Roni scowled at the endearment. “What are you doing here?”
Refraining from laughing—Marcus wouldn’t have thought it was possible for a scowl to be cute—he took a moment to greet the males . . . even Zander, who he didn’t like for the simple reason that he suspected Zander had a thing for his pretty little wolf.
Leaning toward Marcus, the unfamiliar female said, “I’m Janice, Kathy’s sister.”
Marcus smiled. “Good to meet you. I’m Marcus.”
“I take it you’re a friend of Nick’s?”
“No.” Nick’s expression screamed “outsider.” “He’s a Phoenix Pack enforcer.”
“Nice to see you again, Marcus,” purred Eliza.
Roni would have expected Jesse to be annoyed by his girlfriend’s flirtatious tone, but he didn’t appear to care. Then again, it was hard to tell, really, since the surly enforcer was mostly expressionless. Eliza and Janice blushed at the greeting smile that Marcus gave them. It seemed he had a way with all females, no matter their age.
“You didn’t answer Roni’s question: Why are you here?” grumbled Nick. He stabbed his fork hard into his bacon, and Roni had the feeling he wished it was Marcus. Shaya rolled her eyes, well accustomed to her mate’s antisocial ways. His body was practically fused to hers in an extremely possessive gesture. Roni would have expected it to make the Alpha female bristle, but Shaya seemed to like it, as if it made her feel safe and treasured. Roni couldn’t imagine her own mate treasuring her. The poor guy would most likely feel he’d drawn the short straw.
“I was returning something to Bracken.” In truth, Marcus wanted to get an early start on his “breakdown Roni’s defenses” plan.
“If you mean his newest Call of Duty game, it’s about time.” Roni refilled her coffee mug. “I had it completed within a week.”
Bracken nodded, his playful eyes twinkling. “She’s freakishly good. Plays like a guy.”
“Fights like a guy too,” chuckled Eli. Although he wasn’t as broad or tall as Nick, her little brother was still powerfully built. He was also totally ruthless.
“You should know, since all you two ever do is use each other as punching bags,” muttered Kathy.
Eliza snorted in disgust. “Maybe she should have been a guy.”
“She’s always been a tomboy,” Kathy told Marcus. “Hated pink, dolls, and ballet. She liked blue, cars, and playing football with the boys. And she’s always been so competitive, hates to lose.”
Nick pushed his empty plate aside. “Dad taught us that second best didn’t count.”
“Yes, and he was very proud that his little girl was so ‘tough.’ Had he been alive at the time, I’m sure he would have laughed when the school called me in because she’d beat up an older boy who’d tried picking on Eli—that was when she was nine.” Kathy shook her head. “To add to that, Eli had then beat up the kid’s friend when he moved to intervene. And that wasn’t the last incident of that nature.”
Eli shared a conspiratorial smile with his sister. “Ah, the good old days.”
“They both fought all the time,” continued Kathy. “And I don’t just mean physically. Always played pranks on each other merely for their own entertainment. But Roni would never let anyone else hurt him, just as Eli would never let anyone else give her trouble. I’d like to say they’re much more mature nowadays, but the fights and the pranks are still ongoing.”
“Yeah, we do find unbelievable joy in irritating each other,” admitted Eli with a grin.
Kathy glanced briefly at Roni. “I know she doesn’t look it, Marcus, but she’s so intelligent it’s intimidating.” Yet another backhanded compliment—her mother was on a roll. “She never cared that she was smart, though. She was never interested in anything academic. She wanted to play sports, learn combat, and speed around town in cars that didn’t belong to her.”
“Okay, can we stop talking about me now?” Roni really didn’t need to be reminded that she wasn’t the daughter her mother had ordered. So she liked physical activities and could be competitive, so what? Roni thought it was unfair that smart people were stereotyped as nerdy, obsessive, socially awkward people—although, to be honest, she did have the socially awkward thing down.
Eliza seemed pleased by Roni’s discomfort. “You sure you’re not a guy trapped in a female body?”
