Chapter Eleven #4
Malik didn’t like the plan. In fact, he sided with Marcus.
He gagged when the words left his mouth, but agreed I was safer with the Alpha’s scent.
Yet unlike with Marcus, I didn’t have to convince Malik why the shapeshifter couldn’t do this alone; Malik articulated it in such a simple way I was ashamed not to have thought of it myself.
In essence, the possibility of Latoya betraying Marcus was higher than the possibility of her betraying me.
Malik and I drove into the Blackwood Territory in my old Honda Accord. Even though allowing him to help was the demand for his discretion, there was no way he was letting a werewolf ‘stink up’ his car.
“Is he calling you again?” he whined from the driver’s seat as my phone played its cheerful jingle. “Just answer the damn phone.”
We’re here, I texted instead. Do you want me to go down to the cells with you and Maya?
So your fucking ex-boyfriend can recon the rest of my compound, Joanna? Hell no.
We turned a corner, and I pointed to the fire hydrant near the main building. “Park there.”
Malik cursed under his breath.
Not only did Marcus guess the mystery hunter correctly, but he’d also sent a capable babysitter.
Jerome waited for us by the front doors, his enormous arms crossing over his bare chest once he finished pulling up his gray sweatpants. He was built like Marcus but had about an inch on his alpha’s height. His rich ebony cheeks were flushed, and it was obvious we’d interrupted his morning run.
With the car in park, Malik reached over and grabbed his pocketknife from the glove compartment.
“You don’t need it, Malik,” I chided harshly.
“Well, isn’t that a relief,” he replied with a roll of his eyes. “Let’s get this over with.”
I flexed my fingers, ensuring I had sensation in my hands. The dark veins hadn’t returned, but I’d been paranoid ever since they appeared. The bond had made a mistake once; there was no telling when it would again.
I stole a quick glance in the side mirror, reciting one of my affirmations. Everything that happens today will be for my highest good.
Jerome walked toward us, placing one hand on the roof of my car and scratching his beard with the other.
“Hey, Joey,” he said with a dip of his head as I hopped out of the car.
His gaze flew to Malik, sunlight bouncing off the polished silver in my comrade’s hand.
“Malik, right? We met at the bar in Cedar Grove.” He gestured toward the knife. “You’re skilled with a blade.”
“Oh, so you remember.” Malik played with his knife, spinning and flipping it with his fingers. “Let’s hope your master remembers, too.”
My jaw dropped, and embarrassment amplified the hammering of my heart in my ears. “Malik, what the fuck?” I held a hand up to apologize to Jerome when the werewolf chuckled.
“Both Marcus and Maya warned me about him. It’s fine, Joey.” Jerome recrossed his arms, his eyes growing dark. “Some men take a bit longer to mature than others.”
Malik and Jerome said nothing to each other as we waited, but the hostility shared between them could be felt in a vacuum.
I rubbed my hands against my jeans, wondering how long the Alpha and his gamma would take to retrieve my sister. My body shivered at the thought, and I played with the ends of my ponytail while I shamelessly came up with a way to distract myself.
“What’s… going on with you and Maya, anyway?” I asked Jerome frivolously. When he looked at me, unaffected by my question, I continued. “Are y’all seeing each other or…?”
His eyes went wide. Bingo.
“Not that you have to tell me,” I added quickly, wondering if I had taken too huge of a risk.
A line etched between Jerome’s brows.
“It’s just, my sense of smell is pretty good for a human… You two are not sleeping together.”
His arms dropped to his sides like I’d paralyzed him. “Why the hell would I be sleeping with the gamma, Joey?” he sputtered.
Oh shit.
I wrung my hands together. “Never mind.”
“I don’t think so. You can’t ask me that question and then brush it off.”
“Is that the scary one who doesn’t know how to smile?” Still playing with his knife, a sardonic snort slipped from Malik’s nose. “Bro, the she-wolf totally wants to bone.”
“No,” Jerome demanded. “She does not want to ‘bone’ anyone.”
I thought about what Marcus had said about his gamma in the past: She’s never taken a lover. “Is she waiting for her fated mate? I know that’s a thing some of y’all do.”
Jerome now looked at me as if I’d uttered forbidden words.
I understood the concept of the fated mate: two souls destined to be together. A pull that consumes them until they give in to the Moon Goddess’s will. A love that makes even the broken feel whole… But the idea was low-key off-putting.
I didn’t believe in soulmates, so how could I possibly stand behind a god mingling in their worshippers’ affairs?
Why did the werewolves desire to find a fated mate, knowing the relationship might not be a happy one and that breaking the bond would bring debilitating pain? Even death, in some cases.
The whole thing sounded like a trap; an elimination of free will disguised as a fairytale.
The muscles in Jerome’s arms tensed. “We’ve never had that conversation… Why would we?”
I threw back my head in exasperation. “Because she has feelings for you, idiot.”
Jerome shook his head, though doubt clouded his features. “You’re wrong, Joey.”
“I may not be a werewolf, but I am a woman. And I am telling you, J—Maya likes you.”
Jerome ran a hand down his face, his hand stopping on his chin. He started pacing as if he were looking back at clues he might have missed. “Fuck,” he muttered, scratching his beard. He gestured to Malik with a bob of his head. “Is your hearing as good as Joey’s?”
Malik rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“Good.” Jerome waved me forward and began walking away from the car.
I followed behind him, amused.
Once his bare feet stopped slapping against the cold ground, he turned and kept his voice low. “Has she ever said anything to you?”
I matched his volume. “Why would she? I’m a nobody. She barely knows me.”
He hesitated. “Has she said anything to Marcus?”
I shook my head and noticed Jerome shift uneasily. “Is this because she’s kind of like your boss?” I tapped his bicep, trying to lighten the mood. “I assure you, Marcus doesn’t care. He wants her to be happy.”
He peered into the distance. “She wouldn’t be happy with me, hunter.
I don’t know what she’s waiting for, but I have not been waiting the way she has.
” He noticed my blank look and blew out a frustrated gust of air.
“I’m a werewolf, Joey. Name a single creature on this rock that can match our sexual needs. ”
“Vampires.” I shrugged with a wry smile.
He grimaced in disgust. “That’s not funny.”
I huffed. “Look, are you worried that she’ll judge you because you sleep around? Newsflash: She’s already aware you sleep around. The only time it’ll become an issue is if you two commit and you still can’t keep your dick in your pants.”
I don’t know if it was how I said it, but Jerome clenched his teeth. “Has the Alpha ever—”
“We are not in a relationship,” I said in a panic. “We’re only…” My words trailed off, getting swept up by the Alpha’s aura as it buzzed through the air.
Marcus’s power was as tangible as a brick wall. He was still a good distance away, but his fucking scent called to me like a siren’s song leading sailors to their doom.
As he grew closer, my senses went off like fireworks—in real time and from memories: Warmth. Pine. Fucking spearmint toothpaste. The way he groaned my name whenever his dick was buried inside of me. The sound of every breath that escaped his lungs.
The very thought of him made my entire body ache…
But when the werewolves were close enough, and my gaze locked with a pair of orange eyes… the only ache that remained was the dull pain in my chest.