Nick chuckled humorlessly. “No fucking way.”
His mate sat upright, glowering. “Those bastards put our pup in danger and tried to snatch my godson!”
“Exactly. The jackals will have known who you are, Shay—they thought nothing of risking my pregnant mate’s life, just as they thought nothing of trying to kidnap Taryn and Trey’s son. That speaks of some seriously unbalanced individuals.”
Taryn gave a flat smile. “We’re not exactly known as warm, fuzzy people.”
Shaya gawked at her best friend. “I do hope you’re not siding with him on this, because I’d hate to have to cut off your beautiful hair. There’s no chance I’m staying behind.” A chorus of “Nor am I” quickly followed.
“There’s something we need to consider,” Dante interrupted. “Unbalanced or not, the jackals will have known that the instincts of both Alpha pairs would be to group together their Betas and enforcers and track them down as one unit, thus leaving the rest of the two packs—particularly the pups—vulnerable. Maybe that’s part of whatever neurotic plan they have, maybe it isn’t. But leaving either of the packs vulnerable isn’t a good idea in any case.”
Taryn nodded. “He’s right. We need to be smart about this.”
Trey swept his gaze around the room. “Dante, Marcus, Ryan—I want you three to join us on the hunt.”
Jaime opened her mouth to argue, but Trey silenced her with a raised hand. “I’m not leaving you behind because you’re not useful, Jaime. I need you to stay behind because you’re useful. You’re our Beta female, you’ve passed the exact same training that all of the enforcers went through, and there isn’t a person in this world who could sneak up on you. Tao, Trick, and Dominic are tough fuckers. I need to know my son and my pack are surrounded by tough fuckers when I’m not here.”
Mollified, Jaime nodded. Dante clasped her hand in his, earning himself a hiss from the ginger cat.
Seeing that her mate was about to speak, Shaya piped up, “Don’t order me to stay—”
“I’m not.”
She searched Nick’s face, her expression suspicious. “You’re not?”
“Not if you feel you need to do this.” He exchanged an odd look with Derren, who responded with an almost imperceptible nod.
Derren’s dark eyes found Shaya. “What about the meeting you have tomorrow?” As the shifter mediator for the California packs, Shaya helped packs solve disputes in the hope that wars could be avoided. Nick had been pressuring her to temporarily give up the position while she was pregnant, and she had agreed to do so after this particular situation had been resolved.
Shaya cursed under her breath. “I’ll see if another mediator can cover for me.”
“With such short notice?” Derren’s look said “doubtful.”
Nick tucked her red curls behind her ear. “Do the two parties still seem close to war?” If Shaya’s worried expression was anything to go by, the answer was yes. “Don’t worry, baby. If you can’t come along, it doesn’t mean you’re neglecting the people you love. We understand you’re needed elsewhere.”
Clearly feeling guilty at the idea of trying to escape the meeting, finally, Shaya sighed. “Fine. I’ll go to the meeting.” Nick and Derren exchanged discreetly smug smiles. “But don’t think I don’t know that you guys just played me, or that you won’t pay for it later.” Their smug looks vanished.
“So who are you involving in the hunt?” Taryn asked Nick.
“I can’t afford to involve many of my wolves; I want Shay to be well protected. I’ll take Derren and Eli. That way, Roni, Jesse, Bracken, and Zander can—”
“Wait a cocking, fucking second,” snapped Roni, shuffling forward in her seat. “You can’t shove me in the backseat.”
“I need to be sure that Shay and our pack is safe, and I trust you to ensure that.”
“Bullshit. You’re trying to protect me.”
“Come on, Roni, you have to admit you don’t work well with others.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She knew her eyes had briefly flashed wolf. The animal had no more tolerance for this crap than she did.
“Although you’re unfailingly loyal, you don’t have any interest in leading or following anyone. You do ‘Roni’s thing,’ and you reject anything that interferes with it. On the one hand, it’s what makes you a good enforcer—you don’t follow me blindly, you think for yourself. But it means you’re awful at working with people.
