GoodNovelChapter Two Hundred Eighty-Nine
ANASTACIA
“Paul,” | whisper, my eyes on the yacht windows and the swiftly brightening sky. Paul's hair is like silk between
my fingertips and the more | touch it, the more | want to. The hold he has onis so intimate, | hate that I'm
about to ask him to release me. Hate that | have to step away. “I need to get out there. | need to make sure Jarl’s
shadow is gone.”
“Jarl? Is that the straggler's name?”
“Yes,” | answer, yelping in surprise when | try to pull back and he cinchesin closer. “Paul... | need to go out
there and-"
“No!” He snaps, pushing his head snug beneath my breasts. “Just lethold you for a while. Please.”
What the devil?
Dragging my hands from his hair, | trace them down the nape of his neck to his back and that’s when | realize
that he’s shaking. “Oh my Goddess. “”Paul... what's wrong?”
Hot breath steams my bosom as he raises his head and presses his mouth on the fabric between my breasts. My
core tingles with pleasure and all thoughts of exiting the cabin leave me. My hands stroke up and down the
muscular expanse of his shoulders and | swallow back a moan. When he tips his head back to look at me, |
almost shove it forward again.
Tellwhat happened to you out on the deck. Why weren't you breathing?” he asks, and for the first t| see
that there appear to be tears in his eyes.
“What happened on the deck...” | say thoughtfully, too concerned with the state he is in to realize at first that he
is asking about my
vision.
“Yes,” he rasps, his beautiful blue eyes darkening violently. “Your magic was suffocating you. | saw it. The purple
clouds, the glowing eyes. You weren't breathing go***mit and | want to know why. Why weren't you breathing?”
“Oh-oh,” | say, chewing on my lower lip as | attempt to take seat next to him which he doesn’t letdo. “I-”
“Paul!” Rainier shouts from the cabin doorway. “What the f***k man? What are you doing? We need Miss
Bordeaux to-"
“A¥*EL" | snap. FFREng a**ole. “My nis A*+*
Rainier flashes a grin, then nods. “Ana - then. We need Ana to check on this sniveling mutt. He's back on deck
and he’s alive. Just whining like a little b****h about the fact that he can’t find his shadow, but we need to be
sure it’s gone. We need her to check.”
I nod and start to pull away, only for Paul’s arms to go taut once again. “No,” Paul says, his aquamarine eyes
peering up atwith a silent plea in his gaze. My mouth falls open, and I'm about to try to convince him, but
one shake of his head is all it takes for my mouth to close again.
“Paul- Rainier starts.
ok
“Did you hearmot***er?” Paul growls, his eyes flashing and his fangs spearing out. “I. Said. No. It's done.
Let’s simply haul him a few miles farther from the shore and drop him into the tide. | don’t want any of those
shadow b***ds anywhere near her.”
Paul, Rainier says tightly. “I understand where you're coming from, brother. Trust me, | do. But-"
“NO!” Paul screams, shovingbehind him as he leaps up to get in the good sheriff's face. “I am your Beta and
| said no! Are you going to makesay it again? Or should | just lay you out and save myself the trouble of
arguing?”
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Chapter Two Hundred Eighty-Nine
Whoa now. What the f**k is wrong with him?
“Paul!” | yell, grabbing onto his arm from behind. He doesn’t shakeoff, but when | try to pull him away, he
doesn’t budge an inch.
Rainier’s dark black eyes flash with gold and his chest puffs up to matc Paul's, “Careful brother,” Rainier says
with a sneer. “You're the
11 Beta, yeah, but so is Koda, and you know we don’t work that way around here. We are equals. So, don’t think
I'm just gonna you
threaten me.”
“Put him over the side of the ****n yacht and then take us back to shore,” Paul snarls.
Rainier chuckles darkly just as the quiet one, Koda 1 think, comes strolling into the space. The man doesn’t say a
word, simply positions himself next to the pair of them as if preparing to play referee.
Paul and Rainier seem to be locked in sviolent battle of wills, their eyes battling back and forth in ssort
of silent argument. Neither of them shows signs of backing down and suddenly both of them are barring their
fangs.
“Hey!” Timmons says, joining the party. “Con, guys. You're scaring the female.” He catches my eye, sending
| swallow and nod. “Paul, please. Please sit with me.”
Paul's head tilts to the side just enough to catch sight ofstanding behind him, then his muscles relax and he
sighs. “Yeah, Okay?”
“Okay. Okay good,” Timmons says, inserting himself just slightly in front of Rainier and placing a hand on his
chest. “Con brother. Helptoss that skinny little fuck overboard.”
“Yeah,” Rainier bites out, his eyes still locked on Paul's. “Fine.”
