“Oh, so you remember.” Malik played with his knife, spinning and flipping it with his fingers. “Let’s hope yourmasterremembers, too.”
My jaw dropped, and embarrassment amplified the hammering of my heart in my ears. “Malik, what the fuck?” I held a hand up to apologize to Jerome when the werewolf chuckled.
“Both Marcus and Maya warned me about him. It’s fine, Joey.” Jerome recrossed his arms, his eyes growing dark. “Some men take a bit longer to mature than others.”
Malik and Jerome said nothing to each other as we waited, but the hostility shared between them could be felt in a vacuum.
I rubbed my hands against my jeans, wondering how long the Alpha and his gamma would take to retrieve my sister. My body shivered at the thought, and I played with the ends of my ponytail while I shamelessly came up with a way to distract myself.
“What’s… going on with you and Maya, anyway?” I asked Jerome frivolously. When he looked at me, unaffected by my question, I continued. “Are y’all seeing each other or…?”
His eyes went wide. Bingo.
“Not that you have to tell me,” I added quickly, wondering if I had taken too huge of a risk.
A line etched between Jerome’s brows.
“It’s just, my sense of smell is pretty good for a human… You two arenotsleeping together.”
His arms dropped to his sides like I’d paralyzed him. “Why the hell would I be sleeping with the gamma, Joey?” he sputtered.
Oh shit.
I wrung my hands together. “Never mind.”
“I don’t think so. You can’t ask me that question and then brush it off.”
“Is that the scary one who doesn’t know how to smile?” Still playing with his knife, a sardonic snort slipped from Malik’s nose. “Bro, the she-wolf totally wants to bone.”
“No,” Jerome demanded. “She does not want to‘bone’anyone.”
I thought about what Marcus had said about his gamma in the past:She’s never taken a lover.“Is she waiting for her fated mate? I know that’s a thing some of y’all do.”
Jerome now looked at me as if I’d uttered forbidden words.
I understood the concept of the fated mate: two souls destined to be together. A pull that consumes them until they give in to the Moon Goddess’s will. A love that makes even the broken feel whole… But the idea was low-key off-putting.
I didn’t believe in soulmates, so how could I possibly stand behind a god mingling in their worshippers’ affairs?
Why did the werewolves desire to find a fated mate, knowing the relationship might not be a happy one and that breaking the bondwouldbring debilitating pain? Even death, in some cases.
The whole thing sounded like a trap; an elimination of free will disguised as a fairytale.
The muscles in Jerome’s arms tensed. “We’ve never had that conversation… Why would we?”
I threw back my head in exasperation. “Because she has feelings for you, idiot.”
Jerome shook his head, though doubt clouded his features. “You’re wrong, Joey.”
“I may not be a werewolf, but I am a woman. And I am telling you, J—Maya likes you.”
Jerome ran a hand down his face, his hand stopping on his chin. He started pacing as if he were looking back at clues he might have missed. “Fuck,” he muttered, scratching his beard. He gestured to Malik with a bob of his head. “Is your hearing as good as Joey’s?”
Malik rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“Good.” Jerome waved me forward and began walking away from the car.
I followed behind him, amused.
