Total pages in book: 254
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
Yeahhh, no wonder I’d had a crush on him when I’d been a kid.
And that was definitely blood on him. The corner of his bottom lip was slightly swollen too. There was a tiny cut near the corner.
Hmm.
Even with the busted bottom lip, Henri’s facial features were striking and masculine. He was no pretty boy, like I enjoyed teasing Matti that he was. Henri Blackrock was all cheekbones and a big, defined jaw. In a lot of ways, he looked like the man-boy I remembered, except older and two or three times bigger. He was even more handsome than my memories recalled, that was for sure. I had pictures of my childhood, of one or two of Matti’s birthdays with his older cousin sulking in the background behind a giant steak with a candle in it—he only had cake or cupcakes when his mom brought them to school to help him fit in, and he’d always forced down a single bite before handing whatever it was off to me to polish off.
Henri might not have been a fixture in my life like Matti had been, but he had still made an impact in his own way—mostly on my hormones and in my daydreams.
Right then, his nostrils flared some more, and I figured he was still trying to get a whiff of me, except he couldn’t. He could smell my skin and hair, but not the parts of me that made me magical too. Only in a different way.
Tough.
Thick, dark eyebrows scrunched together on his ruggedly cut face. His voice sounded like rumpled velvet when he asked slowly, drawing every word out in a way that emphasized how confusing my presence had to be, “What are you?”
I smiled up at him. “A Pisces. You?”
Someone made a sound, and there was no way it was anyone other than Sienna.
Adult Henri’s head jerked back at my answer. His forehead furrowed before that yellowish-orange-ish gaze raked my face again. “Cricket?”
I burst out laughing. “Wow. I haven’t heard that in forever.” Cricket. I grinned, so pleased he hadn’t forgotten me after all. “Hi, Fluffy,” I greeted him. “How have you been? Can I have my boy back?”
Henri Blackrock, the biggest wolf and man I had ever seen, blinked at me. He’d said my nickname, but it was like he still couldn’t wrap his head around it from the way the lines at his forehead got even deeper. Even his nostrils flared a little more.
And on second glance, his clothing was a little dirty too. Too dusty for it to be casual. He looked how I did when I got done rolling around with Duncan.
What was up with that?
Henri’s gaze took me in like he had no idea what he was seeing, his eyes roaming my face, then sweeping lower, then lower….
Two back-to-back choking sounds that I would have bet money were courtesy of Matti and Sienna were the cue his body needed to instantly tense even more than it already had been, and in the next moment, he held Duncan out.
“Thank you.” My palms and fingers glided over the backs of his as I took my boy and pulled him into my chest, meeting Henri’s intense gaze afterward. I smiled at him some more.
Short, dark lashes fell over incredible amber eyes. He was looking at me. Really freaking watching me.
It had to be driving him nuts not being able to smell my magic. Werewolves were very scent-sual creatures, after all.
Scent-sual… I needed to whisper that one to Sienna later. She’d get a kick out of it.
Chances were, he was trying to reconcile the girl he’d last known with the person I’d grown into. Even Matti had done a double take the first time he’d seen me after my magic presented itself. Except all he’d done to verify my identity was peel back my eyelid, then say, “Let me smell your fart.”
I hadn’t—farted that was—but I did smack him in the gut with the back of my hand, and that had done the trick.
“I almost had a heart attack, if anyone cares,” Matti shared before literally sliding between us, facing his older cousin. “How’s it going, bro?” he said, his tone dry like this whole scene hadn’t just been a shit show. “Thanks for not calling me back.”
Off to the side, Sienna caught my attention while she stood by the kids, her face paler than usual. She mouthed, “You okay?”
Physically? I’d been better, considering it had taken everything in me not to groan when I’d gotten up, and I’d almost blacked out with rage at thinking Duncan was in danger, but otherwise? I gave her a thumbs-up before taking a step away from Matti’s back to get a better angle of the two men standing a foot apart, taking in their similarities and differences since it had been so long since the last time I’d seen them together. Not since the funeral.