Page 96 of Why Cruise

“Maybe if we were going for that sausage look?”

The spotlight blinded me. I could barely breathe.

“Oh baby,” Aria purred. “Come further downstage. Don’t worry, these boys won’t bite. It’s part of the rules.” She hooked her arm around me and pulled me to center stage. “Well, Mackenzie here is twenty-six…” She read a whole bio about me.

I stood frozen, staring out into the crowd, who were all staring at me.

Ren

I watched Tommy work the room, going from table to table, dipping into his breast pocket. At least the boy could dress up for a fancy event. Catherine probably had to remind him to ditch the cargo shorts.

I wandered between the tables, looking for Mackenzie. I didn’t trust Daryl wouldn’t do something stupid. We werethisclose with Mackenzie. You couldn’t force someone out of a relationship. It had to be her decision to realize they were the wrong choice.

I spotted the pack, but Mackenzie wasn’t there. I stood just behind them. All of their attention was focused on the stage. Theo wove his way through the audience and the servers, who were handing out cocktails.

“Where is she?” He asked. I shook my head.

Theo still looked fantastic but wrecked, yet all tension and concern. He and Mackenzie had both been looking forward to this event for some reason. But after that poker game? No clue what they’d talked about.

“Unlike traditional…” Aria yapped from the stage.

“Tradition, that’s right. We’re gonna keep her naked and in heat in her little nest in the basement,” Brock said. The rest of his pack cracked up.

My head turned to them like laser beams.

“Did you get that stuff from that guy?”

“Oh, yeah.” One of the boys dipped his hand into his pocket and flashed a familiar little packet. Tommy’s Disco.

Fuck.

It was a club drug. It could make even betas feel like they were in heat for a few hours, where everything felt delicious and fuckable.

“She won’t make it back to her own room tonight.” High fives across the table.

“She’s gonna look so hot with my teeth around her neck. We should do it tonight.” Brock proclaimed.

Theo chewed on his thumbnail, trying to decipher if this was bro bluster or an actual plan, like he couldn’t believe they were actually saying this, so it had to be a joke.

It didn’t fucking matter.

Everything went quiet as Aria glittered on the stage. The house lights came up a little. The spotlight shifted. “Mackenzie Perez!”

She staggered onto the stage, terrified. Aria scooped her up.

I looked back at the pack. Brock shouted out a bid for $150. He threw Mackenzie’s $500 chips on the table. Fucker.

“You can’t let them have her,” Theo’s voice was panicked. He’d heard every word I had. “Daryl broke up with her a month ago,” Theo rushed out. “She went into heat. He claimed he was sick, invited his new pack over. Then dumped her.”

Every scrap of conversation I’d had with Mackenzie came back, my brain sorting through for relevant details and filling in what was missing.

Theo continued. “She was bruised, Ren. She said she was bruised. He threw her out the next day. Said she didn’t perform well, embarrassed him because she wouldn’t agree to join their pack.”

It all clicked into place. I looked up at Mackenzie on the stage. Aria was hyping her up. She looked less terrified.

Mackenzie hadn’t connected all the dots yet. But I fucking had. Theo too. Rage started in the pit of my stomach. I cracked my neck. A big spectacle would not serve Mackenzie.

Focus on Mackenzie.

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