MAX
After the daywe’d had, I wanted nothing more than to grab Jake and collapse on the sofa, maybe watch a film and block the rest of the world out for a while. I was halfway to doing exactly that when I registered the fact someone was walking up the drive. The knock on the door came a few seconds later, reminding me that Jake had invited Myla over.
“Fuck,” Jake groaned. “I forgot we still had that to deal with.”
“Fuck you, too” came through the letter box. “We can hear you, you know.”
And we’d left the window open apparently.
I looked at Jake and mouthed, “We?” Surely she hadn’t brought her dad with her? Myla I could handle. Alpha Haylen Frost? Not so much.
We both stood and I followed Jake along the hallway to the front door.
When he opened it, we were greeted by Myla and another woman who, judging by the way she narrowed her eyes at Jake, I guessed had to be Izzy.
No one said anything as they all looked at one another, the air rapidly filling with a mix of scents that promised nothing good if left to escalate. Gently elbowing Jake aside, I pushed the door open wide. “Why don’t you come on through? I’d rather not treat the whole street to whatever the fuck is going on here.”
Jake glared at me, but I ignored him. We didn’t have time to be anything other than brutally honest with each other. If Izzy had a problem, then it needed sorting now.
I led them into the living room. “I take it you’re Izzy?” I said without preamble.
Izzy scowled, voice heavy with sarcasm as she replied with, “What gave it away?”
I flashed her my best smile. “Your sunny disposition.”
Myla snorted. “I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you first.” She gestured to Izzy. “It was kind of a spur of the moment decision.”
Finally Izzy thawed a bit, her lips twitching. “What she means is I got all pissy and insisted on coming too.”
Jake glanced between them, gaze lingering on the lean muscle Izzy showed off in her strappy top and jeans. I knew him well enough to know exactly what he was thinking. Could he take her in a fight? Ever since Myla had mentioned the old law they’d been hoping to use to get out of her first arranged marriage, Jake had been convinced I didn’t think he could hold his own.
I rolled my eyes and nudged his foot with mine.
“So,” I said, hoping we could get whatever this was out of the way and move onto more important matters. “Why are you here, Izzy?”
“Max,” Jake hissed.
“I’m sorry to be so blunt, but we don’t exactly have the luxury of time here.”
Izzy smiled. “Fair enough.” She reached for Myla’s hand. “I wanted to meet Jake. I know Myla told you our original plan when it was Faris she was marrying.” She said his name with a sneer. “I’ll be honest, I was prepared to do the same with you, but Myla said it was no longer an option. I wanted to meet you and see what had changed her mind.”
Myla sighed. “I already told you. Faris was a nasty excuse for a shifter. I could justify you fighting him because he had it coming. Jake’s done nothing to warrant that.”
“So you’re just going to marry him and live happily ever after?” Izzy hissed.
“We have a plan,” Myla said, looking at me and Jake for backup.
Izzy shook her head. “You don’t have a fucking plan. You both want a way out, but from everything you’ve told me, you haven’t come up with a way to facilitate that. And now Frost wants you to date, for fuck’s sake.” Her hand trembled where she ran it through her hair, and she blinked back tears.
The thing was, everything she’d said was true. We didn’t have a solid plan. We had more than the last time we’d spoken with Myla, but it was only a theory, an idea. We were no closer to putting anything into action.
“You’re right,” I said, reaching for Jake’s hand. “But we’re every bit as invested in this as you are. We might not have a way out of this yet, but we’ve learnt a few things since we last spoke to you.”
Myla sat up straighter. “Oh? Such as?”
It went against everything I’d been taught to tell our pack secrets to a member of another pack. Even without Xen’s orders not to discuss that night, I’d have found it hard to talk about the theories we had concerning him and what happened at the bar. But we couldn’t do this without sharing everything we discovered. There was one small problem with that, though. “We won’t be able to tell you with Izzy here. Alpha’s orders.”
I thought Izzy might’ve had some objection to that, but Myla must’ve forewarned her. With a sigh, she gave Myla a quick kiss, then stood. “I figured as much. Myla can just fill me in later. I’ll go hang out in your garden if that’s okay?”
