Chapter Eight

Zeke

O nce Amara’s taillights faded around the corner, Zeke stuffed his hands into his pockets and made his way back inside the bar. He knew she was keeping a lot from him, from them, and he didn’t want to pressure her before she was ready to confide, but he had a sneaking suspicion that he was not going to like the truth of her story when she was finally ready to tell them. He imagined all kinds of things, none of which he liked.

All sorts of scenarios of her home life came to mind, each one worse than the last. His wolf growled inside him at each one, a more temperamental beast than he was himself. Normally, for a rogue, the man loses control as well, but being with his friends had helped him remain more human. And he’d always been kind-hearted. He was glad that never changed, but that still labeled him as a rogue, not having a pack.

As he opened the bar’s door, he reminded himself that her father hated rogues. It wasn’t uncommon for pack shifters to hate them; it wasn’t completely unheard of, but she was right when she said it made things complicated. He would never accept them, and if he was truly controlling her, he might have enough sway over her to make her walk away from them. That was if she even could with Knox having already marked her.

On some level, he understood why Knox marked her. Admittedly, he wanted to mark her too. She was reluctant and unsure and flighty, and Knox felt the need to make the decision for her. He knew Knox well enough to have a glimpse into his mind about why he made that decision. But knowing what Zeke knew now, he was glad he didn’t mark her. They had to figure this out first. He had to know the full scope of things before he could help her, and completing the mating would make that ten times harder.

One thing was for sure: He needed to talk to the guys about what he knew so they could come up with a plan of action.

He headed through the bar, getting some looks because he was not wearing a shirt, but he didn’t give a shit. It was late, and the bar was almost cleared out for the night. Drew was wiping the counter as he passed, and he nodded goodnight to him. He was capable of closing up himself.

Once he was upstairs, he entered the apartment and frowned at what he found. Drake was in the kitchen with a glass of dark liquor pressed to his lips, and Knox was on the couch, using the coffee table to snort a line of speed, his choice of drug when he couldn’t cope with himself or a situation.

Zeke shut the door with a sigh. “We should talk.” It was going to be even harder now that one was working his way through getting drunk and the other was high and unhinged .

Drake looked at him from over the rim of his glass before pulling it away from his lips. “As I said before, there’s nothing to fucking talk about.”

Suppressing a snort, Zeke said, “You and I both know that’s complete bullshit. What just happened needs to be talked about. It can’t just be ignored, no matter how much you want to.”

The glass nearly shattered as Drake slammed it on the counter. “What just happened is we banged some bitch. Typical Friday night for us. No conversation necessary.”

A growl rumbled up Zeke’s chest, fueled by the rage of his wolf. Amara being dismissed so easily as some random chick pissed him off. “She’s our mate, whether you like it or not. And one of us marked her.” He looked pointedly at Knox who now had his arms sprawled across the back of the couch.

“I did what was necessary,” Knox claimed.

“No,” Drake began angrily. “What you did was create a fucking shitstorm. You were being selfish and didn’t even think about how it would affect the rest of us.”

Knox leaned forward with a sharp, threatening expression and placed his elbows on his knees. “I don’t know why you’re surprised. She’s mine. I wanted her, so I took her. You can fuck right off with your selfish bullshit.”

“Enough!” Zeke shouted, irritation thick with his accent. “The ‘why’ doesn’t fucking matter anymore. We need to figure out what happens now. We don’t know what happens if only one of us marks her.”

It wasn’t common for more than one shifter to see a girl as their fated mate. The mating process was usually completed when the pair marked each other, but the fact that there were more of them was uncharted territory. He didn’t know what would happen if he and Drake didn’t mark her too .

Drake tore his narrowed eyes away from Knox. “I’ll tell you what happens. Knox can go live with her and the pack because she’s not moving here.”

Knox flipped him off.

“I don’t think we can leave her there,” Zeke interjected before Drake could fly over the counter and strangle him. He rubbed a hand down his face. What he was about to say next could be a game-changer for both of them. Knox would likely fly off the handle and Drake would likely deny it until his last breath. Either way, Zeke was in for a fight.

The bickering stopped, and Drake looked over at him.

Zeke had Knox’s full attention now. “What the fuck does that mean?”

”She told me a little about what’s going on in the pack. Her father hates rogues, and now she’s marked by one. That secret won’t be kept for long.”

Knox scoffed and settled back onto the couch. “So what? Everyone knows fated mates trump everything else. He’ll just have to deal with it.”

Zeke stepped farther inside and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I’m gathering that he’s abusive in some sort of way. She’s scared of him. Fear goes a long way, and that’s why she’s fighting this so hard.”

”Did she actually say that he was abusive?” Drake inquired. He probably didn’t notice, but there was a hint of concern in his voice. He really did care about her, whether he wanted to admit it to himself or not.

