Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 112089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
“Hello,” she said. “You are in our territory.”
That would sound pleasant enough if not for the growl riding the words. It would be a wonderful time for the basajaun—our basajaun—to show up to the party.
The rest of the basajaunak in this group stayed hidden, even though we clearly knew their locations.
“We’re here by invitation,” Austin said smoothly. “We seek passage and to reconnect with a member of our team.”
She considered us for a moment, looking down our line. “You have a lot of powerful shifters in this team.”
“Yes. This is my mate.” He inclined his head toward me. “Our mating bond is very fresh. I need to make sure she’s well protected. These are known to be dangerous lands.”
The basandere studied him for a moment before shifting her focus to me. When she looked back at Austin, she said, “We have not had a shifter with so much power come through here before. And you have another alpha in your midst.” Her eyes skimmed to Broken Sue.
“He was once an alpha. Now he is my beta.”
“That does not negate his power.”
Austin didn’t respond. I hoped to hell that didn’t mean it was my turn to do the talking. I was anything but smooth in stressful situations.
Her eyes traveled the rest of the crew, sticking often. They came back repeatedly to Cyra and Hollace before settling on Nathanial.
“Three alphas,” she said. “This one of a different breed.”
There was a beat of silence, and I knew that this time, it was my turn to speak.
“He’s my beta,” I told her. “And I don’t have a clue what I’m doing, so you’re safe there.” The thumbs-up I flashed was as stupid as it was overkill.
She didn’t study me. She barely looked at me. It was probably the thumbs-up.
Instead, she took in Sebastian, who was hunched at my side, staring at his feet. “Four,” she said.
“She’s looking at you, bud,” Hollace muttered.
“I sure hope you don’t mean me,” Sebastian replied.
The basandere’s brow furrowed, and her head tilted just slightly. She didn’t know what to make of that. Clearly, she’d never come across an alpha who A, didn’t know he was an alpha, and B, didn’t want any notice at all.
Her gaze zipped back to Hollace, then Cyra, then Niamh, where it lingered a while longer. She didn’t say five, but her pause was just as long. She was clearly sizing Niamh up and having some trouble doing so.
Finally, she speared me with her gaze. All the other basajaunak stepped into visibility, and thankfully, one of them was our basajaun.
“We have not invited anyone into our home for many generations,” she said. “The last time resulted in a death of our family. We have not risked it since.”
I tried to hide my sigh of relief. Our basajaun hadn’t said anything about past visitors causing trouble, but he had prepped me with a response to the we-don’t-have-a-lot-of-visitors thing.
“I understand. You’re in no danger from us. While we’re here, we will protect your lands as our own. We don’t know much of your culture, but we hope to learn quickly and help in any way we can.”
The rest of our group nodded their assent.
The basandere looked at Austin again. “You are not the alpha of these lands. You do not rule here.”
“I rule my people and my people only,” he replied. “That is specific to the shifters in this group. Jessie Ironheart is the alpha of her…crew. I will defer to your dominance, as will she. In return, I would ask that you allow me to govern my people. If there is any slight or fault, take it up with me. I’ll handle any punishments.”
“As far as you are concerned, that is agreed. However…” Her gaze shot back to me again. It was like a physical presence this time, pushing against me. “He is of your…crew, is this right?”
I looked at Austin in confusion and then caught movement out of the corner of my eye. The basajaun—our basajaun—was indicating himself.
“Ah.” I nodded. “Yes, he is. His choice.”
“And you claim alpha of him?”
Deer in the headlights.
There was a whole bunch of emotions filtering through the various bonds, and they were all different. Clearly, everyone thought I should handle this a certain way, and none of them seemed to agree. Super.
I homed in on our basajaun, but he was as serene and complacent as could be. Not helpful.
I grimaced and just spoke the truth as I knew it. I’d never been very good at lying. “I think that’s my role. Alpha, I mean. But I’m more of a team player. We respect each other and work together. I can do things like tell Cyra not to burn down the forest, but if she’s left to her own devices and torches our enemies…well, I should’ve known better than to leave her to her own devices. If I tell the basajaun—or the shifters—not to kill people who have been subdued, and he randomly drop-kicks someone off a cliff…I’m happy for the apology. We all make mistakes, after all. But they wouldn’t disrespect him—or you—on purpose. He’s a valued member of our team. He’s one of us, and we’re one of…him, I guess. We’ll do right by you with his guidance.”