Of course, it could also be that in addition to being truly delectable and exceptionally capable, Roni Axton was downright lethal. He’d seen her fight when a large number of prejudiced humans had invaded his territory; she’d been sharp, fast, and merciless. And it had been damn hot.
His wolf liked Roni too—particularly her vicious streak. Just like Marcus, he craved this dominant female to the extent that she was quickly becoming an obsession. Her indifferent, elusive air was a challenge that drew both man and wolf.
Ordinarily, Marcus would avoid pursuing a female so hard for fear that it would give them the impression he wanted more than casual sex. But he had no worry that Roni would become attached. She didn’t seem any better at emotional intimacy than he was. She wouldn’t be clingy or needy or play the kind of games he’d tired of long ago.
Considering he didn’t have the best reputation, he’d expected her Alpha female to warn him away from Roni. Shaya had seen the way he looked at her mate’s sister, knew exactly how much he wanted her. Although Shaya was a close friend of his, she was also very protective of Roni. But surprisingly enough, Shaya appeared to be trying to set them up. And Taryn appeared to be helping.
It was a good thing, really, since he doubted any warnings would have kept him away—particularly since an element of possessiveness had been there from the very beginning. The new feeling had come as a surprise, had even spooked Marcus slightly. But really, could he expect to be this determined to have someone and not be possessive on some level? Once the sexual tension was alleviated, he figured the possessiveness would surely fade.
Ignoring Roni’s cautioning look, he placed his hand on her lower back and guided her forward. “Sweetheart, you heard Grace; there’s a chance you could have a concussion. There’s nothing wrong with taking it easy and accepting a little help.” She sniffed haughtily at him. Not that he’d expect anything different from a dominant female shifter. Their independent streak was a mile long. Still, he forced a put-upon sigh just to needle her.
She dumped her lollipop stick in the trash can. “Did you know that a sigh actually acts as a physiological reset button?”
Marcus had noticed that Roni did that a lot—abruptly blurted out a completely useless fact. At first, he’d thought she did it in an awkward effort to be friendly and make conversation. But he’d quickly come to realize that she did it to make people go away. It worked. They immediately pegged her as someone weird and boring, or they would feel as uncomfortable as she did.
Marcus wasn’t going to fall for that. Besides, all that intelligence was kind of hot, especially when she slapped him down with it. “Really?” He fingered the ends of her long ash-blonde hair, admiring the natural, loose curls. “Your brain is like a sponge. I like that.”
Roni cast him an odd look. Why was he looking at her like she was . . . interesting? Roni wasn’t interesting. And now he was smiling at her again. Her wolf wanted to lick every inch of him, which was just downright annoying and pathetic. Okay, Roni could agree with the animal that this male who had fought at her side was strong, solid, and deliciously dominant. But allow Marcus to sense that? Not a chance.
She straightened her spine and gave him a dismissive wave of the hand. “Why don’t you go play with Betty Boop?”
“Betty Boop?” he chuckled. “If you’re talking about Zara—”
Oh, yeah, she was talking about Zara. Curvaceous, elegant, graceful, she was everything that Roni wasn’t.
“—that’s very much over.” There was only one female he wanted.
“Well, then . . . go play with the treat you’re presently sampling and—”
“You have the cutest nose.” He lightly tapped it with his finger.
Unbalanced by his unexpected compliment, Roni shrugged past him and marched off. And her nose was not cute. Marcus easily caught up to her and stayed at her side as they advanced through the network of tunnels that made up Phoenix Pack territory. The ancient cave dwelling had been modernized beautifully, and the Alpha female had long ago branded it “Bedrock.” For that reason, Taryn often referred to her mate as “Flintstone.”
Roni had only taken a single step into the crowded living area when suddenly a dainty body wrapped itself around her. Roni puffed various streaks of blonde hair out of her mouth.
“You stopped them from taking my son,” sniffled Taryn. “Thank you.” It was the third time she’d thanked her.
Trey stood behind Taryn. His arctic-blue eyes were wild, manic, and his large form was fairly vibrating with anger. “If you ever need anything—anything—it’s yours.” The rest of the Phoenix Pack nodded their agreement.
“We’re in your debt,” said Greta, though she didn’t look happy about it. In fact, her gaze narrowed dangerously as it took in how closely Marcus stood to Roni.
Trey’s somewhat neurotic grandmother was very possessive of “her boys”—those being Trey, Tao, Dante, and the four enforcers, Marcus, Trick, Ryan, and Dominic. As she was convinced that every unmated female was determined to claim one of them, she made a distinct effort to frighten them away. Of course it hadn’t worked with Taryn or the Beta female, Jaime, but Greta persisted in trying to make their lives difficult.
Not sure what to do with all the attention or the body still curled around her, Roni threw Marcus a pleading look.
Smiling, Marcus took pity on Roni, satisfied that she had looked to him for help. “Taryn, why don’t you find Roni a place to sit? She could have a concussion.”
“Of course.” Taryn led Roni over to the armchair on which Dominic sat. “Move it.”
“I’m hurt too, remember,” he griped. “None of you even praised me for intervening between two fighting wolves.”
Taryn rolled her eyes. “It’s not exactly uncommon for Trick and Ryan to get carried away when sparring. You only had a few bruises. Most of them had healed by the time you walked through the door.”