Winter (Rise of the Pride, Book 2) by Theresa Hissong Read Free Book Online Page B

on his work.
    “Where have you been?” Talon asked, standing
at the bottom of the stairs.
    “Took Evie home and came right back to
change,” he replied. Whatever crawled up his brother’s ass was
going to make for a long afternoon helping out with the pride.
    “She okay?” he asked, walking toward the
back door.
    “No,” Kye answered honestly. The female was
all he ever thought about. She was his and he felt it was his duty
to make her better. She’d been through so much during her time with
the wolves. The injuries had healed, no scars remained, but her
mind still played those horrible few days on repeat.
    “The healer is on his way to see her,” Talon
said as they stepped off the porch. “You need to stay away until
later tonight.”
    “Fuck you, Talon,” Kye snapped, feeling a
stirring of power emanate from his body. His power was nothing more
than a breeze compared to the push of power he got in return from
his brother, the rightful alpha of the pride. “I’m sorry. I’m just
on edge when it comes to Evie.”
    “It is important she heal on her own, Kye,”
Talon said, handing Kye an ax. “She can’t rely on you to hold her
when things get too hard. I understand your desire to protect her.
Hell, I understand it more than I ever did before, but you are not
her crutch.”
    “I don’t like seeing her upset.” Kye
frowned, swinging the ax over his head. The log split in half and
he watched as Talon picked up another piece, setting it on the
stump they were using as a flat surface for splitting the
firewood.
    “Harold is visiting with her now,” Talon
began, but held up his hand when he noticed Kye’s eyes flicker
toward the road leading to her home. “He’s going to give her some
medicine to help her sleep.”
    “Okay,” he sighed in defeat. Evie hadn’t
been sleeping well. The anxiety when she closed her eyes was almost
too much to bear.
    “Let’s work for a few hours, then you can go
see her,” Talon said, then smirked. “You have that pile to split.”
Kye looked over his shoulder and cursed at the amount of wood that
was left to cut. He really wished the cabins would upgrade to gas
logs, because this cutting firewood every year was for the
birds!

Chapter Five

    Nova sat at the kitchen table, laughing at
the woman who helped keep the children of the pride while their
parents worked throughout the day.
    “June,” Nova snickered. “How in the hell do
you keep all of their names straight?” There had to have been
twelve kids all under the age of six there during the afternoon.
Talon’s home had a large playroom just off the kitchen that doubled
as a daycare of sorts. There were toys and desks all over the room,
colorful posters of numbers and letters adorned the walls. It
looked like a kindergarten classroom.
    “It’s easy,” June said with a shrug. She was
a beautiful woman, her hair a bright blonde that flowed down her
back in small waves. Her icy blue eyes made her look like a
fairytale princess. “When you’ve been doing this as long as I have,
you get really good at remembering their names and who they belong
to when their parents come at the end of the day.”
    It was nearing dinner time and there were
only a handful of kids left in the room. Nova was sitting with June
at the kitchen table only three or four feet from the threshold to
the room. There was a short gate that attached to the wall and
swung open after you released a latch.
    She looked up at the sound of boots entering
the kitchen. Winter and Savage strolled toward the refrigerator and
Winter reached inside to grab two beers, handing one to Savage. He
cracked open the top and took a long pull. When his head leveled
out, his eyes immediately fell on Nova, narrowing when he saw that
she was not in her room resting. She was so tired of resting. It
was time for her to go back home, but Liberty had begged her to
stay just a few more days.
    “You okay?” he asked, his voice deep and not
sounding the least bit