Nick jumped to his feet. “What are you doing here?”
Shaya quickly explained, “I called him.”
Nick spun to face her. “You called him?”
“He might be able to do something.”
“How do you figure that?”
Leaving the couple to argue, Marcus turned to Eli. “Why are you all so worried? If you don’t trust that Roni’s going to shift back any time soon, something must have happened. She was calm when she left me yesterday.”
Eli sighed, clearly troubled. “After we got back, she vanished, and we thought she’d disappeared in her wolf form. When it happens, she never goes far, but she mostly avoids people; eventually, she makes her way back, but it can still be months before she shifts again. She hasn’t done it since moving here, and we were concerned that seeing the vid—reliving the memories—would act as a trigger. As it turned out, she hadn’t shifted. She was just hiding in one of the lodges. We tried assuring her that it was okay to be upset—”
“Did she look upset?”
Eli seemed surprised by the question. “What?”
“Did she look upset? Did she say she was?” Because her family had a nasty habit of “assuming” when it came to Roni—assuming they knew what she was feeling, what was best for her, what her limits were, and what she wanted.
“No, she kept saying she was fine. But there was no way she could possibly be fine. Still, it looked like she might not bolt on us. But then she and Nick clashed over the decision of whether or not to tell Mom everything. I think it acted as the cherry on the cake—she was dealing with enough already—and that just made it worse, so she broke and shifted to escape it all.”
Maybe. But none of that added up to Marcus. It didn’t fit with the Roni he’d come to know—she didn’t “break.” In any case . . . “Shaya, you should have called me sooner. Has Kathy been told about the vid being on the website?” Marcus might just have to hurt Axton if he’d done something so fucking idiotic.
Shaya assured him, “I convinced Nick not to say anything.”
Good. “I want to see her.”
Nick took a step toward him. “Wait a minute—”
Shaya grabbed his arm. “No, you wait a minute, Nick. There’s a good chance he can do something.”
“Like what? He has no significance to Roni’s life.”
Derren cleared his throat. “She marked him.”
The air suddenly chilled. Slowly, Nick turned to face his Beta. “You did not just say that she marked him.”
“Look, Nick, we know you want her to be happy,” said Shaya. “And that’s great and all, but right now, she’s far from happy. We haven’t been able to help her. What’s the harm in letting Marcus try?”
The words “letting Marcus try” made him bristle. This wasn’t a negotiation. “I won’t leave without seeing her.”
Nick snarled at him. “You don’t have any authority here, Fuller. This is none of your business; it’s a pack matter—”
“This is a Roni matter, which makes it my business. I know you’re worried for your sister, and I know it will gall you if another male can help when you couldn’t. I get it. But this is about Roni—not you, not me, and not anyone’s pride.” Marcus returned his attention to Eli. “Where is she?”
Eli glanced from Nick to Marcus, and then sighed. “Follow me.” He led Marcus out of the lodge, into the forest, and deep into Mercury Pack territory. Nick and Derren came along, but they remained silent. Eventually, Eli halted near a fallen oak. “If you keep walking straight ahead, you’ll come to a clearing. That’s where she is. We’ll have to stop here or she’ll scent us. Her wolf won’t let any of us near her—not even Shaya.”
Derren scratched his nape. “Her wolf is clearly as pissed off as Roni is. And since Roni’s frustration will be feeding hers . . .”
“She has no tolerance right now,” finished Marcus.
Eli nodded. “We’ll wait here for you, just in case she warns you off.”
“She won’t.”
“What makes you think her wolf will allow you close, when she’s keeping everyone else away?” asked Nick. The hostility was gone; it was a genuine question.
“Because as far as the wolf’s concerned, I belong to her.” The brand might only be temporary, but that wouldn’t matter to the animal—their wolves were fiercely possessive.
Leaving the others, Marcus walked on ahead, letting the twigs beneath his feet snap loudly so that she would sense his approach. Startling a wolf was never a good idea. Soon enough, he stepped into the clearing. The dark-gray female was lapping at the small stream there, but her eyes—so alert, intelligent, and watchful—were honed on Marcus with lethal precision.
