Free Bound to the Prime (Bound to the Pack, #3) by Sonja Morelle Page A

wasn’t going to tell him.
    Liam provided the perfect distraction in the form of a head to toe yawn and stretch. I felt myself yawning in reply, soon everyone was covering their mouths and stretching.
    “Cut that out, it’s barely noon!” Dad stood and shook his head as he visibly held back yet another yawn of his own. “You all clearly need a nap or something. I’ll go get a blanket for Kris.”
    “No need, I’m just getting over a cold, I’ve had plenty of sleep.”
    “You sure?” He looked at her and shrugged at her nod. “Suit yourself. You two need some shuteye though.”
    “We’ll get some, but we need to have a conversation first. Privately please Dad.”
    “Seriously?” He looked around, taking us all in, and I nodded.
    “Hate to see you go John, but love to watch you leave.” Kris grinned as Dad snorted.
    “Thrown out of my own kitchen,” he snorted. “Fine!” I’ll be watching the rest of the movie if you need me.” After a nod to our group he made his way out of the kitchen.
    After a moment I spun and shot a dirty look over at Kris. “Are you for real? I don’t know what was worse, you flirting with him or the cliche line you used.”
    Kris just shrugged and grinned right back. “What? You know I’ve always thought he was handsome and he’s actually only a few years older than me. I’m closer to his age than yours.”
    “NO.”
    “Fine, fine. You can really take the joy out of life sometimes, you know that right?” Kris winked at me and I just growled back.
    “So,” Liam interjected, “a plan?”
    I signed as I nodded and made my way back to the table. We really needed to figure out a way to resolve what we were now calling ‘The Troy Situation.’ Unfortunately we had nothing to go on.
    We didn’t know where he was, what his real goal was, or how to draw him out safely. All we knew was that he was coming for Kris and that he wasn’t afraid to ‘cheat’ by using guns or mercenaries.
    After an hour or so of zero progress we felt we should sleep on it and come back at it with fresher minds. Kris decided she’d try to take a nap as well, even though she wasn’t particularly tired, and Dad offered the use of his own bedroom since he would be up and watching movies.
    I shot another warning look at Kris before we walked away towards the bedrooms. She rolled her eyes but held up her hands in defeat as she stepped towards the master bedroom. I watched her disappear into the room, closing the door behind her, before taking Liam’s hand and opening the door opposite the one Kris had just entered.
    My room was unchanged from when I had left for college. Posters hung on every wall like a shrine to each boy band or actor I had had an unrelenting schoolgirl crush on.
    Pink seemed to ooze from every corner, threatening to drown me in embarrassment. It had never really been my favorite color and yet every relative had always assumed that, as a sweet teen girl, I wanted nothing more in life than pink everything.
    Liam grunted as he stepped into my room and closed the door behind himself. “This is your room?”
    “It was my room a lifetime ago.” I felt defensive as I watched him move around the room. While it may have been from a long time ago this was still a part of who I was. Some of who I was was laid bare to his inspection.
    He made his way around the room, glancing at the things he passed but not commenting on any of them. Eventually he reached the head of the bed and looked down at the obligatory pile of stuffed animals. My heart lept into my throat and threatened to choke me as he reached down and plucked up one in particular.
    “Be careful with Bo-Bo!” I practically dove at his hands to retrieve one of my most valuable possessions; an extremely worn, and often repaired, stuffed rabbit. Of all the animals on the bed he had to pick the only one that mattered.
    “Bo-Bo?”
    I held the small bundle of fabric and stuffing gently and answered quietly, unable to meet his gaze.