The Powerful Pride of an Immortal (Immortal Supers Book 4) by Kurtis Eckstein (ebook reader for surface pro .TXT) 📗

I could understand Winter’s frustration, but I was worried that someone else was influencing her.

Instantly, she glared at me, like I’d sincerely offended her.

“I still have my own emotions too,” she snapped, only to glare at Jackie. “And this is bullshit.”

“I’m sorry,” she replied sincerely. “It’s really all we have at this point.”

Winter ground her teeth. “Yeah, well it’s better than nothing, I guess. That it? Just go visit this place and snoop around?”

Jackie nodded.

“Fine.” Winter looked at me. “Let’s go.”

I stared at her as she proceeded to snatch the paper from my hand, which had the address, and then marched out of the room.

Damn. This was going to be a fun car ride.

Yes, that was sarcasm.

Before I left, Jackie gave me one last reminder, regarding the mission.

“Sam, I know it’s a long shot, but in the event you do come across this terrorist, it’s ‘kill on sight.’ Just the same as if it were some terrorist threatening us overseas. We’ll take care of everything else afterward.”

I nodded, and politely gave my new boss a quick farewell, along with a sincere thanks even though this probably wasn’t going to turn up anything. I then rushed to follow after Winter, who was already almost about to exit the huge office.

Jeez, she was fast when she wanted to be. And obviously strong as hell too.

Radley was still picking up stuff, and actually had several other coworkers helping him, but I ignored them all as I jogged to try to catch up to her. However, by the time I got to the elevator, I discovered her waiting for me, her expression neutral, seeming to have collected herself already.

“It helps being latched onto you,” she explained without looking at me, just now pushing the button to get an elevator to begin heading our way. “I’m still frustrated, but you’re evening me out.”

“Stabilizing you,” I replied with a small smile.

She glanced at me, holding my gaze for a moment, and then looked away again when the elevator dinged. “Yes.”

We were silent on the way down, with Winter handing me the paper again when I mentally considered looking it over. I then skimmed through it while following her out the lobby, using my second-sight to watch my step while I tried to see if there was anything more.

But there wasn’t.

Obviously, it was a summary of what they’d looked into, so of course there wouldn’t be much other than short descriptions. It was like the abstract of a research paper – no data or extra information regarding how they came to their conclusions. Just a summary of the results.

When we got to the car, I wordlessly handed the paper to Winter and got back into the driver’s seat, letting her punch in the address. Oddly enough, seamlessly working together like this, without speaking a word, was super easy due to her ability. All I had to do was just think of a plan of action, and so long as she was willing to follow it, then it just happened as if we were in perfect sync.

Technically, we were, since there was active mind reading involved.

As we got onto the interstate, I decided to just put the car into autopilot, because it was going to be a freaking four-hour trip, and this car wasn’t fun to drive with it just being an automatic – no manual stick-shift option. Not that it would have been much fun anyway driving on the interstate.

First thing I did was then message Lily and Freya in our group chat to give them a heads-up on the basics, not getting into anything too specific, including neglecting to say where exactly we were going. Worst case, if they had to know, then they could ask Jackie – but that would only be necessary in a weird situation, like I disappeared.

After that, I leaned back in my seat, with us both remaining quiet for a few minutes. Winter seemed totally fine now, readjusting in her seat and settling in for the four-hour trip. However, I had my thoughts elsewhere, with me beginning to think of Lexi and our missed date.

Winter automatically spoke up.

“She was bummed, but she understands.”

I looked at her in surprise, prompting her to meet my gaze, her pale green eyes almost curious now.

“You’re a better alpha than I imagined,” she added.

Well, shit, that was a drastic change of subject. I immediately looked away, feeling a rush of complicated emotions, ranging from surprise to confusion to embarrassment. Shit, my face was flushed.

Did I like her saying that? Why? That was so random.

“We are not a pride of lions,” I tried countering.

She shrugged. “For humans, multiple females only flock to the same male for a handful of reasons. One reason might be because the alpha made them. Another reason might be out of convenience or because the alpha offers something, like safety, that they can’t easily get elsewhere.” She paused. “Obviously, all of those reasons are rarely enticing enough for human females to share the same alpha.”

Well, shit, she kind of had a point, even if she was framing it weird. I mean, that was why Lily and Freya first agreed to it, because they had a need that only I could fulfill. Not to mention that having Lexi and Heidi around was pretty convenient for our family, for a number of reasons, in addition to the fact that the sisters felt safe around me, and that was something they definitely needed…

“However,” Winter continued, prompting me to look at her again. “While alphas who make females join their pride are basically always evil, the other group is a mixed bag. Sometimes the male who fills a need for multiple females isn’t a good alpha, and the ‘need’ that’s being filled is the only reason why the females stick around, instead of choosing a different alpha. It’s because they can’t easily get it elsewhere. But sometimes the alpha male is very good. He protects the females, respects the females, and prioritizes the wellbeing of his