CAGED (Mackenzie Grey #2) (16 page)

“Twice now,” I said and waved it off. “But it’s all good. I’d like to think that it’s because I’m so darn lovable.”

Duke laughed. “I can attest to that. You have spunk, Little Girl. I like it.”

“Why thank you, Duke,” I smiled and did an awkward curtsey in my seat.

He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a business card, sliding it over the table to me. “If you ever change your mind, Mackenzie Grey, or find yourself in a pickle, you give me a call,” he offered. “My Pack is similar to Sebastian’s, we treat our girls with respect. And if I were you, I’d stay as far away from Chicago. I’ve heard the whispers and they aren’t good.”

My smile stiffened. “Don’t you worry, I can take care of myself.”

***

When Duke and his Pack-mates left, everyone asked me a million and one questions.

“What did he say?”

“Is he coming back?”

“Did he really roll up in here with some cowboy boots?” Of course that was Amy.

All I wanted was to take a nap for a few days…maybe a week? That whole conversation was exhausting, but the Alpha wasn’t so bad. He was kind enough to come to the warehouse and ask me to join his Pack instead of hiring someone to snatch me up or send his minions. It was classy, but no matter how generous he was, there was no way I was joining—not in this lifetime at least.

“What did he want?” Sebastian demanded.

“What do you think, Sherlock? What all these Alphas want—a piece of my ass,” I smirked, “but no worries, I’d rather sell it on a corner than give it away for free.”

“Mackenzie,” he warned. “This isn’t a joke, for once be serious!”

Roman chuckled behind me. “Oh Ace, your sarcasm is a novelty.”

“Her name is Mackenzie, not Ace!” Jonah exclaimed.

“I only know her as Ace, so until she gets tired of it, that’s who she’ll be,” Roman argued.

“Alright,” I interjected. “Let’s all call this one a win since I wasn’t beaten to a bloody pulp. I needed it after yesterday. What I’d appreciate is if everyone got along. I don’t have the strength to fight and deal with all of your supernatural issues plus my own. I’m going to take a nap,” I turned and pointed at Amy. “Wake me in two hours please.” I ignored everyone’s protests and dragged my feet upstairs and locked myself in my room. No one, and I meant
no one
, was going to matter to me for the next few hours.

Calloused hands slid from my shoulder down my arm, making the hair on my skin bristle from the roughness. Soft lips kissed between my shoulder blades and I shivered. I collapsed on my back and saw who had been lying behind me: Jonah. His milk chocolate eyes brightened. His bare chest, well defined and groomed, was at eye level with me.

“Hey there, Sleeping Beauty. Did you have a nice nap?”

I gulped. “Y-Yes. What are you doing here?”

“We’re here to make sure you’re well rested,” Bash’s deep voice said. My neck snapped to my other side, where he too lay shirtless under the covers.

“W-What?” I stuttered. “What are you guys doing here? Are you naked? Did we…?”

Jonah kissed the crook of my neck, while Sebastian’s blue eyes traveled down my body as he bit his bottom lip. Bash whispered sweet nothings in my ear as the tip of his tongue teased me.

I clutched my sheets as the overwhelming sensations burst out of me and I couldn’t resist a moan. My lower body grew cold as the covers fell from my chest and a mop of dirty blond hair emerged from down below.

“Need me to keep you warm, Ace?” Roman said with a grin as he came out from under the blankets and rested his chin on my belly.

“Where the hell did you come from?” I gasped.
For the love of God, what was going on?

Roman kissed my bare stomach in trails until he reached between my breasts, his cold breath hardening my nipples.

“I’m perfect for you Kenz. I’ve been from the very beginning,” Jonah whispered.

“But I challenge you, Mackenzie, I make you better,” Sebastian growled.

“You can be who you want to be with me, Ace, no strings attached,” Roman promised.

All three of them stared at me, waiting for an answer and I felt my throat close up as I groaned. The room grew fuzzy as I searched for a response to give them. Something crinkled nearby, like plastic, as if someone else was with us and I shot up to a sitting position.

“What was that?” I gasped as I opened my eyes and saw Amy eating out of a bag of jalapeño Cheetos at the foot of my bed.

I wiped the trail of drool that matted my left cheek, and blinked as I glanced around the room. No one but Amy and I were here.

“I can’t tell if you were having a sex dream or getting your wisdom teeth pulled. I’m still debating,” she mused as she munched on Cheetos.

“What time is it?” I croaked. I tried to run my fingers through my hair but it was a knotted bee hive.

“It’s time for you to get up.”

“Then why didn’t you wake me?”

She shrugged. “You were entertaining. Also I’d rather be in here than out there.”

“What’s going on?” I rolled out of bed and searched for my robe in my duffle bag.

