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She gave me the sweetest smile and craned her neck to peck my cheek. “I appreciate you, too.”
“See you guys tomorrow,” I said to Jack, who lifted a lazy hand in farewell. Travis was nowhere in sight, but I figured if Jack was at ease, there was no need to panic. I turned and started carrying Marley, first through the double doors into the building and then back out to the main street.
When we got some distance from the noise and chaos of the bonfire, Marley tilted her head and studied me. I nuzzled her nose with mine. “What’s that look for?” I asked.
“Just wondering where this sudden flood of affection has come from, that’s all,” she said. “Something happen on the run?”
“A couple of things,” I said. “For starters, and in the interest of full transparency, we went for a swim. It, uh, was a skinny dip. I wasn’t anticipating that at all, but I’m not interested in having something get to you through the grapevine.”
I felt the pang of her jealousy, sharp and sickening—a twist in the gut and a sudden race of the heart.
“Marley,” I said. “Nothing happened.”
“But...but someone tried to do something,” she said, panic lacing her every word. “What else would you mean by something getting to me through the grapevine?”
“Marley, it doesn’t matter what someone does. Nothing is ever going to take me away from you.”
“It does matter!” Marley insisted. “It matters to me. It’s disrespectful to me if they do that.”
“You’re right,” I said. “That’s why I put her in her place as soon as it happened.”
“You did?”
I nodded, keeping my eyes trained on hers. “Didn’t even give her the courtesy of learning her name. She touched me—just my arm, nothing inappropriate—and made a pass. I told her the next time she touched me, she’d be losing her hand.”
I felt some of Marley’s discomfort ebb and noticed the quiet relief in her easy exhale. “Who was it?” she asked.
“I don’t think that’s important,” I said. “It won’t be a problem, and if it becomes a problem, I’ll handle it.”
“Shouldn’t I be the one to handle it?”
The question took me by surprise. Marley had never been a particularly aggressive or protective person when it came to me. Then again, we hadn’t dealt with this sort of situation yet.
I bought some time, considering if it was a good idea to give Marley the sharp-eyed woman’s identity when I wasn’t sure she could hold her own against the woman. I turned down the street the townhouse was on and cleared my throat. “What do you plan on doing?”
“I don’t know...tell her to back off?” Marley suggested. “Vic was telling me how pack dynamics work when it comes to family and loved ones. He said that with shifter biology, respect is earned through strength and consistency.”
“Marley, you know that means...usually, that means a showdown. A fight.”
Marley’s mouth worked and her cheeks pinked. She turned her head away. “I don’t want to be a spineless little human. I don’t want to just let people stomp all over me, especially when it comes to you and Noah. Vic told me that without being a shifter and being able to hold my own without you, I could be a liability in the pack.”
I took in a deep breath, feeling the need to flex my hands. What the fuck was my grandfather putting in her head? “Marley, our pack dynamic will work however I say it does.”
“But that’s the thing, Cole! With no real tie to you and Noah, with no real formal place in the pack, I have no way to hold my own.”
“That’s not true, Marley,” I argued. “You’ll have what I'll give you, and I’ll give you everything. You know that.”
She shook her head, refusing to meet my eyes. “It’s not going to be enough.”
We neared the door to the townhouse, and I carefully set her back down on her feet.
“What would be enough?” My question wasn’t harsh or cruel, nor was it accusatory. “Marley, baby, I don’t want you to ever feel like you don’t matter. You don’t need to change yourself to fit into my life—you don’t need to change for anyone. But I also don’t want you to feel like you don’t have a secure place in my life because of the pack. This whole effort was primarily inspired by my desire to protect you, for fuck’s sake. So, tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.” I paused. “Want me to quit the pack thing altogether? I will. Want me to keep our pack to only people we know we can trust? I’ll do that. Want me to make you my second—”
“No, I don’t want any of those things,” Marley cut me off. “And I know you don’t want them, either. Earlier, I think I could feel your euphoria a little bit. It got hard to sense it for some of the time you were gone, but when you shifted and ran into the forest, I could tell you were enjoying yourself. I don’t want to take the potential of that away from you. But I also don’t want to be some kind of unofficial groupie in the eyes of the pack.”
“Marley, you would never, ever be that,” I promised. “I’d never allow it.”
“You may not have that choice,” she said, her tone assertive. She breathed in deeply. “We may not have that choice.”
