Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 81808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
“No,” I said softly, moving away so Cole had to release my hand. “All of you go home so I can speak to them. You’re going to have your hands full with Tuss when he wakes up.” I turned to Cole. “You’re the son of an alpha. They’re going to need you.”
He nodded.
I glanced at Justin. “Your father needs you.”
“I agree,” he said, taking a step toward me, then thinking better of it, turning, and heading back down the hill. Others followed, and one little girl stopped beside me, slipping her hand into mine as she had earlier.
“You promised Mommy would be okay and she is, just like you said.”
“Told you.”
She nodded. “I gave Teague a shell I found at the beach in the summer. I took it to show-and-tell today, but I wanted him to have it.”
“What did he give you in trade?”
She pulled a polished amethyst out of her pocket. Its faceted surface glittered in the lights that, again, no one asked about.
“Oh, Julia,” her mother gasped. “I don’t know if Teague meant to give you—”
“He did,” I assured her, then looked back at her daughter. “Put that by your bed and it’ll help you sleep. No bad dreams.”
She grinned wide, and I gestured at them to get going. They got a few feet away from me, then both mother and daughter spun and came running back to hug me. There was no missing that the alpha did not look pleased. His mate, however, only smiled.
Several women came up then and introduced themselves to me, thanking me for taking care of their children. They also wanted to know about my friend who all the kids were raving about. He was magic, they were told. He’d had long braids that hung on each side of his face, beautiful brown curls, and he’d had them drink out of a waterskin, then made fire from the air that didn’t burn the ground when they all clustered around it to keep warm.
“He’s an elf,” Evan said excitedly as he passed the baby he’d been carrying to her mother. He turned to me. “How do you have an elf living on your land?”
“See—”
“He said he lives out there in the woods and never leaves.”
“That’s sort of true, but—”
“Although he says he does have a room in your house that’s up high with no stairs. I have no idea what that means.”
It was basically a loft in my sunroom. To reach the tiny area where he slept, you had to leap from where the stairs ended, a good twenty feet in the air. Sometimes, in the dead of winter when the snow got high and the temperature outside dropped below freezing, he stayed there. But he also hibernated with the bears. I would have made him wash after if he could ever get dirty or smell, but as a forest elf, he was, as the kids said, magical. Having him shower or putting his clothes in the washer was completely unnecessary.
“He’s really…really…”
“Really what?” Cole asked, concerned, squinting at his brother.
“Beautiful,” Evan and I said at the same time.
“Oh?” Cole smiled at us. “Is that right? Beautiful, you say?”
I wanted to tell him that I’d never seen a forest elf who wasn’t, and I’d met many in my life. The fact that Teague—a name I’d given him because he didn’t have one and I felt it was necessary—had ended up on the same side of the world as me had made me protective of him. At first, he couldn’t have been less interested in knowing me. But with the passing years, even as solitary as many of the fae were reported to be, especially the Gille Dubh, we’d grown friendly. When I’d made a space in my home especially for him, our relationship had become what it was now—a kinship that I treasured.
“Okay, you all need to get your kids home,” I called, needing everyone to get moving.
They all left then, waving at me. Evan dragged his feet, clearly wanting to stay, but in moments only Reggie, Fletcher, and another man I didn’t know remained, as well as Abel and Cole.
“Go now. I’ll send whoever else down to the house in just a bit. If there’s been no one in an hour, send Tuss home by himself.”
“I don’t think it’s safe for you to wake these guys up all alone,” Cole muttered.
“I agree,” Abel said. “We should remain.”
I shook my head. “Here’s the thing, if they see any of you, there’s going to be posturing instead of the truth. If it’s me alone, I’ll know.”
Cole huffed out a breath. “Yes, but, Mere—”
“He killed two of those guys all by himself.” Reggie pointed at me. “I think Merritt’s just fine.”
“Exactly,” I agreed. “Now go. You’re wasting time. It’s getting late, and you need to move Tuss.”
They finally picked him up, and he was a big man, all muscle, so he was heavy. Of course, as soon as they cleared my land, he woke up and started fighting, turning from dead weight into someone they had to subdue. I heard all the cursing and yelling, and when I checked, they were halfway to the house, only Cole turning several times to look back. I finally waved, and he lifted his hand in return.