“Here,” Amy handed it to me. “It’s madness out there. The vampires haven’t left and all you can hear is Bash and Jonah’s yelling from the office. Jackson comes out once in a while but it’s mainly for some aspirin.”

I walked into the en suite bathroom and attempted to comb my hair—it was a disaster. “I don’t know what to do, Amy.”

“You can start off by dishing on who you were dreaming about…unless it was the wisdom teeth then forget it, I don’t care.”

I popped out of the bathroom, the brush stuck in my hair. “Amy it wasn’t just one of them,” I said sheepishly. “Shit, I’m a dream-slut. My subconscious is a dirty, dirty girl!”

Amy giggled. “Hell yes! I’ve only ever had one of those kind of dreams before and it was short lived,” she sighed. “The Hemsworth brothers are so skilled.”

“You need help,” I rolled my eyes. “But was it the three brothers or just two?”

“Just Chris and Liam, why?”

I groaned. “Because mine was three! I’m going to hell.”

She gasped. “Shit, no way!”

“Way.”

“That’s…awesome!”

“You’re a freak,” I deadpanned.

Amy came into the bathroom and sat me on the toilet. “I know I am. Now sit still while I detangle this mane. You look like Hermione Granger in her first year at Hogwarts.”

***

My best friend wouldn’t let me hide out in my room for the day, no matter how much I attempted to bribe her, she wouldn’t budge. She was right, I couldn’t pretend shit hadn’t hit the fan. Since the Lunas didn’t want to fight for their freedom, I had to make sure I kept mine, and that meant finding a way to not get taken by a Pack—particularly Chicago. Rachel’s story sealed the deal, but there was also something about those guys at the bodega that made my skin crawl. If I thought the Brooklyn Pack were assholes, then Chicago was down-right abusive.

I knocked on Sebastian’s office door, and this time waited until I was told I could enter. When I slipped inside, Roman and Lucian were seated in the chairs across from Sebastian’s desk, while he sat behind it. Jonah and Jackson stood by their Alpha and it was staged like a scene out of
The Godfather
. I had to hold back the million quips that sat at the tip of my tongue. Particularly a Vito Corleone impression. I inwardly sighed. My brain really needed to focus at the issue at hand.

“Finally, Sleeping Beauty awakens,” Jonah said and I felt my face turn fifty shades of red.

“Why’d you call me that? I wasn’t asleep that long,” I muttered as I avoided staring into anyone’s eyes. “So why are we here? I’m getting antsy, I need to get out of the warehouse.” I couldn’t stand being in such close quarters with these guys after having had that damn dream. It screwed me all up. I came back from LA confident and totally feeling myself, just to resort to a puddle of hormones again. Damn assholes.

“That won’t be possible, Mackenzie,” Sebastian said. “I just spoke with Charles and he refuses to call a Summit to discuss your situation.” Jonah’s nostrils flared. I guessed he wasn’t too happy with daddy dearest.

“Why does that matter?”

Bash sighed. “We were hoping to speak on your behalf with the American Summit to call off all the Packs, but Charles,” he glared up at Jonah, “believes you’ve made your bed, now you have to lay in it. Don’t worry, we’ll figure something else out.”

“Right. Something else,” I mumbled. “Look, I appreciate everyone wanting to help me, but maybe Cadwell’s on to something.” The reason I never backed down from the Pack when I first met them was because I wanted to prove that as a Luna, I was capable of defending myself without the aid of a penis. How could I forget what I stood for?

“Pet, you can’t be serious?” Lucian said, shocked.

“I said he was on to something, not that he was right,” I said, “I can’t ask for freedom and expect the Pack to help me—it doesn’t make sense.”

“What do you propose?” Roman asked.

Once again, I hadn’t thought that far. “I propose that I get a new cell phone because mine was smashed by some beefed-up meat head from Chicago. I’m going out into the wild to get one. I won’t be a victim and hide inside anymore, I’m also getting cabin fever.”

“I swear it’s as if you have a death wish!” Sebastian yelled.

“Maybe I do,” I said exasperated. “If it keeps everyone’s undies out of a twist, Jonah do you want to come with?” It would be the perfect time to talk to him.

“Yeah, I’ll go,” he perked up.

“Ace…” Roman stood. “We can go home, you don’t have to deal with this,” he whispered to me. Running off to California again didn’t feel right. I would just be putting off the inevitable.

“That’s the easy way out, when have you known me to take that route?” I smirked.

“Never. Doesn’t mean I can’t warn you of the potential dangers.”

“Why do you care?” I grinned as we repeated our interaction from my first night at Mojave Desert.

“I don’t,” he gave me a sly smile. “Just be careful.”

I nodded.

