Marcus returned to his seat and took Roni’s hand. “This is Deana and Trish—my other sisters. Girls, this is Roni.”

Deana gasped and put a hand over her heart. “You’ve brought a girl. I’m so proud.”

Trish nodded. “Never thought I’d see the day.” Then all three sisters grabbed chairs and gathered around them. Worse, they started launching questions at Roni.

“So, Roni, are you a Phoenix wolf too?”

“Do you have a role within the pack?”

“How old are you?”

“How long have you been dating Marcus?”

“Where did you get that T-shirt? I love it.”

“What’s your last name?”

“Can you cook? Because Marcus needs constant feeding.”

“Are you open to imprinting?”

Overwhelmed and out of her element, Roni did what she always did when that happened. She cocked her head. “Did you know that—?”

“Roni.” It was supposed to be an admonishment, but he knew it was filled with too much amusement and affection to be even close to stern. Of course she was the personification of innocence when she looked at him.

“What? What did I say?”

Marcus just shook his head. Then out came a lollipop. Typical. It made him realize how long it had been since she’d pulled the lollipop or useless fact stunt on him. That sure made him smug. He turned to his sisters. “Her name is Roni Axton. She’s not from my pack, she’s from the Mercury Pack. She’s an enforcer. Now could you stop interrogating her?”

“I’m sorry, Roni,” said Teagan. “It’s just that he’s never brought a female to meet us before.” At that moment, some customers arrived.

“We’ll be back in a few minutes.” Deana and Trish scuttled off to take their orders.

At the same time, Teagan jumped up from her seat. “Time to feed you. Marcus, I take it you want the usual?” He nodded. “Roni, what will you have?” Teagan wrote down her order and then disappeared.

“I’ll bet it works out nicely for you that your sisters work in a diner. Lots of free food.”

Chuckling, Marcus threaded his fingers through hers and nuzzled her neck. “The diner’s theirs. Although they live in different packs, they run the business together. And I do admit to taking advantage of the free food.” Seeing his sisters exchanging knowing smiles, he said, “They like you.” That was important to him, because it was mostly his sisters who had raised him.

“They don’t know me. And if they did, they definitely wouldn’t like me.”

“You make me happy. They see that. Therefore, they like you.”

As she was used to making people feel either uncomfortable or annoyed, she couldn’t help frowning doubtfully. “Happy?” His sensual smile made her stomach clench.

“You’re hot. Smart. Competent. Funny. Fierce. Lethal. And you rock in bed. Why wouldn’t you make me happy?”

That statement had been delivered in such a smooth, languid voice that her wolf growled, as if he’d stroked her. “I never stood a chance, did I?”

“Of what?”

“Holding out against you.”

He laughed, pleased. “Nope. I was too determined to have you.” And he had every intention of keeping her. She’d never believe it, but Roni Axton was an easy person to care for. Cuddly and fuzzy? No. Outgoing and friendly? No. Polite and open? No. But she wasn’t hard or cold, wasn’t unkind or selfish, wasn’t hateful or vile.

He’d come to learn what Shaya had meant when she said that Roni had a real depth of emotion. She cared deeply and in an almost pure way. And she expressed it in the simplest of ways, like keeping Shaya stocked up on her favorite donuts, like giving her undivided attention to Kye, like letting Marcus share her cake. Those acts might seem like nothing to others, but coming from someone like Roni, who had trouble verbally expressing what she felt, they meant something.

She endeared him with her many quirks. The lollipops, the useless facts, the antisocial T-shirts . . . Maybe another person wouldn’t have found it all adorable, but he did. He’d never known anyone to smile so little, which was why it was so satisfying and rewarding when he earned one from her.

She amused him constantly, particularly when people fruitlessly tried to rile her. She rarely cared enough about people’s opinions to actually participate in conflict, so she’d simply ignore them, tell them to go away, or hit them with a useless fact that would shut them up. And when she did participate in conflict, she was so damn vicious it made him hard every time.

Hearing her phone ring, Roni groaned. “My mother.”

“You’re not going to answer it, then?”

“It will just be another lecture about how I’m betraying my intended mate by being with you. Then, of course, she’ll top it off with some insults to remind me I’m not the little girl she wanted. I’ll pass.”

He kissed the palm of her hand. “She does love you. She just doesn’t understand you.”

“And you think you do, don’t you?”

“I know I do. Just like you understand me.” She saw past the charm to the person beneath when few others did; she saw the parts of him that weren’t so smooth, but she was there with him anyway. “Don’t let it worry you, Roni. Isn’t it good to be really known by at least one person?”

Oddly, it did feel good. For as long as she could remember, she’d felt like she didn’t fit. People didn’t always like “different,” and Roni was different in many ways. She flitted around, bonding with very few people. But with Marcus . . . it was like he gave her somewhere to fit, if that even made any sense. Still . . . “Trick knows you better.” That bothered her, though it was probably stupid.

He nipped her bottom lip and then licked it soothingly. “No, he doesn’t. Not because he doesn’t know me well—he does. But you see more.” And she expected him to be more than a pretty face. He liked that.

“Oh my God, Marcus, what are you doing here?” An Amazon practically flew toward them, her face a picture of total delight. “How are you? I haven’t seen you since—” She stopped dead, right smack in the middle of the diner, upon spotting Roni. Her eyes widened, her face paled, and her jaw dropped.

“What’s her problem?” Roni couldn’t work out whether the female was shocked or horrified. Maybe a little of both. She was pretty sure she didn’t know the Amazon, but the woman sure seemed to think she knew Roni.