Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 73170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
I tell him, “He came to and promptly asked me to leave. I’m giving him a minute.”
Linc pulls up in his Bronco and gets out, carrying a duffle bag. “Catch me up?” he requests.
I repeat what I just said, and the three of them decide to go in to talk to Jared. Amie offers to check his wounds and administer first aid. Mase looks at her like she’s insane.
“Get in the car, Amelia,” he says.
“What can I say? I’m a nurse. I forgot.”
He swats her butt.
Amie stares at her mate who’s giving her a hot, dark alpha look, so she huffs and gets back into the car, but she’s not wilting whatsoever.
I love that girl. She and I are cut from the same cloth, minus the shifter part.
The three males go into the bunker while I lean against the car, giving Amie and Ivy the whole story of my claiming so far. Amie gets tears in her eyes and blames her pregnancy hormones.
“Call or text if you need anything,” Ivy offers and starts her car.
“Wait,” I halt them. “So wrapped up I almost forgot to ask… what’s up with Bailey?”
“What do you mean?” Amie asks.
“She’s not in town and I saw them in a little huddle a while ago and suspect the two things are connected. My father was evasive about Bailey but said she followed Jase out of town. Beyond that, I think there’s something up.”
Amie gasps. “Followed him?”
“I overheard Ty on the phone,” Ivy admits, lowering her voice. “So, I asked a couple questions and all I’ve got so far is she followed Jase out of town when he left to meet up with Dani to take that dangerous witch’s wand to Romania.”
“She what?” Amie asks. “And you didn’t tell me?”
Ivy shrugs. “We were busy cooking with Mom and talking about Cicely and this situation, then we rushed to her place to get her bag packed and… there’s so much goin’ on I didn’t get to it.”
“What else do we know?” Amie demands to know, eyes bouncing between us.
“That’s why I’m asking you, sister. I know nothing. Call her!”
Amie pulls out her phone and calls on speaker. It goes straight to voicemail.
“Maybe she texted me,” I muse. “I left my phone at home. Did you pack it in my bag?”
“No,” Ivy says, “Didn’t know you didn’t have it with you. Want me to go pick it up for you?”
“Could you? Is that a huge pain?”
“Absolutely no problem. Where is it?”
“There’s a charging pad on my kitchen counter. It’s either there or in the dock on my nightstand. Or… on my couch somewhere. Or… in the bathroom. Better bring me a cord, too.”
“Too bad Bailey’s not here. She’d sniff it out,” Ivy says, smiling.
“Sniff out a phone?” Amie checks.
“Yep,” Ivy responds.
“Bailey might not shift but she’s got a nose that’d rival most alphas,” I say, and it’s true. My nose is okay, but it’s not like I can tell who’s around until they’re close. I also don’t remember scents the way Bailey does. She’ll know when she enters a room who else has been there within the last few hours.
“She sniffed out my car keys when Ty hid them in a cereal box the night… you know… before you came here.”
“Ah,” Amie nods.
I can’t pick up traces of scents on objects the way Bailey can. She might not sniff out inanimate objects by themselves, but if someone has touched them, she often does. She probably scented Ivy on those keys.
Ivy and Amie go somber for a second, and I suspect it’s about the events of the night Tyson went all feral alpha and rutted Ivy in the town hall.
I’m about to change the subject, but Amie perks up. “We’ll find it. We’ll be back.”
“Bring news about Bailey,” I order. “Call Erica if you have to.”
“Sir, yes, sir!” Ivy salutes me comically but then says, “Good luck with all that.”
“Thanks. I think I’m gonna need it.”
Amie says, “If we get stopped from coming back, which we probably will, I’ll text you with updates whenever I hand your phone over to Mase. You’ve got this.”
“Thanks,’ I say unconvincingly.
She gives me a serious look. “It’s meant to be, so trust that it’ll work out. Somehow.”
A smile tugs at the corners of my mouth, so I let it in. Because she’s right. This is meant to be. And while I’ve seen some seemingly impossible stuff so far around these parts with council alpha matings, nothing so far has been impossible despite some stacked odds. Not Tyson and Ivy overcoming that feral night, not Mase getting through to what was a seemingly impenetrable fortress around Amelia. But he got in. Then Riley and Erica overcame severe adversity where it was hard to imagine them moving past what they’d been through. Erica was certain Riley would have the Young coven sever their bond so he could forget she exists. And Grey is happily starting his family with Stacy, who shot Ty and poisoned some of our alphas. I don’t know Stacy well yet, but she fits our pack like it was meant to be. Because it is.