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)
‘Enough, we’re here – you can squabble more later.’ Emberlyn pulled up outside Reena’s home. ‘The others beat us to it,’ she noted as she cut the engine, seeing a number of cars parked here.
‘Of course they did.’ Paisley unclipped her seatbelt. ‘They’re eager to find out who Millicent chose to be her main heir.’
More than likely.
‘I think Emberlyn’s right and that she left it all to Lucie,’ Kage chipped in, referring to Millicent’s cat.
Also more than likely.
Exiting the car, the three of them strode up to the front door of the beautiful Georgian home. It was Reena’s husband who opened it. Ward was a strong witch, but not very. Female Chilgrave witches were more powerful by nature, so the coven had always been matriarchal. When a High Priestess handfasted, she rarely allowed her partner to rule alongside her. Most of the time, there was, essentially, only one ‘Alpha’ in the arrangement.
The asocial Ward didn’t smile their way or even say hello. He merely waved them inside, closed the door and then led them through to the spacious parlor.
Inside, Reena sat in a turquoise velvet chair, her posture as regal as always. She was powerful. Charismatic. A good leader. And quite possibly responsible for the false rumors that Emberlyn had traded slivers of her soul for health, beauty and success.
Such a darling.
Well, she still held Tyra’s ‘childhood traumatic incident’ against Emberlyn. As did Sera’s mother, Penelope . . . and just about everyone else. Ha.
There were two matching sofas in the room, one of which had been claimed by Gill, her husband Hank and their daughter Mari. The other sofa was empty. Dez and Ames stood before the grand fireplace, their hands clasped behind their backs.
All aside from Reena looked casual, smug and eager. Their grins cooled when Emberlyn strolled inside.
‘Afternoon all,’ she greeted brightly.
Reena’s mouth hitched up half-heartedly. ‘Ah, you’re here.’ The envelope containing Millicent’s will on her lap, she gestured at the free sofa. ‘Do sit.’
Emberlyn and the twins lowered themselves onto the couch. As she and Paisley placed their purses on the floor, Emberlyn didn’t miss how her family cast her friends snotty looks. They were clearly still annoyed that the twins had been included in the will.
‘I’m just waiting for one more person, and then we can get started,’ Reena added.
Kage cast Emberlyn a quick glance. ‘What person?’ he asked in a whisper.
Emberlyn gave a slight shrug.
Her relatives chatted among themselves as they waited, pointedly ignoring Emberlyn and the twins. Blonde, blue-eyed and curvy, Gill and Mari so closely resembled each other that they looked like the exact same person at different stages of life. There was no sign of the ginger-haired, gray-eyed Hank in his daughter.
Dez and Ames were both handsome in a pretty way – small nose, small chin, naturally possessing very little facial hair. But whereas Dez was blue-eyed with ash-blond hair, Ames had his mother’s brown eyes and dark hair.
Everyone quieted when the doorbell rang. Ward exchanged a look with his wife and then disappeared from the room. Moments later, his muffled voice came from the hallway, along with two sets of footfalls. When he reentered the room, Emberlyn looked at the tall figure behind him—
And her gaze collided with steely honeydew-green eyes that always held an animal alertness. Her belly promptly did a slow roll.
Ripper. Alpha of a werewolf clan. A direct descendant of Lupin and a she-wolf he’d dallied with during one of his and Lilith’s ‘breaks’.
Ripper’s presence alone put people on notice, so there was an instant shift in the atmosphere. Muscles tightened. Backs straightened. The air turned static.
There was not one thing subtle about Jax ‘Ripper’ Stone. Dominance boldly rolled off him. Raw, gritty and unpolished, he took ‘rugged masculinity’ to an entirely new level.
He was totally badass in that hunter-gatherer, mountain-man, could-survive-any-conditions way. He made her think of a grizzly – burly and gruff with the unruffled calm of an apex predator whom you just knew could explode into violence in a mere second. Beneath it all ran a vein of hardcore brutal sexuality that promised all sorts of pleasure.
What he wasn’t, and never had been, was a friend of Millicent. So why she would make him a beneficiary of her will, Emberlyn had no idea.
She studied the reactions of her relatives. They were tense, seeming equally surprised and confused.
‘He’s on the list of beneficiaries?’ Dez asked Reena.
‘He is, yes.’ Reena fluidly rose to her feet as she tucked a stray strand of auburn hair behind her ear. ‘Good afternoon, Ripper. It’s a pleasure to have you here.’
He only inclined his head, his face its usual stony mask.
‘Please sit,’ she said, indicating a spare armchair.
As he stalked further into the room, Emberlyn couldn’t help but look. Tall and broad, he was built like a tank. Everything about his body language – his strong eye-contact, upright posture, slow and purposeful walk – spoke of a person who knew he was a danger to all those around him. He engendered the kind of respect and fear that cleared him a path.