Roni cocked her head. “Did you know that an ingredient of many lipsticks is crushed parasitic beetles?” At once, Eliza and Janice brought their fingers to their lipstick-covered mouths, looking queasy. What fun. Noticing that Marcus’s gaze was intensely focused on her, she frowned. “What?”
Marcus shrugged. “I like looking at you.”
Roni knew her cheeks were burning. “Eat shit, Fuller.” He actually chuckled. Nick, however, went ramrod straight in his seat and growled warningly, clearly intent on protecting his sister’s virtue—not that Roni had any virtue to protect. A dark look from Shaya made him return his attention to his breakfast.
Satisfied that he’d knocked Roni off balance, Marcus smiled inwardly. He liked seeing her flustered, just as he liked learning more about her. She interested him with the many different facets of her personality. What he didn’t like was that Kathy, Janice, and Eliza seemed to enjoy putting her down.
Rather amusingly, she did her best to ignore him as they continued eating. But Marcus knew just how to get her attention. “Since we’re teamed up for the hunting party, you might as well ride to my territory with me.”
That made Roni pause with her mug halfway to her mouth. “Ride with you?” Be alone with the guy who had fucked her within an inch of her life during her dream last night? Nah.
Marcus barely refrained from laughing at the panic on her face. She could deny it all she wanted, but he made her nervous. “Yeah, ride with me.”
Again Nick went rigid. But then he jerked, wincing. “Ow! What was that for?” he growled at Shaya.
She sniffed. “I’m hormonal, I don’t need a reason.”
“There’s really no need,” Roni assured Marcus. “I can ride with Nick and Derren.”
Marcus cocked his head. “You could, but it makes sense for us to ride together.” He arched a brow. “Unless, of course, you don’t think you can work with a partner after all . . . ?”
Well, he had her there, didn’t he? She was determined to prove her brother’s “Roni can’t work with anyone” theory wrong. She didn’t like to lose or to lack at anything.
“Think of it as spending the day with an insanely hot wolf.” Kent was eyeing Marcus appreciatively. Caleb gave his boyfriend a mock scowl and then flicked scrambled egg at him. Kent wiped it away, sending him a look that promised retribution.
Over the rim of his coffee mug, Marcus’s gaze locked on Roni. “You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you find it hard to be around me.” His smile turned teasing. “Maybe you’re not so indifferent to me after all.”
Derren—who had long ago guessed at Roni’s attraction to Marcus—began choking on his food, clearly amused at her expense. So she let him choke. Sadly, Caleb came to his rescue, patting his back hard.
Shaya gave Marcus a pitying look. “Sorry to break it to you, but Roni is totally immune to you.” Supportive words, but there was a strange glint in Shaya’s eyes that made Roni wary. “She’ll be absolutely fine in your company. Won’t you, Roni?”
And what else could she say but . . . “Of course.”
“I have to wonder if the girl’s a lesbian.” Janice’s words had everyone gaping at her. “If she doesn’t respond to a male as gorgeous as Marcus, she’s not going to respond to any male.”
“I hope you’re wrong, Janice,” said Marcus, “because it would be a bummer for the male population.” When Roni shot him another scowl, he held up his hands in a placatory gesture. The entire time Roni ate, she kept that scowl focused on him, and it took everything he had not to laugh. Ten minutes later, they were ready to leave, and she was still scowling.
“Are you sure you won’t
come shopping with us later, Roni, and get yourself a makeover?” asked Janice.
Pissed, Marcus stated, “Roni’s fine as she is. Come on, gorgeous, let’s go.”
Taken aback that Marcus had defended her—again—Roni proceeded to leave the room, not pausing when she heard Eli yelling her name, coughing and balking.
Then there was her mother’s voice. “Oh, Roni, tell me you didn’t put salt in his coffee again!”
“He deserved it!” shouted Roni. The bastard had put whipped cream in her brand-new trainers. She knew he’d expected her to massively retaliate, which was why she’d gone for one of her many simple pranks. He wouldn’t have been on guard for something small.
Smiling in amusement, Marcus followed Roni as she left the kitchen, watching that pert little ass swaying, unintentionally provocative. Shaya stopped him at the front door, but she didn’t speak until Roni was out of hearing range.
