Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Then there was the complex and dirty world of mages. Well, not all mages were dirty, just some, except you didn’t really know which because they all tried to blend together so no one got caught in the crossfire.
There just wasn’t enough time. I couldn’t fit a lifetime of knowledge about three different factions and the magical world as a whole into a few months of training and instruction. When I tried, I felt like I was drowning, like the mountains of information were tumbling down on top of me and burying me alive.
That was why I hadn’t thought about better aerial combat training, or why I couldn’t seem to maintain a schedule, something I’d been great at as a Jane. Or why I couldn’t feel too bad about Edgar peering in the windows at night, hoping I’d come out and talk to him about flowers, something that really shouldn’t have been as important as he was making it out to be. I was hanging on for dear life here.
Austin’s hand closed gently over my shoulder, and he stepped a little closer. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” I pushed everything but this moment away and took a deep breath. “Yeah, sorry.”
“We’ll talk about it.”
He didn’t even know what was wrong, but he was being supportive. He was such an amazing leader.
Then again, he’d been thrown into the deep end too. He didn’t show his feelings because of his training, but he was probably struggling with the same issues.
I nodded and shook it out. Sometimes, it helped to know someone was in the trenches with you.
It was then I noticed the furtive glances from the gathered shifters, all of whom were trying to watch me on the sly. Broken Sue and Tristan had wandered closer and pushed in around me.
“Sorry, did I send out a pulse of magic?” I asked, trying to relax my bearing and offer a smile. I could do that here—they knew better than to challenge me.
“No,” Austin murmured, his hand still on my shoulder. “But you’re advertising your turmoil. Everyone knows what we’re up against, Jess. That you, above all, are a target. Mages are after you, cairn leaders are talking negatively about you, and soon, shifters from other packs will be against you as a figurehead. Our pack is protective of you because they know you’re protective of them. As a whole, they’re worried about you.”
I jerked my head to Austin, but he wasn’t looking my way. “Really?” Tears unexpectedly filled my eyes. “That’s sweet of them.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. When I was frustrated and overwhelmed, I often relieved stress through tears. Too much wine, a tragic love story, and ugly crying did wonders to vent. But this wasn’t the time for my personal hysteria. I was making people nervous.
“It’s fine.” I gave everyone a thumbs-up. “I’m good. I don’t care about the shifters being dicks, and I care even less about the cairn leaders. I’ll give them better than I’ve gotten, just you wait. The mages…well…I guess I’ll just have to blow up their world. I don’t know. But I’m good. Don’t worry about me. I’m expressive. It’s a Jane thing. I’m working on it.”
Austin squeezed my shoulder before pulling away. It couldn’t be easy for him with a co-leader like me. I blasted normality all to hell on a regular basis, something I didn’t notice when I was with the Ivy House crew. They were weirder than me, so it was easy to forget I always used to be the oddest one in the room.
The wolf suddenly lunged for Aurora, and I jerked in surprise.
“Here we go,” Austin said.
EIGHT
Austin
Aurora met Carlos’s lunge with a calm and fluid dodge before she twisted. He chomped into her rear, and Jess gasped. He scratched at Aurora’s flank, opening up minor gashes. Wolves were better as pack animals, working together to take down an adversary. They couldn’t latch on with their claws like a tiger could.
Aurora knew that. An alpha’s daughter, she’d trained for this her whole life, and she’d been taught by one of the best. This would be a tough fight for her because of Carlos’s size and strength, but she was smart enough to compensate. Besides, she had size and strength of her own. She might’ve been smaller in her human form, but her animal was one of the biggest around, and she had more power and dexterity. Frankly, the odds were tipped in Aurora’s favor.
But Jess didn’t know any of that, and Austin wanted to see how she’d react to a loved one in a bloody fight.
Aurora spun and launched herself at Carlos, landing on his back and digging her claws into the sides of his neck. Her big-cat power kept him from throwing her off as she bit and released, bit and released, fighting to stay balanced and work her jaw closer to his jugular.