“I actually can believe that. I hate the news, but Abby was a political science major. In school, she was always talking about the distribution of power and how some laws were written to hold people back, rather than protect their freedoms. What I study in the past, she studies in the present. Without the benefit of historical hindsight.”
“I have to admit, that’s come in handy out here. We’re building all that from scratch, and we could use both current and historical expertise.” Titus exhaled against my neck, and chills shot up my spine. “I always thought Justus would have been interested in what I’m doing, and now I guess I’ll get to tell him about it. Assuming we ever find him. And the council doesn’t have him executed.”
I rolled over to face him. “Your brother’s going to be fine, Titus. He didn’t mean to infect anyone. Leland already told us that. The council is a pain in the ass, and they’re way too stuffy for their own good, but Faythe and Abby’s dad will never let them execute Justus for something he did by accident. Something he didn’t even know he was doing. They’re old and mean, but they’re not psychotic.”
Titus frowned. “Robyn, the council has been executing strays for doing exactly what Justus did, under those same, ignorant circumstances, for generations. If I want to save him, I’m going to have to come up with something a lot better than ‘he didn’t know what he was doing’.”
“Maybe not.” I shrugged, and the pillow moved with the motion. “Maybe it’s as easy as giving them something they want more than Justus. Like whoever infected him.”
SEVENTEEN
Titus
My brother’s bedroom had no curtains, so when the sun rose, I did too. Careful not to wake Robyn, I rolled over and stood to dig my phone from my jeans pocket.
The clock on the lock screen read seven minutes after eight am. I’d gotten less than four hours of sleep, but my body refused to submit to any more with my brother still missing. Even with Robyn’s naked warmth calling to me from the bed.
The only thing resembling breakfast in Justus’s kitchen was half a box of frozen toaster waffles and a four-pack of energy drinks. The boy lived on carbs and caffeine.
Grumbling, I put on a clean shirt from my suitcase and walked down to the cafe on the corner for breakfast burritos and four large paper cups of coffee that I didn’t have to brew myself. Blum and Robyn were still asleep when I returned, so I dumped a packet of sugar into one of the coffees and called Spencer Cole.
His phone went to voicemail on the third ring, and I hung up without leaving a message. He was probably working. So I tried Drew next. His phone went to voicemail on the first ring.
“Hey, Drew, it’s me. I have a hospital question for Spence, but I can’t get through to him. Can you have him give me a call if he checks in with you?”
By the time I’d finished my first coffee, I could hear Robyn moving around, so I took a still-steaming paper cup into Justus’s room for her.
The bed was empty, but the bathroom door was open. Robyn stood in front of the mirror, brushing her teeth. Wearing my too-big-for-her shirt and nothing else, that I could see.
Memories from the night before washed over me. Her soft flesh in my hands. The taste of her on my lips. The sight of her riding me, eyes closed, hands in her own hair…
Robyn turned, her toothbrush dripping in one hand. “Guess who didn’t have any nightmares last—?” She laughed with a pointed glance at the bulge in my pants. “You are an early riser, huh?”
“And you are the most confident, least inhibited woman I’ve ever met.”
She spat toothpaste into the sink, then frowned at me in the mirror. “I can’t tell whether that’s a compliment or a criticism.”
I pulled her close and pressed myself against her bare leg. “Now can you tell?”
“Mmm…” she murmured, her minty breath warm against my ear. “Men’s bodies are sometimes easier to interpret than their words.”
“I’d say the reverse is true. Women are usually more comfortable showing you what they want than telling you. But you’re the exception.”
“You’re saying I talk too much?”
I laughed. “Nope. It’s nice to know where I stand with a woman for a change.”
“I’m pretty sure no one has ever had to wonder what I’m thinking for very long.” She rinsed her toothbrush and set it on the bathroom counter, next to Justus’s hair…goop. And his toothbrush.
Huh. Justus didn’t take his toothbrush. Nor did he pack anything, from what I could tell. Which meant he couldn’t be planning to stay away too long. Or maybe he wasn’t planning to stay away at all. What if he was stuck in feline form somewhere, like Blum had been, with no idea that he could shift, much less how to do it?