He’d encountered Roni’s wolf during the battle against the extremists. She was even-tempered, but she was also vicious when the situation called for it. And that was the very reason why he had no intention of releasing his own wolf—the male’s natural reaction would be to attempt to dominate her into calming. That wouldn’t work. The female would sooner fight him than submit.
Marcus took a few steps forward. “Hey, gorgeous.” Of course the wolf wouldn’t understand the words, but his calm, cajoling tone would assure her that his intention wasn’t to throw his dominance around. Also, he knew Roni could hear and understand him.
The female lifted her head, but didn’t otherwise react. To his relief, she wasn’t warning him to leave. That meant she’d at least accepted his presence, though she might not particularly welcome company right now.
He squatted and tapped the ground with his hand. “Come here, sweetheart.” She didn’t. She just continued to watch him with that hunter stare that missed nothing. Making his way to her wouldn’t earn him any points. To the wolf, he was already invading her private time uninvited. There was no sense in pushing it.
A minute or so later, she finally moved. He remained still as she prowled toward him, looking both graceful and dangerous. She didn’t halt until she was up close, eating up his space, clearly believing it was her right.
“Good girl,” he said softly. He gently stroked her neck; her dense fur was softer than he’d expected. Marcus rubbed his cheek against hers, and she returned the gesture before delivering a delicate lick to his jaw. “Beautiful, aren’t you?” Another lick to his jaw. “Come back, Roni.”
Human eyes filled with irritation briefly flashed at him. Sharp teeth then nipped his chin and the wolf pulled back. He got the message—she didn’t have any intention of shifting just yet.
“But I want to talk to you.” The female kicked dirt at him. “Oh, like that, is it?” he asked with a smile as he stood, wiping the specks of dirt off his clothes. “All right, I guess I’d better make myself comfy then.” He sat near a tree and leaned back against it, making a statement that he wasn’t going anywhere.
Again irritation-filled human eyes flashed at him as the female curled her upper lip, baring her teeth, a low growl trickling out of her. The warning was coming from Roni, he knew. It was actually fascinating to see how close the line was between the human and the animal.
“You can’t get me to leave. I’m staying. I’m not here to crowd you. If you want space, you’ve got it, but I’ll be sticking close.”
The wolf cocked her head, reminding him a little of Roni just before she delivered one of her useless facts. Then the wolf dismissed him with a distinctly haughty sniff and trotted off.
For hours, he sat against the tree, watching the wolf as she moved around the clearing, lapped at the stream, bathed in the sun, and occupied herself with batting at fish. The entire time, she pointedly ignored him. But he knew the female was supremely aware of every move he made.
When his ass started to go numb from sitting on the hard ground—at which point it was also beginning to get dark—Marcus moved to lie on his back, his arms crossed beneath his head. He was just about to doze off when he heard rustling in the grass. Then a cold muzzle rubbed against his cheek and a wet tongue lapped at his ear.
“Roni,” he griped, shuddering and wiping his ear. “I’m not leaving.”
Human eyes flashed at him once more, this time revealing confusion.
He patted the ground beside him in invitation. “Come on, gorgeous.” With a put-out growl, the wolf collapsed at his side, leaning into him. Stroking her fur, he said, “I don’t buy that you shift out of a need to escape memories or feelings.” Her tail swished at him in what he interpreted as a “shut up and sleep” gesture.
It couldn’t have been more than a minute later when he dozed off, relaxed and content. He woke to the sound of growling. Surprised to find it was daylight and he’d slept so long, he squinted as he sat upright to stroke the wolf who was standing at his side, staring into the trees and growling. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
She didn’t move her gaze from the trees, but he couldn’t sense anyone close. Guessing it was one of her brothers stupidly trying to get near, Marcus got to his feet and did a long, languid stretch to get the kinks out of his back. When he went to move forward, the wolf pushed against him—she wanted him to stay exactly where he was.
