Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 114617 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114617 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Hours later, I woke up... feeling a thousand times worse.
I groaned, clutching my head. My forehead pounded, my sinuses were stuffed with cotton, my eyes ached like someone drove a spike through them. It took Herculean effort to drag myself out of bed and into the shower. I couldn’t lie around all night. I had a party to get to, and I was the guest of honor.
Edric looked up when I came out. “About time,” he drawled. “I was going to leave without you.”
“Not very chivalrous.” I eyed his drop-dead, sinfully gorgeous Prince Charming costume, and the suitcase it came out of. “Why do you look like you’re unpacking?”
“That’s because I am.” He dumped his boxers on my bed to prove it. “Surprise, lover, I’m moving in.”
“Like hell you are.” I padded across the room to the closet. Dagem had loaded it up with designer gowns and dresses that she didn’t have time to remove before I had her killed. “You snore and you hog the blankets. I wouldn’t put up with that even if I liked you.”
“Did it sound like I was asking permission? Because if it did, you heard me fucking wrong.”
I rolled my eyes, and winced—my head pounding. “What do you want from me?”
“I want to keep an eye on you. Framing Orion wasn’t part of the deal,” he burst out. “You said you wouldn’t make a move unless—”
“On Destiny,” I broke in. “I said I would temporarily pause my plans for Destiny to give you time to sack up and accept my way is the only way. Framing Orion had nothing to do with Destiny.” I pinned him with a look. “That was just good old-fashioned revenge. He shouldn’t have fucked with my letters. My mom is off-limits. She will always be off-limits.”
“Hmm, well, thanks for confirming that.” Edric plucked his phone out of his pocket. The recorder app shown large for me to see. “I hope you got all the revenge you needed out of that, because I’m freeing him in the morning.”
The Valentino gown hit the carpet. “Gods, you’re such a fucking asshole!”
Edric’s smirk would’ve shamed the devil. “Save it, sweetheart. You got outmaneuvered fair and square. And yes, I’m still moving in. Both to watch you and to keep your pussy on tap. I’m glad we’ve moved to the total honesty part of our relationship that I can say that without worrying about your feelings.”
“A month.” I closed the distance, planting my hands on my hips. “Orion stays locked up for a month. Then you free him.”
“Nope.”
“Three weeks.”
“No,” he blared. “What is wrong with you? Do you have any idea what he’s gone through because of his dad? I’m not letting people believe—”
“Yeah, yeah, blah, blah. Two weeks,” I countered, “and I’ll give you blowjobs on command. I’ll even do that thing with my tongue that you like.”
“Two weeks. Deal,” he blurted, then tossed his head. “Wait, no! That was my wolf, not me. No deal. I’m not the kind of man who sells out his friends for some puss—”
I ripped off my towel.
“Then again, he did go too far and deserves to be taught a lesson,” Edric finished, feasting on my body. “Two weeks it is.”
Smiling, I patted his cheek. “Pleasure doing business with you.”
“Fuck’s sake!” The man pounded his head, yelling at his other half. “Get ahold of yourself!”
I left him to his regrets and finished getting ready. It took twice as long as it should have. My vision spun when I moved too fast, and my limbs were getting shaky. Even so, I pushed on and ignored it.
I wasn’t about to miss this party. Nearly the entire school saw me claim my first victory over the council. Now they needed to see me as I would be from now on—as their queen.
Edric shot up when I came back out. “Deal’s off. Tomorrow I’m... Wow.”
I wasn’t too proud to admit it, I blushed. It’d been a long time since a guy looked at me the way Edric was. Like I was—
“Beautiful,” he whispered. “Gods, you look amazing, Volana. I would have you right here if I could bear to mess with a thing.”
All right, I was big-time blushing. “Goodness,” I fluttered, clearing my throat. “You do have your moments, don’t you.”
Edric held out his arm for me. I hesitated.
“You’re shaky on your feet,” he said. “Hold on to me. I’ve got you.”
My eyes narrowed to slits. “Why are you being so nice?”
“Because we’re going to argue the whole way there.”
Edric made good on his threat. The battle took place inside our minds—fussing, fighting, and arguing back and forth about that jackass Orion, and then about modifying my plan for fewer casualties.
“This is a war. Sacrifices must be made.”
“Your sacrifices must be made. You don’t get to decide for others what they’ll sacrifice. That’s not war—it’s murder and oppression. That same thing you claim you’re trying to free Wolf Nation from.”