“Speaking of speaking my mind, I’m hungry,” Robyn ran her fingers through her hair, then went up on her toes to kiss me. “Let’s find something to eat.”
“For once, I’m a step ahead of you.” I held up the coffee. “And there’s food in the kitchen.”
While she rewarmed two of the burritos, I called Spencer again. And again, his line went straight to voicemail. “Damn it.”
“What’s wrong?” Robyn cradled her cup in both hands, as if for warmth.
“I keep calling Spencer, hoping he can get Justus’s record from the ER, but his phone goes straight to voicemail.”
The microwave beeped, and she pulled out our breakfast. “Why don’t you try Drew?”
“I did.” I removed the lid from the extra coffee and dumped in a packet of sugar. “I got his voicemail too.”
“Here.” She set the plate of burritos on the coffee table. “You take one of these, and I’ll try Drew. He has to answer my call.”
I peeled back the paper wrapping from one of the burritos. “In case you’re in danger from the big bad rogue Alpha?” If anything, the opposite was true. At least, once the council found out that I had no intention of returning her.
“Exactly.” She read aloud as she typed a text. “Hey Drew, it’s Robyn. Call me as soon as you can, please.” She turned to me with a mischievous grin. “What emoji best conveys fake fear for one’s life, from the big bad Alpha? Screaming emoji, or frowny face with raised brows?”
“You need the poop emoji, because that is bullshit.”
Robyn laughed. Then she unwrapped her burrito and took a big bite.
“You’ve got some…right…there.” I leaned forward and kissed a dab of cheese from her nose.
Her brows rose, and I knew she was going to say something dirty before her mouth even opened. “Would you lick that off, no matter where I smear it?”
“Yes.” I glanced at my bare wrist, as if I wore a watch. “In fact, we probably have time…”
“Don’t you want some specifics?” she said. “What if I smear it on the bathroom floor?”
“I trust you.”
“I—” Robyn’s cell rang. She dropped the burrito onto her plate, then grabbed her phone. “It’s Drew.” She answered the call and held the phone to her ear. “Hello?”
“Hey, Robyn, what happened?” the new Alpha of my Pride asked, from over the line. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Titus was trying to call you earlier, and he said he couldn’t get through.”
“Is he there with you?” Drew asked.
Robyn glanced at me, brows raised, and I shook my head, then mimed zipping my lips. “He went out for breakfast,” she said. “Why?”
“I don’t want to make things worse, but I got tossed into this with no warning. Trial by fire. And I’ll never be able to lead this Pride to the best of my ability if they still think of him as the Alpha. So I’ve asked the guys not to communicate with Titus until further notice.”
Anger shot through me, like lightning shooting along every nerve in my body. My eyes narrowed, and my jaw clenched. I understood what Drew was doing, and I probably would have done the same thing in his position. Still…
“You cut him off?” Robyn stood, irritation sparking behind her eyes. “You’re
living in his house, spending his money.” Her heartbeat quickened until it synced with mine, and some nearly imperceptible change in her pheromones seemed to be feeding my own anger.
She was angry because I was angry. Not because of what Drew was doing, but because of how I felt about it.
That had never happened to me with another shifter, not even those who recognized my authority. Not with my enforcers, and not even with Drew, who’d been with me from the beginning.
Was this about more than the relationship of an Alpha to his men? Er…people? Could this mean that I had become as important to Robyn as she had to me?
I gave Robyn a small head shake, calling off my fierce, beautiful would-be defender, even though every cell in my body wanted to watch her rage.
She frowned, but then nodded reluctantly.
“It’s only temporary,” Drew assured her. “Just until everyone’s adjusted to the transition.” He hesitated. “I don’t know how else to do this, Robyn. In the wild, one Alpha fights—and often kills—another to take over a territory, and obviously that’s not what we want here. But the Pride members need some signal that this change is real. Something symbolic, that they can understand on an instinctual level. A clean break is the best thing I could think of.”
