Sage swallowed thickly before ducking her head and closing the distance between them. “Your territory?”
She always thought of the details. Jono appreciated her tenacity, but he wasn’t going to stick around to have another row about where they stood amongst the rest of the packs. Jono wrapped his arm around her shoulders and guided Sage toward the stairs, aware of all the eyes on him.
“They know my territory” was all Jono said.
The flat he shared with Patrick was an island of safety in a sea of threats Jono refused to back down from. If the New York City god pack wanted to take it from him, they were more than welcome to try.
Jono would murder them all and leave them to rot.
10
“What.Happened?”were the first words out of Marek’s mouth when they arrived at his flat.
Jono shook off the faint buzz of the silence ward as they crossed the threshold. Sage didn’t leave Jono’s side, staring hollow-eyed at Marek. “The god pack alphas exiled me for going into vampire territory.”
Marek’s expression could only be described asguttedas he stumbled their way. The sound that left his mouth would’ve been more appropriate on a dying man’s lips. Jono hastily held up a hand and nudged Sage forward. “She’s not exiled anymore. I claimed her for my pack.”
“You—what?” Marek got out in a strangled voice even as he pulled Sage into his arms and hugged her for all he was worth.
“Who ruined your shirt?” Patrick asked from his spot on the sofa. The question was innocuous enough, but the scowl on his face belied his desire for revenge. Jono really shouldn’t have found Patrick’s tendency toward violence hot, but he did.
“Nicholas. I put him down and made him show throat,” Jono said. “Where’s Wade?”
“In the kitchen eating snacks and stealing knives.”
“I am not!” came Wade’s muffled shout from the walk-in pantry near the refrigerator.
Patrick rolled his eyes as he got to his feet. “Kid isn’t allowed to keep a hoard of knives, is all I’m saying.”
Jono gripped the hem of his ruined T-shirt and tugged it off. Cool hands touched his rib cage where the wound Nicholas had given him no longer existed. Patrick carefully scraped off some of the dried blood, safe from infection of the werevirus by virtue of his magic.
“I should’ve gone with you,” Patrick said as he flattened his hand over Jono’s side.
Jono placed his own hand over Patrick’s and shook his head. “I needed to do this.”
“What? Announce our pack in the most dramatic way possible?”
“I couldn’t let them exile Sage.”
“I know. Fucking bleeding heart syndrome.” Patrick tugged Jono down for a quick, hard kiss, taking the sting out of his words. “What about Emma and Leon?”
“We had to leave them behind.”
“They aren’t exiled,” Sage said. Jono glanced over at her, seeing that she hadn’t escaped Marek’s arms yet. “I argued they had the right to remain. Estelle couldn’t exile them within the bounds of pack law. She tried, but I managed one win at least.”
“You’re still staying here, with me,” Marek insisted.
Sage met Jono’s gaze and didn’t say anything. Jono realized with sudden clarity that if he told her she couldn’t live here anymore, then Sage would move out without argument—because he was her alpha. What’s more, he was god pack, and what laws he made going forward would affect her more than Patrick.
As a magic user, Patrick wasn’t privy to the ebbs and flows of scent and the way werecreatures formed packs. He could walk away, but Sage didn’t have that option.
Jono ran a hand over his face. “This is your home, Sage. I’d never tell you to leave it.”
“I know,” she said quietly. “Because you’re better than they are.”
“Not a high bar to clear.”
“Shut up and take the compliment, Jono,” Marek told him. “If you’re hungry, there might be some leftovers in the fridge if Wade hasn’t eaten his way through them.”
