Joanna could face her sister. And by the end, she’d have Latoya begging to help us. I was as sure of that as the air in my lungs.
“Because even when I feel like a monster, you give me courage to want to be a man.”
Chapter Nine
Joanna
Marcus Blackwood was an infuriating asshole. He was a sexy, stupid, intoxicating piece of shit whose words of encouragement always stole my breath and made me feel things I never wanted to feel.
But right now, all I felt was mortifying fragility.
Some random werewolf had been intimate with him, and it hurt. Besides the urge to puke, I had to fight back tears. Fuckingtears.
Ending things with Malik didn’t sting as badly, and I thought I was in love with Malik.
What the hell did that mean?
I ignored Marcus for most of the ride to the compound, still high from the warmth of his embrace. It would’ve been so easy to stab him in the thigh while he was consoling me at the loft, but no. I couldn’t stop spiraling about my sister long enough to even think about clutching the handle of my blade. My palms were already burning from their assault from my fists.
Maya was waiting for us outside when we pulled up in Marcus’s Hummer. “Joey,” she greeted as I exited the vehicle.The werewolf’s concerned gaze rose above my shoulder to where Marcus stood behind me. “Alpha, are you okay? How was your…” She hesitated as if trying to find the right words. “Your evening?”
“Uneventful,” Marcus snapped.
Maya slumped her shoulders. “I see,” she mumbled, as if his answer disappointed her.
“Don’t do that,” he warned as he approached her.
Her body stilled, like Marcus had used his alpha command—which he’d never do for such a harmless question.
“Has everyone heard about the club?”
Maya answered her alpha with a nod, her body loosening. “I’ve assured the pack that you’re okay, but the news rattled a few of them since so many of us used to party there.”
It was hard to imagine Maya at Club Luna. She was so serious all the time, I found it difficult to envision her losing control on the dance floor. Like Marcus, I assumed she was no more than a decade older than me, but her beautiful face told a tale of duty and stress.
Her eyes narrowed as if she felt me staring at her, but then she turned to Marcus. “Your text said the Bureau knows about the warehouse battle. So, they consider us allies?”
Marcus glanced at me and frowned, jamming his hands into his pockets. “As long as their canary trusts us.”
I nudged a lone dandelion with my foot. “They’ve promised to protect the pack from rogues and help y’all if you face another mutiny,” I assured Maya after a roll of my eyes.
“Well… that’s good news,” Maya said slowly, her voice disbelieving.
Marcus snickered as he brushed past her. “Right now, Latoya is our best bet for answers about the uprising,” he admitted.
He’d explained to me earlier how the other rogues maintained their silence and how they were too dangerous to be kept alive. I was too distracted to criticize him before, but I’d tear into him later for making the half-assed decision to kill them all without me.
The Alpha and Gamma continued their conversation, and the hunter in me charged forward with them. But the sister in me wanted to be swept away by the cool breeze tickling the hair on her arms.
I kept my eyes down, refusing to look at the old buildings, yet I still felt their mockery looming over me. They were derelict on the outside but whole on the inside. Meanwhile, for the last few days, I’d felt like a shell of a hunter. Waiting to implode. I even made Marcus wait in the car this morning so I could puke my nerves away.
Maya stopped mid-stride, and I almost crashed into her. I caught myself and would’ve complained, but her question to Marcus made me realize how far I’d zoned out. “So, you do want me with you?”
Marcus shook his head. “Ineedyou down there, Maya.” He didn’t stop walking, but when he spoke again, his voice was dangerously low—almost too low for me to hear. “You’re the only one who’ll be able to stop me from killing her.”
We’d reached an unfamiliar entrance to the tunnels. Vines snaked their way up the stone walls. Stairs descended into silent blackness.
Marcus turned to me and held out his hand.
