“Of course. Taryn and Jaime will help me anyway.”
Marcus squeezed Roni’s hip. “Okay then, Saturday it is.”
“Great!” Then Shaya was crying again. “They’re good tears.”
“I’ve just had a thought.” Jesse leaned forward. “Where are you guys going to live?”
“One of you will have to switch packs,” said Zander.
“I’m not,” both Roni and Marcus said in unison. Wincing, they turned to face each other.
“This is probably something we need to discuss in private,” suggested Marcus.
“You can’t leave me, Roni,” whined Shaya. “I’ll be the only female.”
Kathy arched a brow. “What am I, chopped liver?”
“And what about me?” moaned Janice.
“You’ve got me, Shaya,” said Eliza.
Shaya rolled her eyes. “Kathy, I think of you as more of a force of nature than a person. Janice, I don’t like you, and I’ll never like you. Eliza, you have no chance in hell of transferring to this pack, so crawl back out of my ass.” Sweet though Shaya was, she could be pretty outspoken at times.
An outraged Janice marched out of the lodge, and a concerned Kathy trailed after her.
“What if Jesse and I imprint?” Eliza’s glare switched to Jesse when he snorted. Chin up high, she huffed. “Fine. I don’t believe in staying where I’m not welcome.” She jumped up so abruptly that she tipped over the satchel by her foot. A case file slid out, and papers spilled along the floor. Cursing, Eliza bent down and began gathering the sheets together—snarling at Jesse when he tried to help. Just as she went to grab a particular sheet, Marcus picked it up and studied it closely.
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.