Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 126030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Compassion finally broke down my wariness. “We’re not like shifter packs.” I took Austin’s hand. “Or gargoyle cairns. Or anything else, really. We only have this convocation to try and help magical people.” I let my tension bleed away. “Austin created a safe haven before he ever planned to be an alpha. I’m helping him extend that to the rest of the shifters, and hopefully, down the line, mages. Come on, let’s get a fire or something and some food, and sit down and have a chat.”
His gaze shifted to me, and he was once again silent. “I’ve never heard of a female gargoyle,” he said finally.
“I got the magic from a house. Seriously, a fire and some food. It’s chilly here. I’m not used to it after being in suffocating humidity for the past week. Or at least a sweatshirt.”
His eyebrow ticked up. He hadn’t been expecting that.
“Who are you?” he asked Austin, clearly not ready to trust us and let down his guard.
“Austin Steele. Formally Austin Barazza of the Gossamer Falls generational pack line.”
The man’s eyes widened in evident surprise. “The youngest Barazza boy?”
“Yes.”
The man’s eyebrows lifted. “That explains the power. I heard you had a very healthy dose. The wildness, too. The rumors didn’t do you justice.”
“I’m hearing that a lot lately.”
The man grunted. “You made something of yourself, huh? No one thought you would amount to anything after you…left the pack.”
“Slunk away in disgrace, you mean?” Austin replied sardonically. I leaned into Austin comfortingly. Also, he was warm. He let go of my hand and put it around my shoulders. “I wouldn’t have, not in any real way. The gossiping alphas would’ve been right. But then I met my mate and…” He shrugged. “Things change. We have food we can grill up. We can tell you the whole story, if you want.”
The man assessed me for a while longer. “Fine. There’s just one thing. I’m not the only danger in these woods. You’re trespassing, and the watchers have shown up to check it out. They don’t have a strong compulsion towards forgiveness.”
24
Jessie
Basajaunak exploded from the trees. They ran at us, growling, their hair bristling. To my surprise, the man stepped forward with his hand out to stop them.
“They didn’t know,” he said loudly. “They are here for me—“
He cut off as the basajaunak slowed, relaxing into grins, their focus on Sebastian, who had jogged a few steps away. Dave stepped out from within them.
“I told you!” he said, devolving into laughter. “Did you see his face? He always does that, even when he knows we’re around.”
We’d met a band of basajaunak on our way to this clearing, hiding in the trees and watching us. It had taken no time at all to explain that we didn’t know this was their territory and that some of their distant kin were part of our team, and they were on their way. It was easy after that to gain admittance to the area. Dave had declared me and our crew family, and that included even distant kin.
I tsked. “Dave, stop terrifying Sebastian.”
“I can’t seem to get over how scary they are,” Sebastian said in a shaky voice.
Half the basajaunak broke down laughing. The man stared at us as though we’d grown another set of heads.
“You have basajaunak in your…what’d you call it?” he asked.
“Convocation, and yes,” Austin said.
He shook his head in disbelief. “I had to fight for the right to stay here. They decided I was too dangerous to keep trying to kick out.”
“That and we felt a little sorry for you,” one of the resident basajaunak said. “Come on. We have started preparing for a feast. I want to hear about Him that has followed his star, and the stick builders who are now part of our family.”
The man snorted, putting his hands on his hips. To Austin he said, “I’m not agreeing to go with you, but I must say, I am curious about this story.”
John
Multiple fires blazed within the darkness. The ground had been cleared of forest life, leaving a heavily trod-on dirt floor. Austin Barazza’s—no, it was Steele now—people had hunted, and their game roasted on spits over the fires. The basajaunak had provided root vegetables, seeds, berries, and other natural bounties that could be found in the wilderness.
While all that had been collected and prepared, John had sat quietly and listened to Austin and Jessie’s incredible story. A Jane that inherited magic from a house? A phoenix and thunderbird on board? Basajaunak as kin? If he hadn’t been sitting amongst those creatures, had it all verified time and again, and read the obvious truth within the Jane’s body language, he wouldn’t have believed it. Then again, he also wouldn’t have believed the power and might of Austin himself.
The alpha network, something John had never had any time for, apparently didn’t believe much of this. John could understand why. They wouldn’t want to come around, either. Austin said as much. To admit to the power amassed here, the alphas would realize they didn’t have enough to keep their perch at the top. It was an uphill battle Austin faced.