“Roni, this is the part where you shift back and tell me what’s wrong.” But he got his answer when a black female wolf stepped out of the trees. Taking in her scent, he immediately understood. “Eliza, do you have a fucking death wish?”
Taking another step forward, she bared her teeth at the dark-gray wolf, which confirmed that, yep, Eliza had a death wish. Not only had she invaded the wolf’s space, but there was nothing friendly about her approach.
Immediately, the dark-gray female curled her lips back, exposing fangs and gums, and released a chilling “back the fuck off” growl that made even Marcus nervous. Her hackles were raised and her ears were upright as her raging eyes drilled into the other female. Everything about her posture warned, “I can take you.”
Marcus would bet everything he owned that she could. The two females were matched in size, but he was confident that Roni’s wolf could wipe the floor with this potential challenger.
Generally, female wolf shifters gave three warnings before attacking. The black wolf had had her first warning, but she didn’t appear to be backing off. If she kept pushing, this could get very bad. And Marcus didn’t think Jesse would like finding his girlfriend in bits and pieces.
Fishing his cell out of his pocket, Marcus called Shaya. “You’d better get Jesse here fast, or there’s a strong possibility your sister-in-law’s going to rip out his girlfriend’s throat.” With that, he shoved his cell into his pocket and crouched down beside the dark-gray wolf. “Roni, come back now.” He wouldn’t be able to reason with the animal—she saw a threat that needed to be dealt with.
The black wolf took yet another step forward. His female released yet another chilling growl—warning number two. His inner wolf growled, backing her up, agitated at the sight of his female being provoked this way. And it was an attempt to provoke her. The black wolf hadn’t laid down a gauntlet, but she was testing the dark-gray female.
He stroked his female’s flank. “Roni, shift back.”
Instead, she delivered a warning growl as the black wolf stupidly advanced another step into the clearing—warning number three.
“Roni, come back to me.”
The black wolf took a threatening step forward, flattening her ears and snapping her teeth . . . and apparently the dark-gray female had had enough of this shit. She lunged.
The black wolf sprang from her position, and their bodies crashed hard. There was growling, snarling, yowling, and yelping as they each fought furiously to make the other submit, biting, clawing, body slamming, side swiping. The scent of blood and rage filled the air, further inciting the animals. It was vicious, it was brutal . . . and there wasn’t a damn thing Marcus could do about it.
He had no option but to stand there, hands balled into fists, and watch as his female was attacked. His protective instincts demanded that he intervene, but he knew that he couldn’t. Even his wolf, equally protective though he was, understood that there was no interfering in a situation like this—their female had been insulted, and she was justly responding to it.
As such, all Marcus could offer was his support. So he nodded in approval as the dark-gray female took a swipe at her opponent, brutally tearing a strip into her shoulder. In retaliation, the black wolf bit down hard on her ear. Marcus winced while his inner wolf growled in anger, nervously pacing. But then the dark-gray female slashed at her opponent’s muzzle, making her yelp and bound away as blood sprayed onto the ground. “That’s it. Good girl.”
Gazes locked, the two wolves began to circle each other, their upper lips peeled back as growls trickled from their throats. Powerful vibes clogged the air as each shifter made her level of dominance clear. It was perfectly obvious that the black wolf was outmatched in power, dominance, speed, and strength.
But the dumb bitch didn’t back down.
Instead, the black wolf snapped her teeth tauntingly. Growling, his female barreled into her hard enough to send her crashing into the ground and rolling onto her side. Smartly, although rather inconveniently, the black wolf righted herself fast. She then bounded at his female, and they again leaped at each other.
The two growled, clawed, and slashed at each other’s bodies as they each attempted to take the other down. Twice the black wolf managed to wrap her paws around his female’s neck in an effort to wrestle her to the ground, but twice she failed—the dark-gray wolf was simply too strong for her to dominate.
But the bitch still didn’t back down.
