The sound of a car door slamming shut had his father and Kerrie looking at the Toyota. Marcus could feel Roni’s annoyance. Not only that, he could feel her wolf’s annoyance.
Roni came to stand at his side. “Everything all right, Marcus?”
“That’s her, Jonas!” exclaimed Kerrie, pointing. “That’s the one who won’t clear the path for his mate!”
Jonas sneered at Roni. “So not only are you willing to forsake your own mate, you’re willing to make Marcus forsake his?”
She cocked her head. “I could almost believe you care.”
He reared back. “Of course I care! He’s my son!”
“You care? Really? So what did you do when his mother rejected him and pushed him away? What did you do to make him feel safe and happy at home? Oh, yeah, nothing.”
Marcus watched as his father clenched his fists. The old man had never liked being questioned or criticized.
“He didn’t have a real mother—she was a selfish child who only saw her own needs,” continued Roni. “Did you give him affection and the assurance that he was loved to make up for that? No, you were hard with him. You forced him to lie for her and for you; you made him feel alone. He grew up feeling guilty because he couldn’t save her, couldn’t make her happy.”
Jonas growled. “That’s not—”
“Together, you both made him believe he wasn’t loveable, worthy, or accepted—that he wasn’t important to either of you. In doing that, you made him live a life where he didn’t give enough of himself to let people see the real him, because to do that would be to give them a chance to reject him. Instead, he rejected them first. So you tell me how, exactly, you ‘care,’ because I just can’t see it.”
Marcus curled his arm around her, and whispered in her ear, “Shh, it’s okay, sweetheart.” Hearing her defend him like that put a lump in his throat.
“Marcus, you can’t possibly want her!” whined Kerrie. “She’s plain and boyish and foulmouthed and selfish!”
Roni waved a hand, finding the woman nothing but pitiful at that moment. “Really, Kerrie, there’s no need to put me on a pedestal.”
The Seer actually stamped her foot. “If you really cared about him, you wouldn’t ruin his life this way.”
“It both astonishes and irritates me that you think your opinion matters.”
“There, son,” began Jonas, “she doesn’t even care enough to stand aside for your mate!”
“She is my mate.” He looked at Kerrie then. “But you know that, don’t you? You had a vision of me with Roni. You lied in the hope that I wouldn’t recognize her.”
“No!” Kerrie shook her head madly. “Marcus, I would never do something like that. You have to believe me.”
“I don’t believe you. Roni and I have mated—it’s done.”
“You’re true mates?” said Jonas, losing his bluster.
“Yes. And it wasn’t until I mated with Roni that I realized something—joining with your mate makes you whole. They suit you on every level, make everything right and balanced. So Mom had to suit you then, didn’t she? In a sense, you’re just the same as her—you want to suffer. It’s the whole martyr complex, isn’t it?” Jonas said nothing. Kerrie, on the other hand . . .
“You can’t possibly believe she’s your true mate! She tricked you or something, she—”
Roni growled. “Kerrie, you need to shut the fuck up or I will make you.” The female gulped.
“Are you done?” Marcus asked his dad.
Jonas straightened his shoulders, his expression softening. “So . . . you’re happy?”
“I am. Roni makes me happy. But you sure never cared if I was happy before, so why now?”
“He wants something,” Roni suspected.
“I wanted to find out if we could bury the hatchet, so to speak.” As if the whole thing had been a minor argument.
“Why would you want to?” asked Marcus, because there was always a reason when it came to Jonas Fuller.
“Your mother . . . she misses you. We both regret that we didn’t leave with you when Trey was banished from our old pack. We’ve often wondered if things could have been much better if we hadn’t parted ways. You’re our son—we love you, we’re proud of you, and we want to be part of your life. Especially now that you’ve mated. It can only be good for both of you to have additional people around you, supporting you.”
“You want to switch to the Phoenix Pack,” guessed Roni. She’d seen this with Eliza and Janice—the emotional manipulation, the flattery, and the implication that they could be useful.
Marcus narrowed his eyes at Jonas. “Roni’s right, isn’t she?”
“If it would help reunite the family, your mother and I would consider it.” Like he’d be doing Marcus a favor.
“Outstayed her welcome, has she?” Marcus smiled, but there was no warmth in it. “Did someone find out what she’s been doing to herself?”
“No, she misses you. We both do. You’re our son.”
Marcus was quiet for a moment as he stared at the hard man in front of him. “I don’t wish you unhappiness. I don’t hate you. You see, I don’t care at all—and you did that. I watched the shit that goes on between you and Mom when I was growing up because I had no choice. Now I do. And I won’t expose Roni to it. I won’t expose myself to it.” He kissed Roni’s hair. “Come on, sweetheart.”
Allowing Marcus to lead her back to the Toyota, she glanced over her shoulder at Kerrie. “You—if you come near us again, I’ll make you choke on your own ovaries. And I’ll enjoy it. What’s more, I’ll make you enjoy it. Just sayin’.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Roni could describe the mating ceremony with three words: Awkward. As. Shit.