Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79927 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79927 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
He had wanted to put himself between Higgs and Kiera and tell him in clear words that she was under his protection. That she was his mate and the other male had better not come near her again if he valued his miserable life.
Instead, all Brux had been able to do was growl and bite.
It had worked, of course, but still, the frustration burned inside him like acid.
As Kiera sat quietly at the table, staring into her cup as though she could find answers there, Brux lay nearby with his head on his paws and watched her. He watched the little frown between her brows…watched the way her shoulders were tighter than usual, as though some part of her was still braced for danger…watched her sigh softly and rub one hand over the arm Higgs had grabbed. It was discolored now–the creamy brown skin darkened by a bruise.
At the sight, Rage flared hot and immediate through him–he wanted to fucking kill the male!
No—not kill him–that was too simple. Brux wanted to tear him apart. He wanted to rip the fucking bastard to shreds and let the scavengers pick his bones.
A low growl rumbled in his chest before he could stop it, and Kiera looked up at once. She seemed to know what was bothering him.
“Hey,” she said softly, setting the cup aside and coming to kneel beside him. “It’s okay, Buck. He’s gone. You scared him off.”
She put both arms around his neck and hugged him, pressing her warm body to his. At once some of the fury drained out of Brux, leaving only the old, familiar ache behind.
Gods, her touch felt good–so good and so right. If only he could shift, he could hold her in his arms. Instead of just letting her hug him, he could hug her back.
And that was part of the torment. Every time she touched him, he felt the change begin. He felt a stirring deep inside himself…a flicker of possibility that seemed to promise that his bipedal form was right there—right beneath the surface of his skin—just waiting to come out.
And yet every time, something stopped it…something held him back.
It had happened again when Higgs laid hands on her. Buck had felt the shift rise in him then more strongly than ever before. For one blazing instant, when he saw the green male dragging Kiera away, he had been certain this was the moment. Certain that rage and protectiveness and sheer need would finally break whatever barrier remained.
He had felt his spine lock with the beginning of change…felt the shape of hands almost emerge from his paws. He’d felt words build in his throat instead of barks.
Then…nothing. Nothing at all.
The shift had failed him once more and he had been left in his beast form, snapping and growling at the attacker like a common guard animal.
Kiera stroked his ears and sighed, interrupting his dark thoughts.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” she murmured. “Probably get myself murdered, apparently.”
Brux whined softly and pressed his head against her, trying to tell her not to say such things. Trying to tell her that as long as he drew breath, no harm would come to her if he could prevent it.
But of course, all she heard was a worried sound from an animal, because he couldn’t make himself understood. It was so frustrating!
She smiled faintly and rubbed his ruff one more time before getting up and going back to her cup.
Buck watched her in silence. Would he ever regain his humanoid form?
He had been trying not to ask himself that too often, because every time he did, despair crept a little closer. But after what had happened with Higgs, the question rose in him with renewed force.
What if this was it?
What if this shaggy gray body on four legs was all he would ever be now?
His mind had returned. His memories had returned. Even his deeper emotions were back in full force—guilt, grief, yearning, tenderness, anger, hope. He thought clearly now…reasoned clearly…remembered enough of who and what he had once been to know exactly what he was missing.
But perhaps that was all the Goddess intended to restore. Perhaps she had given him back his mind…but not his male form.
Perhaps this was her judgment on him.
You loved once, a cold voice in his head whispered. You were given your one true mate and lost her. That was your blessing, and that was your tragedy. Now you may love again if you must—but only from a distance. Only from the skin of a beast.
Brux shut his eyes tightly. He didn’t want to believe that. And yet…the Goddess usually granted a Lykan only one mate–that had always been the way.
One true female to tether his soul and steady his mind. One to share his life and his body and his Bond. One to call him back from the void.