The corners of my mouth fell. “It seems too many of my wolves like you now. I’ve never had to use the alpha command on my gamma before. But for you, she has no issue disobeying orders.”
Maya shifted uncomfortably. “Alpha—”
“Were you going to tell me she was here?” When she hesitated, I looked to Jerome for an answer. “Or were you both going to lie to me?”
“Marcus, this isn’t you,” Maya barked. “It’s the mating—”
“The one Joanna tried to break? Even though I’m the father of her child?”
Maya didn’t react to that piece of information. She positioned herself between me and the hunter. “I mean the one you ignored, after I warned against it.”
Was she…scoldingme?
She slumped her shoulders and heaved a heavy sigh before turning back to face Joanna. “Please don’t hold this against him. I swear, Marcus learned you were his fated mate, and he was worried about how it would affect you. The mating bond is angry, Joey, and it’s messing with his head.”
I scoffed.Messing with my head?“No, what’s messing with my head is that the two wolves I’m supposed to trust with my life are sneaking around behind my back with the woman who tried to kill me a few hours ago.”
“If I wanted you dead, you wouldn’t be here right now, Blackwood.”
“Andshewouldn’t be here, Marcus.” Jerome gestured to the quiver. “Her team found out about the pregnancy. They’renot too happy about it, Alpha. They’re rallying to storm the compound.”
My eyes drifted over Maya’s shoulder until they landed on Joanna’s beautiful face. “And you’re here to what, beg for their lives?” I guessed with a scoff.
Joanna used her shoulder to propel herself off the pillar. She stormed around Maya until we were only inches away from one another.
Damn it, she smelled good. I wanted to shove her against the pillar and fuck her right in front of—
The sting of Joanna’s open palm across my face snapped the thought from my head.
Maya and Jerome stiffened.
“You don’t get to look at me like that, Blackwood,” Joanna declared. “And stop fucking growling at me.”
I massaged my cheek before turning my head to face her again. “I can’t help it,” I chuckled, my erection hardening. “You’re my mate, and tonight’s the full moon. My wolf and I can’t think of anything else but being inside you.”
I caught the hand that flew for my face for a second time.
“How about the fact that hunters are about to eliminate your pack?” she sneered, yanking her wrist free from my grasp.
“Didn’t you hear what I said? If my wolves shift tonight, they’ll be faster and stronger than they were in the warehouse. Joanna, they’ll rip your hunters to shreds.”
Maya sighed. “Her rejection still puts you at a disadvantage, Alpha. You aren’t whole—”
“What did he mean I’m his‘mate’?” I’m surprised Joanna didn’t get whiplash the way she faced Maya.
Maya bit the inside of her cheek and glanced at Jerome.
“You said it yourself: I rejected the bond,” she continued, causing my wolf to whimper.
But I noticed something interesting; something that changedeverything. As she spoke, Joanna’s body gave an almost imperceptible jolt.
It wasn’t merely a shift in her stance as she played it off to be. I knew the way her body occupied space better than I knew my own breath. Speaking of the rejection caused her pain. And that meant she felt it.
She felt the bond.
Maya shook her head. “It’s not that simple… He’s an alpha, Joey. And from what you’ve told us, he never accepted the rejection.”
“The fuck?” she exclaimed. She pulled her gun from its holster, aiming it at my head.