“If you’re looking for a Titus palate cleanser, I think you’re going to have to move out of his house,” she snapped. “You can’t subconsciously cut him out of their lives as long as they’re surrounded by his scent, not to mention all those family pictures.”
I shook my head at her again, silently asking her to dial down the anger, despite the fact that I was still bathing in it, but she only turned away from me. Her refusal of my order raised the hairs on the back of my neck, blurring the line between angry Alpha and proud lover. How could I be irritated at her and pleased with her at the same time?
“Where are you and Titus staying?” Drew’s voice had a still quality, like the surface of a calm lake.
“We’re…at a hotel.”
“Then why would Titus go out for breakfast instead of ordering room service?”
Robyn turned to me, frowning. “Because I don’t like room service.” She rolled her eyes, obviously frustrated by her own improvisational skills.
I stifled a smile. But Drew was silent for several seconds.
“Robyn, are you sure you’re okay? Titus isn’t being aggressive? He hasn’t…tried anything?”
“You know he would never do that!” Her eyes flashed with anger, and gratification at her reaction flooded me.
“Until yesterday, I would have agreed with you. But if he’s been out there infecting people, we don’t know what he’s capable of.”
She rolled her eyes. “Drew, Titus didn’t—”
I shook my head firmly. She couldn’t tell him about Justus. Not until I’d figured out what had happened to him and come up with a strategy to defend against the charges that would inevitably be leveled against him.
“He didn’t what?” Drew asked.
“He didn’t try anything. He’s not being aggressive. He’s giving you the space you need and upholding his promise to keep me safe. He’s not a bad guy.”
“You seem to have gotten to know him pretty well.”
Robyn rolled her eyes again. Want me to ask about Spencer? she mouthed, but I shook my head. “Yeah, I guess. Okay, I gotta go. Tell the other guys I said hi?”
“Of course,” Drew said. “And Robyn, call me if anything changes. I can be there in less than an hour.”
“Okay, thanks.” She hung up the phone and frowned at me. “How does he know he can be here in less than an hour if he doesn’t know where we are?”
“I’m sure he’s figured out I’m visiting my brother. Which isn’t great, but as long as he doesn’t know Justus has been infected…” I shrugged. “Can I use your phone to call Spence? I understand where Drew’s coming from.” Though it pissed me off. “But I still need to find Justus.”
She handed me her phone. “Where is Drew coming from?”
“He’s trying to be a good leader and to protect you. They all legitimately think I infected Corey Morris. Which means I could be capable of anything.”
“If they know you, they should know that’s bullshit.” She picked up her burrito and took a big bite.
I gave her a grateful smile, then I dialed Spencer. He answered on the second ring. “I don’t know this number. Who is this?”
“Hey Spence, it’s Titus. I’m on Robyn’s new phone. Don’t hang up.”
“Hey, man, we’re not supposed—”
“I know Drew told you not to take my calls, and I’m sorry to put you in this position. But I need some information. It’s important.”
For one long moment, he was quiet, and I heard a voice speaking over an intercom system. “What do you need?”
“Are you at work?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“I’ll be quick. I just found out that my brother went to your ER two weeks ago. Can you get to his record?”
“Your brother lives in Jackson?”
“Yeah. He goes to Millsaps. Can you help me?”
“Maybe…” Spencer exhaled heavily. “What’s going on, Titus?”
“I’m not sure yet. But I wouldn’t be asking if it weren’t very important.”
Another long pause. “Why can’t you ask your brother?”
I hesitated, trying to decide how much to tell him. Spencer wasn’t an enforcer and didn’t live at my house, which meant Drew wouldn’t know I’d called him unless Spence reported the call.
Holding the last two inches of her burrito, Robyn nodded at me, encouraging me to tell him something. To trust him.
“Spence, my brother’s…unaccounted for. I came to his place when I left the house, but he was gone and I can’t get ahold of him. I really need to find him.”
“I’ll see what I can do. What’s his name?”
