Ally’s shoulders suddenly locked in place. “If you’re going to bug me while I’m cooking, get out of my kitchen.”

Instead, Derren took a sip from his mug. The woman made excellent coffee. “You’ve been off since yesterday.” After the interrogation, she’d turned uncharacteristically quiet and pensive. When he’d questioned her, she had assured him that she was fine. Of course he’d been fully aware that she was lying, but he’d given her the emotional space she needed, trusting that she’d talk when she was ready. But . . . “I gave you time. That time is up, baby.”

“Time to do what?”

“Time to share with me of your own accord.” He moved to her as she was plating their chicken-fried steaks and mashed potatoes. Not prepared to let her go on hurting, he pressed, “What’s bothering you?”

She swallowed. “My kind caused your pack pain again.”

He cupped her chin and turned her face to his. “Hey, that’s not on you. Kerrie didn’t do it because she’s a Seer. She did it because she’s jealous, bitter, and apparently suicidal. It’s all about the individual, remember?”

Ally was conscious of that. But she was also mindful that it had taken a lot of time to make the Mercury wolves see that. She worried that Kerrie’s actions would undo what Ally had done and would make these people she’d come to respect and care for turn away from her. It would hurt a lot more than she was comfortable admitting even to herself.

“No one is going to blame you for this, Ally. Things aren’t going to go back to the way they were at the beginning.” Derren wouldn’t allow it.

She narrowed her eyes. “For the record, I don’t like how easily you read me.” She comforted herself with the knowledge that he simply had a talent for reading people in general; it wasn’t that she had become an open book to the world around her. Hopefully.

His mouth curved. “Trust me on this: no one in the pack will think any differently of you now than they did before they learned about Kerrie’s involvement. Trust me,” he repeated.

“I do.”

Hearing her say that without missing a beat, having someone in his life who had such total faith in him, was both heady and comforting. And Derren had no intention of giving that up, of giving Ally up. His original curiosity in her had later became fascination, but that fascination had shifted and become an addiction. She was an obsession he couldn’t shake off. She dominated his thoughts, consumed his wolf. Derren found himself hurrying to finish his Beta duties to spend more time with her each evening.

Ridiculous as it was, he didn’t like sharing her with others in the pack. The scent, sight, or thought of her made his cock begin to harden. He wanted her constantly, couldn’t get enough of her—if he was able to, he’d be in her twenty-four/seven. He wanted to be in her right now.

Sensing his intense need for her, Ally shook her head with a smile. “Later. First we eat.”

As usual, they sat on the porch to have their meal. “Have Roni and Marcus located Kerrie?” Ally asked Derren. She knew the mated pair had ventured to Kerrie’s pack that morning, where one of Marcus’s sisters was also a member. Apparently, Kerrie hadn’t been seen by her pack for a few months. Her parents claimed she was going to visit friends in another pack but that she hadn’t been specific as to whom she was visiting.

“Marcus has called every one of Kerrie’s friends that were on the list his sister gave him,” he replied. “They all said they haven’t had contact with her in months.”

“They could be lying.”

“Of course they could, but Nick can’t afford to separate our pack to go hunting. So, instead, he’s done something quite cunning.”

“What?” Ally shoved a forkful of chicken in her mouth.

“An hour ago, he put out a reward for either Kerrie’s capture—making it clear he wants her brought in alive—or for any information that leads to her whereabouts.”

Clever. “Do you think it’ll work?”

“I think there are plenty of people who would want to gain favor with Nick, so it’s very possible that someone could come forward.”

Halfway through her lunch, Ally said, “Tell me a little about the Kerrie situation. I know she lied about Marcus’s mate being someone else because she wanted him for herself. But why would she take the rejection and his mating to Roni so badly?”

“Before Roni, Marcus’s relationships were short and simple. But he didn’t lead females on—he always made it clear that he wasn’t looking for anything permanent. Outwardly, Kerrie didn’t seem to take it badly when he ended things. They even remained casual friends. She told him that she’d had a vision of his mate; she gave him a false description, told him that the female needed him and was a lot like his mother—which scared the shit out of Marcus.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know exactly. All he’s told me on the matter is that he doesn’t have contact with her for a damn good reason.” Derren sipped his Coke. “So by telling him that his mate was someone he so obviously wouldn’t want to accept, Kerrie made him opposed to mating with his true mate.”

“Probably hoping that it would make him open to imprinting with another female,” Ally surmised. “Like Kerrie.”

“Yes. And by giving him a false description of his true mate, Kerrie was no doubt doing her best to make it extremely difficult for him to recognize his true mate when he found her.”