Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 109705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 549(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109705 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 549(@200wpm)___ 439(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
“Are you close to your sister?”
Pleased that she’d asked him a personal question, Marcus replied, “I’m pretty close to all three of them.” Going through a bad experience had a way of bonding people.
“So you have a close-knit family?” Her hackles raised when his smile faded and his body stiffened. All trace of his usual playfulness had gone. “Now that’s a story right there.”
“A twisted story, sweetheart. One you’d be better off not hearing.”
Okay, if he were going to repeatedly dodge her questions, it could get annoying. But, really, what right did she have to know his secrets? Plus, in all fairness, he’d never asked her a deeply personal question, never pushed her to confide in him about a wound that would clearly be painful to open.
The rest of the journey was spent in silence, but it wasn’t awkward or tense. The presence of the male beside her seemed to smooth over her ragged nerves. Though her attraction to Marcus made her edgy, the guy himself had a way of putting her at ease.
As they stopped at the border of Quinn McGee’s territory, Roni saw that it wasn’t much different from most wolf-shifter territories—lots of land with log cabins scattered all over it. Two enforcers escorted them to the center of the wide territory where they came to a large log cabin. In the living area, Quinn sat on a long sofa at the far end of the room with a platinum blonde and a dark-skinned female who bore a striking resemblance to the dark-skinned male standing beside the sofa.
Quinn got to his feet, smiling, as they came to a stop in front of the sofa. The smile was genuine . . . yet there was a nervous twitch to it. “Marcus, good to see you, it’s been a long time.”
“It has. This is Roni; she’s a Mercury Pack enforcer.”
Quinn nodded at them both, worry apparent on his face. He gestured to the blonde. “This is my mate, Lola. Beside her is one of my female enforcers, and over there is my Beta.”
The Beta’s eyes lingered on Roni in a way that Marcus did not like. He arched a brow at the male, who simply smiled unrepentantly. Obviously, he wanted his ass kicked.
Quinn returned to his seat and gestured to the sofa opposite him. Neither Marcus nor Roni sat, and the tension in the room rose. “Okay, what can I do for you?”
Marcus’s voice was quiet but grave. “You know why we’re here.”
An incline of the head. “You’re seeking those responsible for attempting to abduct your Alpha pair’s son, and the trail has led you here.”
“I want to keep this civil, Quinn. You want that too, I’m sure. After all, there’s really no need for this to get unfriendly. All you have to do is cooperate and answer our questions. Simple.”
Roni hadn’t heard Marcus use that tone before—it was dark, menacing, and held a promise of reprisal if he didn’t get exactly what he wanted. In fact, she’d never seen him look like that before either; there was such energy, intensity, and darkness there. It made Quinn straighten in his seat.
“We know that the Scorpio Pack was responsible,” continued Marcus. “We know you have an alliance with them, despite that they were blacklisted.”
Quinn shrugged, as if the matter was nothing. “Business is business. Whether or not they’re blacklisted is no concern of mine, providing they keep up their end of the bargain.”
“Where are they, Quinn?”
“If I tell you that, Trey will kill them.”
Well, duh. Roni leaned against Marcus slightly, speaking in a theatrical whisper. “I’m not comfortable around this wolf; he sees the future.”
In spite of everything, Marcus found himself amused. “What would you do in Trey’s position, Quinn?”
“I’m nothing if not loyal, and the Scorpio Pack is under my protection.”
“It won’t save them. They crossed a very big line, and there’s no going back from that. Choose a side, and choose wisely.”
Quinn sighed. “I haven’t seen or spoken to the jackals in over three months. I don’t know their exact location at this moment—”
“I call bullshit on that,” Roni said ever so pleasantly.
He growled, clearly offended. “You doubt my word?”
“You might not be interested in protecting their lives, but you’re interested in protecting your business—that means concealing them from us.”
“And that would be very bad, Quinn.” Marcus tilted his head. “Very bad and very stupid.”
“I joined your pack in a war. Trey’s son might never have been born without the backup you had that day.”
“You didn’t do that for my pack. You wanted a shot at Trey’s uncle, and he gave it to you.”
Quinn’s nostrils flared. “You’re asking me to condemn the jackals to death. This isn’t about me or them. This is about honor and—What’s she doing?” He glanced curiously at Roni.
Yes, what was Roni doing? Marcus frowned, watching as she slowly paced in a circle on the other side of the room.