Dark Instincts

  “I’m not letting this lie, Roni.”

  “Neither am I, but I’m not going to march onto their territory and risk starting a war between the packs either.” If Lola hadn’t been Alpha female, Roni would have challenged her immediately. But to challenge an Alpha female was to challenge the entire pack. “Shaya’s pregnant—the last thing I want is for her to be in any form of danger, particularly in the middle of a pack war.”

  Okay, he could concede that she had a point there.

  “Besides, right now we’ve got bigger things to worry about than some spineless bitch.” Her wolf was certainly pissed about it, but as she already knew she could overpower the Alpha female, she wasn’t particularly excited about dealing with her. It could wait.

  “So what are you suggesting we do? Because if I don’t do something, I’m going to fucking lose it.”

  “Well . . . this is what I had in mind.”

  Half an hour later, they dumped the female jackal’s dead body over the border of Quinn’s territory with a sheet of paper taped to her chest that said, “You bring shit to my door, and I’ll bring shit to yours.”

  Marcus had to admit that Roni’s idea was a good one. If Quinn weren’t involved in the attempt to kidnap her, he would certainly be confused by the message and would undoubtedly call Marcus to ask what was going on. If he were involved, he’d now be very much aware that they knew, and he would sit and sweat about what they would do to retaliate and when exactly they would do it. Lola would do a lot of sweating too. In addition, it would mean that Lyle would definitely see the body at some point, because the Alphas were bound to tell him. “Smart little shit, aren’t you?”

  “So my mother tells me. Come on, let’s go.”

  “Yeah, I’m hungry.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Only you would have an appetite after dumping a corpse.”

  Once inside the Toyota, he said, “You do know that the interrogation I just witnessed was the most hilarious one I’ve seen, right?”

  “It wasn’t funny. It was imaginative. Creative. Brilliant.”

  “It was hilarious, freaky, and shocked the shit out of me when it worked.”

  She sniffed. “You’re just jealous because you didn’t get to join in.”

  “Maybe a little.”

  After a short journey, they arrived at a diner that Roni thought would look right at home on the Grease movie set. It was kind of charming, and the most delicious smells were wafting from it.

  “You ever been here before?” asked Marcus as they made their way toward it.

  She shook her head, wondering at the strange twinkle in his eyes. “You?”

  He smiled. “You could say that.” His smile disappeared at the long appreciative whistle that split the air. A guy who was leaning against a motorcycle was eying Roni from head to toe. Marcus growled warningly, making the human pale and turn away. He noticed Roni staring impatiently at him. “I don’t like it when people want what’s mine.” Her little huff made him grin.

  Possessiveness usually irritated Roni, but she actually found it kind of amusing—even a little satisfying, if she were being honest—when it came from Marcus. Her amusement didn’t last long, since they hadn’t been inside the building for more than five seconds when someone squealed excitedly, “Marcus!” Then a dark-haired female was circling the counter and hugging him tightly—and he was hugging her back. Huh. Roni wouldn’t have thought that Marcus was curious about having his balls sliced off and dumped in a blender, but apparently so.

  Marcus held his hand out to Roni. “Come here, gorgeous. I want you to meet my sister.”

  Oh. Taking his hand, Roni stepped forward and offered the female an awkward smile.

  “Roni, this is Teagan—she’s the oldest. Teagan, this is Roni. She’s mine.” That, he knew, would say all there was to say. He didn’t claim females, and Teagan knew that.

  Eyes wide in pleasant surprise, Teagan nodded at Roni. “Very nice to meet you. Come. Sit.” She ushered them over to a corner booth.

  Marcus slid in beside Roni, which she was glad of since she felt weird while his sister stared at her in open fascination. There were two more squeals, and then two identical dark-haired females were racing toward them. Marcus stood and hugged them both as they nattered to him. When they finally noticed Roni, they both froze and looked at her in pure amazement. Great, more attention.

  Marcus returned to his seat and took Roni’s hand. “This is Deana and Trish—my other sisters. Girls, this is Roni.”

  Deana gasped and put a hand over her heart. “You’ve brought a girl. I’m so proud.”

