Levi’s right there with the graham cracker covered in chocolate.

  Smashing the whole thing together, I trade the stick for the melting treat and bite off half. The heat from the marshmallow makes me wince, but it’s worth it.

  “Mmmm,” I say around the mouthful.

  It’s possible my eyes roll back in my head a little.

  And the nostalgia brought on by the flavors isn’t lost on me either.

  Tripp just shakes his head at me in mock disgust. “Monster,” he says and then goes back to slowly roasting his own marshmallow. It’s barely turned brown at the edges by the time he pulls it in and builds his own dessert sandwich.

  Two pieces of chocolate. One mostly raw marshmallow.

  “You’re so weird,” I say, laughing as he stuffs the entire thing into his mouth and mimics my noises of appreciation.

  “You’ll make someone very happy with that kind of simplistic satisfaction,” Levi tells him.

  “Yeah, if you eat everything raw and your mate never has to cook, win,” I say.

  “You don’t like to cook?” Levi asks, turning to me.

  “I don’t know. Never tried,” I admit. “But I could be into hunting dinner.”

  He grins. “Yeah, you’d be good at that.” He leans in, swiping his thumb over my lip where I’ve apparently made a mess of my snack. “I wouldn’t mind hunting you,” he adds in a whisper.

  I shudder, and Tripp groans.

  “I’m right fucking here,” Tripp protests.

  Levi snickers, but he doesn’t look remotely sorry.

  “Speaking of which, how much money do you have?” I ask Levi.

  “Why? You want to make another marshmallow run?”

  “If we’re going to live like this forever, we need a second van,” I say.

  Levi’s grin is devious. “I like where your head’s at, Quinn.”

  “Screw both of you,” Tripp says.

  “No thanks,” Levi tells him.

  Tripp throws a marshmallow that hits Levi square in the chest. Levi just picks it up and stuffs it into his mouth, looking triumphant.

  “When I have a mate, I’m going to bang her loudly and often,” Tripp says.

  I laugh.

  Levi chuckles.

  “In your van,” Tripp adds, clearly not getting the reaction he was going for.

  “Uh.” Levi’s smile drops.

  Tripp looks like he’s won, and I can’t help getting the last word so I toss out, “Okay, but you might want to get a new mattress first.”

  Tripp’s disgust makes it clear he’s given me the victory on this round after all.

  The next morning, the sound of the van door opening jolts me awake. I sit up too fast on my elbows and then gasp at the sudden pain in my shoulder. Tripp freezes at my panic then relaxes, pushing the driver’s side door wider so he can slide out.

  “I’m going to make coffee,” he whispers. “Go back to sleep.”

  He closes the door softly, and I fall back against the mattress where Levi and I spent the night cuddled together.

  I look over at him, hoping to catch a secret glance at him while he sleeps. But his eyes are open and already trained on mine.

  The surprise of it makes my stomach flutter.

  “Good morning,” I say.

  “Yes, it is.” He pulls me closer, and I suck in a breath as his erection presses against my hip. “How’d you sleep?”

  I give him a look that’s the opposite of the mood his body is trying to set. “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “Tripp’s snoring kept me up half the night,” I say. “Didn’t you hear it?”

  “Guess I’m used to it.” He buries his face in my neck, and I’m suddenly very aware of how long it’s been since I showered.

  “Um.” As much as my body wants this, my mind can’t get past the hygiene issue.

  He pulls back and looks over at me again. “What’s up?”

  I bite my lip. “Can we rain-check this until I’ve found a shower? And a change of clothes?”

  He grins. “You worried you don’t smell good enough to eat? Because you do.”

  His teeth nip at my earlobe, and I jump then melt against him. Okay, maybe—

  The van door wrenches open, and I yank back. Levi chuckles as he backs off and we both watch as Tripp sticks his head in the van.

  “You two want cream and sugar?”

  I blow out a breath, and Levi barks out a laugh. “I was getting sugar all on my own.”

  “Nope,” Tripp says. “Too much information. Get it your damn self.”

