“Where are you going?” Knox said. “Aren’t you supposed to stay here?”
“Yes.” Concern rode Drew’s deep baritone. “She is.”
I exhaled slowly, then set my bag down and headed for the kitchen. “I told the council I’d protect her, and I can’t do that if she’s not with me,” I said from the doorway.
“Are you sure about that, Titus?” Drew asked, and his concern raised the hairs on the nape of my neck. It was only natural that he would challenge me, considering his battlefield promotion to Alpha.
And it was only natural that his challenge would irritate me.
“I’m sure.” Even though Robyn had to talk me into it.
“I hate to question your judgment, man. Especially in your own house. But you gave your word as Alpha of this Pride,” Drew said, and the collective focus of the enforcers volleyed back to him, as the level of tension in the room rose. “Shouldn’t that promise be transferred along with the position?”
“No.” I didn’t bother to elaborate, because outlining my reasons would make it look like I felt the need to justify my position. Or that the matter was up for debate. Neither of which was true. “Robyn, say goodbye. We’re leaving.”
Drew opened his mouth, obviously ready to argue, but Robyn pulled him into a hug before he could. “It was great to meet you, and hopefully I’ll see you again before they drag me back to Atlanta.” She let Drew go and looked up at him with gratitude so earnest it could only be an act. A manipulation. “It’s so awesome of you to step up to help Titus. Hopefully, he won’t have to impose upon your generosity for very long.”
Drew stared at her, stunned by her blatant characterization of his tenure as temporary. In front of all of the enforcers.
I fought not to laugh out loud. Robyn might be smaller than the toms, but that woman’s mind wasbadassin a way that no enforcer’s claws or incisors would ever be.
She went around the room, hugging my men, saying something nice and personal to each of them, but when she got to Brandt, her hug lasted longer than it should have. Because she was whispering something in his ear.
When she finally let him go, his gaze fell on me, and he appeared—if not friendly—a little less hateful than he’d looked half an hour ago, in my study.
“What did you say to Brandt?” I whispered as I grabbed my suitcase on our way toward the front door.
“I told him that sometimes you have to trust the people you know and love, despite what logic seems to be telling you. After all, logic tells us that humans can’t turn into cats, but we all know that’s not true.”
“Wow.” I tried not to look too impressed. “Thanks, Robyn.”
She smiled as she pulled open the passenger door of my car, and a single raindrop hit the tip of her nose. “Does that mean I can ride up front? Or do I have to hide under your clothes all the way to Jackson?”
THIRTEEN
Robyn
Titus drove us south toward Jackson, in the dark and the rain, and we arrived at the Millsaps campus around ten o’clock. But the car didn’t stop.
“Where are we going?” I asked as we rolled past the campus’s concrete-and-brick welcome sign.
“My brother has an apartment off-campus. I figured we’d start there.”
Justus Alexander’s apartment turned out to be a thirteen-hundred-square-foot space with two large bedrooms, two baths, hardwood floors, and walk-in closets. I’d seen smaller houses.
“I’m guessing your brother got an inheritance as well?” I said as I ran my fingers across the granite countertops in the generous galley-style kitchen.
“Yes, but he won’t get the first lump sum until he turns twenty-five. I pay for the apartment. Which is why I have my own room, for when I visit.” Titus pushed open the door to the back bedroom and flipped a switch to turn on the light. “But I’ll take the couch tonight. You can have the bed.”
“Thanks,” I said. But I personally thought the overstuffed couch piled with designer pillows looked pretty damn comfortable—until I stepped into Titus’s room-away-from-home.
The bed was smaller—full-sized instead of king—but the mattress was tall enough that it had to be padded and the bedding looked plush and soft. And it smelled like him.
The sudden, visceral need to roll around on Titus’s comforter took me by surprise so strongly that I’d taken two steps toward the bed before I realized what I was doing. Mortified, I stopped, pivoted, then marched past him and out of the room, my cheeks flaming at the puzzled look he gave me.
And I certainly didnotinhale his scent as I passed him on my way out the door.
The living room was freshly swept and smelled clean. The kitchen was spotless, and I didn’t see even a hint of dust buildup on the full-sized washer and dryer peeking from behind a set of bi-fold doors off the living room. “Your brother’s even more of a neat freak than you are.”
