“I understand that being an enforcer means doing what you have to do to protect your Alphas and your pack. I get that. But you’re mated now, which means they have to come second. That’s how it works.”

The hurt in his voice made her frown. “I wasn’t putting you second. But Shaya . . . It wasn’t about protecting my Alpha female, it was about protecting my pregnant sister-in-law and my niece or nephew. Shaya’s one of the very few people I care about. Besides, I knew you’d come. I was one hundred percent confident in you.”

Feeling her sincerity through the bond, he relaxed ever so slightly. His wolf curled back his upper lip, nowhere near placated. “Never again.” His hand slipped down to collar her neck. “I need you, sweetheart. Do you understand me? There’s no point in anything if I don’t have you.”

She rubbed her nose against his, the way he often did to her. “Never again.” His relief ran down the mating link. “Our bond’s fully formed now. When did that happen?”

“When I was resuscitating you.” He rested his forehead against hers. “I didn’t realize I was holding back. It wasn’t intentional.”

“I know.”

“I was scared of needing anyone, scared of having anyone need me.”

“I get it.”

“No, you don’t. You have no concept of how much I need you. It scares me.”

“Same here.” Needing someone went against every instinct she had developed, but Marcus was essential to her.

“Then don’t ever endanger your life like that again. You keep this ass safe for me.” He palmed it and gave it a light squeeze. “Okay?”

“Okay.” His mouth came down on hers, licking, nipping, and biting. Pulling back, he gave her one of those sensual smiles that did very interesting things to her body.

“I love you, Roni Axton.”

“And I love you, Marcus Fuller.” Watching as a familiar pained expression suddenly formed on his face, she said, “Seriously? Despite almost dying, you’re hungry?”

“I don’t know how to answer that question without irritating you.” His mate just rolled her eyes, making him smile again.

CHAPTER TWENTY

ONE MONTH LATER

Why do you hate me?” griped Marcus.

Roni barely resisted the urge to whack her mate over the head. “I just want a little taste.”

“So get your own.”

“You took the last slice.”

“There are other cakes.”

“But I don’t like them. I like chocolate cake.” When he just stared at her wearing a sulky expression, she sighed. “Let me put this another way. Do you enjoy sex?”

“Yes.”

“Then you’ll share with me, and you’ll like it.” She stabbed her spoon into the sponge cake and scooped out a piece.

If she’d been anyone else, he’d have gone for her throat. Hearing laughter, Marcus looked up as the newly mated Caleb and Kent dragged Gabe and Hope onto the makeshift dance floor where many were already dancing. Actually, Marcus wasn’t sure that what Rhett was doing could be described as dancing—he looked like he needed medical attention, which was most likely why all the enforcers stood to the side, watching in a kind of horrified fascination.

“I hadn’t expected Caleb and Kent to imprint.” Tonight was the couple’s mating ceremony, and all the Phoenix wolves had come to join the celebration, since Caleb was a childhood friend of Taryn’s.

Following his gaze, Roni nodded. “They look happy.” They were also trying to drag Ryan onto the dance floor. He stared at them until they stopped, which had all the other enforcers laughing. She had to admit that his stare was unsettling, but she happened to like the broody male and found him easy to be around. He spoke when he had something to say, which meant there was no small talk. He was very action-orientated and unafraid to get his hands dirty, which she could relate to.

Sliding his arm around her waist, Marcus pulled Roni close. “This makes me think of our mating ceremony. How beautiful you looked.” He couldn’t help frowning when she ate another spoonful of his cake. “And how you tortured me the next morning.”

“You deserved it.” Still, she pressed a kiss to his throat—right by a scar he’d gotten from the fight with the jackals. The day after the attack, the Phoenix and Mercury enforcers had driven to the kill site and destroyed everything—cameras, videos, photographs, and motor homes. One particular area of the site was piled with bodies, most of which had been set alight.

They found the laptop computer, which the enforcers brought to Rhett. He then downloaded the membership list and all the e-mails exchanged between Lyle and the council member who had occasionally hired him. Only then had he crashed the website.

After that, they had given both the laptop and Eliza’s body to the rest of the council members, leaving them to deal with the issue—but first making sure they had copies of everything, letting the council know they would deal with the ugly matter themselves if they decided to “overlook” it.

As for the matter of Nolan Richards, the bastard responsible for uploading the vid of Roni’s attack . . . she had done her best to track him down, only to find that he was already dead. Suspecting Marcus, Nick, or Eli had something to do with that, she had confronted them. They had all answered her questions with “No comment”—which meant all three of them had to be responsible.

She’d been pissed that they had robbed her of her revenge by dealing with the matter themselves, but she couldn’t really expect different behavior from three extremely dominant, overprotective male shifters. They would be offended and enraged on her behalf, and would have seen such a move as taking care of her.

“Ro!”

Peering down, Roni found Kye chewing on his thumb. “Hey there, little man. Melted anymore hearts today?”

He held up his arms, clenching and unclenching his little fists. “Up!”

Roni picked him up and perched him on her hip. He pointed at Marcus’s cake and began smacking his lips together. “Want some?” Scooping a little chocolate sauce on her spoon, she fed it to him—ignoring Marcus’s grumbling. Adding to her mate’s torture, she then fed herself a little more of the cake.

With Dante at her side, Jaime came over, cradling a baby girl in her arms—Roni’s niece. “Wow, you’re getting Marcus to share. It really must be love.”