  He shuts the door again, leaving us alone. But the mood from earlier has settled into something else. Finally, after a full day of just being, I see Levi’s expression shifting toward something more serious.

  I tense, even though I know it’s time.

  “Can I ask you something?” I blurt before he can start.

  “Sure.”

  I hesitate but then shove the words out. “Why didn’t you claim me? Yesterday, I mean. When we were… Did you not have, you know, the urge?”

  My heart thuds like a hammer against my ribs.

  His brow creases. “Is that what you think? That I didn’t want you?”

  “I don’t know.” I try to shrug like this is casual. Like it doesn’t matter to me more than anything else I’ve done in my life. Like I’ll be fine if he fully rejects me in this moment. “I thought you maybe just decided we’re better off apart. At least, in that way. And I mean, that’s fine. It’s not like—”

  “Whoa, it’s not fine.” He frowns. “Mac, I want you. In all the ways that matter. In all the ways that don’t. I want to eat s’mores with you every night. I want to live in this van with you. I want to keep you safe. I want to claim you.”

  His words send a shiver down my spine. Okay, maybe not the living in the van part. But the rest.

  “Then why didn’t you?”

  “I told you I wouldn’t do anything against your will ever again, and I meant it. You need to want this. Us. Mates. It’s not as simple as our wolves wanting each other. If we claim one another, there’s no taking it back. Jadick will know.”

  His expression darkens as he says the name.

  My fists clench. But I see his point.

  “You think he’ll do something terrible if he realizes I’ve rejected him.”

  “As it stands, you can never go back there,” he says quietly. “But your mom… the Jades... If you claim me, he’ll feel it. And he won’t hesitate to take his anger out on one of them. Just to punish us.”

  I sigh. He’s right, of course. I hadn’t thought about it. I’d only thought of how much I wanted him.

  “I hate that this is your life now,” he adds.

  “What? Free?”

  “An outcast. A hunted criminal. No home. I want to give you more than that.”

  “You have,” I say softly.

  But he doesn’t look convinced. Suddenly, he sits up, his expression fierce now. Determined. “Jadick’s not one to just give up. He’s going to keep hunting you.”

  “Until we stop him,” I say, and Levi nods grimly.

  “Exactly.”

  This is it. The thing I’ve watched us avoid for the last twenty-four hours. Once we say it out loud, the clock starts. Our life of campfires and s’mores is over.

  “I saw Kari.”

  He stares at me for a beat longer than necessary. Then he gets up and heads for the van door.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To get Tripp,” he says. “He needs to hear this too.”

  He opens the door and sticks his head out, calling for Tripp to move his ass. A few seconds later, Tripp hurries up with three cups of coffee balanced in his hands.

  “Breakfast is served,” he says, passing them around.

  I take one but don’t bring it to my lips. Tripp senses the shift in mood as he climbs in and settles himself in the passenger seat, turning it so he can face Levi and me on the mattress.

  “What’s up?” he asks warily.

  Levi looks at me expectantly.

  “I saw Kari,” I say again except, this time, they both react.

  Levi stiffens, and Tripp’s eyes widen.

  “She’s alive?” Tripp asks.

  “Not—Not anymore.” I can feel Levi’s eyes on me, but I don’t look at him. “Jadick was holding her hostage, torturing her for information.”

  “What kind of information?” Tripp asks.

  “The kind involving Jadick’s true intentions for me.” Quickly, I tell them what Kari told me about using my blood—and death—as a ritual sacrifice to end fated mates forever. “Apparently, Kari killed Crigger because she knew that’s what Jadick was planning to do. He needs the bones of his ancestors for the ritual. It’s the only thing he’s missing.”

  “Fuck me,” Tripp breathes. “This is crazy. Here I thought he just wanted to psycho-love you.”

  I give him a look. “You’re so weird.”

  “Why you?” Levi asks, interrupting Tripp’s reply. “Why does he need your blood specifically for this?”

