Page 22 of Renegade Queen

“What. You. Are.”

“What I am? WHAT I AM! Holy shit, what am I?”

Annnnnd now I had his attention.

Smirking, I shifted in my seat, letting him squirm. His mind was at least off his two unconscious friends in the back.

“Oh, now you’re going to play it cool.” He laughed.

The passenger side door opened, and Tank climbed in. “We’ve got a lot toward the back. If we turn left and… what’s going on?”

Tank looked between the two of us, frowning in confusion. The subtle pinch in his brows that followed betrayed his immediate response to protect. Was it wrong to be flattered about that?

He’d always been protective of me, but knowing now that there were feelings behind it made me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.

“Alyssa is just torturing me with secrets,” Maddox whined and pouted dramatically.

It was strangely endearing—and also hilarious, but maybe that was the exhaustion.

Following Tank’s directions, I backed into the spot we had for the night and as soon as I killed the engine, I sighed in relief. My back was killing me from sitting in these seats for three days, and all I could think about was taking a long, hot bath.

“Seriously! We’re just leaving the conversation there?” Maddox suddenly burst out.

“Lion,” Tank sighed. “You’re going to be a fucking, insufferable lion.”

“Bad. Ass!” Maddox cheered. “And the others?”

“Wolves,” I added.

“Ha!” Maddox cheered again.

“I swear if the words, ‘I win’ pass your lips, I’m telling them when they wake up,” I threatened.

I could already see the nightmare this was going to cause.

“It’s not as good as you think,” Tank pointed out, immediately gaining our attention. “Shifters need a pack. The two wolves will pack easily. You’ll have to try and fit in with them without an immediate bond.”

I hadn’t realised this would be an issue, or I wouldn’t have allowed it to happen in the first place.

“How much of a problem is this going to be?” I asked, the guilt pushing down on me as I glanced over at Maddox, not wanting to see the disappointment on his face.

Tank got up and moved into the kitchen area, pulling food from the fridge and putting it on the counter. Unlocking the base of the driver’s seat, I swivelled around to watch. Tank was a miracle worker in the kitchen, and if it wasn’t for him, my diet would consist entirely of beer and burgers from Joe’s. By the time he was taking the soft tacos out of the cupboard, I swear my mouth was drooling.

But then I realised Tank hadn’t answered my question, and Tank evading a question and giving you food instead was never a good sign.

“It’s not nice when someone makes you wait, is it?” Maddox gloated from beside me.

I didn’t even try to resist the urge to kick him and got a solid kick to his shin before he knew what was happening.

“Hey! I’m injured here!”

“No, you’re not. Stop being a baby. You got one tiny bite from a shifter, and it’s already healed.” I was pouting, I knew I was, but I also didn’t care.

“You know it doesn’t matter, right? You’ve given me a chance to find my brother. Even if it comes with strings attached, it’s the biggest gift anyone has ever given me,” Maddox told me quietly.

The clanging in the kitchen intensified. The thought of food was soured by the idea that I’d condemned Maddox to some terrible fate I hadn’t even realised. I’d thought I was helping him, but I was just finding a fun new way to torture him.

Story of my fucking life.

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