Dark Instincts

  “Enough!”

  “I was just going to say ‘smiling.’ Really, Greta, you should just build a cabin in the gutter—your mind is permanently there.” Jaime entered the kitchen with a bright smile while Greta trailed behind her, glowering—a glower that deepened when she saw that Dominic was laughing his ass off.

  Greta paused near Marcus. “Make a better choice for a mate than these two idiots.” She gestured at Trey and Dante. It was only then that she noticed Marcus playing with Roni’s hair. And she didn’t appear to like it.

  Jaime, now lounging in the lap of a clearly contented Dante, who was nuzzling her neck, looked at Greta. “You can whine all you want, old woman, but I know you secretly adore me.”

  Greta humphed, taking a seat beside Tao. “You’re not good enough for my Dante. Just like that hussy’s not good enough for my Trey.”

  Taryn tilted her head, regarding Greta with mock pity. “I can’t work out what’s wrong with you. But I’m sure it’s not something that swallowing the chemicals under the sink can’t fix. Want to try it?”

  “How about we postpone the conversation of how best to poison my grandmother until later?” suggested Trey with a tired sigh. “We need to get going.”

  Serious now, Taryn pushed out of her chair. “Yes. Somebody knows something about what happened to my son, and I want to know what it is.”

  Standing upright, Nick turned to Roni. “Be careful.”

  “Roni’s always careful.”

  Marcus’s words—confident, supportive, and defensive—took Roni by complete surprise. He didn’t appear to be any happier about Nick’s insistence on coddling her than she was. In fact, Marcus seemed offended on her behalf.

  Grinding his teeth, Nick went nose to nose with Marcus. “You’d better not touch my sister, Fuller.” That easily, the Phoenix wolves were at Marcus’s back.

  “Nick,” Roni drawled warningly.

  “I’ve seen the way you look at her, and I don’t like it. Keep this professional.”

  Marcus’s smile was a pure taunt. “Since you don’t seem to have noticed, I’ll point out that Roni’s a big girl.” If the Alpha had some strange idea that Marcus would submit to him, he had to be smoking crack.

  “She’s still my baby sister, and you’re not good enough for her.”

  “Nick, stop it,” Roni bit out, kind of shocked that Trey wasn’t intervening to defend his enforcer and friend. But Trey didn’t seem the least bit worried for Marcus, and that was when she realized that Marcus was easily holding Nick’s gaze. Despite having a powerful Alpha threatening him, he didn’t look in the least bit rattled. There was even a little amusement there.

  “There’s nothing babyish about Roni. All you’re doing by coddling her is undermining her strength. Is that really what you want to do? I have a feeling she won’t thank you for it.”

  After a short, tense silence, Nick took a step back. “Remember what I said, Fuller. Keep your cock in your pants, understand?”

  “I don’t know. Sounds complicated.” Marcus almost laughed at Nick’s thunderous expression, but then Roni jammed her elbow into his ribs.

  “Stop making it worse,” she hissed at Marcus. “Nick, just go.”

  The Alpha shot Marcus a menacing glance before spinning on his heel and marching out of the room with an amused Derren at his side.

  Only then did the Phoenix wolves relax. Seeing that they were all gazing with interest at her and Marcus, she had the urge to leave the room and escape their scrutiny. So she did.

  “Hey, wait.” She didn’t, but Marcus ate up the space between them in three strides. Up ahead, Nick glanced over his shoulder and slung Marcus a sneer. His wolf returned the sneer—he wasn’t a fan of the Alpha who was trying to come between him and the object of his fascination. Marcus just smiled.

  In the parking area, Marcus led her over to his car and chuckled as Nick sped past them in his SUV with a glower on his face. “Personally, I think he’s warming up to me.”

  Grinding her teeth, she hopped into the passenger seat. “Stop winding up my brother.”

  Inside the car, he said, “I smiled at him, what’s wrong with that?”

  Like she’d buy the innocent act. “He stood there threatening you, and you made it worse by poking at him.”

  “I wasn’t poking at him . . . much. I was defending you.”

