“Joanna,” I pleaded, massaging my temples, “I’m fighting a fucking hangover. Please just tell me what the hell you’re bitching about.”
Maybe I shouldn’t have challenged her while she was eating, considering she choked on the food in her mouth. Reflex had me by her side in seconds, holding the mug of cold coffee to her lips. She snatched the mug out of my hand and drank.
At least she wasn’t stubborn enough to die to spite me.
She slammed the mug onto the island. “Why weren’t you inside the club when the bombs went off, Marcus?”
Fuck.
Joanna acknowledged my silence with a nod. “Cool,” she said. “Let’s finish eating so I can send your nasty ass back where you belong.” She picked up my plate from beside hers on her left and shoved it in front of me.
“Joanna—”
“I suppose nothing happened this time too, huh?” she demanded.
How was I going to explain this? My claws threatened to extend as I gripped the back of her stool. “It’s not what…” The words caught in my throat. What did it matter? “Are you jealous?” I asked instead.
Joanna set her fork down and looked up from her plate. “That you had sex with someone else last night, Marcus?” Her voice was deceptively calm. “Jealousy is the last thing you need to worry about from me, trust and believe.”
“I told you we shouldn’t have—I knew you would get like this.”
Why did I say that?
Joanna launched off the stool, pinning her fists at her side. “We aren’t a couple; I’m not stupid.” The words stung more than if she’d struck me. “I have no right to you or your dick. Sleep with whomever you want. But don’t do it and then come running to me.”
“Joanna—”
“So, I’ll ask you—get like what, Marcus? Get upset that you used me? Get sick to my stomach that I was your sloppy seconds?”
My wolf whimpered at the rising scent of salt from Joanna’s eyes. We wanted to lick the tears away if she dared to let them fall. My pulse quickened. I should’ve let her stay angry. It would’ve made it so much easier to quit her. Because she was quicksand. The more I fought, the deeper I seemed to fall.
I released an exasperated sigh, rubbing the back of my neck until it burned. “She only sucked me off,” I admitted. “And I understand that doesn’t make the situation any better, but you need to know. I would never have allowed last night to go as far as it did between us if my cock had been anywhere other than her mouth, I swear.”
I may have wanted to ignore the bond, but hurting Joanna was something I never intended to do.
“And I thought I explained this before, but you are both the reason I wanted to and could not fuck that girl the night we first slept together.” I rolled my shoulders, fighting to keep the space between us. “You took an oath with my pack, but it’s my blood that binds you, Joanna. Draw from the pact, and you’ll feel that I’m telling you the truth.”
We finished our breakfast in silence, leaving me to assume Joanna at leastwantedto believe me. She didn’t protest when I insisted on washing the dishes while she got dressed. I watched her out of the corner of my eye and fought down the persistent smile that appeared on my face with each of her furtive glances my way.
I threw on my clothes while I stood in front the dryer before walking toward the nightstand where I’d left my phone and key fob. I sat on the bed about to read my missed text messages from Maya but froze at the sound of an opening door.
Joanna stood in front of the partition, which I now noticed hung from the ceiling by heavy chains on a track. Last night, the floating wall was irrelevant; now, it screamed for attention.
The wall opened to reveal a secret display of weapons. Knives, guns, arrows—all contained some sort of silver in their making. Joanna grabbed a knife from a rack and sheathed it on her thigh. Then she grabbed a pistol, checking its magazine before shoving it in the holster on her hip.
She closed the door and tugged the brim of her black cap lower. “I guess I can’t avoid Latoya anymore,” she whispered, her back still toward me. “Thank you, by the way… for catching that Hill didn’t know about her.”
I rose from the bed, shoving my phone into my back pocket. “She needs to confess before more people get hurt.”
Joanna’s head moved with a hesitant nod. “I might not see my sister when I look at her.” Her voice trembled, and she cleared her throat. “What if she’s a fucking monster and doesn’t want to help us?”
I didn’t wait to test whether Joanna would push me away. I wrapped my arms around her from behind and pulled her closer to my chest.
“You can do this,” I assured her, hoping she could feel how much I meant it.
Her body tensed against mine, and her hands had balled into fists at her sides. “You barely know me, Blackwood.” Her words shouldn’t have burned the way they did.
I closed my eyes and ignored the heaviness of my body. “And yet… I still know.”