  “I don’t know. We were interrupted before Kari could tell me that part.”

  “And by interrupted, you mean you were shot in the shoulder,” Tripp provides.

  I scowl.

  “You haven’t told us how it happened,” Levi says quietly.

  “I tried to run,” I say. “After what Kari said, I just wanted out, so I made a break for it. Made it into Jadick’s office where I knew there’d be an easy exit. Only, not so easy. He got off a lucky shot. And then I tore a hole in his leg.”

  “Whoa, seriously?” Tripp whistles as if impressed.

  “I would have torn the whole thing off if he wasn’t such a coward who keeps two dozen guards outside his door all the time.”

  Levi looks tense at the mention of the guards. I turn to him, knowing full well what kind of rage his wolf is feeling right now. “You took out three of those assholes the night you rescued me.”

  “Good,” he says.

  “Jadick’s injury must be what Grey meant when he said our best shot was coming in that night.” Tripp looks thoughtful. “You must have really set him back, Quinn. Nice work.”

  “I’ll feel better when he’s dead,” I say.

  “Can’t argue there,” Tripp says.

  I look at Levi, whose dark expression leaves no doubt he agrees.

  “We have to challenge him,” I say quietly. “It’s the only way.”

  “Not we,” he says firmly.

  My eyes narrow. “Just because you’re an alpha already doesn’t mean you have to do this by yourself.”

  “It’s not about being an alpha,” he says. “Besides, without pack lands—or a pack—I’m not much of an alpha.”

  “The Jades still belong to you,” I say. “Swearing loyalty to Jadick doesn’t change that.”

  “I’d like to think they’ll choose me when it comes down to it,” he says. “But in the meantime, we have to be smart. We can’t just march in and expect Jadick to play fairly.”

  I drop my gaze. “That’s exactly what he said about Kari.” I look down. “It’s why he waited so long to come for you.”

  “Hey, it’s okay.” He presses his hand to my cheek, drawing my gaze back to his. “He didn’t come for me. You did. And I’ll never forget that. Even after everything I put you through.”

  “Maybe we can call it even,” I say, and his mouth quirks.

  “I’ll take that deal.”

  I blow out a breath. “What next? We need a plan.”

  “We need a safe place to think,” he says. “A base we can use.”

  “Grey and Frankie—will they fight with us?” I ask. They both nod. “Do you think there will be others?”

  Levi and Tripp share a look.

  “One way to find out,” Tripp says.

  Levi nods, and Tripp steps out again. “I’m going to make some calls,” he says before shutting the door behind him and leaving us alone.

  Levi explains, “A few Jades left when Jadick first gave the ultimatum about the law. We’ve kept apart because it’s safer, but if we had somewhere to go—somewhere safe—maybe we could get them to come to us.”

  “What about another Jade safe house?” I ask, “Like the mall?”

  He shakes his head. “Jadick knew about them all.”

  He looks angry at himself. But then his eyes lighten with an idea.

  He gets up, climbing toward the front. “Where are you going?” I ask.

  “To check with Tripp.”

  “About what?”

  “I think I know where we can go.”

  “Where?”

  He doesn’t answer as he opens the door and steps out. When he looks back at me, I can see he’s hiding something.

  “Levi,” I begin.

  “Do you trust me?”

  The question alone is enough to soften me. “Yes.”

  He smiles softly and then shuts the door, leaving me alone with that speck of trust held delicately in my heart.

  CHAPTER 10

  Levi drives, and Tripp busies himself in the back of the van with stupid road trip games. Neither one has brought up the things I told them before leaving camp. I suspect we all need time to process it. If Jadick’s been planning this for months, maybe years, like Kari’s story suggests, it means he played the Jades from the start. It means he’s been using them to get to me all along. It’s a mind fuck none of us is ready to unravel.

  For almost an hour, we look for the alphabet on license plates. It’s a far cry from the tense silence of riding with my mother during one of her missions. Still, my thoughts continue to drift back to her as we drive, covering a distance I have no way to measure since I still don’t know where we’re going.