  Yes, he had defended her. For the third time. Although Roni didn’t need anyone to speak for her, it was kind of nice that someone actually had. Kathy and Nick ganged up on her pretty often; she was used to fighting her battles alone. “I know his overprotectiveness is unnecessary and irritating, but he means well.”

  “Does he?” In Marcus’s opinion, Nick’s behavior wasn’t about Roni at all.

  Hearing the skepticism in his tone, she was about to question him. But then she shook her head, not wanting to get involved in male shifter games. “Look, it doesn’t matter what you think. Just stop—” She quieted when he placed a finger against her mouth.

  “I’m not the enemy, Roni.” His voice was low, soft, and soothing. “Hearing people dismiss your strength pisses me off.”

  “Why?”

  “It hurts you. I don’t like it.” He also didn’t like that she let Nick and Kathy get away with it. She had an annoying habit of biting back what she wanted to say, and each time he saw the strain around her eyes, it made his blood boil. Hearing the crinkle of a wrapper, he tsked. “Oh no, sweetheart. Not with me, remember.”

  Roni huffed and put the candy in her mouth. The asshole took it back out and dumped it in the cup holder. “Hey, stop that!”

  “What do you like to do on weekends?”

  The casual question made her huff again. “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Come on, Roni, what’s the harm in answering my question?” His tone was coaxing.

  Exasperated, she spoke in a rush. “Nick has a huge game room with a bar, La-Z-Boys, and an Xbox. I meet the guys there most Saturday nights. On Sundays, I go for a run in my wolf form. There. Are you happy now?”

  He smiled. “Ecstatic.” When they stopped at a red light, he looked at her. “Did you know we’re throwing a birthday party for Grace on Saturday night?”

  “Shaya mentioned it.”

  “You’re coming, right? There’ll be plenty of beer. Chicken wings. Pizza. Cake.” All things he knew Roni loved.

  “I don’t like parties.” Too many people, too much pressure to seem sociable.

  “But you do like chocolate fudge cake.”

  There would be chocolate fudge cake? “Why didn’t you say so before?”

  He chuckled, but that chuckle quickly faded because all this talking about food had created a problem. “I’m hungry.”

  She snickered. “What else is new?”

  Seeing a McDonald’s sign up ahead, he said, “I could really go for a burger right now.”

  “We’ll eat after we’ve spoken to McGee.”

  “It’s a two-hour journey. I can’t wait that long.” He pulled into the drive-through lane and came to a stop near the menu boards. “What do you want?”

  She shrugged. “I’ll just have a bit of what you’re having.”

  He blinked. “Um, sweetheart . . . I don’t share food.” She rolled her eyes, clearly missing how serious he was. “No, really, I don’t share food.”

  Amused despite herself, Roni asked, “Not even a few fries?”

  “No.”

  “Not even an onion ring?”

  “No.” Marcus watched as impatience flickered across her face, like she thought he was being unreasonable—now that was just unfair. “Order a meal.”

  “But I’m not that hungry.”

  “So order a snack.”

  “Why can’t I just share with you?”

  “Because I’m territorial when it comes to my food.”

  She arched a brow. “Territorial, or greedy?”

  “Both.” And he was totally unapologetic about it.

  “Fine. I’l
l have a cheeseburger.”

  Marcus placed their orders and turned back to find Roni gawking at him. “What?”

  “You practically ordered an entire cow. You couldn’t have shared just a little of that with me?”

  With all honesty, he replied, “No.” Once in possession of their orders, Marcus parked in the lot and immediately dug in. He was halfway through his meal when Roni had finished, and he sensed her watching his fries with a covetous gaze. When her hand reached for them, he quickly positioned the box between his spread legs. “Not on your life, gorgeous.” Her eyes narrowed, calculating, but she said nothing. Then, when he was down to his last fry, she snatched it out of his box. “Hey!”

  Roni quickly stuffed it in her mouth, close to laughing at his horrified expression.

  “Give it back.” Instead, she quickly chewed it. Then she opened her mouth, showing him she’d swallowed it down. And the sight of that tongue . . .

  Roni gasped as his mouth suddenly locked on hers. As if to ensure she couldn’t pull away, he cupped her chin as he traced the edge of her bottom lip with his tongue . . . and the sensuous swipe made her wonder how that tongue would feel on other parts of her body.

