Series: Werewolves of Wall Street Series by Renee Rose
Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
The king’s mouth opens wide, and then he falls backwards. Not to the lower deck–we’re on the lowest part of the ship.
No, he spills right over the edge. I watch in slow motion as he roars–the sound splits the night–and falls into the dark water with a splash.
What have I done?
I just threw the king of the Monaco pack over the side of his own boat.
His two bodyguards are already moving towards me, shouting. They’re going to grab me, lock me down.
I don’t let them. I feint and dodge and weave, getting behind them, and then use their own momentum against them. One of them trips, and I make myself the fulcrum to send him flying. The other slams into me. I twist, deflect, and kick him over the side, too.
Now there are three wolves in the water far below. Which is fine–I’m sure they all can swim. The king’s bodyguards can protect him from sharks.
I have bigger problems. There’s more bellowing above me, as the king’s pack rushes to get to this deck to take me out.
Someone sidles up beside me, and I almost drop kick him, when I realize it’s Nickel. He smells like gin, and his perfect polo shirt is soaked with the juniper-scented liquid. He’s breathing hard, and I realize he moved to trip one of my attackers. He’s taking his place to fight beside me.
A howl, and Jake lands on the deck beside me. He’s shirtless, his abs gleaming wet from the pool. His eyes are bright, his wolf’s come out to play. He skids to my side, opposite Nickel. I signal for them to fall into a rugby formation, facing the King’s enraged wolves.
“The humans,” I mutter. I glance up, but I can’t see Aubrey or Madi anymore.
“Brick’s on it. He, Sully, and Vance will get them to safety, if they have to commandeer a boat to do it.”
That makes me feel better. I’ve already fucked up, starting a fight with our hosts. I’ll have to explain to everyone later. “We better give them a distraction then.”
Jake whoops. His fangs flash with his grin. “Let’s kick some shifter ass.”
“So what really happened?” Brick demands. We’re in his penthouse suite, debriefing just the two of us. On the boat back from the super yacht, I explained to the group that Luka got drunk and rude, and things escalated to a brawl. Fortunately, everyone was flush with adrenaline and still in a party mood. Aubrey and Madi started singing, “You’re so vain” again, and Jake and Vance even joined in. Our escape from the super yacht was just another bit of fun.
Now Nickel and Sully are holed up in a comms room. Nickel is on the phone with his family, using his personal connections to smooth things over with the pack here. Sully is adding layers of security to make sure our pack is safe. Everyone else is getting some sleep, worn out from all the excitement.
Except me and Brick. He wants answers.
“They insulted Madi,” I tell him, and his eyes go flinty. He’s not happy about the way things turned out, mostly because the humans could’ve been hurt. But he understands the need to defend our luna. He would do the same. “And humans in general. Are we getting kicked out of Monaco?”
“It’s up in the air, but I think we can smooth things over long enough to finish out our trip. Nickel’s connections will help us appeal to reason. Luka is a known hot head, and even though he’s the king, he’s still guided by the wiser members of his family. We’ll want to avoid this country in the near future, but I doubt Luka wants it getting around that we beat him on his own boat.”
I snort, remembering his outrage as he fell into the water.
“You’re usually more controlled than this,” Brick observes. I’ve been waiting for him to read me the riot act for starting something, but he looks less angry than thoughtful.
“He got to me. He was spouting the same stuff my father says.” Brick is one of the few people who knows how bad my father was. “And…he mentioned Aubrey.”
“Ah.” There’s a lot of weight in the syllable. I wonder how much I’ve revealed–or if my guardedness is announcing my deeper feelings for the chaos human. “A year ago, you wouldn’t have lifted a finger to defend a human.”
I inhale, my cheeks burning with shame. I treated Madi like shit because I thought she was going to tear our pack apart. I didn’t trust her, and I thought she’d end up being a weakness we couldn’t afford. And, yeah, my dad’s fierce anti-human prejudice played a part in this. “I’ve changed.”
“Yes, you have.”
Brick leans back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest. “Aubrey is Madi’s best friend. Like a sister. I need to know what this human means to you.”