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)
“What’s goin’ on?” Stacy asks, stepping up with a look of concern on her face. She’s picking up on the seriously unhappy vibe between me and this chick.
“She intends to make a pass at Jase,” I hiss. “She’s obviously clueless about what happens when an alpha identifies his mate.”
“Well, our pack was pretty sheltered,” Stacy starts to say, but Caroline cuts her off.
“Seems to me if you don’t want him, he’s fair game. No?”
“Caroline,” Stacy says, “it doesn’t work that way. He’s only going to be focused on Bailey and just Bailey unless their bond is somehow severed.”
“Well, if that happens, at least he’ll know I’m interested.”
She gets to her feet and downs her wine before she sets her empty glass beside the full one and moves in that direction.
Before I even calculate what I’m doing, I’ve got her blonde hair in my fist and I’m yanking her back.
She shrieks.
And all eyes are now on us, including… fuck… Jase’s.
Jase rushes this way calling out, “What’s wrong, Bailey?”
I let go of Caroline and mutter, “Ohmigod!”
I hurry away, mortified, feeling eyes on my back as I rush toward the building.
Jase catches up with me at the door.
“Bailey?”
“Leave me alone, Jason,” I mutter, going inside and heading straight for my desk where I squat to open the cupboard and grab my bag, fishing through it to find my keys. All I can do is shut off the lights and walk back toward the door, where he’s holding it wide until I get through. He steps ahead of me and I lock it. He follows me to my car, but just before I can grip the door handle, he’s between me and my car, demanding, “Talk to me.”
“What part of leave me alone don’t you understand?” I snap, then cry out, “I mean, fuck!”
He raises his hands defensively, expression hardening before he steps aside.
I push away the crushing sensation in my chest, unsure if it’s because of all that’s happening or just the look on his face right now and yank the door open and get inside, slamming it and driving myself home.
Of course he’s almost immediately directly behind me, following me.
Argh.
29
ERICA SAVAGE
“See how he looks at her, Erica?” Vivi asks.
“Uh huh, I sure do.”
Jason Creed is a testosterone-fueled powder keg and our sweet, inexperienced Bailey Blackwood has become the fiery match.
When we found out Bailey put Jase under Aphra’s shield and knew he was in there and ready to go into the rut the minute he got out, we were beyond concerned. It was good that Bailey asked for help because the last thing we wanted was for him to drag her off somewhere and make things even worse. Dani’s plan to get him to slow down and pay attention was perfect.
“I know from firsthand experience that when we finally let this wolf off his leash, this poor girl is going to need a whole lot of ice for her lady parts.”
“Mm hm,” Vivi says knowingly.
But she doesn’t know.
You don’t truly know until you’re attached to a super alpha’s oscillating knot for days because it won’t let go.
I fear something like what happened with us could happen to Bailey if this situation doesn’t sort itself out soon. Because these two are end game. Of that, we’re sure. We just don’t know how long it’ll take for us to get to the end of this unusual game.
Jase is following her after that scene. Bailey is mostly demure and happy-go-lucky, except from what I can tell so far, when it comes to people she cares about. Case-in-point: when she punched Sherry in the mouth at Ivy and Tyson’s wedding. It sounded like Sherry not only had it coming, but she’d had it coming for decades. Bailey put up with a whole lot of bullying and never stood up for herself, but when Sherry set out to hurt Amelia and by extension caused a scene at Ivy’s wedding, Bailey let Sherry have it. And now here, with Jase. We heard Caroline’s comments just before Bailey grabbed her by the hair. And if we heard it, Jase definitely did, too.
And as for the way Jase looks at Bailey, Vivi is absolutely correct. He tracks her every move. He stares at her longingly. If Bailey could have glimpsed into a crystal ball and seen the Jase of today a few weeks ago, she would’ve swooned. Hard.
Uh oh. Riley is stalking in this direction. And he’s ticked. I see it and feel it.
“Here we go,” Vivi mumbles.
“Uh huh,” I agree.
Riley is kind of pissed at us. And he’s not hiding it.
He’s still my Riley, my sweet, doting, ravenous soulmate who rocked my world both last night and this morning, but outside of the ravishing, he’s made it no secret he disapproves of my coven getting between Jase and Bailey.
“Release that poor fucker from this misery or he’s going to snap, Rikki,” Riley warns.