There was a pause before she spoke. “Did you know that—”

“Roni.”

“Okay, okay. It’s just . . . I’m not good with feelings.” Maybe it was because she overthought things. Or maybe it was because she was more practical than emotional. “But I do know that I love you. No other reason would have made me go through with that nightmare.” His chuckle made her smile. “Sorry if you were hoping for some soppy words. I’m not expressive. At least not with words, anyway.” Fists, claws, teeth, and shears—that was how Roni got her emotions across.

Gently turning her onto her back, Marcus kissed her hard. “Thank you for telling me.”

“You were right. It’s senseless and unfair to hold back. Just . . . don’t be offended if I don’t say it a lot.”

“I’m not expecting you to change. I’d just like you to give me the words from time to time.”

“I can do that.” What she couldn’t do was work out what it would take for the mating bond to fully form. Considering Marcus’s twisted experiences with loving relationships and Roni’s difficulty in recognizing loving emotions, she would have thought coming to the realization of how they felt for each other—particularly since they had openly admitted it—would be enough. But no. And she didn’t understand why.

Marcus kissed her again, taking his time exploring her mouth. She squirmed and then winced. “Sore?”

“A little.” She frowned at him. “You’re more smug than concerned.”

“I kind of like the idea that every time you move today, you’ll remember how it felt when I took your ass.” She just sniffed. Noticing a piece of rope still hanging from the headboard, he gave her a faint smile. “I have a question. Why didn’t you just yell at me?”

She shrugged one shoulder. “Arguing is a waste of time and energy.”

“We’ll never really have super big arguments, will we,” he then understood. Neither of them liked rowing or drama, and they both preferred action to words. Besides, Roni rarely allowed herself to get angry enough to engage in conflict. But when she was angry, she would never let him get away with any stunt he pulled. She would never take his shit. No. His vengeful little wolf would always dish it back, but in her own special way. Like tying him up and sexually torturing him, for instance.

“I doubt it.” Hearing his stomach grumble, she rolled her eyes.

“Hey, I’m a growing boy.”

“Fine. Let’s go eat. I’d like to see my brothers anyway.”

“What are you going to do?” He couldn’t help smirking. Roni’s brand of vengeance was always entertaining.

“Oh, I’ve already had my revenge, silly.” She’d taken care of that while Marcus had been in dreamland. “I just want to see the damage for myself.”

“What did you do?”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Oh, his mate was cold.

Marcus smiled at the human sitting beside Shaya on the porch swing. “Hey, Stone.” Though Shaya’s father was tall and burly, he reminded Marcus a lot of Jack Nicholson—a slow-dawning Cheshire Cat smile, a gravelly drawl, and an easy, confident posture. A person only had to take one look at Stone Critchley’s neat, smart appearance to know that he valued precision and control.

“Marcus, good to see you.” Standing, Stone clasped his hand. “Always a pleasure to see you, Roni. I hear that you’ve mated. Congratulations. It’s good to see a couple that actually suit.”

Shaya winced at the sharp dig, though she looked amused. “Dad . . .”

Tone indulgent, he asked, “Yes, baby girl?” She just shook her head.

Nick, from where he was leaning against the wall, scowled at Roni. “You invited him, didn’t you?”

Roni shrugged innocently. In the beginning, she hadn’t been too sure about Stone, since he hadn’t been very pleasant to Nick. But then Roni had come to learn a few things about Stone: One, he absolutely adored his daughter, and Roni could like anyone who loved Shaya. Two, he was a tough motherfucker with the soul of a predator, and Roni could respect that. Three, he actually liked Nick . . . he just also liked fucking with him.

Basically, Stone’s problem was that Nick hadn’t immediately claimed Shaya. And Nick’s problem was that Stone was . . . well, Stone. The human was an alpha in his own way, and he liked to think of himself as the “main man” in Shaya’s life. Of course, Nick was very much opposed to that idea, so he didn’t like Stone being around. But since Nick always found the time to irritate her, Roni wasn’t above getting a little payback. Pranks didn’t work on Nick, but a condescending father-in-law who believed himself to be the most important figure in Shaya’s life and persisted in calling Nick “kid”? He certainly pushed Nick’s Alpha buttons.

In response to Nick’s question, she replied, “I thought it would be good if Shaya had someone tough with her when we invaded the site. If Brunt gets out on bail later and gives us the info we need, we could actually need to leave tonight.”

“You thought I planned to leave her unprotected?”

“No, but I figured it would be nice for her to have her dad around anyway, so I thought Stone could stay for a few days.”

“A few days?”

Stone sank into the porch swing, arms draping over the back. “You don’t mind, do you, kid?”

“Of course not,” Nick replied through his teeth. His eyes flared with the promise of retribution as they settled on Roni.

Sliding his hand around to rest in the crook of Roni’s neck so he could massage her nape with his thumb, Marcus asked Stone, “How’s your mate?”

“Dying. That was her diagnosis this morning, anyhow.”

Shaya rolled her eyes, groaning. Gabrielle Critchley was quite the hypochondriac.

“She also informed me that she doesn’t want a big funeral. She’s picked out a dress, wrote down what flowers she wants, and even made a CD of the music she’d like to have playing.” He shrugged. “She’s nothing if not organized. So, Marcus, I hear my daughter’s mate put up a bit of resistance when you pursued Roni.”

“Just a little,” said Marcus.

“But you didn’t let it stop you, I see.”

“Not once I’d made up my mind to have her.”