“I don’t want to find them.”

She’d shocked him again. In her shoes, he’d want the whole story—all the facts. “You deserve to know where you come from. You deserve to know why you and your mother were banished.”

Stepping back, Makenna shrugged. “If she’d wanted me to know, she would have told me.”

“She never mentioned the pack?”

“Once.” It had been the time when they were evicted after her mom lost her job. “She said that we didn’t deserve this, and she hoped those bastards paid for it.”

“What about your father?”

Pain lanced her chest. “I asked about him once, and she started crying. I never asked again.” Fiona Wray had been a strong woman who hardly ever cried. It had been disturbing to see. And it had made Makenna feel like total shit. “I’m not interested in knowing what happened. Who I was before doesn’t matter.”

Bullshit. “I think it does matter to you.”

“Oh, really?”

“There are lots of different ways you could help the shelter. What do you do? Rehome loners. You track down their families and you reunite them. On some level, you do want to know about your past.” She sucked in a sharp breath, looking as if he’d slapped her. “I’m not trying to hurt you. I would never purposely do that.”

Recalling Taryn’s words, Makenna nodded. “I know. And I appreciate that you want to help. But I’m asking you to let this alone. Okay?”

“You deserve to know the truth, Kenna. And they deserve to pay.”

That dark, dangerous rumble made everything in Makenna still. There was vengeance in his eyes—the uncharacteristic display of emotion made her swallow hard. “They will. Karma’s a bitch.” She pressed a kiss to his jaw. “Let it go.”

He didn’t say anything, just held her. But Makenna didn’t believe for one second that he’d acquiesced. He was a determined male driven by the need to protect and defend. There would be no changing his mind if he was set on tracking down the people he believed wronged her. Hell.

Makenna was running late when she left her apartment the next morning to head for the shelter. She stopped dead at the sight of a middle-aged female standing beside her Mustang, jaw clenched, wearing the glare from hell. Approaching, Makenna cocked a brow. “Is there a problem?”

“I have a problem with my son involving himself with lone wolves.”

Makenna blinked, wondering what the fuck the woman was talking about. Then she noticed the beady azure eyes she’d seen somewhere before. “You must be Remy’s mother.” A depraved, twisted bitch who had molested her own child.

Her wolf wanted to lunge, rip off the bitch’s ear, and spit it into her face. Creative, but Makenna knew better. Hurting this female would have grave consequences. As a loner, Makenna didn’t have the support and protection of a pack. Oh, she didn’t doubt that Ryan wouldn’t do all that he could to defend her, but that would bring trouble to him and the other Phoenix wolves. Remy’s pack was large and he had many alliances. There was every chance that if it came to a battle, the Phoenix Pack would lose . . . and all because she couldn’t just play this smart. Besides, she didn’t need to physically harm the woman to piss her off.

“Yes, I’m Deanne Deacon.” Like that made her special. “I know he’s been sleeping with you. Don’t deny it. Selene told me he’s been flirting with you.” And apparently to Deanne, that meant Remy had most definitely fucked Makenna. Well someone was a little paranoid.

Suspecting that any denials she made wouldn’t be believed, Makenna simply said, “Really?”

“No doubt you think you can convince him to take you as his mate and become our Alpha female.” Her mouth tightened. “Over my dead body.”

The latter sounded good to Makenna. “I thought he was exaggerating. He warned me you were freakily jealous and a little unbalanced. But I thought to myself, ‘Surely not. What kind of mother would be almost incestuously possessive of her son? She’d have to be a pretty sick bitch.’”

Baring her teeth, Deanne said, “Remy is my son—”

“But not your mate. Or your lover. Right?”

Deanne’s flinty eyes narrowed to slits. “You will not touch him again.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

“Do not test me, loner.”

“Remy actually wants me in your pack, so it’s possible that I won’t be a loner much longer.”

“He doesn’t want you or your friends in our pack,” scoffed Deanne. “He wants the shelter and the land it sits on—nothing more. He’s using you, trying to soften you up and win you over so that he’ll get what he wants. You’re nothing to him.”

“If you’re so convinced of that, why are you here warning me away from him?”

“You’re a loner; that’s enough of a reason.”

But it was more than that. Makenna suspected that Deanne saw every female who existed on even the periphery of her son’s life as a threat. She was no longer secure about her place in his life. Maybe it was because of the power and authority he now had. Maybe she was unable to control him the way she once had, now that he was older. Or maybe she doubted her ability to sexually attract him. Well, if the guy had an interest in young boys, he definitely wouldn’t find his mother’s body all that exciting. She’d have to sense that disinterest; she’d have to worry on what it meant for her.