Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 448(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 448(@300wpm)
But Bloodhill differed in one respect. It had a gloomy, ominous feel. A vibe made worse by the number of dead, crooked trees.
It was quiet. Too quiet. As if every bit of wildlife had adapted to be silent so as to avoid the Rabid’s detection. There were rarely tweets or chirps, rarely any deer grazing in plain sight, hardly any glimpses of squirrels hurrying up trunks or even lizards zipping through the underbrush.
All he could hear right then was the creak of branches, the skitter of fallen leaves, the trickle of the creek, the sound of their boots scuffing ground . . . and the yawn that at that moment cracked Logan’s jaw.
Ripper spared his brother a glance. ‘That’s the fifth time you’ve yawned in the space of an hour.’
Logan shrugged the shoulder that wasn’t weighed down by his backpack’s strap. They all took supplies such as food, water and first aid necessities. ‘What can I say? Clem knows how to exhaust a guy in bed.’
‘You two seeing each other now?’
Logan wrinkled his nose. ‘Sort of. We’re keeping it light. At least for the time being.’
‘Light?’ Ripper snorted. ‘You’ve spent so much time with her lately I’ve barely seen you.’
‘That’s partly because you’re always with your witch.’ Logan plucked a berry off a nearby bush. ‘Things still seem to be going good with you two.’ There was a questioning note in his tone.
‘They are.’ It had been a little over two weeks since the ‘green and moldy hair’ incident. Ripper still saw Emberlyn every day, and they never spent a night apart. Which, as a guy who liked his space, he would have thought he’d struggle with – attachment or no attachment. But being around her steadied him. Relaxed him. Made him feel recharged.
Logan tossed the berry into his mouth. ‘When are you gonna claim her, then?’
Ripper’s step faltered in surprise.
‘Don’t tell me you haven’t at least considered it.’
His hand flexing around his bow, Ripper walked onward as he admitted, ‘I actually didn’t let my mind go there.’
Logan’s brows flew together. ‘Why not? You’re totally gone for her. Lost.’
Ripper didn’t feel lost – that implied a sense of drifting, of disorientation, of struggling to find his way. He knew that from personal experience. Emberlyn was solid ground. An anchor. One he held tight to.
But gone for her? Yeah, that was accurate. It was just that . . . ‘I never imagined I’d take anyone as a mate.’
Logan watched him so closely he almost tripped over a tree root. ‘Has this got something to do with what Mom went through when Dad died in front of her?’
Ripper swallowed, his gut twisting. ‘I can still hear that scream. The agony in it, the mindless rage . . .’ It had been the cry of a broken soul.
‘There’s a very big difference between our mom and Emberlyn,’ said Logan, his voice soft.
‘What’s that?’
‘If something happened to you, Emberlyn wouldn’t lose all control and throw herself into a fight she couldn’t win. She’d fucking destroy everyone she held accountable – and she’d do it right there right then with a minimal amount of struggle.’
Ripper felt his lips almost twitch. Yeah, his witch would do exactly that. She was no slave to her emotions, even when they were running high.
‘You never envisioned yourself claiming CeCe?’
‘Not once.’ Ripper inadvertently kicked a pebble, sending it skipping along the ground. ‘You?’
‘Too many times,’ Logan mumbled.
‘You were right in what you said. You care for her far more than I ever did.’
‘You meant what you told her, didn’t you? You never actually loved her.’
‘I meant it,’ Ripper verified.
‘She’s kept her head down since the whole hair-turning-green thing a fortnight ago. I think she’s still shaken over it,’ Logan added, a hint of humor in his voice. ‘Much as she will have known that Emberlyn’s a vengeful creature, I don’t think she was prepared for your witch to do anything like that.’
His brother wasn’t the only one who’d found it amusing. Ripper had been wrong to worry that his clan would be so unnerved by Emberlyn’s actions that they wouldn’t want her around. On the contrary, they respected that demonstration of strength and pitilessness.
‘It was a genius punishment on Emberlyn’s part – she forced CeCe to have to own up to her actions and admit to a difficult truth.’ Halting, Logan turned to him. ‘And now you’ve gotta admit to your own difficult truth.’
Stopping at his brother’s side, Ripper frowned. ‘Which is what?’
Logan regarded him with a serious expression. ‘You have some decisions to make regarding Emberlyn. You might be okay now with how things currently are between you, but that won’t last. We’re werewolves. It’s in us to claim what we intend to keep. You won’t be able to fight it unless you break away from her before it gets too late.’