  Levi surprises me by joining in Tripp’s ridiculous scavenger hunt antics. He’s not one for dumb games like this, but here he is, laughing and calling out the letter X on a road sign. I give him a strange look, and he frowns over at me before glancing back at the highway again.

  “What?” he asks.

  “I know you’re just doing this to distract me,” I say.

  “Is it working?” Tripp asks from the backseat.

  I sigh and settle into my seat. “Sort of.”

  “We only have two letters left,” Tripp says. “Winner takes all.”

  “All of what?” I ask, twisting around to look at where he’s seated on the edge of the mattress. We did our best to clean up as we broke camp, but it’s still a hot mess back there.

  Tripp shrugs. “The glory,” he says simply.

  I snort. “The only glory I’m used to getting on road trips like this is spotting the mark before my mother can.”

  They both fall silent, our game abandoned.

  Levi is the one to speak first. “You’re worried about her.”

  It’s not a question.

  But my good shoulder rises and falls with a non-committal sort of “yes.”

  “She doesn’t know what he’s planning,” I say.

  If she knew, would it change anything? I can’t bring myself to ask the question.

  “She’s still on Jadick’s payroll,” Tripp reminds me.

  I lean my head back against my seat and shut my eyes. “I know.”

  More silence.

  I’ve ruined the fun.

  “She’s doing what she thinks is best for you,” Levi says quietly.

  I can’t help but crack an eye at that. “You think she would be on our side if she knew.”

  “Absolutely,” he says firmly. “Your mom is a lot of things, but she loves you, and she’s never going to be okay with a plan that involves you getting hurt.”

  Part of me wants to argue with that. To point out that she willingly helped orchestrate my engagement to Jadick. My entrapment, really. She helped make sure I’d have no choice but to agree, and then she made sure Jadick won the challenge to become alpha. Every action she’s taken in the last few weeks has been wholly against what I want.

  I don’t say any of that. Mostly because it won’t change anything. The path I’m on now no longer involves her. In fact, I’m pretty much on my own from here on. Parentless.

  A hollow ache forms in my chest, and I blow out a breath. “I guess we’ll see.”

  We cross into West Virginia, turn off the highway, and wind up in the hills on back roads that become too narrow for more than one car at a time. My curiosity piques.

  “What kind of secret man cave are you taking me to?” I ask.

  “Not a cave,” Levi says. His brow furrows. “Well, I mean, I’m pretty sure it’s not a cave.”

  “Why don’t you give me the location, and I’ll Google Earth it to be sure?” I ask innocently.

  “Not a chance.”

  I huff.

  “Mac, you’ve always sucked at surprises,” Tripp says with a chuckle.

  “Or maybe it’s the surprises that sucked,” I shoot back. “Remember my eleventh birthday?”

  He groans. “Do not remind me.”

  “What happened on her eleventh birthday?” Levi asks.

  “Tripp bought me a Barbie.”

  “What’s wrong with that?”

  “It didn’t have a head.”

  Levi looks both confused and disturbed at once, which is pretty much on par with my own reaction at the time. “What—”

  “I wanted her to have something that she could relate to. So I made the head interchangeable with a wolf head. So her Barbie could shift.”

  Levi tries—and fails—not to snicker.

  “Tell him where you got the head,” I say.

  “From your Twilight figurine collection,” he mutters, shoulders sagging with fresh guilt.

  Levi laughs outright. “You didn’t.”

  “I thought she’d be stoked. She loved Barbies. And she loved Twilight. Perfect combo.”

  I can’t help it, I laugh too, and Tripp smirks. “I told you we’d laugh about it one day.”

  “And I told you I’m going to get you back one day.”

  “Seriously? The statute of limitations on something like that must be up by now.”

  “Never,” I say, eyes twinkling with the promise in my words.

  He shudders when I aim the expression back at him. Smart.

  An hour later, we’ve left all semblance of civilization behind. My fingers tap impatiently against the windowsill until Levi grunts at me.