Taryn arched a brow at Nick. “And neither did you, did you?”

“Because I was waiting for my mate.” At Taryn’s meaningful look, Nick sighed. His eyes once again found Marcus. “Hurt her, and I’ll—”

“Have to wait until Roni’s done emasculating me before you get your turn.”

Looking ever so slightly mollified, Nick turned to Roni. “I’ll be waiting in the car. Don’t be long.” He spun on his heel and disappeared through the trees.

Inhaling deeply, Taryn smiled. “For what it’s worth, I think you guys make a cute couple.” Then she was gone too, with an amused Trey at her side.

Marcus’s wolf finally relaxed. “That went well.”

Roni gawked. “Are you kidding me?”

“No blood was shed.”

“You would have fought him, wouldn’t you?”

“If I had to, yeah. I wouldn’t have been happy about it—he’s your brother. I don’t want to put you in an awkward position. But I don’t back down. It’s not in my nature.” He dabbed a kiss on her way-too-alluring mouth. “Your wolf’s calmer. How are you doing?”

She sighed. “Pissed, but I’m no longer interested in punching the shit out of that tree over there.”

“Once Rhett and Donovan find out who uploaded that video, I’ll hunt them down and I’ll deal with them.”

“We’ll hunt them down and deal with them,” she corrected. “Promise me something. Promise me you won’t watch it.” Maybe it was stupid, but she didn’t want him to see her that way—helpless, terrified.

Understanding why she’d ask that, Marcus cupped her neck. “Roni, I will never see you as weak.” She was far from it.

“Promise me.”

A part of him wanted to watch it, wanted to know what she’d been through. But he couldn’t deny her this, not when there was so much pain in her eyes. “I promise. And I won’t let the others watch it either.”

She swallowed hard. “Thank you.” His arms engulfed her, and she instinctively tensed, not really sure what to do with the contact. Her wolf settled, satisfied. Roni decided to follow her lead and allowed herself to relax. It strangely felt . . . good.

Marcus kissed the top of her head. “Come on, I’ll walk you to the car.”

“To flaunt this in front of Nick?”

“To remind him that I’m not going anywhere.” Smoothing his thumb over his mark, Marcus felt a sense of self-satisfaction he hadn’t experienced before. He held those dusky green eyes that always seemed to be filled with wariness. “And neither are you.”

“I should have known to search for you in an obvious place.”

Sprawled on the sofa, Roni looked to the doorway where Derren stood and shot him a “fuck off” glare. She’d been hiding in one of the guest lodges for hours, wanting some alone time. That was what Roni did when things went to shit: she looked for space and privacy, explored the matter in her head, got her thoughts straight, and faced the problem head-on. But she’d known it would be hard to do that if she had anxious pack members hovering, wanting to comfort and fuss over her, panicking that seeing the video had “traumatized” her.

Derren closed the front door and sank into one of the armchairs. “Almost the entire pack is searching for you.”

“I wanted some privacy. Considering it’s what you like to do when shit happens, you should be able to appreciate that better than anyone.” She and Derren had been good friends since he came out of juvie with Nick. The extremely hot Beta was very perceptive and very serious in some ways, yet he could be relaxed with certain people. Like her, he had dark places inside him that haunted him from time to time—a kinship that had made them “click” on meeting each other. Yet, there had never been anything between them other than friendship.

He allowed that with a nod. “But I wanted to make sure you were okay. Not because I thought you might be huddled in a corner somewhere bawling your eyes out. But because I’m your friend. Isn’t that what you do for me when I’m having a bad day?”

She huffed. “Point taken. Did Nick tell everyone about the video?”

“He told Shaya, Eli, and the enforcers, but that’s all.”

“My mother doesn’t know?” She sighed in relief when Derren shook his head. “Good. It’s bad enough that she mollycoddles me in that patronizing, condescending way of hers. This would make her ten times worse.”

“She cares. She just has odd ways of showing that.” There was a slight pause as a glint of humor entered his eyes. “So . . . Fuller marked you.” She didn’t at all appreciate the teasing lilt to his voice. “It’s a shock that you didn’t rip him a new one for that move.”

Yeah, but how could she have vilified Marcus for that when she had marked him first? It would have been pretty hypocritical. Not that she planned on telling Derren that. But something in her expression must have given her away, because a wide smile split his lips.

“Oh . . . you marked him too, didn’t you?” He laughed. “This is going to be fun to watch.”

She sat up and tucked her legs beneath her. “What will be fun to watch?”

“Marcus trying to handle you. It’s what guys have always tried to do, threatened by how dominant you are.” He cocked his head, frowning thoughtfully. “Although . . . I have to say, Marcus doesn’t seem to do that.”

As it sounded more like a question, she confirmed, “No, he doesn’t.”

“When I see him with you, it reminds me of someone trying to approach a wild animal, to gentle them and get them used to him.”

“A wild animal?” She wasn’t sure she liked that comparison.

“My point is that he doesn’t try to handle you, he tries to understand you and coax you. That’s good.”

It was true that although he was persistent in his efforts to know her and seduce her, Marcus wasn’t extremely pushy in that annoying way that dominant males often were. He focused on her intensely, but he didn’t overwhelm her with the full force of his personality—he gave her enough physical and emotional space for her to be relaxed around him . . . as if he knew exactly what she needed. He lured, cajoled, and charmed her, wanting her to make her own way to him as opposed to forcing himself on her. She liked that.