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I dropped the robe and slipped between the blankets, but Bjorn didn’t follow. He put his hands in the pockets of his robe.
“What’s wrong?” He’d been off all night, but as soon as we were alone, everything faded away. It didn’t mean whatever was bothering him had totally disappeared, but a girl could dream.
He met my gaze. “We need to talk.”
My heart sank into my stomach. “Yeah, I know.”
“You do?” He sat on the edge of the bed. He didn’t crawl into it next to me, take me in his arms, or kiss my forehead like he’d done so many times when I was recovering.
“Yeah. If Bibi and Hugo go to Vegas and ask you to film the trip, stay away from the gambling tables because your poker face sucks. Are you upset that I brought your family here? I probably should have asked first—"
“No, it’s not my family.” He ran his hand through his hair. “It’s yours.”
I wished I could say this was a surprise, but it wasn’t. “I know. My mom. The Hudaknocker.”
“The alphas have a plan to get it back from her.” Bjorn rumbled, but not in a sexy way. This one said that he thought danger was ahead, and he needed to protect me. “I won’t ask you to walk away from your family. But if you don’t put a stop to this, Suzanne will ruin your life.”
ChapterTwenty-Six
Bjorn
Marissa closed her eyes for a moment, holding the sheet in front of her otherwise bare body. “You’re leaving me.”
“I didn’t say that.” But it was what I couldn’t say that would bother me the most. I didn’t have an answer for her that would make everything instantly better. Tonight had been a whirlwind—a stern warning from the alphas, seeing my family for the first time in a decade and meeting my nieces and nephews face to face for the first time ever, and this gorgeous cabin, with just me and my mate. I hated that Suzanne had managed to worm herself in here, her presence not physical but still heavy. Controlling the narrative.
It had to stop.
I crawled into bed and held Marissa as she cried. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“How do we fix this?” She pulled away from me and wiped her eyes. Her makeup was ruined, but she was still beautiful. “Here’s the thing, Bjorn. There’s no walking away from my family. Do you know how many times my mom called trying to get the scoop onThe Mating Gamebefore I caved and told her about the Hudaknocker? I would have changed my number if I thought that would make things better. Eventually, she would’ve found a reason to come for us. She hates that I found someone to take a chance on me when no one would even talk to her. I never knew how bad things were atThe Scoopand how much of it was her doing. This isn’t about some shifter artifact, Bjorn. This is about her setting fire to everything around her so she can rise like some kind of phoenix, and I don’t know how to fix it.”
I ran my fingers under her eyes to clean up the ruined makeup. “If we were still working onThe Scoop, what would we do?”
Marissa chuckled sadly. “Probably something illegal that would make us feel gross.”
“That sounds about right.”
“Why does she have to ruin everything, even when she’s not here?” Marissa sighed heavily.
I kissed her forehead. “I don’t want this to ruin our night. To ruin us.”
She met my gaze. “What if I can’t figure out how to make her stop, Bjorn? What if she sells the Hudaknocker to an enemy pack? What happens when we go on that stage?”
I had the same concerns. “Exactly what’s supposed to happen.”
* * *
After all the time I spent planning that night at the cabin, I never expected to leave pissed off. Marissa had been distant after our talk. She was in an impossible spot, and I’d lied to myself about how ruthless Suzanne could be. Or maybe I expected her to listen to reason if it came from her daughter.
But there was no way I would let her ruin what we’d worked so hard to build. Not just the crew ofThe Mating Game.All the shifters who’d worked hard and loved honestly to hold onto what was theirs.
I’d taken down Suzanne Marlowe once. I didn’t want to do it again, but I didn’t see any other way around it. I asked Stephanie to meet me at HQ and to keep it on the down low. It was an impossible ask that our visit fly entirely below the radar, but this needed to be between Suzanne and me.
I wouldn’t fool myself into thinking it had a prayer of going smoothly.
We found a crowd at the chalet that spilled onto the porch and into the parking lot. Suzanne was definitely here.
“Did you know this was happening?” Stephanie asked as we weaved through the crowd.