  Trish nodded. “Never thought I’d see the day.” Then all three sisters grabbed chairs and gathered around them. Worse, they started launching questions at Roni.

  “So, Roni, are you a Phoenix wolf too?”

  “Do you have a role within the pack?”

  “How old are you?”

  “How long have you been dating Marcus?”

  “Where did you get that T-shirt? I love it.”

  “What’s your last name?”

  “Can you cook? Because Marcus needs constant feeding.”

  “Are you open to imprinting?”

  Overwhelmed and out of her element, Roni did what she always did when that happened. She cocked her head. “Did you know that—?”

  “Roni.” It was supposed to be an admonishment, but he knew it was filled with too much amusement and affection to be even close to stern. Of course she was the personification of innocence when she looked at him.

  “What? What did I say?”

  Marcus just shook his head. Then out came a lollipop. Typical. It made him realize how long it had been since she’d pulled the lollipop or useless fact stunt on him. That sure made him smug. He turned to his sisters. “Her name is Roni Axton. She’s not from my pack, she’s from the Mercury Pack. She’s an enforcer. Now could you stop interrogating her?”

  “I’m sorry, Roni,” said Teagan. “It’s just that he’s never brought a female to meet us before.” At that moment, some customers arrived.

  “We’ll be back in a few minutes.” Deana and Trish scuttled off to take their orders.

  At the same time, Teagan jumped up from her seat. “Time to feed you. Marcus, I take it you want the usual?” He nodded. “Roni, what will you have?” Teagan wrote down her order and then disappeared.

  “I’ll bet it works out nicely for you that your sisters work in a diner. Lots of free food.”

  Chuckling, Marcus threaded his fingers through hers and nuzzled her neck. “The diner’s theirs. Although they live in different packs, they run the business together. And I do admit to taking advantage of the free food.” Seeing his sisters exchanging knowing smiles, he said, “They like you.” That was important to him, because it was mostly his sisters who had raised him.

  “They don’t know me. And if they did, they definitely wouldn’t like me.”

  “You make me happy. They see that. Therefore, they like you.”

  As she was used to making people feel either uncomfortable or annoyed, she couldn’t help frowning doubtfully. “Happy?” His sensual smile made her stomach clench.

  “You’re hot. Smart. Competent. Funny. Fierce. Lethal. And you rock in bed. Why wouldn’t you make me happy?”

  That statement had been delivered in such a smooth, languid voice that her wolf growled, as if he’d stroked her. “I never stood a chance, did I?”

  “Of what?”

  “Holding out against you.”

  He laughed, pleased. “Nope. I was too determined to have you.” And he had every intention of keeping her. She’d never believe it, but Roni Axton was an easy person to care for. Cuddly and fuzzy? No. Outgoing and friendly? No. Polite and open? No. But she wasn’t hard or cold, wasn’t unkind or selfish, wasn’t hateful or vile.

  He’d come to learn what Shaya had meant when she said that Roni had a real depth of emotion. She cared deeply and in an almost pure way. And she expressed it in the simplest of ways,
like keeping Shaya stocked up on her favorite donuts, like giving her undivided attention to Kye, like letting Marcus share her cake. Those acts might seem like nothing to others, but coming from someone like Roni, who had trouble verbally expressing what she felt, they meant something.

  She endeared him with her many quirks. The lollipops, the useless facts, the antisocial T-shirts . . . Maybe another person wouldn’t have found it all adorable, but he did. He’d never known anyone to smile so little, which was why it was so satisfying and rewarding when he earned one from her.

  She amused him constantly, particularly when people fruitlessly tried to rile her. She rarely cared enough about people’s opinions to actually participate in conflict, so she’d simply ignore them, tell them to go away, or hit them with a useless fact that would shut them up. And when she did participate in conflict, she was so damn vicious it made him hard every time.

  Hearing her phone ring, Roni groaned. “My mother.”

  “You’re not going to answer it, then?”

  “It will just be another lecture about how I’m betraying my intended mate by being with you. Then, of course, she’ll top it off with some insults to remind me I’m not the little girl she wanted. I’ll pass.”