The tension is still thick in the room, even when Rainier has backed all the way out of it. Koda follows, closing the
doors behind him and nodding atas he heads around the deck to the helm.
Releasing a shuddering breath, my hand drops away from Paul's arm and | fall back on the couch. Wow. So much
testosterone. You wolves are something else.”
Paul still has his back toand | can see his muscles are still coiled with anger, but he manages to turn around
and meet my gaze. “I have an idea,” he says quietly. “You say these hounds are susceptible to saltwater,
correct?”
I nod. “Yes.”
He releases a slow breath. “Then maybe we should just stay the next few nights here on the yacht.”
“This yacht?” | chirp, my eyes darting around for the first tas | take in the luxury of the space. Um... now
may not be the tto mention that | prefer traveling on the river to traveling on the open sea. “We? As in you
and me, we? Or all seven of us, we?
He laughs. “You and me, we.”
“lum...”
“Have you always known that?” Paul asks, stepping slowly toward me. That the shadow hounds were weakened
in saltwater? | mean... there are beaches in Louisiana, right? Why didn’t you run that way?”
E
His question stunsfor a moment and I find myself slightly caught off guard. “Actually... no. | haven't always
known it. | haven't always know a lot of things.” My eyes fall closed and | think of my grandmama of everything
she said during our visit. “My um-uh-m-my grandmama, she’s the one who knew all these things and well...” |
take a deep breath, wondering how well my explanation is about to be received. Opening my eyes, | see that
Paul is now standing directly in front oflooking thoughtful as opposed to dubious. Somehow, this new
acceptance ofmakes it easier to speak, tellingthat whatever happened toon the deck has changed
something in him
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Chapter Two Hundred Eighty-Nine
so deeply that he is finally ready to listen. To truly listen. “When my grandmama died, all her gifts passed on to
me. And apparently... so has sof her knowledge. She toldso during a visit.”
A visit?”
| nod, swallowing thickly when my mouth suddenly runs dry. “She visitedwhen | passed out at your house.
Last night, in the form of a dream. She toldthat with her passing, | would inherit all of her magic. All of her
gifts.”
“Huh. Is that all that she said?”
| shake my head, tearing my eyes away when | recount the next part. “She also said that | had found my true
mate and that he had setfree of the barrier over my heart.”
“Barrier?”
“Shadow barrier. Yeah, | shudder, slamming my eyes closed. “Apparently, she'd rather excuse my average
female stu***dity when it comes to falling for the wrong man by saying Draco placed a barrier over my heart.”
Opening my eyes | see that Paul's jaw is clenched angrily and his fists are posed to hit something. “Falling for the
wrong man. Is that what you did, Anastacia? Fall for him?”
Okay, wrong choice of words... Paul looks ready to explode, but | decide to ignore it. “Apparently not. According
to my grandmama, | didn’t fall for him so much as he bespelled me. But | did manage to run from him, so yeah, |
consider sof what happened to be my fault.”
He chuckles throatily, unamused. “The part where you gave yourself to him is definitely your fault.”
“Excuse me?” | snap, getting angry. “How dare you? Are you gonna tellthat you're a virgin, Paul? Have you
never given yourself to somebody else?”
“I've frek+kd somebody else. Sure. Plenty of them. But | wouldn't say I've ever given myself to any of them. In
fact, I've never even been with the sgirl twice.”
“Why not?” | ask, honestly.
His eyes flash and he clenches his teeth, spitting his words through them as he speaks, “Because none of them
was my mate.”
“Oh...” | say softly. “Well | never even considered that | would have a mate, let alone a wolf shifter. But Gran said
that | found him and-"
“And you believe that mate is me.”
| know it’s you Paul. | know. Gran’s words cfloating back again... ‘He will not believe in you at first and you
will have to fight tooth and nail to keep him close.”
| nod stiffly, fighting the sob that rises in my throat. If he shouts atagain I'll die. | don’t know how much more
of his cruel bu**hit I can
take.
Paul kneels in front of me, going down on one leg and reaching forward to cradle my face in one of his hands.
“Look atbaby. It’s okay. | want to hear all of it.”
Emotion rises inwith shocking force and before | can speak again tears are streaming down my cheeks.
D*mn you, Paul. **n you. “A- are you sure? B-because I-| don’t want to freak you out or make you think I'm-"
“Hey!” Paul interrupts me, reaching out to gently wipe my eyes. “You don’t freakout, d***n it. You scare me,
sure. But not in the way that you think. So tell me. Tellall of it. Starting with when you first met Draco and
ending with whatever the f***k happened to you put on the deck.”
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Chapter Two Hundred Eighty-Nine.
Chapter Comments
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Um where is the rest of this book at... hello need more!!
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Tim needs a mate to thim.. would be sweet if little sister was a mate to one of th...
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