“Taking part in a hunt is serious. The tracking, the chase, the capture—all of it takes skill, patience, perseverance, and teamwork. We need to be able to rely on each other. It’s likely that we’ll be splitting up several times to stretch our resources. Four times you’ve left Bracken in the dust when I partnered you with him on something.”
“Because he drags his heels. Assign me a better partner and we won’t have a problem.”
“You could team up with Marcus.” At Taryn’s suggestion, everyone looked at her curiously.
Roni had to have misheard her. “What’s that now?”
Taryn shrugged casually . . . a little too casually. “You’ll do better working alongside someone who’s of equal status. Anyone with a higher position will rub you the wrong way. You won’t have that problem with Marcus.” She shot a meaningful glance at the male hand resting possessively on Roni’s shoulder—a move that her wolf hadn’t bristled at, which spoke volumes about her comfort level around him.
“She’s not working with the man-slut,” spat Nick.
“Personally, I think it’s a good idea.” Shaya wasn’t affected by Nick’s glower. “If she has a partner who matches her well, you won’t have to worry that she’ll wander off. Marcus won’t smother her, but he won’t let her walk all over him either.”
“Roni isn’t going!” Nick growled warningly when Roni opened her mouth to argue. “No. As your Alpha, the decision is ultimately mine.”
Not liking Nick’s high-handedness, Marcus decided it was well past time he intervened. He could respect that Nick was Roni’s Alpha and that it was only natural that he would want to protect his sister, but stifling someone as dominant as Roni would be a huge mistake. “You must understand why he’s asking you to stay behind, Roni.”
She rounded on Marcus. “Who the fuck asked for your opinion?”
“I’m just saying, his decision makes sense.”
She might have clawed his face off, but then she saw the calculating glint in his eyes. Deciding to play along, she asked, “How did you reach that messed-up conclusion?”
“He’s taking Derren and Eli with him—his Beta and his Head Enforcer. That will mean the three most dominant males in the pack are concentrating on something other than Shaya’s well-being.” Marcus let that sink in for a minute and watched in satisfaction as Nick frowned thoughtfully. If anything would have the Alpha rethinking his decision, it was the idea of how that decision would affect his pregnant mate.
“Although you didn’t follow his order today and things sort of went tits-up,” continued Marcus, “I’m guessing you’ll be sure not to do it again.” Nick’s frown deepened, and Marcus knew the guy was considering how she did “Roni’s thing” and would in fact disobey his orders if she felt it was in Shaya’s best interests. “You should be flattered he’s placed that trust in you.”
Roni liked how this wolf’s mind worked. She stifled a smile as she watched an array of emotions flash across Nick’s face. He was clearly struggling with this.
Finally Nick released a heavy breath. “All right, Roni, you can come. I’ll have Eli stay behind. Maybe you and Marcus would make a good team, considering he can be just as cunning as you.”
Trey gave him a mockingly sympathetic look. “You might be an Alpha, but your family will always find a way to play you.”
Nick just scowled at him. “I’m glad you find this amusing, Sailor Joe.”
It seemed to take a few seconds for the words to sink in, but when they did, Trey spun to snarl at Taryn, “You told him?”
r /> She laughed awkwardly. “Of course I didn’t tell him.” In a low voice, she added, “I told Shaya.”
While everyone else was doing their best to hide their amusement, Dante was outright laughing his ass off. “A sailor, huh? Didn’t think that role-play was your thing.”
Trey glowered at him. “Something funny, Fireman Sam?”
The laughing abruptly stopped, and Dante rounded on his mate. “You told him?”
Jaime spluttered. “No!” She cleared her throat. “Although I did tell Taryn. And Shaya. And Roni. But I didn’t tell them about the time you—” A large hand clapped over her mouth.
“About the time you . . . ?” prodded Nick, grinning.
Wincing as Jaime bit into his palm, Dante shook his head. “Nothing.”
Shaya snorted at Nick. “You’re not really one to judge, considering you—” Her words were cut off as he kissed her hard.
Squirming under Trey’s glower, Taryn obviously felt it was time to change the subject because she turned to Nick, Roni, and Derren. “Good to have you along for the ride. We’ll expect to see you all here tomorrow, bright and early.”
