James leaned forward, narrowing his eyes. “You willinglywalked intoa house full of rogues, Joey. With no backup.”
“I had…” My rebuttal had been too eager, and I swallowed my last words.
“Say it, Joanna,” James demanded. “Please, say it. Say that your backup comprised of the werewolf alpha you foolishly allowed in your bed and the fucking rogue who let you believe she was dead for five years.”
The clicking of the keyboard stopped. Hill looked up, his gaze flicking from James to me.
“You’re friendly with a rogue?” He scrunched up his nose. “Wait… five years?” He brought a hand to his head in concentration, his eyes darting from side to side. Finally, he gasped, shooting to his feet. “Joey, no.”
“Yep,” Malik confirmed, taking over in front of the laptop. “Surprise. Big sis ain’t dead. Crazy, right?”
Had even Malik really kept quiet about Latoya until now?
Why?
If no one trusted me anymore, why were they protecting me and my fucking feelings?
Was it pity? Or because I was a fucking basket case, and they feared I’d lose it?
I slammed my hands on the counter and welcomed the stinging of my palms; it was nothing compared to the burning I expected as the pact’s punishment for not returning the cloner to the shifters.
My eyes stayed glued to the mug in front of me as I spoke to James. “Can we wait until they leave—”
“No,” he spat, rising to his feet. “Finish what you were saying.”
“Latoya is my sister,” I said quietly.
“She’s a rogue!”
“And Marcuscan’thurt me, James.”
“Because you’re sleeping with—?”
“He’s bound to me!” I snarled.
James stepped back as if my words had slapped him across the face. He glanced toward Malik and Hill with his hand extended.
“Did you gentlemen hear what she said?” he tittered. The two men said nothing. James turned back to me, his laughter ceasing when his eyes met mine. “Explain,” he demanded through clenched teeth. “Now.”
“Detective,” Hill tried to intervene.
James shrugged off his hands. “Joey—”
“I’m blood-bound to him, James,” I whispered.
James stilled, his arms falling at his side.
“The night I was first attacked… that was the night of the ceremony… the night I pledged my allegiance to them.”
James’s hand flew to his mouth. He shook his head slowly and barely blinked as he spoke. “This isn’t…” Disappointment dripped from his voice. “What the hell happened to you, Joanna?”
I’d been wondering the same thing.
Forming a blood oath with the werewolf was deplorable, but it was the right thing to do… at the time. The problem was this shit that I was going through now—the feelings that I’d developed…
I knew better than to trust damn werewolves.
I knew better than to form attachments.