  She should push him away, right? Of course she should. But she didn’t, because that soft, carnal mouth pushed all other thoughts from her mind as his tongue shot inside, tangling with hers. The kiss was wet, languid, and hotly sensual. And it made her body jump to life.

  Marcus groaned as her hands knotted in his hair, claws raking his scalp. He gripped her hip and jerked her toward him as his entire body hardened. Need, possessiveness, and a crushing drive to take rushed through him—all of it was so primitive, it shook him. The scent of her arousal slammed into his system, acting as fuel to those primal instincts.

  Ordinarily, Marcus didn’t rush; he took his time with a female—seduced and teased. That patience to take things slow wasn’t there with Roni. He roughly shoved his hand under her T-shirt, fingers splaying across her abdomen like a brand. Her eyes snapped open at the possessive move, but she didn’t flinch away. Nor did she protest when his hand slid up and closed around her breast in an equally possessive move. He wouldn’t take her in a car, he wouldn’t, but fuck, the scent of her need was driving him out of his mind.

  “Are you ready to stop fighting this, Roni?” He pinched her nipple through her bra, pleased when she moaned. “Will you make that sound when I’m inside you?” Her eyes were dazed, heated, but also wary. It was clear that the intensity between them unnerved her. Hell, it unnerved him too. But it changed nothing. “Our first time is not going to be in a McDonald’s parking lot. But it will happen, Roni. And soon.” He thumbed her nipple as he released her breast.

  Her wolf growled in objection when Marcus pulled back, but Roni was glad for the reprieve. Her reaction to him unbalanced her. “Cocky asshole.”

  “Not cocky,” he told her as he piled their waste into the brown paper bag. “Just determined to get what I want.”

  “A fuck.”

  “You,” he corrected. As they drove out of the lot, he paused the car to wind down the window and throw the bag into the large garbage container. “I’ve wanted you since the second I laid eyes on you, sweetheart, and that’s not going to change.”

  “Has it occurred to you that maybe you only want me because I didn’t throw myself at you?”

  “I don’t like it when females throw themselves at me.”

  She barked a disbelieving laugh. “Yeah, right.”

  “I’m not saying I didn’t once-upon-a-time, but not anymore.”

  “You prefer the chase?”

  “A chase can be fun”—he was certainly enjoying this chase—“but no, I just got sick of being around shallow, superficial people who only wanted me because they liked how I look. I mean, what you see here can be injured, scarred, or disfigured. Underneath the skin, I look pretty much the same as every other guy.”

  There he went again, surprising her. Okay, maybe he wasn’t cocky, but . . . “You’re still an asshole.”

  “So my sister often tells me. Although that’s usually only when I refuse to babysit. Don’t get me wrong, I love my nieces . . . I just prefer them in small doses.”

  “Are you close to your sister?”

  Pleased that she’d asked him a personal question, Marcus replied, “I’m pretty close to all three of them.” Going through a bad experience had a way of bonding people.

  “So you have a close-knit family?” Her hackles raised when his smile faded and his body stiffened. All trace of his usual playfulness had gone. “Now that’s a story right there.”

  “A twisted story, sweetheart. One you’d be better off not hearing.”

  Okay, if he were going to repeatedly dodge her questions, it could get annoying. But, really, what right did she have to know his secrets? Plus, in all fairness, he’d never asked her a deeply personal question, never pushed her to confide in him about a wound that would clearly be painful to open.

  The rest of the journey was spent in silence, but it wasn’t awkward or tense. The presence of the male beside her seemed to smooth over her ragged nerves. Though her attraction to Marcus made her edgy, the guy himself had a way of putting her at ease.

  As they stopped at the border of Quinn McGee’s territory, Roni saw that it wasn’t much different from most wolf-shifter territories—lots of land with log cabins scattered all over it. Two enforcers escorted them to the center of the wide territory where they came to a large log cabin. In the living area, Quinn sat on a long sofa at the far end of the room with a platinum blonde and a dark-skinned female who bore a striking resemblance to the dark-skinned male standing beside the sofa.

