around some shops to kill time.
***
I take the long way to drive past Jase’s house on the way home, half an hour before the meeting is supposed to happen. There’s no sign of his pickup truck.
No sign of Jase at my house either. Dani and Vivi are already here, in the kitchen with Mom, having coffee and cookies.
“Hi,” Mom greets. “How are you doing?”
“No idea,” I say, putting my bag down.
Mom hugs me.
“Can I help with anything?” I ask. “For the meeting?”
“No, it’s all done. Had all sorts of leftover treats and beverages from yesterday so it was nothing to put on some coffee and tea.”
I look at the girls. “Erica not here yet?”
“On her way,” Vivi says. “Should be here any time.”
I nod and turn to Dani.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” I ask.
She follows me outside to the driveway. Dad is in the garage now, fiddling with his broken TV.
“Hey Dad,” I greet.
“Sweetheart,” Dad greets, coming over and kissing my forehead before he goes back to what he’s doing.
I walk further down the driveway and Dani follows.
“Any idea how this is going to go?” I ask. “My anxiety is out of control.”
“If he shows up, we’ll hear his side, your side, and then we’ll call Lucinda to see what her position is from an SCC perspective on the form you sent in. Then we’ll meet and talk alone before we advise if our spell stopping Jase from touching you can be further extended.”
“Is Ronnie coming?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “Not today.”
“Oh. Right. Grey said she was having a rough time.”
“Why are you asking?”
“I’m having some wonky side-effects, I think. I was going to ask her to read me, see if she can help me figure it out.”
“What sort of wonky side effects? As a healer, I read individuals, in a different way.”
“Can you sense a case of the crazies?” I ask, only half-joking. I explain, “I’m hearing sounds. Like a wolf pup yipping, barking, yelping. Mostly it’s been happening whenever I let my brain think about moving on without Jase in my life. Or when I push feelings away about him.”
She winces.
“Any idea what it could mean?” I ask.
Dani looks sympathetic. “The tendrils of the mate bond dig pretty deep. You’re not mated yet, but there are unseen forces at work with alpha shifter matings, particularly in this pack with the council alphas.”
“Cat Savage said as the pack healer there’s nothing she can do. But… as a healer with magical abilities, is there anything you can do for me here?”
“Such as?”
“Such as help me get through this without all this anxiety and all these awful, painful emotions? Maybe something anti-psychotic so I don’t bald any females for being interested in Jase and so I also don’t hear voices in my head like a pup yipping at me because it may or may not be the soul of a future daughter the nice lady on the plane told me she saw in my future?”
“I’m guessing that’s not a random example.”
“She gave me knitted baby booties for my future daughter that she had a vision of. Oh, and she said that I’d be getting a puppy, too, which I’m assuming is code for a daughter that’s part-shifter.”
Her eyes widen. “That’s… specific.”
“Yep. She said she knew she sounded kooky but said her visions frequently come true.”
Dani mouths the word wow.
My brother is walking up the sidewalk toward us. Mason and Linc are right behind him in Linc’s SUV. Joel and Tyson are following behind in Joel’s car.
“We should continue this convo later,” I suggest.
Dani nods and we go back to help Mom bring the refreshments to the sunroom.
A few minutes later, Riley and Erica pull up on Riley’s motorcycle.
***
It’s fifteen minutes after the meeting was supposed to start, and the small talk has started to fade. People are fidgeting and making concerned eye contact with one another.
I’ve been silent this entire time, eyes laser-focused on the door.
My eyes bounce between Erica and Dani now. They’re both watching me.
“He’s not coming,” I say.
Erica clasps her hands together. “Okay, well, the spell is going to be extended until this time tomorrow. We’ll meet here then, if that’s okay with Graydon and Carrie.”