“People look at Roni and see how self-reliant and reserved she is, and they automatically think she’s cold and detached. The truth is that girl has a real depth of emotion, and she’s a total softie for those she loves, even if she doesn’t seem it . . . Admittedly, she’s pretty ambivalent toward the rest of the population. She’s been through a lot. Be careful with her.”
He had been since the beginning, because he’d sensed the vulnerability behind that core of steel. Roni was unbelievably tough in some ways, yet soft and unsure in others. She reminded him of a solitary wild animal—she liked freedom and space, was distrustful and wary of strangers, and took time and patience to get close to. Good thing he was patient. “I won’t hurt her, Shaya.”
The redhead studied him for a minute. “Good, because I’d hate to have to mess up that pretty face.”
He chuckled. “Roni could do that herself.” Reaching his pack’s Toyota Highlander, Marcus noticed Derren and Nick heading to their SUV, intending to follow. Inside the Toyota, Marcus smiled at the sight of Roni buckled into the passenger seat, still scowling. “It has to be said, you’re a constant ray of sunshine, Roni.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Bite me, Fuller.”
He laughed, switching on the engine and reversing out of the parking space. “It’s tempting, sweetheart, it’s tempting.”
As they journeyed to Phoenix Pack territory, Roni couldn’t help but repeatedly glance at the wolf beside her. Marcus drove the way he did everything else—smoothly, confidently, in total control. He’d certainly been that way during her X-rated dream. She almost blushed as snippets of it sailed through her mind: his tongue curling around her nipple, his teeth nipping the curve of her breast, his hand sliding into her—
“Do you like being an enforcer?”
The question yanked her out of her fantasy—dammit. “Yes.” In truth, no. As Nick had pointed out, Roni had no interest in leading or following. She was a very individualistic person; she was happy to just be, and liked to do what she wanted without confining commitments.
“Lying’s a sin, sweetheart.”
Her head whipped around to face him. “Why do you think I’m lying?”
“You have a tell.”
She’d have to be careful with this one; he was incredibly perceptive. “What’s my tell?”
“If I told you that, it would help you lie better. So tell me, why be an enforcer if you don’t like it?”
Because she owed Nick. He was just thirteen when he’d been sent to a juvenile prison for not only killing a human who had attempted to rape her but also for badly maiming two others who had tried holding Nick back. Most of his teenage life had been spent in a place where torturing, raping, and killing shifters was considered the norm for the human guards.
Of course, on an intellectual level she acknowledged that she wasn’t directly responsible for any of that, but it didn’t erase the guilt. It didn’t erase the fact that, at just thirteen years old, Nick had killed for her and spent much of his young life in prison. Killing someone left its mark, and it had marked him; she’d seen it every time she visited him at that fucked-up place.
How did a person repay something like that? All he’d asked of her was that she be an enforcer within his pack. How could she refuse?
Shortly after the incident that led to Nick’s imprisonment, she had started disappearing in her wolf form for long periods of time. People had mistaken it for trauma, thought she couldn’t face what had happened to her and that she was left fragile and scarred. It was that very reason why Nick had offered her the position of enforcer: he thought giving her a sense of purpose would stop her from doing it. He was trying to get her “settled.”
What he didn’t understand was that she wasn’t fragile or traumatized at all. Oh, sure, she carried emotional scars, but who didn’t? One thing Roni had never done was feel sorry for herself. No. What right would she have to do that when, although the attack had been horrible, others had been through far worse? How could she make it all about her when her family had also been badly affected by what happened? No, Roni had come to accept the attack—she was nobody’s victim. But dealing with the aftermath . . . that had been a different story.
Remaining in her wolf form had been her escape from the oppressing guilt, the pitying looks, the shame, the sense of powerlessness, and the backlash of the attack. She’d battled against rumors, false versions of the incident, and utter hatred from those in her pack who blamed her for Nick being incarcerated.
The Alpha’s son, Nolan, had caused her the most trouble—pissed that the incident had drawn the attention of the anti-shifter extremists. The extremists had dug into his father’s background, searching for dirt . . . and they’d found some.