Even though she was beginning to tire—her sides were heaving, she was panting hard, and her knees kept buckling—the black wolf refused to submit.
Suddenly, Eli came rushing out of the trees and skidded to a halt. “Fuck!” As Derren and the enforcers came up behind him, they all cursed at the sight of the females battling.
Bracken shrugged. “It was only a matter of time. She’s been baiting Roni since she first got here.”
“Eliza!” shouted Jesse. “Eliza, stop!” The black wolf paid him no attention. “Eliza, stop before she kills you!”
“Not working,” Zander unnecessarily pointed out.
“I’ll have to shift,” said Derren. “I can pull rank, make them stop.”
“No need.” Marcus had quickly come to realize something—fierce though his female was fighting right now, she wasn’t using her full strength. “Roni, stop playing with her!”
“Playing with her?” echoed Jesse.
“He’s right.” Eli folded his arms. “She’s just teaching Eliza a lesson.”
“Roni, playtime’s over!” When she still didn’t stop, Marcus called out, “End it, or rip her throat out! One or the other!”
The dark-gray female rushed at her opponent, wrapped her forepaws around her challenger’s neck, and wrestled her to the ground. Straddling the black wolf, his female pinned her flat on her back by pressing her paws down onto her shoulders. At the same time, she clamped her jaws warningly around her throat. The black wolf froze, knowing it would take just one abrupt yank for the other female to rip her throat out.
“Submit, Eliza,” ordered Jesse. Instead, she growled.
The dark-gray wolf shook her by the throat—a demand for her submission, a warning of what would happen if she didn’t.
“For God’s sake, Eliza, submit!”
Seconds later, the black wolf went lax. The other female gave her throat one last warning shake before releasing her. With her eyes still fixed on her challenger, the dark-gray wolf slowly backed off.
It was as the black wolf dragged herself from the ground, chest heaving, that Nick appeared. “What happened?”
“The short version is that Eliza’s wolf stupidly tested Roni’s wolf,” replied Marcus. “As you can see, that didn’t work out so well for her.”
With a haughty sniff at the black wolf, the dark-gray wolf turned to leave.
“Roni, wait,” said Nick. Her head ever so slowly swiveled to face him,
and human eyes drilled into Nick, glittering in anger. He raised his hands at her growl. “I get it. You’re still pissed.” The other males received the same growl, making them back away.
The female turned her head again, this time to find Marcus. Her eyes briefly flashed human, and he saw the invitation there. Kind of smug that she was allowing him close while snubbing the other males, he followed her as she walked through the woods, heading for her lodge.
Once inside, Marcus went in search of the bathroom and found it at the rear of the small building. Sadly, there was no chance they could both fit into that shower stall, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t help clean her off. As her scent swirled around him, he turned to find Roni back in her human form. She was covered in scratches, bruises, patches of dirt, and streaks of blood. A big clump of blood was in her hair beside her ear—it made him recall Eliza delivering a harsh bite to it. “Hey, gorgeous. How are you feeling?”
“Like shit.”
That was Roni—frank as they came. He turned on the shower and then helped her step inside the stall. She hissed through her teeth as the hot water rained over her wounds. His entire body hardened at the sight of hers, but his concern for her outweighed his desire to take her. Squirting some shampoo into his hand, he gently massaged it into her hair.
Roni cast him an odd look. She was pretty sure no one had washed her hair for her since she was five years old—her mother had encouraged independence at a young age. “What are you doing?”
“I would have thought it was obvious,” he replied with a smile. “I’m taking care of you.”
“Why?”
It was asked with all the innocence of a child, widening Marcus’s smile. “Because you’re mine. I don’t like seeing you hurt.” It made him want to punch someone.
“Eliza went too far. I had to take care of it.”
“I know.” It was only natural for dominant wolves in the same environment to want to set a hierarchy, but if their human sides were friendly—or at least cordial—there were usually no problems.
“She seems to want a place in the pack. I think she thought that if she could take me in a fight, it would make her seem like a strong addition.”