CHAPTER THREE
Bright and early the next day, Roni strolled into her pack’s main lodge to have breakfast. The huge hunting lodge had been revamped to Nick’s specifications and was absolutely amazing: the luxurious furniture and the spacious open-plan living area, dining room, and kitchen were all done in a rustic tone. Each of the lodges scattered around their territory was similar but on a much smaller scale. Roni loved her lodge, loved the homey feel to it, and loved that it was the most isolated of all the lodges on the land.
What she didn’t love was that her maternal aunt was seated at the long table. Petite with caramel-blonde hair and devious eyes, Janice refused to age gracefully and insisted on short skirts, high heels, heaps of makeup, and thin vests that broadcasted her cleavage . . . as if dressing up like a twenty-year-old fought the aging process or something. Hey, that was fine—to each their own. What wasn’t fine was that Janice liked to demean others to make herself feel better, and Roni was her favorite target.
“Good morning, Roni,” said her aunt with forced affection.
Roni’s greeting was just as falsely sweet. “Hope you slept well, Janice.”
Kathy placed a plate piled with pancakes on the table, which her brother Eli practically attacked. “Roni, eat. You need to build up your strength.” Kathy talked as if Roni was an undernourished eight-year-old. They had one of those mother-daughter relationships where they loved each other but got along better when they had plenty of space between them. Like oceans, for example.
Roni took a seat between Derren and Eli and loaded her plate with food. Nick’s dog, Bruce, appeared at her side, panting and licking his muzzle. As Roni did every morning, she threw him a slice of bacon.
“When are you going to play a proper role within the pack, Roni? It’s not usual for females to have the position of enforcer.” Janice didn’t hide her disapproval.
“It’s more common than you’d think.” Shaya shot Roni a supportive smile. “And Roni’s excellent at her job.”
“Hmm. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that you have a masculine role. You never grew out of the tomboy phase. It just supports my theory that you want a sex change.”
A shocked laugh burst out of Zander, almost causing the hot, sharp-witted blond to choke on his coffee. An equally stunned Kent patted his back while Caleb gawped at Janice.
“Some people just don’t like skirts or dresses.” Shaya’s agitation had leaked into her voice.
“Hmm.” Janice sniffed. “Maybe it’s for the best, since you can’t flaunt what you don’t have.”
Roni shoved a forkful of scrambled eggs into her mouth to stop herself from cursing at her aunt. Roni was happy with who she was, with her style, with how she lived her life. She wasn’t going to defend any of that to anyone.
Kathy had always tried to change her, like Roni needed “fixing” or something. When she was younger, Kathy had forced her to spend time with Janice’s daughters, hoping their girly ways would rub off on Roni. The bitches had teased and taunted her rather than played with her. So she’d pulled all the heads off their Barbie dolls. As such, her aunt thought of her as a lost cause.
“She makes an effort for special occasions.” Kathy was defending her? That was new. “When it was Nick and Shaya’s mating ceremony, she even wore a little makeup. She looked so different. So pretty.” Ah, a backhanded compliment.
At that moment, Jesse entered the kitchen with his on-and-off girlfriend, Eliza. She was an attorney who represented shifters, which might have made her likeable if she wasn’t so shallow and superficial. Seriously, the female was like a coin—two-faced, mostly without value, and regularly handled by different people. She had even slept with a few of the Phoenix wolves, including Marcus. Roni refused to believe that the feeling in the pit of her stomach was jealousy.
According to Jaime, Eliza had originally tried befriending the Beta female, Jaime, and Taryn, dropping hints about moving to their pack. When Taryn had made it crystal clear that it wouldn’t happen, Eliza had moved on to Jesse. Roni suspected the female was now trying to get herself a place in the Mercury Pack.
Sitting at the table, Eliza pleasantly smiled at everyone . . . except Roni, who received a snarl. Yeah, the dislike was mutual, since Eliza was threatened by Roni’s level of dominance. In addition, she believed Roni took no pride in her appearance—unlike Eliza, who was primped from head to toe—and was also whimsical and easily distracted. In actuality, Roni was an extremely focused person . . . when she found the subject stimulating. If she didn’t, she had a tendency to either zone out or walk away.
