I grinned, hoping to lighten the mood. “So the two of us together would be like incest, right?”

He didn’t even smile, though he did turn back to the road, just in time to swerve around a series of orange cones set up around some road construction. “I’m serious, Faythe. You and Marc belong together, and it kil s me to see you walk away from each other like there’s nothing there.”

Yeah, join the club. I stared out my window to avoid his eyes. As much as I appreciated Vic’s concern, Marc and I were none of his business. We were perfectly capable of screwing up our relationship all on our own.

“When I found out you bit your ex, I thought it was all over between you and Marc. I couldn’t believe you’d do that to him, even when you guys were split up. He doesn’t deserve any of this.” The road construction ended, and Vic pulled back into the right-hand lane. “He went through hell every day you were gone, and now that you’re back, he should be happy. But he’s not. He’s alone and miserable, and you’re here—all dressed up—with Jace looking at you like you hung the fucking moon. It’s no wonder Marc talked Greg into sending me with you two instead of Parker.”

Ahh, so that’s what happened. Marc knew he could count on Vic to keep an eye on me and Jace, and to re-create every awkward moment of this miserable assignment, whereas Parker—the Switzerland of the south-central Pride— would have been careful to stay out of our business.

I glanced in the rearview mirror to see Jace with his head back, eyes closed, earphones still in place. Fortunately.

“I’m not dressed up for Jace,” I insisted, glancing down at the mid-to-low neckline of my blouse. If anything, I was dressed up for Marc, though I could never have admitted that aloud, unless I wanted Marc to hear about it later. Which I did not.

“Besides, you’re missing something pretty important in all this.” I turned sideways again to face him, ignoring the door handle poking my lower back. “Marc dumped me. Not the other way around. If you want us back together, talk to him.”

“I already have.” He flicked the left blinker on and glanced back before changing lanes to pass a slow-moving VW Beetle. “Marc would do anything for you, Faythe, and I don’t think you understand that.”

“Of course I—”

He cut me off, swerving back into the right-hand lane. “He would fucking die for you if you asked him to. But that’s not good enough for you. You have to have him on your own terms. With no strings. No commitment. But for him, that means no security. No guarantee that you won’t just take off again.”

“That’s not fair.” My left hand found the headrest and squeezed out of frustration. “I only left him because he wouldn’t go with me. He wouldn’t leave the Pride.”

“You should never have asked him to. You gave him Sophie’s choice, then told him to live with it. That’s unfair. And now you’re doing it again.”

I faced forward and let my head fal against the headrest. “I’m not going anywhere, Vic.”

“But he doesn’t know that. Not for sure. And Marc needs to be sure.”

He paused, and for a moment there was only the sound of our tires on the road, and the regular rhythm of Jace’s sleep-breathing from the backseat. “He told me what Kevin said.”

“About wh—” Then I remembered. Faythe’s the only reason you’re even here. Without her, you’re just another stray cat licking the Alpha’s boots, one false move away from the wrong side of the river.

“That son of a bitch!” I muttered under my breath. Then, aloud, “Marc can’t possibly believe that. Even if we never get back together, my dad would never kick him out. He loves Marc like a son.”

“Yeah, but what happens when your dad’s no longer in charge?” Vic leaned forward to adjust the air vent. “What if you wind up with someone else? The new Alpha isn’t going to want Marc hanging around, and even if he did, Marc could never stay here and watch you with another tom. And where’s he supposed to go then? What other Alpha is going to want a stray in his Pride?”

I stared out the window to keep him from seeing how shocked I was.

I’d never once considered Marc’s future without me. Hell, I’d barely considered my own future, beyond the two and a half years I owed my father.

The backseat creaked as Owen shifted in his sleep, so I whispered, hoping he and Jace had missed the entire conversation. “I would never let that happen. He’ll always have a home here.”

“That’s what you say now, but a lot can change in a few years.” Vic glanced at me again, his eyes bright, his expression earnest. “Make him happy, Faythe. Take his damn ring and promise him that someday you’l give him what he needs. Knowing that it will happen eventually will be enough for him.”

“Vic, I…”

I don’t know how I would have responded if I’d had the chance. But I never got that chance, because that’s when Vic’s cell phone rang.

“Hang on,” he said, digging it from his pocket to check the display screen. “It’s Marc.” He pressed a button on the tiny black phone and held it to his ear. “Hey, what’s up?”

I turned to the window, wishing I couldn’t hear their conversation.

After what I’d just heard from Vic, I doubted the two of them ever discussed anything other than me and what a heartless bitch I was. And hearing it from Marc would be a million times worse than hearing it from Vic.