Total pages in book: 202
Estimated words: 193561 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 968(@200wpm)___ 774(@250wpm)___ 645(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 193561 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 968(@200wpm)___ 774(@250wpm)___ 645(@300wpm)
“What if we’re too old to work?” an old man asks.
Malachi looks at Brody.
“The elderly in a pack are treasured and revered for their wisdom and their contributions to the pack, whatever those are,” Brody tells him. “It’s not all about manual labor. Though anyone who can work will be expected to. We can talk it all out and address all concerns. We can have weekly town hall meetings until things are running smooth and then we can have them monthly, quarterly, whatever. Every voice matters.”
“Seriously?” an older woman calls out.
“Seriously,” Brody says and flashes a big, probably disarming smile.
“That’s amazing!” the young female called Misty who lived in Stacy’s trailer calls out. “When can we see the property listing?”
“Tomorrow,” Brody says, “I’ll get the projector set up in here and we’ll show everyone.”
Malachi claps his hands together. “This all sounds good, Brody.”
“This sounds like a good plan,” Eloise says and there are others chiming in their agreement.
“I think you should be our alpha,” an older woman calls out. “I’m ready to vote.”
“Why don’t we consider tabling the leadership conversation for tonight?” Brody suggests. “I’ll show everyone the property listing tomorrow and we can talk more if you want, but I think we should revisit all the logistics in a few days after everyone has had a chance to catch their breath and by then I’ll know if they’ve accepted my offer on the property and when we can move in. Take time to catch our breath. And of course, after we’ve all moved on from what we’re here to do right now.”
There are calls of agreement.
“He’s rousin’,” Joel announces from behind me. I turn and see him look down to the floor at Meadows before he says, “Rise and shine, princess.”
Meadows is just inside the doorway, groaning. His mouth is taped and his eyes are closed but he’s obviously feeling pain.
“You kick the shit out of him?” Mase asks Jase.
“Woulda liked to, but Sher did that,” Jase says.
“Good goin’, Sherry. Where is she?” Linc looks around. “She should be here for this, no?”
Other than Bailey who sits near the stage next to Aphra, my present pack members are all against one wall just inside the hall right near where we were when Meadows walked in here with a knife pointed at my woman.
“Naw, Ma took her home,” Jase says. “She didn’t wanna be here. He and Sher had a tussle when she shifted after giving him that poison, planning to tear him apart. She hesitated and he backhanded her wolf and commanded her to shift back. She shifted back but gave him a right hook.”
There’s laughter from the crowd. Some of these people really like the idea that Meadows’ new mate gave him a black eye.
“Why didn’t she rip his throat out when she had the chance?” Linc asks.
“Mate bond,” my father pipes up. “As angry as you can get with your fated mate, truly harming them… it’s not something easily done. Just about impossible in fact.”
Dad’s eyes bounce to me and I see how wrecked he is with the memory of Soleil and what went down today.
Brody’s voice booms with, “Right, so, let’s get the guest of dishonor up here, yeah? Time to make some decisions.”
55
Stacy
Not even a full minute after they drop him on the stage in front of everyone, things go crazy. Three men and two women rush the stage and are kicking him. Jasmine, who got very sick from the soup stomps on his belly, and Dennis, nephew of Roger, my old teacher hoofs him in the crotch.
Wyatt grunts and writhes, but he’s either not even fully conscious or it could also be he has a debilitating headache.
More people get up there and join in. Rudolph, a thirty-something pack member with a limp that I know Wyatt was particularly terrible to kicks him in the gut with the bad leg I’ve seen my brother kick more than once.
Right on the heels of Dennis’s crotch kick, Caroline kicks Wyatt in the chest. I look at Brody, expecting he’s about to rein everyone in, but he watches casually as my little cousin Luke walks up and spits on my brother’s face twice, saying, “one of those was for Jimmy who hated your fucking guts, too, especially for what you did to Stacy. Wish he was here to see this.”
This surprises me, but I don’t get to lament on it for long what with the commotion I now see in the rows of chairs. Someone has hauled off and hit Larry who’s sitting in the back row by the door that leads to the library. And now two more people are shoving Larry and getting in his space, shouting obscenities as he hides his face. Patsy shouts he should be up there with Wyatt for poisoning so many of his pack. Larry and his chair tumble to the ground. Warren punches Floyd and Floyd backs off, looking like he’s apologizing.