Lucian cleared his throat. “I’ve also been working on a Plan B in case the wolves can’t come up with anything—which might be the case,” he leered at Sebastian. “Nothing concrete, but I’ll inform you when I hear something. Stay alive, Pet, I’d miss you dearly if no one were around to stir up trouble.”

I laughed as the two vampires left, escorted by Jackson. I turned to Bash and Jonah and still couldn’t look them in the eyes. I could feel their lips on my skin—it was going to be maddening.

“Is a cell phone that important? Who do you need to call?” Bash inquired.

“My therapist,” I snapped. “Dealing with you all, I’m pretty sure I’m going to need a Xanax prescription.”

“Your what?” Jonah asked.

I rolled my eyes. “Never mind. Come on let’s go.”

Jonah looked to Sebastian for permission and I wanted to rip my hair out. Bash nodded and Jonah led the way out.

“And Mackenzie,” Bash stopped me. I didn’t turn around. “She means nothing—”

I didn’t respond as I slammed the door shut behind me. I was done caring, we were never anything to begin with.

***

The walk to the bus stop wasn’t far, so I needed to take the opportunity to clear the air with Jonah. I didn’t like hearing of Charles’ manipulation of his son, and I needed him to understand that it wasn’t going to fly with me. If only I knew where to begin.

It was early in the evening, the sun setting as we walked to the corner of Sands and Pearls Street. Horns blaring, brakes squealing, and the everlasting smog that filled the air; I felt nostalgic being back in my city.

Jonah started. “The vampires…”

I pushed him. “Oh don’t start with that. They’re good guys, Jonah. Roman was there for me when no one else was.”

He stuffed his hands in his coat pockets. “You wouldn’t let us be there for you. There’s a difference.”

I shook my head. “There is. You guys couldn’t be, it was impossible.”

Jonah latched on to my arm and pulled me to a halt. “No it’s not, Kenz,” he said with excitement. “If you would have just stayed and not run away, I had found a way to help you.”

I arched a brow. “What? By mating with me?”

His smile slipped. “Would that be such a bad thing?”

“Of course it would!” I yelled and had to look around to make sure we didn’t attract attention. Like most New Yorkers, no one cared about our squabble. “Do you listen to anything I say? Absolutely
nothing
is worth giving up my freedom—the very essence of who I am. I would no longer be Mackenzie.”

“You think I would own you? I wouldn’t do that to you, Kenz,” his brown eyes saddened.

“Essentially you would. At some point in our mate-whatever-matrimony, you would put your foot down on something you were against me doing. It would be irresponsible of me to think you could change.”

He opened and closed his mouth as if trying to figure out what to say. That last bit was harsh but I had to stick by my guns—show no weakness. I had hope they would change in the future, I’ve even seen some slight improvement—particularly from Bash—but they still had a long way to go.

“I also don’t trust your father, Jonah. The way he told me about the King wasn’t right and you know it. He tried to manipulate me and now because his plan backfired, he’s playing with my life by not calling a Summit,” I continued. If I stopped now, I would lose my nerve. “Look at me. I can’t leave the warehouse without a damn bodyguard! You know I won’t last living like this. It’s only a matter of time before I pack up and leave again.”

I wasn’t sure if that was an empty threat. The idea crossed my mind a few times, but I didn’t think I could leave Amy again. And I wasn’t sure if she’d leave Jackson behind. In the midst of all my drama, I’ve seen the way they look at each other. The last thing I wanted to do was mess up their relationship—Amy deserved some happiness.

***

We were at Atlantic Terminal, the shopping mall on Atlantic Avenue across the street from the Barclays Center. We had exited the store and I was thanking the heavens above that I had remembered to back up my last iPhone.

“You have no idea how good it feels to have my phone safe and sound,” I said as we swerved through the cluttered streets. “And it also doesn’t hurt that I got to upgrade to a 6s Plus,” I grinned.

“I don’t understand people’s fascinations with those little computers,” Jonah waved a finger at my device. “It seems complicated.”

“You haven’t lived, my friend,” I sighed as I hugged my phone. “Now let’s go get some ice cream. I’m in a cake-batter-with-rainbow-sprinkles kind of mood.”

Jonah laughed. “Kenzie, when are you not thinking about food?”

I snorted. “The day I’m not, I’ve been abducted by aliens, FYI.”

“Good to know,” he elbowed me. “And…I’m sorry, about my father.”

I peered up at him, those sad eyes undid me. “You don’t have to apologize for him, and I know your intentions were meant well. Water under the bridge, Jonah,” I said trying to cheer him up.

He nodded. “Do you remember our conversation before you left?”

My heart skipped a beat. His declaration of love that I never responded to? Yes, of course I remembered.