Dark Instincts (The Phoenix Pack 4)

Curious, Roni glanced at it; her eyes were immediately drawn to the photograph that was clipped to the paper. Holy fuck. It clearly fit the description of the wolf shifter who the jackal mentioned, tattoo included. And according to the personal details provided, Noah Brunt was in fact a wolf shifter.

“That is confidential information,” growled Eliza, snatching back the paper. She turned to Roni. “I’d say congratulations on the mating, but I find it much too hard to believe that you could possibly be the mate of someone like Marcus.”

“Well, considering we’re wearing each other’s scent, and you can see our claiming marks easily enough, I’m confused by your disbelief. But I also don’t care.” Roni raised a hand when Eliza went to speak. “No, really, don’t bother answering—I’ve already lost interest.”

“Seriously, Marcus, she’s a—”

“Think very carefully before you continue that sentence,” he rumbled.

Eliza snickered. “You wouldn’t hurt me.”

“No, but my mate would. And we all know she can take you—she already did.”

“Maybe. But I could take her in a courtroom. She’d be sorry she touched me again.”

“Hey, I know plenty about law,” claimed Roni. “For instance, I know that in Baldwin Park, no one’s allowed to ride a bicycle in a swimming pool. And I know that it’s illegal to hunt whales in Oklahoma. Oh, and in Singapore, it’s illegal to buy or sell gum—you can only have it prescribed by a doctor.” Everyone just stared at her. “What?”

Marcus pulled her closer. “I love how that brain absorbs everything.”

“If you don’t find that irritating, you really must be mates,” mumbled Nick.

“These people might buy that you’re mates, but I don’t.” Pivoting on the spot, Eliza stormed out of the lodge, slamming the door closed behind her.

“You have a pen and a piece of paper, gorgeous?” Marcus asked Roni. Once he had them, he scribbled down Brunt’s address, then turned to Nick. “I have to speak to my pack. You have Skype, right?”

Sensing the urgency in Marcus’s manner, Nick leaned forward. “What’s going on?”

“The photo of Eliza’s client, Noah Brunt, matched the description of the jackals’ tech guy. If it’s him, we now know his name and where he lives. But we’ve had plenty of false alarms since trying to hunt down this wolf, so we’ll need Rhett to do a check on Brunt.”

Nodding, Nick stood. “I’ll have Donovan see what he can find out about Brunt too. Wait here, I’ll get my laptop.” Pretty soon they were connected to Rhett’s computer, and a number of Phoenix wolves were gathered around him. Immediately, they noticed Marcus’s and Roni’s claiming marks.

“You’re true mates?” asked a smiling Taryn.

“Yes,” replied Marcus. With that, his pack began exchanging money. Un-freaking-believable. “You bet on whether or not we’re mates?”

Counting the wad of dollars in his hands, Trick spoke. “We were all sure you would both end up together, but we took bets on whether you were true mates. Oh, and on how long it would take for you guys to claim each other.”

“You’re not in a position to judge, since you bet on whether Taryn would stay for good when I brought her home,” said Trey.

Jaime smiled brightly. “Forget all that! Congratulations!” The other Phoenix wolves followed her lead, passing on their best wishes . . . other than the blond pervert.

Dominic pouted. “I’m so bummed. I can’t believe you would do this to me, Roni.”

“Dominic,” Marcus gritted out.

“We could have been so happy together. I feel so betrayed.”

“Dominic.”

“But even though you’ve smashed my heart into pieces, I don’t regret loving you. If I had to choose between loving you or being able to breathe, I’d tell you I loved you with my last breath.”

As Jaime laughed and everyone else groaned, Marcus exchanged a look with Ryan. The enforcer nodded and then smacked Dominic over the back of the head.

“Hey, that hurt!” But the pervert was laughing his ass off.

Roni sighed. “You know, Dominic, I think it’s about time I tell you what everyone says about you behind your back.” A brief pause. “Nice ass.” A large hand suddenly wrapped around her throat and shook her playfully.

“You’re not allowed to do that anymore, sweetheart,” Marcus told her, chuckling. “Not if you want the perve to live, anyway.”

Smug, Dominic pointed at Roni. “Ha! You can’t do it anymore!”

Shoving the idiot aside, Trick grinned at Marcus. “I told you to ignore the Seer, didn’t I?”

“You did. And you were right. I’m not saying Kerrie lied, but—” Marcus paused when Roni snorted. “You think she lied?”

“Totally. When she saw us together at the diner, she was jealous, Marcus. I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to conclude that she’d wanted some commitment from you and was bitter that she didn’t get it. Maybe she wanted to get back at you.”

“You’re saying she fabricated that vision, knowing it would make me dread finding my mate, make me opposed to mating?”

“I’d say so. I do think she had a vision of you and me together, because she went pale when she saw me. But by giving you a false description of your mate, it made you expect someone very specific; that was guaranteed to make it harder for you to recognize me as your true mate when we met.”

“That makes sense,” said Trick. “Maybe the Seer had even hoped that if the future she described was really so repugnant to you, you’d give her commitment.”

“But I never made her any promises,” Marcus told him, “I never led her on. I don’t do that.”

“Some females get the idea that they can change ‘the player,’” explained Jaime, “and make them settle down. Maybe that’s what she did.”

“Maybe,” Marcus allowed. The more he thought about it, the more it did make sense that Kerrie had lied. And that made him want to slit her throat—he might have walked away from Roni, thanks to her “vision” of his supposed future.

Taryn spoke then. “Okay, so where is this bitch, and when can we smack her down? Roni, don’t forget to bring the shears.”