Dark Instincts (The Phoenix Pack 4)

He didn’t pause in his pacing. “She’s his mate. He had to have known.”

“You know it’s not that simple.”

“I think the bastard knew all about it. I think he played a part in it.” And Marcus would make him pay for it.

“No, you want him to have known and played a part in it, because then you would have someone to take out all this rage on—you can’t hurt Lola because you wouldn’t hurt a female; it’s not in you.”

He was aware that his smile wasn’t at all nice. “I’m tempted to make an exception after what she did.”

“It’s hardly surprising that she retaliated in some way. I humiliated her—I’m a mere enforcer, she’s an Alpha female, and I overpowered her. It would have made her pack question her strength and suitability as their leader.”

“So she should have challenged you, one on one. But oh, no, she plotted to have you killed—and then have the footage uploaded onto the net.”

“Are you really saying you would have been happier if she had challenged me instead of doing this?”

No, he wouldn’t have been happier. Roni was his. He didn’t want anyone or anything to hurt her in any way, shape, or form. “That’s not the point.”

“I hurt her pride, Marcus. An Alpha’s pride is a big thing.”

He slid his hands into her hair and pressed his forehead to hers. “That doesn’t matter to me. She doesn’t matter to me. You matter to me. And absolutely nobody gets to harm you. Not because I don’t think you can take care of yourself, but because the very idea of anyone targeting you offends me and pisses me the hell off. If anyone touches you, they die.”

His wolf was so close to the surface, it was worrying her. “Okay, but just . . . calm down.” Unfortunately, the soothing tone wasn’t working. Remembering how Shaya, Taryn, and Jaime calmed down their males, Roni slid her hands under his T-shirt and smoothed them up and down his chest—occasionally dragging her nails along his skin. Eventually, a contented growl rumbled out of him, and she sensed his wolf drawing back.

“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.