Read Online Wendy's Wild Wolves [Shy River Pack 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) by Bec Adams - Free Book Online

painfully shy child she’d been back then. She and Polly had spent most of the visits together and had seemed quite happy. Despite what she’d said earlier about dumping him at the pet store, Donovan knew that Wendy cared deeply for the parrot and would never have done it. Learning that Polly was a shifter hadn’t really changed her loyalty to the bird. The shifter simply moved closer to her neck, none of the arrogance he’d shown moments ago apparent in his demeanor.
    “It would help us, Polly, if we knew your attacker’s motivation.” Donovan saw the soft smile that graced Wendy’s lips as he said the words that agreed with her. Technically it was unlikely to change their protection strategy, but it seemed clear that Wendy believed Polly’s inability to shift was related to the trauma that left him in need of protection in the first place.
    “You don’t need to know,” Polly said in a sulky voice.
    “But I think you need to tell us,” Wendy rebuked quietly. “I think you need to talk about what happened.”
    The bird went to fly away from her, but it seemed Wendy had been ready for it and blocked his escape easily.
    “Fine,” the cockatoo said on a deep exhale. “I was supposed to be paired with the daughter of neighboring flock. I preferred her maid instead.” Donovan raised an eyebrow and waited for more. He knew arranged royal avian matings were a complicated affair, but rejecting a potential pairing didn’t seem enough to warrant the type of life-threatening danger Polly seemed to be under. “Okay,” the bird said. He could almost imagine it rolling its eyes like a human. “I preferred all of her maids over her.”
    “All of them?” Sogarn asked with a quiet laugh.
    “It was only four,” Polly said defensively, “but when De-polandra-alcarn found out, she wasn’t happy.”
    “No kidding,” Donovan said, trying to hold back a smile.
    “When one of the maids died in an accident, I wasn’t overly concerned,” Polly said in a voice that seemed strangely devoid of emotion, “but when one of the others went missing, I realized I needed to get Kris-anda-coral out of there.”
    “You stole your intended’s maid? That’s why they want you dead?”
    “No, they want me dead because I thwarted their plans to use my son as leverage against me. I believe that the egg that Kris-anda-coral laid shortly after her rescue was the only reason they kept her alive.”
    “Where is Kris-anda-coral now?” Wendy asked softly, her concern for the shifter and her child very clear in her voice.
    “I don’t know,” Polly said sadly. “When I asked my father to help hide her, he consented on the condition that I have nothing to do with her or my son. I agreed to keep them both safe, but I hadn’t expected my own father to exile me— for my own good —soon after.”
    Donovan knew there had to be more to the story. Gop-tru-alcarn was a spoiled, selfish product of an important and influential royal family. It was obvious he was cleaning up the story to play on Wendy’s emotions. He had no doubt that the feathered fraud would have read her books over her shoulder. He’d know exactly the type of person Wendy was from her writing. It was partially why he and Sogarn had fallen for her. She believed in good triumphing over evil and heroes righting wrongs. Clearly Polly was taking advantage of Wendy’s core beliefs.
    “Now tell me the real story, Polly.”
    Donovan smiled at Wendy’s demand. Perhaps she wasn’t as easy to manipulate as he and Polly had believed.
    The bird made a sound of annoyance, but Donovan could see the beginnings of the change into humanoid form as the avian-shifter admitted the whole truth.
    “Fine,” Polly said again. “I was young and arrogant and spiteful, and I stole Kris-anda-coral away from De-polandra-alcarn because I could, not because I wanted to save her.” The partially feathered shifter let out a soft sigh. “I’ve had forty-four years to think over my behavior, and