Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 65871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
Anya wakes up about an hour before the flight lands. She stretches and snuggles in deeper as she wakes, nuzzling against my neck. My heart melts in these moments of vulnerable tenderness.
“How are you feeling?”
“Good,” she lies, even as a little tremor of pain runs through her. The first shift is the most painful. I know every bone in her body is aching right now.
I reach for the cup of extra strength pain relief Elena brought in the interim.
“Take this,” I say. “For the pain.”
“I don’t need any painkillers,” she says. I see her wince even as she says the words, denying her pain, trying to hide what she thinks is weakness.
I sit her up on my lap, wrap my arm lovingly around her, pinch her nose and tip the dose down her throat. She swallows obediently, which is fortunate because if she were to spit it back at me, I might have to reconsider my position on discipline.
The look she gives me afterward is slightly resentful and slightly appreciative. I look back steadily. I will not apologize for looking after her, ever. The grace period I allowed her to grieve Lilly’s death is over—though I know the grief has not left her yet. It never really will.
“Rude,” she says.
“I will be as rude as I like when it comes to looking after you, shchenok,” I say.
“What does that mean?” She tries to wrap her mouth around the word.
“Puppy,” I translate for her.
She blushes and hides her face in my chest. “You shouldn’t call me that. It makes me feel small.”
“But you are small,” I say, running my fingers through her hair. “You are just a delicate little she-wolf, and I have you all to myself forever.”
“Stop it,” she mutters, but in such a way that indicates she does not want me to stop it at all. She snuggles closer and I hold her tight as the plane begins to circle our private runway.
CHAPTER 5
Every great pack has its stronghold. Castle Volk is one of the grandest in the world, an estate spanning thousands of acres of rolling forest and hills. I was born here, as was my father before me, and his father before him. Our lineage goes back centuries, and Anya will bear the next generation within the sanctuary of these walls.
From the moment she is carried over the threshold, she is enveloped in adoration. The pack has been concerned that I have not taken a mate. Since my early twenties, they have been urging me to find someone, but there is no way to hurry fate.
As a young alpha female, Anya has a gentle playfulness and a natural submission and grace that make her the object of much appreciation. I know how they feel. I am absolutely enamored of her, in the kind of love that happens quite literally once in a lifetime.
However, as time goes on, days turn into weeks, and the initial excitement of having a brand new alpha female in the pack starts to settle, even I notice that her happiness is not quite as complete as mine. I keep her by my side at all times, both because I am possessive of her, and because my need to protect her is intense.
I travel quite widely within Russia, because there are many satellite packs who are affiliated with our main pack, but not of our main pack. They take orders from me and engage in trade and other commercial activities. Anya comes to many of the meetings, especially the ones that take place in restaurants. She dresses up pretty, she makes sweet conversation, and I know her presence is appreciated by the compliments we both receive.
I notice that she is starting to become quite sulky around two months in, pouting as she changes between one black dress and another black dress.
I approach her, run my hands over her shoulders and fasten my teeth lightly on the side of her neck.
“What is wrong, my love?” I purr the question in her ear, expecting her to do the usual thing and tell me that there’s no problem.
To my surprise, she turns around and looks up at me.
“Do I have to go?”
“To dinner? Yes. Otherwise you’ll be hungry.”
She does not find my little joke amusing. The corners of her lips fall further.
“I don’t get a choice in any of this, do I? I’m going to live my entire life stuck in a gilded cage. I’m never going to make a decision again, am I? What I wear, where I go, what I do… it’s all going to be decided for me. Isn’t it!”
She’s cute when she’s throwing a tantrum. I watch the way her pretty face forms an adorable pout.
“You have certain duties that accompany your role here, Anya.”
“What if I don’t want certain duties? What if I want to do what I want?”