Page 66 of Depraved
“Of course you can. He just wants the alphas to stay on a different floor. I’m about to go hunt them all down and apply massive amounts of Vicks to their nostrils. Thank you for giving me that happy task.” The old butler says dryly.
“Well, fine. But tomorrow we have stupid wedding dress shopping plans—no thanks to you,” Elena retorts, as if she doesn’t want to go.
Her annoyed response makes Matthew grin. “In a human shop?”
“I think so.”
Matthew nods. “I’ll consider us even then. I’ll double-check with Georgia that the shops in the vicinity are all human-owned. If so, they won’t notice your scent, and it shouldn’t be an issue, so long as you can … you know, behave.”
“I’ll be fine. It’s just the start.”
“I’ll make sure Pluto knows to arrange for two separate cars.”
“Jonah’s driving mine,” she adds hurriedly.
Matthew’s brows rise, and he turns to me. “You want to subject yourself to that?”
I swallow hard. How do I sell this lie? What could I possibly say to make him buy the fact that I want to see Elena try on wedding dresses for another man?
“Um …”
“He’s coming with me because I told him to. Black is off hunting stupid motherfuckers right now. He said he’d fly back first thing in the morning and get back around noon. If my heat flares up, Jonah will pull me back. He’s the only one Black would let touch me in that case anyway.”
Matthew nods.
Fuck. She did it. She sold him on it.
When the butler leaves, Elena immediately resumes planning mode. “So, tomorrow morning, we just have to time it so we leave for the dress shop about twenty minutes before Black lands. Maybe thirty. Do you think thirty?” Elena’s tone is nonchalant.
“Why the fuck would we leave before he’s with us?” I ask, sitting down on the edge of the mattress, a little overwhelmed by all of this.
Elena’s beside me a second later, leaning over me on the bed. She stares steadily at me and speaks softly.
“If Black’s with us, Thomas won’t show. Black was strong enough to kill his father, and if Thomas was strong enough to do that, he’d have been the Dark Night alpha by now. Plus, he saw what Black looked like at the pack house thing, and he’s been playing the sneak ever since.” Elena sounds way too sure of herself. Like she’s ever dealt with something this crazy before.
She has no idea what she’s talking about.
I open my mouth to tell her that. Then I realize … she’s scared. And what does my mate do when she’s scared? Unlike her wolf, who disappears, Elena’s spent her whole life thinking she would be an alpha.
She fights.
And she’s asking me to fight with her.
She just lied to Black and Matthew. But she’s brought me in on her plan because she trusts me to have her back.
I can see by the steely look in her eyes that she’s going through with this.
She’s already decided.
Question is: am I with her?
Her expression is soft and tender as she stares down at me. “Jonah, I need you. You and all your badass MMA, beta elite hotness, okay?” She leans forward and cups my cheek. “This guy has killed a lot of people. And we need to stop him. The Lobos aren’t safe until we do.”
Fuck. How can I say no to something like that? My wolf whines. He wants what she wants. More than that—he wants an unimpeded shot at Stone too. Fool.
I try to pivot, to make either of them see reason. In order to think straight, I can’t let her touch me, so I scoot back along the mattress until I’m sitting on the pillow at the head of the bed. My mate kneels on the mattress, putting her hands on her knees so that she’s sitting on her feet, waiting patiently for me to speak.
I have to tilt my head up to look at her and try not to be distracted by the way the light falls on her hair. “Okay, I understand your plan. But why do you think he’s going to come after you? He blew up the pack house, Elena. He could just be pissed over his dad.”
