Dark Instincts

Considering he’d been the main feature of her dreams for some time, that shouldn’t be a problem. She wasn’t sure if that were a good thing or a bad thing.

CHAPTER FIVE

The next morning went pretty much the same for Roni: she argued with her mother, aunt, and Eliza at breakfast, she played a prank on Eli, and she was unexpectedly joined by Marcus, who then gave her a ride to Phoenix Pack territory and quizzed her the entire journey.

Soon enough, they were seated at the kitchen table with the rest of the hunting party and Trick and Dominic. Two things were bugging her: One, Trick was watching her very closely; there was no animosity there, but it made her uncomfortable. Two, Marcus wouldn’t stop touching her. Okay, fine, it wasn’t the touching part that bugged her, it was the fact that it didn’t bother her. For God’s sake, he was practically glued to her side while playing with her hair, and she wasn’t even bristling.

“What do you mean you couldn’t hack into it?” Trey growled.

Rhett looked more annoyed about it than Trey did. “What I do isn’t as easy as it looks, okay? This website, whatever it is, has encryptions I’ve never come across before. I’m doing my best, but it’s going to take a few more hours.”

Trey relaxed a little. “Fine. What do you have on the jackals?”

Rhett’s smile was smug. “People, meet the Alpha of the Scorpio Pack.” He passed a photo to Dante, who took a hard look at it before passing it on. “Right here is Lyle Browne. The pack was based in San Diego until their territory was stripped from them. Before being blacklisted, Browne did business with a lot of packs and had a good number of alliances with powerful Alphas.” Suddenly looking awkward, Rhett turned to Taryn. “He . . . did a lot of business with your dad, Taryn. I’m sorry.”

Taryn clenched her fist tight, though her expression remained blank. To say that she had a strained relationship with her father would be an understatement. Taryn had been latent—unable to shift—until getting pregnant with Kye, and her father, Lance, had been ashamed of her for most of her life. Worse, he’d tried to force her into an arranged mating, which Trey had thankfully sabotaged.

“There’s nothing to indicate Lance is still doing business with them,” Rhett quickly added. “But it seems like the jackals still do business with some of their old alliances: Samuel Redford, Morgan Johnson, Jackson Griffiths, and Quinn McGee. All four of them are Alpha wolves.”

“We need to question all of them,” said Dante.

Nick looked at Trey. “It’s time we split up. I know Johnson pretty well; he’s allied with my old pack. He’ll be more likely to talk to me than to you, if there’s anything he can tell us.”

“Then it makes sense for you to pay him a visit.” Trey leaned forward. “I know McGee, but I know Griffiths much better—his mother and my mother were close friends; we played together as kids.”

Roni noticed how Marcus tensed at the mention of Trey’s mother, and she wondered at the cause.

“You think Griffiths will talk to you?” Nick asked him. Trey nodded.

“My brother’s allied with Redford,” said Dante. “I’ve met his Beta a few times. I could go with Ryan to speak to him, since I’m guessing there’s no way you’ll part from Taryn.”

Trey snorted. “Damn right.”

Taryn smiled. “Okay then. Flintstone and I will go see Griffiths. Nick and Derren can talk to Johnson. Dante and Ryan will speak to Redford. Marcus and Roni can visit McGee.” Quinn was loosely allied with the Phoenix Pack and had fought alongside them during a pack war with Trey’s now deceased uncle.

“Just remember that Quinn can be cagey,” Trey told Marcus, “and he likes games. But you’ve got a gift for getting people to talk—use it.”

Roni snickered. “You want him to flirt with the guy?”

Trey appeared confused, but it was Trick who elaborated. “People tend to like Marcus, so they tend to talk to him. But when they don’t talk . . . well, Marcus quickly changes their minds.”

Ignoring Roni’s curious gaze, Marcus turned to Rhett. “What type of business did Browne and McGee do together?”

Rhett glanced at his papers again. “They dabbled in illegal activities such as forgery, stealing antiques, selling stolen and counterfeit paintings—” He paused as the sounds of approaching voices caught everyone’s attention.

“I’ll never know what my Dante sees in you,” Greta was growling in the tunnels.

Jaime made a contemplative sound. “Class. Curves. Sparkling wit. A mouth he swears is perfect for s—”

“Enough!”

“I was just going to say ‘smiling.’ Really, Greta, you should just build a cabin in the gutter—your mind is permanently there.” Jaime entered the kitchen with a bright smile while Greta trailed behind her, glowering—a glower that deepened when she saw that Dominic was laughing his ass off.

Greta paused near Marcus. “Make a better choice for a mate than these two idiots.” She gestured at Trey and Dante. It was only then that she noticed Marcus playing with Roni’s hair. And she didn’t appear to like it.

Jaime, now lounging in the lap of a clearly contented Dante, who was nuzzling her neck, looked at Greta. “You can whine all you want, old woman, but I know you secretly adore me.”

Greta humphed, taking a seat beside Tao. “You’re not good enough for my Dante. Just like that hussy’s not good enough for my Trey.”

Taryn tilted her head, regarding Greta with mock pity. “I can’t work out what’s wrong with you. But I’m sure it’s not something that swallowing the chemicals under the sink can’t fix. Want to try it?”

“How about we postpone the conversation of how best to poison my grandmother until later?” suggested Trey with a tired sigh. “We need to get going.”

Serious now, Taryn pushed out of her chair. “Yes. Somebody knows something about what happened to my son, and I want to know what it is.”

Standing upright, Nick turned to Roni. “Be careful.”

“Roni’s always careful.”

Marcus’s words—confident, supportive, and defensive—took Roni by complete surprise. He didn’t appear to be any happier about Nick’s insistence on coddling her than she was. In fact, Marcus seemed offended on her behalf.