”Not in so many words,” Zeke answered. “But she was too scared to even talk much about him. She said he was controlling, and that’s all she would tell me.”

“So, then we kill the fucker,” Knox said with a shrug. “Problem solved.”

That was Knox’s go-to for everything. To him, everything could be solved with violence. But Zeke didn’t know if that would help their situation or make it worse.

”We can’t just be going around and killing alphas,” Zeke went on. “Rogues already have a bad rep. You could start something bigger, especially since we don’t have the full picture yet. We have to play by the rules here.”

”I don’t play by anyone’s rules.” Knox’s smile was vicious.

“That’s obvious,” Drake mumbled. “But this is yet another reason why we shouldn’t be getting involved with her. She’s nothing but trouble, and we’ve worked too hard to get to where we are now.”

”So, what, you are just going to sit there and let her father continue to abuse her?” Zeke couldn’t stand the thought, even if Drake was completely dismissing her.

”If he’s even abusing her!” Drake shouted. Zeke flexed his jaw at his abrupt volume. “We don’t know that for sure. All we have are your fucking assumptions.”

”You didn’t see her, Drake,” Zeke said. He wasn’t above pleading. “You weren’t there for that conversation. Her fear of him is very real, and there’s more that she’s not telling me. He’s the reason she was so freaked out about Knox marking her.”

Knox grunted. “I still say we kill the bastard and be done with it. We should have never let her leave in the first place.”

“You’re not killing anyone!” Drake yelled with a slam of his fist next to his glass. “And she is not coming back here.”

”If he’s hurting her, I’m with Knox on this. We can’t leave her there, and I know a part of you knows that.”

Drake seethed with his nostrils flared. Knox stood up and said, “Fuck this shit,” and strode across the room to the door .

”Where are you going?” Zeke asked. His leaving wasn’t the best idea. Not with him high, and not with him on a warpath to see his mate back with him. But it was not like Zeke could stop him. When Knox had his mind on something, he saw it through to the bloody end.

”Out,” Knox answered in a growl that was half human, half wolf. He left, slamming the door behind him.

Zeke turned to Drake and sighed. He would deal with him later. Hopefully, Knox would do the right thing and wouldn’t kill her father yet. Not until they figured out the extent of what was going on.

”Why did you fuck her if you don’t want her?” Zeke asked curiously. It was a change in topic, but it was a conversation that needed to be had. And he knew why, but he wanted Drake to admit it. Admitting it was the first step to getting Drake to accept all this.

”Clearly, she’s easy pussy,” Drake answered simply.

”Stop talking about her like she doesn’t affect you in some way. Your wolf has to be full of rage inside you right now. Mine is, and I didn’t fuck her like you did and storm away.”

Drake laughed humorlessly, which worked to amp up Zeke’s anger. “Oh, she affects me alright. The very idea of her pisses me off.”

”And we both know why that is, don’t we, Drake?”

Drake growled low. “That’s got nothing to do with this. Our lives were just fine before she showed up. All she’s going to do is ruin everything, and I won’t allow that.”

”Mates don’t ruin things. They make things better.”

”My experience says otherwise,” Drake mumbled, downing the rest of the alcohol.

Zeke decided not to push the topic of his past. He knew Drake would eventually have to face it, but pissing him off further wasn’t the best course of action right now. ” So, again I ask, why did you fuck her ? There were plenty of other girls at the bar you could have picked up.”

Drake growled again, punching a hole into the cabinet above his head. “I don’t fucking know, okay? I’m not immune to the effects of this thing. I just don’t want a fucking mate.”

Zeke pointed at him. “Well, you have one, and now you have to figure your shit out because you’re going to hurt her more than you already have.”

Drake rolled his eyes. “I didn’t fucking hurt her. She enjoyed every second of it.”

He scoffed. “I saw the look in her eyes when you stormed out without a word. She may not have said as much, but you definitely hurt her. If roles were reversed, how would you feel?”

”In case you didn’t notice, most girls I hook up with don’t stick around long after we are done. I’m not exactly a cuddler.”

”Yeah, well… She’s not like most girls. She’s your mate, and she has real feelings.”

”Then why didn’t you mark her too then, huh?” Drake exclaimed. “If you are so ‘team Amara,’ then why is it only Knox had the balls to claim what was his!”

”Because out of this entire situation, I’m the only one with my head on straight. She had reservations about mating, and I didn’t want to force her to start something she wasn’t ready for. It’s called being a gentleman. You should try it sometime.” He tipped his head to the side and quieted his voice. “Or are you too far gone, Drake?”

Drake’s nostrils flared. “Well, you have fun with that shit. I’ve made up my mind. I’m not doing this.” He poured himself another glass of alcohol and then disappeared down the hall to his room.