  He kissed the palm of her hand. “She does love you. She just doesn’t understand you.”

  “And you think you do, don’t you?”

  “I know I do. Just like you understand me.” She saw past the charm to the person beneath when few others did; she saw the parts of him that weren’t so smooth, but she was there with him anyway. “Don’t let it worry you, Roni. Isn’t it good to be really known by at least one person?”

  Oddly, it did feel good. For as long as she could remember, she’d felt like she didn’t fit. People didn’t always like “different,” and Roni was different in many ways. She flitted around, bonding with very few people. But with Marcus . . . it was like he gave her somewhere to fit, if that even made any sense. Still . . . “Trick knows you better.” That bothered her, though it was probably stupid.

  He nipped her bottom lip and then licked it soothingly. “No, he doesn’t. Not because he doesn’t know me well—he does. But you see more.” And she expected him to be more than a pretty face. He liked that.

  “Oh my God, Marcus, what are you doing here?” An Amazon practically flew toward them, her face a picture of total delight. “How are you? I haven’t seen you since—” She stopped dead, right smack in the middle of the diner, upon spotting Roni. Her eyes widened, her face paled, and her jaw dropped.

  “What’s her problem?” Roni couldn’t work out whether the female was shocked or horrified. Maybe a little of both. She was pretty sure she didn’t know the Amazon, but the woman sure seemed to think she knew Roni.

  Marcus frowned. “I don’t know.”

  After a moment, the female seemed to recover. “I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else for a second there,” she said to Roni.

  That explained it. So why did Roni have the feeling the woman was lying her ass off?

  “I’m Kerrie. I’m from Teagan’s pack. That’s how I met Marcus. He and I are, um, were, um . . . well, you know.”

  Oh, Roni did know. She also knew that Kerrie was trying to rub it in her face. Bitch. So she didn’t bother introducing herself. If that seemed rude, good.

  “This is Roni,” said Marcus, breaking the tense silence.

  “Nice to meet you, Roni.” Nice? She didn’t seem to find it “nice” at all. Kerrie switched her focus to Marcus then, her smile bright and huge. “How are you? You look great. Better than when I last saw you, which was . . .” Her eyes briefly slid to Roni. “Anyway, how are things going for the Phoenix Pack?”

  Marcus had been around females long enough to know when they were making subtle “I once slept with him” statements that would provoke another female. He wouldn’t have expected it of Kerrie. She’d never struck him as petty or bitchy. But right now, he was seeing her in a new light.

  Delivering a clear message to both Roni and Kerrie, he kissed the palm of Roni’s hand again and then began massaging her inner wrist with his thumb. “Everything’s fine, thanks.”

  As she stared at the Amazon, Roni realized she’d never experienced jealousy before. Not the kind of jealousy that made someone want to jump across the table and rip out some bitch’s spinal cord. Right then, though, that seemed like a sound plan. Her wolf was sure up for it, despite being slightly placated by Marcus’s possessive gesture. Roni wasn’t so placated, but she was rather enjoying the bitter gleam in Kerrie’s eyes. The bitch was envious to the point of being bitter? What fun.

  Kerrie grabbed a chair. “You don’t mind if I eat with you, do you?”

  “Yeah, I do,” said Roni. If Marcus didn’t back her up on this, she was so out of there.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Did I stutter?”

  Kerrie’s mouth bobbed open and closed. “Have I upset you in some way?”

  “Upset me?” Roni snorted. “You’re on solid food, aren’t you?” The female simply wasn’t important enough to affect her that deeply.

  “Look, I’m sorry if I’ve offended you or something, but—”

  “You can’t eyeball someone’s male and expect her to eat with you. It’s really that simple.” Kerrie looked to Marcus for some backup, but he wisely said nothing. “You can go now.”

  Wearing a wounded look that was totally fake, Kerrie walked to the counter and began talking to Deana.

  Only then did Roni turn to Marcus, who was surprisingly quiet. “You’re not going to lecture me about being rude to your friend?”