“Justus Alexander. J-u-s-t-u-s.”
“Okay, I’ll get back to you if I find anything.” He hung up.
“You think he’ll do it?” Robyn asked around a bite of burrito.
I shrugged. “There’s an equal chance he’ll tell Drew I called and wash his hands of the whole thing.”
“This isn’t right.” She dropped the rest of her breakfast onto the paper plate, evidently too disgusted to finish it. “They shouldn’t think you’re dangerous.”
“They should always think an Alpha is dangerous. And in this case, that’s better than them thinking Justus is dangerous.”
“Is it?” She tilted her head in an adorable gesture of acute skepticism. “He’s newly infected. Don’t you think they’re more likely to forgive a newly infected stray—a kid—for acting on ignorant impulse than an experienced Alpha, who doesn’t have any excuses?”
As usual, she had a point. “Yes, I do. But I can’t risk the council—or Drew—finding out about Justus before I find him.” Yet her skepticism remained. “If they know about him, they’ll hunt him. They’ll take him into custody—or execute him on the spot—and there’ll be nothing I can do for him. I have to protect him, Robyn. I’m the only family he has.”
Finally, she nodded. “Okay. Then we better find him.”
The guest bedroom door squealed open, and Leland Blum stepped into the living room in his boxer shorts. “Find who? Justus?”
“Yeah.” I waved at the bag on the kitchen counter. “We have breakfast burritos and coffee. And I’ll grab your clothes from the dryer.” I gave Robyn a reluctant smile. “Yours too.” Though I was seriously considering giving her another of my shirts to wear, just so I could smell our combined scents all day.
Blum stopped on the way to the kitchen, inhaling in Robyn’s direction. Then he sniffed in mine. “Why do you guys smell like each…” His brows rose when comprehension came. Then he looked sad, and I remembered that his girlfriend had just died. And I felt like a total ass. “No such thing as a secret among shifters, I guess?”
Robyn shrugged, and she looked as
guilt-ridden as I felt. “Not for long, anyway.”
Fortunately, Blum wasn’t yet in contact with any other shifters, so we wouldn’t have to make the moment even more awkward by asking him to keep the news to himself.
Half an hour later, we were all fed and dressed.
“Robyn and I have to run some errands,” I told Blum, as I slid my brother’s laptop into his satchel. “I’m not going to ask you to tag along, but I can’t leave you here, either, in case he comes home. I could get you a hotel room…?”
“Or I could go to my dorm,” Blum suggested.
“Do you have a roommate?” Robyn asked.
“No, I’m in a single.”
“Okay, if you’re comfortable staying there for a while, we’ll meet up with you later.” I opened the front door and held it for them both as they headed into the hallway. “I suggest you order in lunch. You’ve been through something truly traumatic, obviously, and that probably hasn’t sunk in yet. And you haven’t had a chance to learn to control your feline impulses, so you probably shouldn’t try to go to class or anything just yet.”
Blum nodded. He was surprisingly calm and agreeable for a newly infected stray.
“Would you like a ride?” Robyn asked him.
“Yeah, thanks.”
We dropped Blum off at his dorm—room 204—then headed to the nearest department store, where Robyn chafed at the idea of letting me buy her clothes, until I pointed out that she was the closest thing I had to an enforcer at the moment, and a clothing allowance is typically provided for enforcers as part of the salary.
Afterward, as we headed for the closest coffee shop, her phone rang. “It’s Spencer.”
I pulled into the nearest lot and shifted my SUV into park. “Put him on speaker.” Robyn answered her phone with a tap on the screen. “Spencer?” I said.
“Yeah. I got what you wanted, but I only have a couple of minutes.”
“Do you have a break coming up?” I asked.
“Yeah. Meet me at the water fountain behind the hospital in ten minutes.”
Nine minutes later, we found Spencer on a bench in front of the fountain. “We brought you a latte.” Robyn handed him one of the cups she carried, then shoved her hand into the pocket of her new down jacket to shield it from the rare, truly cold Mississippi day.