Apparently the Alpha, Mitchell, hadn’t left his old pack voluntarily; he’d been banished from it after being “under suspicion” of laundering drug money. In shifter-speak, that meant the rumor was true but the pack hadn’t wanted to make a fuss or it would have brought attention to them, so they’d banished him instead. This hadn’t washed down well with the pack he was currently acting as Alpha for, and dissention had quickly spread.
Shortly after Roni and her family had left the pack, Mitchell had been challenged and lost his position. It was rumored that the new Alpha had driven him, his mate, and Nolan out.
At that time in her life, it had felt like everything was falling apart around her. Even that, however, wouldn’t have led her to escape in her wolf form so much. No, what she had really needed an escape from was her family. The worst part of the aftermath was that they’d wanted to coddle and cocoon her. Her mother had become even more overbearing than ever before, literally monitoring every step Roni made. That overprotectiveness had never been good for her. It hadn’t helped her move on; it had prolonged that sense of helplessness she’d felt during the attack—a feeling no dominant female dealt with well. It had stifled Roni and driven her wolf insane.
She’d wanted to move away, make a fresh start, but how could she leave them? How could she leave a brother who’d killed for her, a mother who’d already been through so much—including losing her mate—and a brother who’d been forced to fight in an illegal fighting ring as a direct result of their family transferring to another pack? A transfer they had made for her. She couldn’t leave; she owed them all.
There had been only one other way to escape: remain in her wolf form. So whenever it got to be too much, that was what she did. Still, baring her soul wasn’t on her list of things to do, so she simply responded to Marcus’s question with: “I get bored easily; this job keeps me occupied.”
Marcus wasn’t buying that for a minute. But he decided not to push. Too much pressure would make Roni shut down rather than open up. “What else do you do to fight boredom?”
She sighed. “Look, I’m not good at this, okay.”
He flicked her a confused glance. “Good at what?”
“Small talk. Useless chatting.” To punctuate that, she shoved a lollipop into her mouth.
“I’m not making small talk. I want to know you.”
Th
e lollipop was suddenly yanked from her mouth. “Hey!”
“You don’t get to do that with me, sweetheart.” His voice had been gentle, but it was also pure steel.
“Do what?”
“Evade conversation.” The female was almost constantly sucking on lollipops, and the sight was erotic enough to risk him coming in his jeans. He’d noticed that she did it when she was uncomfortable or anxious. He’d also seen her do it before battle, as if it helped her focus and think better. But she also did it when she didn’t want to talk. “It’s hard to get to know someone when the conversation is one-sided.”
“Why do you want to know me?”
He almost laughed at the confusion on her face. “You . . . intrigue me.”
He constantly surprised her, and she wasn’t sure if she liked it or not. Her wolf liked it a lot, liked his impish streak and wanted to play. “But . . . why?”
“I’ve watched you closely enough to learn things about you. You’re tough, smart, capable, and loyal—all qualities I like and admire. But for a very confident person, you hold back a lot and can be pretty uncomfortable in social situations. You can also be very self-conscious at times.” It was sort of cute.
She couldn’t help feeling a little defensive. Faking a delighted smile, she said, “Ooh, are we reeling off flaws today? If that’s the case, I’ve got some for you, Romeo.”
“Yeah?” He wondered if she even realized she was playing with him. Unlike her wolf, Roni was often too serious to play. “Hit me with them.”
“You come across as a smooth, easygoing flirt who’s all soft and cuddly. But in reality, you’re a dangerous fucker who’s simply very prettily dressed in charm.”
“Flattery won’t get you anywhere, Roni. Except, of course, if it’s accompanied by a kiss.”
“You hide behind the charm, flirt constantly, flash that bad-boy smile at everyone, and live by the ‘no strings attached’ rule. But in doing that, you’ve reduced yourself to a sex toy.” It made her wonder why and what he wanted to hide. Pain? Guilt? Shame? Loss? The guy was a puzzle, and that appealed to the curious side of her nature.