“I’m guessing by your good mood that you won the case yesterday,” said Kathy.
Eliza smiled cockily. “Of course.”
“Do you get many cases?” asked Janice.
“Unfortunately, more and more shifters are needing representation against humans. The anti-shifter groups continue to make false accusations that are so far-fetched and unfounded that they’re thrown out of court. But it always has the desired effect—causing upset to the shifter community.”
Janice shook her head. “After what happened not so long ago, you’d think the extremists would keep a low profile.”
The extremists had previously appealed to have restrictive laws put into place that would confine shifters to their territories, place them on a register like child molesters, and prevent them from mating with humans—claiming they were too violent and dangerous. The extremists’ opinions, however, were discredited and dismissed when evidence came to light that these supposedly nonviolent groups were part of a hunting preserve that allowed humans to hunt, torture, and kill shifters.
“They’ve begun a campaign to restrict shifter couples to having only one child in order to stop the population from becoming too widespread.” Eliza turned to Nick. “You had a major run-in with extremists in Arizona, didn’t you?”
Nick tensed. He’d been targeted by the leader of the group, who had been a guard in the shifter juvenile prison where Nick had been incarcerated. The guard had had a grudge against Nick for badly injuring him when he’d fought off the bastard’s attempts to abuse him, and he’d wanted to make him pay.
It was no secret that the extremists had targeted Nick, but there was still speculation on how it had ended, considering those particular extremists had mysteriously “disappeared.” That speculation was what kept other extremists at bay. Openly admitting that they had in fact destroyed the humans when they invaded Phoenix Pack territory would be dumb. “Yes. That’s why we moved here. Thankfully, that was the end of it.” It wasn’t a lie, but neither was it the full truth.
Noticing Shaya massaging her stomach, Janice patted her hand. “I really hope you’ll reconsider letting me deliver your baby.”
Shaya cleared her throat. “Thanks again for the offer, but I really want Grace to be there.”
“Wo
uldn’t you rather have family helping? I know we don’t know each other well, but we have plenty of time to fix that before the birth.”
Kathy nodded in agreement. “Janice is very good at what she does, Shaya.”
“I’m sure she is. But I want Grace.”
Kathy smiled sweetly. “If that’s your decision, honey, I’ll respect it.”
Roni almost snorted at the barefaced lie. Irritatingly, Kathy believed she had the right to interfere in her children’s lives for no other reason than that she was their mother—and that extended to her son’s mate. The amazingly stubborn woman was extremely good at getting her own way, and she never gave up without a fight.
“You know, Shaya, I was thinking,” began Kathy, still smiling sweetly, “you should come shopping with Janice and me later on today. It would be lovely for us all to spend some time together.”
Nick went to object, but Shaya beat him to it. “Thanks, but I have things to do.”
“What a shame.” Janice looked at Roni. “What about you, Roni?”
Eliza’s smile was a little hateful. “You could certainly do with a makeover.”
Roni’s wolf growled, but it wasn’t because of Eliza’s comment—the female was so insignificant, she wasn’t even a blip on her radar. No, her wolf was alert and watchful because she had picked up a very familiar, very yummy scent. Startled, Roni swerved to find Marcus entering the kitchen with Bracken.
Instantly, every female in the room perked up.
First, Shaya got to her feet and gave Marcus a friendly kiss on the cheek, which made Nick growl. Then Kathy urged Marcus into a chair opposite Roni, and placed a huge plate of bacon and eggs in front of him. Eliza vainly adjusted her hair and clothes. To Roni’s horror, her mated aunt plastered a flirtatious smile on her face.
Marcus gave Roni a wide smile—and that strange, almost electric connection between them instantly snapped into place, making his wolf growl in satisfaction. “Hey there, gorgeous.” He almost laughed at the “Quiet, you’re boring me” logo on her camo-green T-shirt. Her wardrobe seemed to consist mostly of clothing that was branded with antisocial wording.