Instantly, every female in the room perked up.

First, Shaya got to her feet and gave Marcus a friendly kiss on the cheek, which made Nick growl. Then Kathy urged Marcus into a chair opposite Roni, and placed a huge plate of bacon and eggs in front of him. Eliza vainly adjusted her hair and clothes. To Roni’s horror, her mated aunt plastered a flirtatious smile on her face.

Marcus gave Roni a wide smile—and that strange, almost electric connection between them instantly snapped into place, making his wolf growl in satisfaction. “Hey there, gorgeous.” He almost laughed at the “Quiet, you’re boring me” logo on her camo-green T-shirt. Her wardrobe seemed to consist mostly of clothing that was branded with antisocial wording.

Roni scowled at the endearment. “What are you doing here?”

Refraining from laughing—Marcus wouldn’t have thought it was possible for a scowl to be cute—he took a moment to greet the males . . . even Zander, who he didn’t like for the simple reason that he suspected Zander had a thing for his pretty little wolf.

Leaning toward Marcus, the unfamiliar female said, “I’m Janice, Kathy’s sister.”

Marcus smiled. “Good to meet you. I’m Marcus.”

“I take it you’re a friend of Nick’s?”

“No.” Nick’s expression screamed “outsider.” “He’s a Phoenix Pack enforcer.”

“Nice to see you again, Marcus,” purred Eliza.

Roni would have expected Jesse to be annoyed by his girlfriend’s flirtatious tone, but he didn’t appear to care. Then again, it was hard to tell, really, since the surly enforcer was mostly expressionless. Eliza and Janice blushed at the greeting smile that Marcus gave them. It seemed he had a way with all females, no matter their age.

“You didn’t answer Roni’s question: Why are you here?” grumbled Nick. He stabbed his fork hard into his bacon, and Roni had the feeling he wished it was Marcus. Shaya rolled her eyes, well accustomed to her mate’s antisocial ways. His body was practically fused to hers in an extremely possessive gesture. Roni would have expected it to make the Alpha female bristle, but Shaya seemed to like it, as if it made her feel safe and treasured. Roni couldn’t imagine her own mate treasuring her. The poor guy would most likely feel he’d drawn the short straw.

“I was returning something to Bracken.” In truth, Marcus wanted to get an early start on his “breakdown Roni’s defenses” plan.

“If you mean his newest Call of Duty game, it’s about time.” Roni refilled her coffee mug. “I had it completed within a week.”

Bracken nodded, his playful eyes twinkling. “She’s freakishly good. Plays like a guy.”

“Fights like a guy too,” chuckled Eli. Although he wasn’t as broad or tall as Nick, her little brother was still powerfully built. He was also totally ruthless.

“You should know, since all you two ever do is use each other as punching bags,” muttered Kathy.

Eliza snorted in disgust. “Maybe she should have been a guy.”

“She’s always been a tomboy,” Kathy told Marcus. “Hated pink, dolls, and ballet. She liked blue, cars, and playing football with the boys. And she’s always been so competitive, hates to lose.”

Nick pushed his empty plate aside. “Dad taught us that second best didn’t count.”

“Yes, and he was very proud that his little girl was so ‘tough.’ Had he been alive at the time, I’m sure he would have laughed when the school called me in because she’d beat up an older boy who’d tried picking on Eli—that was when she was nine.” Kathy shook her head. “To add to that, Eli had then beat up the kid’s friend when he moved to intervene. And that wasn’t the last incident of that nature.”

Eli shared a conspiratorial smile with his sister. “Ah, the good old days.”

“They both fought all the time,” continued Kathy. “And I don’t just mean physically. Always played pranks on each other merely for their own entertainment. But Roni would never let anyone else hurt him, just as Eli would never let anyone else give her trouble. I’d like to say they’re much more mature nowadays, but the fights and the pranks are still ongoing.”

“Yeah, we do find unbelievable joy in irritating each other,” admitted Eli with a grin.

Kathy glanced briefly at Roni. “I know she doesn’t look it, Marcus, but she’s so intelligent it’s intimidating.” Yet another backhanded compliment—her mother was on a roll. “She never cared that she was smart, though. She was never interested in anything academic. She wanted to play sports, learn combat, and speed around town in cars that didn’t belong to her.”

“Okay, can we stop talking about me now?” Roni really didn’t need to be reminded that she wasn’t the daughter her mother had ordered. So she liked physical activities and could be competitive, so what? Roni thought it was unfair that smart people were stereotyped as nerdy, obsessive, socially awkward people—although, to be honest, she did have the socially awkward thing down.

Eliza seemed pleased by Roni’s discomfort. “You sure you’re not a guy trapped in a female body?”

Roni cocked her head. “Did you know that an ingredient of many lipsticks is crushed parasitic beetles?” At once, Eliza and Janice brought their fingers to their lipstick-covered mouths, looking queasy. What fun. Noticing that Marcus’s gaze was intensely focused on her, she frowned. “What?”

Marcus shrugged. “I like looking at you.”

Roni knew her cheeks were burning. “Eat shit, Fuller.” He actually chuckled. Nick, however, went ramrod straight in his seat and growled warningly, clearly intent on protecting his sister’s virtue—not that Roni had any virtue to protect. A dark look from Shaya made him return his attention to his breakfast.

Satisfied that he’d knocked Roni off balance, Marcus smiled inwardly. He liked seeing her flustered, just as he liked learning more about her. She interested him with the many different facets of her personality. What he didn’t like was that Kathy, Janice, and Eliza seemed to enjoy putting her down.

Rather amusingly, she did her best to ignore him as they continued eating. But Marcus knew just how to get her attention. “Since we’re teamed up for the hunting party, you might as well ride to my territory with me.”