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)
But this whole thing is also kind of irksome. Because why was Linc being cagey about this camper when he told me it was going to be parked at the store for a day or two? I asked whose it was and why it was here. He just said it belonged to a friend and that he’d get it out of the way soon. But he wouldn’t look at me. He also made an excuse to go straight away. And when I invited him back over later for a drink… something we haven’t done in a while… he made a bullshit excuse. In fact, it feels like he’s avoiding me. Because after Jase mates it’ll be his turn? Because of something else? I have no idea, but I intend to dig into it.
Not that I have all sorts of extra time on my hands. Things have been busy at the store what with how eventful things have been around here the last little while. The day this camper pulled in two days ago was probably the busiest day we’ve had since the day Tyson got shot. Because that was pretty eventful on its own, but that wasn’t all that happened that day. Riley’s long-lost mate showed up, and Grey claimed the female shifter that shot Tyson. All in the same day.
The day before yesterday had been almost equally as eventful and I had to practically shove the nosy pack members out of the store so I could close it. Because the rumors were flying. Not only was Brody home with a new mate that he identified a few days ago but hasn’t claimed yet and not only are there sixty or so guests staying in the town hall which was quickly patched up by a few council members and other pack members that morning, but the night before last we had a public execution via mauling in the parking lot of the town hall, where more than a dozen of the guests executed their alpha, that same Silver Hills alpha that had been causing trouble repeatedly through Rye’s and Grey’s claiming periods.
Though the beginning of this period of successive excitements probably started weeks back when we caught the scent of Tyson Savage once again and knew he’s taken a mate. Four down, three to go.
There are three main places to go to dish on the latest gossip around here. The town library, (which is currently closed to the pack while the Silver Hills people get temporarily settled), the store at the village’s four corners, which I run five days a week, and at Roxy’s Bar.
I suspect now that it’s dusk, Roxy’s Bar will be packed once again wall to wall with nosy shifters who want to dish about all of it. Who want to speculate about how it might go with council alpha number five, Jason Creed.
I’ve got my fingers crossed that it’s Bailey. She’s convinced it won’t happen, despite it being all she’s wanted since puberty.
I’m not too shabby at tracking, so I think I’ll take an extra-long run in the woods and see if I can find where this mystery alpha is and see what he’s about. But first, I think I’ll check out this camper.
Bailey
The Next Day…
It’s a good thing I’m finally over my lifelong crush on my brother’s best friend. Definitely. 100%. Jase has only ever seen me as his best friend’s kid sister. That’s all. And I finally see him for what he is. Never to be mine. Just an unrequited crush that taught me some powerful lessons about my self-worth.
It’s time to move on. It’s time to open my eyes to other possibilities. It’s time to stop getting my heart stomped on. Because Jase doesn’t know he’s doing it. Because I don’t mean to him what he does to me. Did. What he did mean to me. Past tense.
And with the never-ending love story around here, watching all these people fall madly, deeply in permanent forever honeymoon love – it’s good timing that I’m moving on from my lifelong crush.
He’s about to identify his fated mate and I do not need to feel angsty over all that, jealous and distraught that it’s not me. Because every girl fated to one of our council alphas so far has been perfect for that alpha, hand-picked by Fate and I’m close to all of them and don’t want that to change.
Ivy and Amie are good friends. I adore Erica. And Stacy, my new sister-in-law, is definitely going to be in the crew. Besties, all of us. And I can’t become distanced from the circle of council alpha mates because of jealousy. There’s nothing about me that screams “Perfect for Jason Creed” and I need to move on with my life so that when it happens for him, I won’t fall to pieces.