  Quinn got to his feet, smiling, as they came to a stop in front of the sofa. The smile was genuine . . . yet there was a nervous twitch to it. “Marcus, good to see you, it’s been a long time.”

  “It has. This is Roni; she’s a Mercury Pack enforcer.”

  Quinn nodded at them both, worry apparent on his face. He gestured to the blonde. “This is my mate, Lola. Beside her is one of my female enforcers, and over there is my Beta.”

  The Beta’s eyes lingered on Roni in a way that Marcus did not like. He arched a brow at the male, who simply smiled unrepentantly. Obviously, he wanted his ass kicked.

  Quinn returned to his seat and gestured to the sofa opposite him. Neither Marcus nor Roni sat, and the tension in the room rose. “Okay, what can I do for you?”

  Marcus’s voice was quiet but grave. “You know why we’re here.”

  An incline of the head. “You’re seeking those responsible for attempting to abduct your Alpha pair’s son, and the trail has led you here.”

  “I want to keep this civil, Quinn. You want that too, I’m sure. After all, there’s really no need for this to get unfriendly. All you have to do is cooperate and answer our questions. Simple.”

  Roni hadn’t heard Marcus use that tone before—it was dark, menacing, and held a promise of reprisal if he didn’t get exactly what he wanted. In fact, she’d never seen him look like that before either; there was such energy, intensity, and darkness there. It made Quinn straighten in his seat.

  “We know that the Scorpio Pack was responsible,” continued Marcus. “We know you have an alliance with them, despite that they were blacklisted.”

  Quinn shrugged, as if the matter was nothing. “Business is business. Whether or not they’re blacklisted is no concern of mine, providing they keep up their end of the bargain.”

  “Where are they, Quinn?”

  “If I tell you that, Trey will kill them.”

  Well, duh. Roni leaned against Marcus slightly, speaking in a theatrical whisper. “I’m not comfortable around this wolf; he sees the future.”

  In spite of everything, Marcus found himself amused. “What would you do in Trey’s position, Quinn?”

  “I’m nothing if not loyal, and the Scorpio Pack is under my protection.”

  “It won’t save them. They crossed a very big line, a
nd there’s no going back from that. Choose a side, and choose wisely.”

  Quinn sighed. “I haven’t seen or spoken to the jackals in over three months. I don’t know their exact location at this moment—”

  “I call bullshit on that,” Roni said ever so pleasantly.

  He growled, clearly offended. “You doubt my word?”

  “You might not be interested in protecting their lives, but you’re interested in protecting your business—that means concealing them from us.”

  “And that would be very bad, Quinn.” Marcus tilted his head. “Very bad and very stupid.”

  “I joined your pack in a war. Trey’s son might never have been born without the backup you had that day.”

  “You didn’t do that for my pack. You wanted a shot at Trey’s uncle, and he gave it to you.”

  Quinn’s nostrils flared. “You’re asking me to condemn the jackals to death. This isn’t about me or them. This is about honor and—What’s she doing?” He glanced curiously at Roni.

  Yes, what was Roni doing? Marcus frowned, watching as she slowly paced in a circle on the other side of the room.

  Abruptly, Roni stopped and growled at Quinn. “They’ve been here. I can smell them.”

  The Beta suddenly dove at Marcus, his claws unleashed, just as the female enforcer launched herself at Roni. It wasn’t an attack, but an attempt to subdue them—Marcus saw that right away. But no one was subduing either of them.

  Confident Roni could take care of herself, Marcus concentrated on the Beta. He gripped the wrist of the arm reaching for him and sharply bent it sideways; a growl of pain mingled with the sound of a bone cracking. Marcus pinned the arm behind the Beta’s back and head-butted him hard enough to make him sway on his feet. Then he shoved the male backward, who landed on the sofa. Quinn sprang from his seat, heading for Marcus, and—

  “I’ll snap her neck, I swear to God.”

  Everyone froze at Roni’s words, surprised to find Quinn’s enforcer whining on the floor and Lola in a headlock. Hands raised in surrender, Quinn immediately backed off. Taking his cue, the Beta and the enforcer also submitted, but Roni didn’t release Lola.

  Marcus smiled. “Now, maybe we can actually—”