Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87193 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87193 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Nadia stood. “What does that mean?” So there was no Alpha?
Solomon sighed, turning to look at the bleachers. “The grimoire states that if no Alpha survives the challenges, then the librarian becomes Alpha of the pack, with the enforcers ordered to protect him or her at any cost.”
Taryn strolled down the bleachers, reaching his side.
He slid an arm over her shoulder. “For the record, I do not want to be the Alpha of any pack. Honestly, I didn’t figure this would work out this way, but here we are.”
She lifted up on her toes and kissed his cheek, turning to face everyone. “I planned on it.”
Chapter 32
Helena rushed by Solomon and grabbed the grimoire, backing away.
“Hey,” Solomon sputtered.
“If you’re a contender for the Alpha position, then you’re no longer the librarian, right?” Caidrik’s mother kept moving, turning to run up the bleachers to toss the book at Nadia.
She caught it, her mind spinning.
“I guess that’s true,” Solomon agreed, still holding on to Taryn.
Nadia looked down at the grimoire. “Um.”
“Gail?” Bussy called.
“I’m here.” Gail bustled her way from down the bleachers, stepping on everyone’s boots on the way. She pushed her glasses up on her nose and then wedged herself between Margaret and Nadia. “Let’s see what we can find.”
Nadia flipped the book to the last few pages. “I haven’t had time to translate these yet.” She pointed to the part about today’s challenges, pausing to look up and check on Caidrik. He’d shoved past Solomon and stood at the bottom of the bleachers, tall and strong, bruised and bleeding.
Holy crap, he was hot.
She gulped and looked down at the book.
Gail tapped her finger along the ancient script. “There’s the part about the librarian.” She frowned and wrinkled her nose. “He’s right. If there’s no Alpha, then he becomes the leader.” She squinted at him. “How did Taryn know?”
Taryn smiled. “Solomon told me, and I saw how Caidrik and Nadia looked at each other. There was no way they were going to wait, so I just watched. Then I might’ve told Bulwark what was happening and where to get an excavator.” She rocked back on very fashionable heels. “I didn’t do anything against the rules.”
It didn’t sound like it. Nadia glared at her. “Did you poison the tea that first day?” The wolf wasn’t even in town, or was she?
Bussy cleared her throat. “Um, that might’ve been us, dear.”
Nadia jolted. “What?”
Margaret leaned across Gail, who was still reading the grimoire. “Yes. As your lupine aunts, we, ah, had a favorite.” She angled her head to wink at Caidrik.
Nadia gulped. “But you made him sick, too.”
“Yes, but just a little sick. We put enough poison in Dax’s cup to take him out.” Bussy spoke slowly as if she were dealing with a child. “We couldn’t remove all of the challengers at the same time.”
Margaret nodded wisely.
“Wait a minute.” The world spun around Nadia. “You killed a wolf just to matchmake?”
Bussy snorted. “Dax isn’t dead. For goodness sakes. He’s fine.”
Margaret slapped Nadia’s thigh. “We had him taken to the doctors in the Silver Pack, and he’s sworn to secrecy until this is all over.”
How did this make any sense? Wait a minute. “The tunnel cave in when I was on a trial with Bulwark?”
Bussy beamed. “That was a good one, right? We had Caidrik all revved up to save you, and he did.” She gave Margaret a high-five. “Yep. You outdid yourself with those explosives, my twin.”
Hope filtered through Nadia. “What about Isaac?”
“He’s fine as well. Sworn to secrecy and all of that,” Margaret mused. “We found him near the bottom of the river. In fact, we were waiting for him.”
Nadia sat back. “Huh? How? Bulwark threw him in the river.”
Margaret frowned. “Yeah, we weren’t counting on that. We had the bridge ready to fail and made sure Caidrik was there in time to save you again. But Bulwark threw Isaac and you in.”
Bussy shook her head. “Though Caidrik did save you, and we caught Isaac where we’d planned, so I guess it all worked out.”
Gail muttered to herself and turned the next page of the grimoire.
Wait a second. Nadia wasn’t sure what to think about these two. “Please tell me you didn’t kill Luca.”
“Of course not,” Margaret said. “Give me a break. We barely stabbed him.”
Nadia reared back. “You stabbed him? With silver? That was really you?”
Concern filled Bussy’s faded eyes. “Take a deep breath, honey. You look like you might pass out.”
Nadia gaped. She just might. “Luca was half dead.”
“Nah.” Margaret waved a hand. “We stabbed him with regular knives and just tossed in a couple of silver shavings. He’s just fine, also in Silver territory.”
Nadia paused. “Then they’re all still Alpha contenders?”
“Oh, no,” Bussy laughed. “There’s a provision in the grimoire, that even though everyone is all in when the contest starts, they can recuse themselves if it’s life or death. If they almost died. They all did so, and I think they might’ve been happy to recuse themselves, for some reason.”