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The Pack: Rule Number 1 – No Mates
Chapter Two Hundred sixty–four
PAUL
I have to head back to the mainland, Rainier attiness at thy back how to hang (kendy and the past twenty minutes.
Nice to see Bartlett with someone special. Out of all of us, I often wonder wher way be sent hus me qe ditmetist something is going on here. Something crazy
Dom thinks you should come back with res and be the one to check the Chathers doing of the have?
“What?” I snap, my attention ripping away from the window. “Why do or even for to g
“Someone was found in the woods naked and the authorities believed that it migh, a gart chart sy wo she has been placed in lock up and under arrest, tespite that after they compared the female to a picture
not Rose.
And what the fuck am I supposed to do about that?”
Check on the bar. Rainier grins and before taking another look at his phone
“Fine,” I snarl. “But I’m coming back here tonight.
“As am 1,” Rainier chuckles. “So no worries, then
“No worries…” I agree as I step away from the window.
ROSE
I latch onto Bartlett with a death grip and his arms close around me so tightly that I’m momentarily fighting a smile. His sent me and for a second I revel in it, in the safety and security it suddenly represents. Could it be true? This mate thing? Could he really we me so desperately?
“No one on one’s,” Bartlett says for me, pressing a kiss into my head. Just say what it is you have to say right here.
I gaze up into Bartlett’s eyes and watch them sparkle for a moment while I take it all in. This new feeling of having someone that wants t protect me so fiercely. Someone who refuses to leave me to my troubles or allow me to face the world alone. Could I really be so lucky?
“Bartlett,” I whisper, pushing my face into his chest and feeling the pound of his racing heart against my skin.
“It’s okay, princess. I’ve already told you no one’s going to hurt you here. They wouldn’t dare, he whispers back, pressing his lips onto the top of my head.
“He’s right, you know?” the female’s voice sounds much closer than before. And besides… you’re not the only hunter to have switched sides. My mate has too.”
That gets my attention. My eyes flare open and I lean away from Bartlett’s chest to look at her- this girl that is shining with so much joy that I can hardly imagine her to be evil at all.
She’s not quite as tall as I am, but she’s close and when I look directly at her I’m surprised to find her smiling from ear to ear
“I’m sorry,” she spits, her lips quivering like she feels stupid just saying the words. “I almost killed you, but try and understand the trails off, her golden eyes dropping for a moment as she studies the ground. “Roman killed my mother and we’ve been looking for his gang of monsters for a long time.”
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Chapter Two Hundred Sixty–Four
Monsters, I repeat, frowning at her choice of words but finding them somewhat appropriate. Especially after calling Bartlett one myself.
“Yeah, the confirms, her eyes darkening when they lift again to find my own. But I know better now. I know you didn’t know any better at the time. Neither did my mate. I mean, it took him shooting me and me forcing a shift for him to realize he was wrong.
“Who is your mate? I can’t help but ask.
Her smile is back and in full force with that question, her lips turning up in a smirk. “Cane. He’s my mate. And now… I suppose he’s my
monster too.”
“Cane?!” I choke out, shocked. “He’s a lion shifters mate? I used to crush on him sooo hard.”
Bartlett stiffens against me and a low growl emits from his chest. I swat his chest playfully, not turning my eyes away from the girl. From… Gayle.
She grins. “Yeah. He’s got a sort of star power, doesn’t he? Even as a human he did.
Even as a human he did? What does she mean…did?
ANASTACIA
As I sit here in the jail, healing and returning from the haze of sleep, one thought plagues my mind.
I smell wolves. And I mean, I smell them everywhere, but yet, there aren’t any in sight.
But there must be, you see, because I am never wrong.
My mother had the gift and her mother before her and her mother before her and so on. But the line of magic always shifted. Skipping one to the next. So my mom was born without magic and I – being her first born girl – was. My sister is the same as my mother was. She possesses that clarity of old. The knowledge of what is what and who is who, but she can’t conjure a candlestick into fire without the help of a match and she wouldn’t be able to charm a truck driver even armed with a new set of tits. She is as inherently human as they come, while I was born a witch.
Well… that’s our traditional name, but I prefer to be called Gifted.
As I gaze around at the meager line of cells to my left and right, and the officers milling about this tiny little holding, I’m fully aware it wouldn’t take much to break out of here. A charmed smile here and an enchanted whisper there. I could have them releasing me right now if I truly wanted them to, but… I don’t. The hounds are still out there and with the smell of wolves all around me, I’m thinking there’s a reason they haven’t already broken into this place and tried to steal me.
They’re afraid.
Ha ha ha! My luck may finally be turning in the right circle. Now all I have to do is wait for one to arrive and charm him into taking me in long enough to come up with a plan. Or a spell. Or something that keeps those shadow hounds from chasing me and trying to devour my
magic.
But where are they? Where are the wolves?
“Um, excuse me Officer…” I purr in my most convincing lilt
“Garret,” the brown haired human says, stepping away from his desktop computer to stand next to my bars.
“Garret,” I repeat, widening my dark indigo eyes that are only ever violet when I cast and batting my dark featherlike lashes his way. “Did I hear you mention your supervisor coming in?”
“Yes ma’am. He’s on his way here now. Should be here within the hour.
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Chapter Two Hundred Sixty–Four
“Perfect. Do you think he might be troubled to speak to me?”
Garret grins, taking in the bouncing spirals of my coiled black hair and the exposed skin of my curves that are still barely covered in the semi–trashed dress that I am wearing before granting me an unwavering smile. He will be. He’s actually planning to release you himalt after a few questions about your er um predicament.”
My predicament. He means the fact that I was found tumbling toward my death down a mile long incline and the miraculous fact that came out of it with hardly a scratch. Not that I didn’t play up my injuries for the sake of sanctuary. Even now I’m nursing a pretend sprained ankle. Laying it on thick for the pity party I may need in the end.
“That’s perfect, thank you Garret,” I say sweetly, returning his wink with one of my own before sitting back downts.
Great. With any luck this Sheriff will be just what I’m looking for and I’ll charm my way right into his arms. At least for the night.
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