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)
I froze, blinking dumbly at my pillow. The truth of that was so frickin’ obvious, I could’ve died from embarrassment right then. “It’s the lack of sleep. It’s dropped my IQ one hundred points.”
“Uh-huh.” His knowing smirk deepened my humiliation. Is this what it’s like to be around your soulmate? To constantly feel like the other sees right through to your soul?
If yes, then it sucks.
“Sleep,” Paxton said. “I’ll keep watch. Neither the winds nor the Tweedles will mess with you.”
Tears sprung to my eyes, and that was it—the cherry on top of my most humiliating day. I was prepared to be attacked, shamed, bullied, and put down every day that I walked the academy. But I didn’t think what would finally make me cry... was kindness.
“You’re doing all this for those sexual favors, aren’t you?”
“Absolutely and without shame.”
I laughed as I wiped my eyes. Laughing—another thing I’d never thought I’d do within these walls.
“Thank you.”
Paxton just smiled as he reclaimed his seat on the armchair. No more words needed to be said.
Because I passed out before my head hit the pillow.
THAT NIGHT, I WAS WIDE awake after passing out for a solid nine hours.
When I awoke, Paxton was gone, the Tweedles were standing outside my door, and a plate of chicken fingers and fries rested on my nightstand. I assumed the Tweddles used their beta powers to convince him to leave, but that didn’t stop Paxton from coming back and bringing me dinner.
The tiniest smile tugged at the corner of my mouth as I pulled the plate on my lap and started eating. And that was a problem.
I couldn’t like Paxton.
I couldn’t like Paxton because that would lead to mating with Paxton. My wolf would make sure of that. And I couldn’t mate with Paxton because if there was one thing that would screw everything up worse than all—it was completing the bonds.
This wasn’t true for every mate and every bond, but for the truly strong bonds, mates are connected through their souls, and their minds. The gist being that those buggers would be able to see into my mind...
...and discover everything.
The truth of what Castor did. The reason I ripped his throat out. Why I abandoned Wolf Nation. And why I came back to burn it all down, and build my throne on its ashes.
Of course, one could say I’m being overly cautious. How did I know our bonds would be so strong that our minds would become linked? For most wolves that wouldn’t be the case because Luame’s first choice mates are whoever will produce the strongest offspring.
As everyone knows, you can have strong, beautiful babies with someone, and that doesn’t stop them being a raging asshole. A bond that’s based on the physical connection alone never gets stronger.
But a bond with someone that is your true love and equal always gets stronger until you’re sharing everything—body, soul, and mind.
For a long time, I hoped my connection with Paxton, Orion, Edric, Nyx, and Badr was the first one. That Luame was just throwing some hot guys at me so that our babies would be supermodels. But as months, and months, and months went by and our incomplete bonds didn’t fray a single thread, I knew the wolf jerk in the sky screwed me.
She had to go and give me guys that were my perfect match in every way. Even as enemies they were high and above better at getting to me than anyone else. They could dig out my weaknesses like truffle pigs. Just like Paxton knew all the right things to do and say to make me swoon.
Nothing would stand in the way of my revenge. No one was going to stop me, because no one would ever see it coming. As twisted and wrong as their actions were, my fates had done me a favor by putting distance between me and Paxton.
From now on, I wasn’t talking to him, I wasn’t looking in his direction, and I wasn’t flirting with him. Any hopes I had of making use of his power to win my fight was dead.
Paxton Clarke was nothing but air to me.
The boards blew off my windows, as if summoned by my thoughts.
Edric couldn’t see if the lights were on or off, so he erred on the side of caution.
“Would you give it a rest, you saggy-balled dickhead!” I shrieked, running to the window and flinging it into the night.
Edric laughed from his picnic—yes, picnic! The shit-licking son of a hamster kicked back on a thick fleece blanket with two chilled beers on one side, and a plate of Tuscan salmon pasta on the other. The plate I threw went wide, shattering six feet from him.
“I absolutely will,” he called up. “As long as you have something for me.”
“Yeah, I’ve got something for you.” I flipped him off. “And there’s two million more where that came from!”