Marcus hadn’t said it out loud during the little “ceremony” we’d just been through, but I understood that having anything sexual to do with my new “big brother” would most definitely be considered incest. It didn’t matter that we weren’t actually blood-related—that was how strong the adoption was.
Not that I wanted anything to do with him like that, I told myself. It was just that he smelled so good.
I took that deep breath I’d been thinking about and my nipples tingled as they brushed against his broad chest and his warm scent filled my senses. Why was I doing this? Acting this way? I didn’t know.
“What makes you think I’m innocent?” I asked him and somehow my voice had dropped down to a husky little purr which sounded very unlike me.
“What you’re doing right now lets me know you are,” Jake growled. Putting his hands on my shoulders, he pushed me gently but firmly away from him. “No Omega female would dare to stand so close to an Alpha male so near the full moon unless she wanted—” He broke off, shaking his head.
“Wanted what?” I asked.
“Never mind.” His voice took on a bitter edge I didn’t understand. “I don’t know why my father bothers to educate you about our kind at all. It’s clear you’re never going to—”
“Going to what?” I demanded, because he broke off abruptly again. What was it he wasn’t telling me? Was it more of the “Royal Wolf, Alpha and Omega” bullshit?
“Nothing. Never mind.” In the dimness, his eyes almost seemed to glow and I could see that his square jaw, covered with dark stubble, was clenched. He looked like he had bitten down hard on something bitter and didn’t like the taste, but he couldn’t spit it out for some reason.
“Fine,” I said, crossing my arms over my breasts, which were still tingling.
I wasn’t about to ask him any more questions. It was enough to know that he had bought into the family cult too, and also thought that he was a “Royal Were.” I guessed I couldn’t blame him—after all, his father had no doubt raised him within the weird belief system. But it was kind of disappointing—Jake seemed keenly intelligent and I’d thought he was too smart to swallow all this “Werewolf” bullshit.
I sighed and pressed my thumb to the pad of my wounded finger. And then, because Jake was still just standing there, staring down at me, I said,
“I guess we’d better follow your father upstairs.”
“He’s your father too, now, little Ani.” His deep voice was more bitter than ever and the muscle at the side of his jaw was jumping with tension. “Which makes you my dear little sister. Don’t forget it—I know I’ll never be allowed to.”
And with this cryptic remark, he had turned and jogged up the stairs, leaving me in the dark basement to wonder what in the Hell he was talking about and why he was so angry about it—whatever it was.
THREE
I was lost in thought, remembering the vow I had taken—or rather been subjected to—as I watched my friends leave the diner. There was no calling them back—no explaining all the weirdness at home. As much as I wanted to, I felt bound by the odd basement ritual—bound to secrecy about the strange cult I had been dragged into by my mom.
I called the waitress and paid my part of the bill, watching as she gathered up the money Madison and Ashley had left to cover their dinners. Then I hooked my warm red coat off the back of my chair and put it on, making sure to button it up to my chin. It wasn’t complete winter weather yet, but the air outside smelled like snow, which meant it couldn’t be far off.
I shivered as I pushed my way out of the glass door with a steaming cup of coffee and a pair of happy, dancing sausage biscuits painted on it. The wind rushed through my hair, swirling it around my head as I walked around the brick building and headed for the parking lot.
I was the only one in the lot—well, as far as I could see—and my white Tesla was sitting at the far end of the parking area, glimmering like a pearl in the darkness.
I looked around, feeling a chill of unease. This was the first time I’d been out by myself, without my bodyguard, since my mom had married Marcus almost a year ago, and it occurred to me that I had forgotten what it was like to be a woman alone at night.
I might not like having Branson always hanging around like a silent, muscular giant, but his presence certainly made me feel safer. I made a mental note to sneak away during the daylight hours next time.
I was almost to my car, when a man popped up in front of me, seemingly from nowhere.