Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 121389 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121389 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
No matter how many questions Soleil asked, the couple didn’t tire of answering them. “Have you met our boys?” Tamsyn said with a laugh when Soleil mentioned her insatiable need to fill in the gaps. “At one point, I swear Jules was asking a question every ten seconds.”
The breakfast passed quickly.
When Nathan rose to grab his jacket, she said, “Are you going into the city? Can I catch a ride?” Her need to see Ivan hadn’t abated at all in the time she’d spent in this kitchen, her soul torn in two. She hated that he was so far from her, and from the rest of her pack.
He should be here, should be part of all this, not cold and alone.
“Sure, you can ride with me.” The sentinel kissed his mate good-bye. “Tell the boys to behave,” he said to Tamsyn, “and I’ll take them mud sliding later.”
Tamsyn murmured something that made Nathan grin and kiss her deeper, before stepping back. But when Soleil would’ve followed him to the garage, Tamsyn stopped her. “Just a moment, honey. I have something for you.”
Opening a drawer, she pulled out a card. When Soleil saw that it held an embedded credit chip, she blushed. “I was planning to pick up a job as a waitress—I saw some help wanted signs yesterday.” It was how she’d supported herself after leaving the hospital.
“There’s no need for that.” Tamsyn touched her shoulder. “You’re part of DarkRiver now, officially a junior healer under my command. You’ll be paid according to your experience. Consider this an advance against your income.”
Soleil didn’t know how to process that. “In SkyElm … It didn’t work like that.” Monroe had controlled all the money, with everyone having to apply to him when they needed something.
Soleil had set up a small business as a teen after figuring out that there was a market for rare dried culinary herbs; she’d felt so guilty for fudging the books so she could tuck away a small percentage of the profits, but she’d hated begging Monroe for money even more. She’d bought her clothes at thrift stores to make her funds stretch out, crafted her jewelry out of pieces others had discarded—and discovered she had a skill there, too. People had loved her colorful jewelry, paid her to make them bespoke pieces.
Together, those things had given her the bare basics of an income.
Of course, she’d still had to bow and scrape to Monroe now and then so he wouldn’t get suspicious. “There was food,” she clarified, feeling awful and disloyal to her old pack for her thoughts. “Anyone could grab a meal in the pack kitchen, and Monroe paid all the utilities.” He hadn’t kept up with repairs to the aeries, or maintained the private road to their settlement, but they’d all had places to live. “It wasn’t that bad.”
Tamsyn’s mouth tightened. “This might be a hard thing to hear, sweetheart, but your old pack was based on a seriously unhealthy foundation. Each member of a pack is meant to contribute to and gain from the strength of the pack—and as a DarkRiver healer, you’ll be working damn hard, trust me. I have no doubts that you worked exactly as hard for SkyElm.”
Shaking her head when Soleil would’ve interrupted, she said, “Food and utilities are the bare basics; those things alone are definitely not equal to a professional salary. Especially when SkyElm was an extremely financially healthy pack. Your alpha had the means to properly pay you and so does DarkRiver.”
The senior healer pressed the card into Soleil’s hand. “Use it or you’ll be answering to me.” A smile to take the sting out of the order. “I can sense your strong healing abilities, but do you also have medical training?”
“A little.” Still feeling awkward, but not wanting to insult her new pack, Soleil put the card into her pocket. “Yariela talked Monroe into allowing me to attend a paramedic course.”
“Think about whether you’d like to study further,” Tamsyn said. “We have non-changeling packmates who bank on us—I’ve actually begun to have some success using my healing ability on them, but it’s nowhere near as smooth as with other changelings. I’m guessing you worked mostly on ocelots?”
When Soleil nodded, Tamsyn said, “Even within changelings, healing can be unpredictable with those outside the healer’s own species—but I haven’t had any issues with our non-leopard feline packmates, so I’m guessing you’ll be fine healing up injured cats who aren’t ocelots.” She rubbed Soleil’s shoulder in gentle encouragement. “It’s the blood bond with Lucas, I think. Gives us the ‘in’ we need. Still, having medical training as backup means we don’t always have to rely only on our healing energy.
“But”—a smile—“that’s a discussion for later. Today is for you—and for that cool-eyed Psy you’ve claimed.” An intent look. “Go find out why your mating bond is incomplete … unless … do you want it? The bond?”