Returning his gaze to Roni, he saw that Grace’s relation was still chatting away to her. He couldn’t help but smile—his pretty little wolf had the look of a trapped wild animal and appeared to be grinding her teeth around her lollipop. Apparently she’d had enough. He knew what she’d do, knew it was coming any minute now . . .

Finally, she removed the lollipop from her mouth and cocked her head. “Did you know that if your stomach doesn’t produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks, it’ll digest itself?”

And there it was.

Taken aback, the female opened and closed her mouth repeatedly. “Um . . . no, I didn’t know that. How . . . interesting.”

“I know, right?”

“I, um, I should probably go and check on my mate.”

When she was alone once again, Roni’s body seemed to sag with relief. Marcus quietly sidled up to her. “Now that wasn’t very nice.”

Twisting to face him, Roni blinked innocently. “What? What did I say?” Of course she’d sensed Marcus there, watching her. She always sensed when his gaze was on her, and it always made her body feel restless.

He pulled Roni flush against him and pressed a somewhat possessive kiss to her throat, taking a moment to swim in her scent. “You made her feel uncomfortable so that she’d walk away.” He snatched her lollipop and tossed it into the trash can, earning himself a huff.

Roni wasn’t surprised that he’d guessed her game; he was too observant. “She was talking about fashion, Marcus. Fashion.” Roni gestured to her own outfit: combat pants, Converse trainers, and a T-shirt that read, “I’m not a people person—you’ve been warned.” “Do I look like someone who reads Vogue?” She could take down an Alpha, whether in human or wolf form, whether they were male or female. But have a conversation about stilettos? That was out of her comfort zone.

He raked his gaze over every edible inch of her. “I like your look. It works for you.”

That slow, languid smile worked for her. And when that sensual mouth came down on hers, delivered the most devastating kiss, and then followed it up with a bite to her bottom lip—oh, yeah, that worked for her too.

Roni cleared her throat as she snapped out of her daze and took a moment to examine him. There were faint impressions of bruises and scratches here and there, but they were fading fast. Still, neither she nor her wolf liked seeing him hurt. If he hadn’t been on his way to being fully healed, she would have clawed her brothers. “It’s good to know you’re alive. And that you have all your teeth. Any broken bones?”

“Depends whose bones you’re referring to.”

She opened her mouth to ask, but then shook her head. “You know what, I don’t want to know.”

Marcus nuzzled her neck, inhaling deeply. “Your scent drives me insane.” Drawn to the mark on her neck, he swiped his tongue across it, enjoying the way she shuddered.

When he lowered his tone like that, it did all sorts of interesting things to Roni’s body. “Good insane or bad insane?”

Marcus knew his smile was wicked. “Oh, very, very good insane.” He nipped her earlobe, just because. Of course, he almost jumped out of his skin when her arm slid around him and her fingers drummed down his spine. One, because it felt amazingly good. Two, because Roni wasn’t a touchy-feely person, particularly in public. To touch him like that, and in front of others—it meant something. It was an acceptance and a claim. “I wasn’t sure if you’d return the claim.”

“Well, I thought hard on it. I figured you could serve some purposes.”

He smiled. “Serve some purposes?”

“You can deal with small talk. I don’t like small talk. You can change tires. When there are lines, you can stand in them. I hate them. You can also bring me chocolate fudge cake.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes. Never neglect the G-spot. That would turn out badly for you.”

He laughed. “Duly noted.”

“Ro!”

Roni peered down to find Kye grinning at her, a cookie in either hand. “Hey, little man. What you got there?”

Pulling a face, he held both cookies against his chest. “Mine.”

“Well, of course.”

“Mar!”

Marcus smiled. “Hey, kid, have you showed Roni your Alpha snarl?” Kye’s expression instantly turned fierce as he bared his little teeth.

“Wow, scary.” Roni frowned as Kye suddenly started spinning in a circle. “What’s he doing?”

Marcus sighed. “He farts and then looks for it.”

Tao, Dominic, and Ryan made their way over. Dominic was grimacing and rubbing his knee. “Do you have a Band-Aid?” he asked Roni.

Her brow puckered. “No, why?”

“I just scraped my knee falling for you.” Laughing, he barely dodged Marcus’s fist.

Tao shook his head at Dominic, handing both Marcus and Roni a beer. “I honestly fear for your life sometimes, Dom.” Ryan grunted, as if to second that.

“Ry! Ry! Ry!” Kye tugged hard on the enforcer’s jeans. The toddler had a soft spot for Ryan, which was odd, considering the guy barely spoke and wasn’t the least bit playful.

Looking somewhat pained and uncomfortable, Ryan reached down and grabbed Kye by the back of his shirt. He then lifted him high, letting him dangle in the air. Kye laughed in delight, striving to pinch Ryan’s nose.

Taryn came to the enforcer’s rescue, taking her son into her arms. “Are you tormenting Uncle Ryan again?” The kid kissed her smack on the mouth in response.

Standing beside his mate, Trey studied Marcus. “Either Roni’s brothers took it easy on you, or you didn’t hold back. I’m hoping it was the latter.”

“What do you mean?” asked Dominic.

“Marcus did some male bonding with the Mercury Pack,” explained Grace as she made her way to Roni, giving her a huge hug that took Roni by surprise. “I was told you helped get the party organized, so thank you.”

Roni nodded. “No problem. Happy birthday.”

“Thanks. I did tell Taryn to cancel the party, what with everything that’s been going on and—”

“No, we planned it months ago,” interrupted Taryn. “No way were we going to let anything mess it up for you, Grace. You do a lot for the pack, always take care of everyone. Now it’s our turn to take care of you, because if anyone deserves some pampering and attention, it’s you.” Marcus had to agree with that.