  “Sweetheart, you really have no idea how hard it makes me to see you get all possessive like that.” It made him want to fuck her within an inch of her life.

  Typical male. “I’m not dumb, I know you’ve got a past. But that doesn’t mean I have to be okay with it being flaunted in my face.”

  “You’re right, she was being a bitch. You handled it well.” Just then, Teagan brought out their orders, and Kerrie was forgotten. Roni really enjoyed the food, which pleased Marcus and his sisters. He wasn’t impressed that she wanted to share with him again—or that she snatched some of his fries.

  Unsurprisingly, his sisters dragged him into the kitchen for a “chat” before he left, which was basically an interrogation about how he felt about Roni and what he intended to do about those feelings. He managed to artfully blow off most of the questions.

  When he exited the kitchen, he saw that Kerrie was talking to Roni, who looked ready to slap her. Protectiveness made him want to barge over there and bare his teeth at Kerrie, but he knew Roni would be pissed by that, so he stood back to allow her to take care of the matter herself.

  “He must like you a lot to bring you to meet his sisters,” said Kerrie. “I’m sure you know what I told him, that he’s spoken of me.”

  “Nope. Never heard about you before.” It was clear to Marcus that Roni meant it as an insult, and it clearly hit home.

  “I’m a Seer. I had a vision of Marcus with his mate; I saw her. You’re not her.” Kerrie seemed to take delight in saying that. “She’s bruised deep inside, and she needs him. Don’t get in the way of that.”

  Shit. Marcus hadn’t wanted to bring this up to Roni, worried she’d do something stupid like make the way clear for this female he didn’t even want.

  “She needs him,” continued Kerrie. “His path is to find her, to save her—only he can.”

  Roni’s expression was deadpan. “Well then, she’d better come fight for him.” Her unexpected words made him smile.

  Kerrie gaped. “You’d really stay with him? You’d really get in the way of that?”

  “I spoke to a Seer once. She told me my father would be Alpha of the pack one day. He was already dead at the time.”

  “My vision was—”

  “Just a vision. I don’t place much faith in them. But if Marcus’s path truly is so set in stone, he’ll find her without trying, won’t he? So don’t wo
rry your bitter little head.”

  Marcus chose that moment to approach. “Ready, gorgeous?”

  Roni nodded. “Definitely. There’s a weird smell in here.” She then cast Kerrie a withering look and strolled out of the diner, knowing Marcus would follow. She’d sensed him behind her and Kerrie, knew he’d been listening, and she appreciated that he let her deal with the bitch herself. It wasn’t until they were both in the car and leaving the parking lot that she spoke again. “So . . . Kerrie’s a Seer.”

  He smoothed his hand along her thigh. “I didn’t tell you about the vision for three reasons: One, I was worried it would make you walk away. Two, I don’t want the vision to come true—the future she described isn’t one I’d want. Three, I’m not sure I believe the vision means anything anymore. In any case, I couldn’t make the female the Seer described happy, and she couldn’t make me happy either.”

  That made Roni frown. “Mates make each other happy.”

  “That’s the theory.”

  “Your parents weren’t happy at all, were they?” she guessed.

  “No, they weren’t,” he admitted.

  So maybe Nick’s suppositions were right after all. “Were they true mates, or had they imprinted?”

  “They were true mates. And yet, they were never happy. In fact, they were miserable. But you don’t look very surprised by that.”

  She thought about denying it, but not only would it be unfair, he’d most likely know she was lying. “It’s just that Nick . . . he had his friend do a check on you, on your past.”

  “Did he now?” he drawled, his tone deadly.

  “He had no right to do that; it was an invasion of your privacy, and I’m sorry.”

  “Well, what did he find out?” But Marcus was afraid he already knew.

  “You once told me your dad was hard. Did he ever . . . ?” It was difficult to ask, felt wrong when she could sense his pain.

  “Was he abusive? No, he wasn’t.”

  “But your mom . . .”

  “He never laid a single finger on her.”

  Roni’s brows drew together in confusion. “Nick’s friend said she was always badly bruised.”