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)
She blinked once. Then twice, her pupils narrowing. “I don’t really want to…”
“I don’t care,” he said. “Answer me.”
She exhaled through her nose. “Let’s just say we didn’t get along.”
Caidrik ran his hands down her arms, checking her without making it obvious. Clean skin, steady muscle, no flinch. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”
“No,” she said, and the honesty in her tone settled something in his chest. “It was one little dispute.” She shuffled her feet, reached back for the table, and hopped up onto it. “Has he been found?”
Caidrik shook his head. “No. It appears as if several tunnels collapsed, and the rescue team hasn’t found him.” Maybe the asshole was dead. Oh, their mother would be hurt, but life would probably be better. Bulwark had harmed Nadia, which meant he should lose his hands.
Nadia swung a leg. “Um, thank you for coming for me. For getting me out of there.”
“Always.” He meant the word.
She licked her lips. “How was your outing with Taryn?” Her voice tipped at the very end, just enough to make her sound a little jealous.
He tried to enjoy the jealousy, but irritation still caught him. He pushed down the anger rising in him at the thought of his brother daring to hurt her. He would deal with Bulwark the second he saw him, if the jerk survived the tunnel collapse. That reckoning was coming. But for now, Nadia was here and still breathing.
“Yes, we came through ours just fine.” He wasn’t supposed to share the information, so he didn’t. Their challenge had been fish and food related, planning for shortages in case famine ever touched the wolves. They had solved it well together. He had to admit Taryn was smart and solid, and she had a good spirit. She was not the one for him, that much he knew, but she would make a fine addition to the pack and probably a good mate for someone. For now, his focus stayed on the female in front of him. “When’s your next challenge?”
She rolled her eyes. “In about an hour, before it gets dark. What about you?”
“Not until tomorrow,” he said. So much for giving the female a break. “With you.”
“Hey, grand.” She huffed. “Do you have any idea what ours is?”
“No.”
She scowled. “Solomon won’t tell us until it’s time.”
“Yeah,” he said. “He’s enjoying this, isn’t he?”
“I think so,” she muttered.
Caidrik’s eyes caught another shadow of color near her mouth. He leaned in slightly, studying her bottom lip. “Did Bulwark hit you in the mouth, too?”
“No.” She looked away, slow and deliberate.
Caidrik slid his fingers into the back of her hair and cupped her scalp, holding her so she had to look at him. “Did he kiss you?”
She pressed her lips together, and the bruise stood out more.
“Nadia,” he said quietly. “Tell me the truth.”
“Yes.” Her voice was steady now. “Don’t worry. I bit his lip.”
Caidrik would tear those lips right off. “Did he do anything else?” Fire roared through his veins.
“No. Well, he threw me down, but don’t worry. I’m making plans to take him out.”
God, she was cute. The statement stunned Caidrik, and he paused, the words landing harder than he expected. “You are?”
“Yes.” Her chin firmed.
“What are those plans?”
She shifted her weight on the table. “I don’t have them fully formulated yet,” she admitted.
“You’re going to kill him?” he asked, more curious than anything else.
She sighed and looked down. “No. I’m not going to kill him. I would like to have him banished, though. I just haven’t quite figured out how.” She frowned faintly. “I’m still trying to read that grimoire, and I haven’t had a chance to meet with Solomon. I just need a key, and then maybe I can decipher it.”
“You don’t trust Solomon?”
She shrugged. “I do trust him. I just don’t think he knows how to read between the lines like most people.”
Caidrik brushed his thumb across the bruise again. Fury coiled tight in his chest, hot and sharp, and he forced himself to stay gentle with her. He’d change all of those pack laws and make sure that anybody who harmed a female would pay dearly for it. “Did my brother hurt you in any other way?”
“No.” She looked down, and those beautiful dark eyes slipped out of his sight. “Is it true that he stole your girlfriend? That he got her pregnant and she killed herself?”
Caidrik nearly stepped back, his chest hurting now. “He told you about Carrie?”
Nadia’s shoulders slumped. “Yeah.”
“Well,” Caidrik said quietly, “I doubt he told you the full truth.” He took a breath, steadying himself. “Carrie and I were good friends from the time we were little, but that’s it. There was never anything more between us. I liked her. Maybe even loved her as a friend. I don’t know. But yeah, the rest of it’s true. He used her.”