Page 13 of Marked by the Pack (Crooked Point #2)

Thursday

Emma

Zoey’s hands fell from the waistband of Otto’s sweatpants.

What the hell had we just walked in on?

Was Zoey about to…

Oh my God. Before I could throw my hands over my eyes, Ace lifted his head from…somewhere.

Did Ace just have his face on Zoey’s lap?

Otto laughed. “Well, this is unexpected. Welcome to our home, Emma. Callum, not so much.”

Ace pushed one of the straps of Zoey’s dress up over her shoulder.

I could only see her head and shoulders from my view behind the back of the couch. I’d figured she was wearing a strapless dress. Not that she was naked on the couch with Otto and Ace!

Zoey quickly pulled her other strap back in place as Ace stood up and cleared his throat.

“Shit,” he mumbled as he looked down and realized his jeans were unzipped. He coughed and zipped them up, as if that helped hide anything that was happening.

Had Zoey seriously just been hooking up with both of them at once? I was almost positive that Ace had been going down on her while she was about to give Otto head. How were any of them smiling right now?!

“We’re actually a little busy at the moment,” Otto said. “If you want to come back in say…twenty minutes?”

Ace hit him in the back of the head.

“Ow.” Otto rubbed the spot. “Right.” He smiled down at Zoey. “Make it thirty minutes.”

Ace whispered something unintelligible under his breath.

Callum stepped in front of me. As if he could block whatever the hell we’d just walked in on. But it was seared into my brain.

He cleared his throat. “Zoey. We need a word with you. In private.”

“You know what?” Zoey said. “I was actually just gathering my things to go anyway. Otto was blocking my path. That’s why I was reaching up to push him out of the way.” She slapped his hip.

Otto laughed and stepped to the side.

“So…yeah.” She stood up. “I’m going to do that.” She hurried over to us. Her face was flushed. And I wasn’t sure if it was because she was embarrassed or just really turned on.

I had a million questions.

But Callum grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the front door.

Right before we stepped outside, I saw Huxley grab Zoey’s wrist to stop her. He whispered something in her ear and her cheeks flushed even more.

I turned away. Please tell me she wasn’t just with Huxley too !

Callum kept his hand firmly in mine as he led me down the walk and past the white picket fence.

“What the hell was that?” I whispered to him before Zoey had a chance to catch up to us.

“I told you what kind of guys they were. What kind of guy Bennett is.”

Bennett is into this shit too?! “You definitely did not tell me they like threesomes. Or foursomes. Or whatever that was.”

“I did tell you. That unlike them I don’t like to share.”

I just stared at him. “Callum, I thought you were being all sexy and possessive. Not telling me that the guy I was dating was into orgies.”

He laughed. “So you think it’s sexy when I’m possessive?”

“This is not about us right now. Seriously, what the hell? If you wanted me to stop dating Bennett all you had to do was tell me he likes gangbangs.”

Callum smiled. “I tried to. And you didn’t listen. Honestly, I was a little worried you were into it after the Ferris wheel thing…”

“No.” I shook my head. “No,” I said again. “Stop bringing that up. It was one time!”

He laughed. “You’re really cute when you’re frazzled.” He reached out to cradle my face in his hand.

I shoved his arm away. “It’s really not funny.”

“It’s a little funny.”

It really wasn’t. We’d just bought a house in a town that would forever call me Ferris wheel girl. What had we been thinking?

“Sorry about that,” Zoey said as she caught up to us. She was out of breath .

I now knew that being a personal fitness instructor wasn’t her full time gig. But she was still in great shape. She wasn’t out of breath from that jog down the block. She was out of breath because she’d just orgied.

“So what are you guys doing here?” Zoey asked.

“When you didn’t come home for a while after dinner, I started to wonder who you had dinner plans with. It didn’t take much to put it together.”

“I still don’t understand why you’re here though. Couldn’t it wait?”

“No it couldn’t wait! We came to warn you! About their secret.” Before it was too late. God, I’d nearly had a heart attack tonight when I realized she was probably alone with Otto. If I had known she was with three of them? I definitely wouldn’t be breathing anymore right now.

“Oh.” Zoey laughed. “No need to warn me.”

“What?”

“They already showed me. It’s fine.”

I stared at her. How was she so calm right now? “Wait, they showed you?”

“You almost walked in on it actually. Close call.”

I was glad we weren’t a few minutes earlier. I’d much rather accidentally witness her fucking three men than see those three men transform right in front of me again. I shuddered.

Zoey gave me a weird look. “Everything’s totally fine. I’m cool with it.”

“How are you cool with it? They’re robbers. They like orgies. They’re barely even human.”

“Wow,” Zoey said. “Barely even human? That’s a little judgmental, don’t you think? ”

I opened my mouth and closed it again. Yes, it was judgmental.

Of course they were human. Except for when they weren’t.

But I’d been really freaked out when I learned Callum was a vampire.

And even more freaked out when Bennett showed me what he was.

Zoey had said she was worried about me earlier today.

And now she was acting like supernatural creatures were the most normal thing in the world.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I wasn’t trying to judge them. I just…” my voice trailed off. “They barely have any control.”

“Really? I think they actually showed incredible restraint around me.”

“They almost killed me when they showed me their secret.”

Zoey smiled. “I didn’t really think that would be your thing. It’s a lot for one person to handle. But almost killed you? That’s a little extreme.”

“How are you not freaking out right now? They’re incredibly dangerous. You just witnessed it.”

“I don’t think it’s dangerous. Besides, a lot of the responsibility to make it safe is on me.”

“What?” How was any of this her responsibility? I was so confused.

“And I promise I’m doing all the right things here. I might ask them all to get tested though. Just to make sure nothing is contagious.”

Maybe that was a good idea. I wasn’t sure how it spread either. Or maybe they were born that way?

“But I trust them,” Zoey said. “They’re not going to hurt me. And I can always just tell them no if it’s too much. ”

“I don’t think they’d listen to that. They barely listen at all.” That was the whole reason why this was so scary.

“I mean, I was only hanging out with Otto and the twins. Maybe Bennett is more stubborn or something?”

Yeah. Maybe. But Otto was the least able to control himself. Titan had told me as much. Otto was dangerous. Possibly the most dangerous of all five of them. Even though Titan had definitely given off those vibes…

“You’re seriously not worried?” Callum asked. “They showed you what they are…and you have basically no reaction to it.”

“I’m actually excited about it.”

Callum raised his eyebrows. “You’re into that ? They’re practically animals.”

“Wow,” Zoey said. “You’re being as judgmental as Emma right now. Not human? Animals? What is wrong with you two? I mean, sure, I know it’s not for everyone. But we weren’t all born in the 1800s or whenever you were born. You’re too old-fashioned to understand.”

“I don’t think me being old-fashioned has anything to do with it.”

“It has everything to do with it. Look you guys, I’m so happy to have friends who have my back. But I was really hoping you’d be a little more supportive. Especially you, Emma. I’ve been supporting you this past week with Callum even though we thought he was dangerous.”

I sighed. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m just worried about you.” One of those guys had killed someone in the hay maze. I didn’t want Zoey to be next .

“Trust me, I have it all under control. And you really didn’t need to come tonight to save me from this. You kind of interrupted a good time.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did we interrupt your gangbang to warn you?” Of course she wanted to talk about that instead of what made them all so dangerous.

Zoey laughed. “It was hardly a gangbang. It was three guys.”

I knew Huxley was a part of that! “How does that even work?”

Zoey laughed again. “I mean, I have two hands, a mouth, and…”

“You know what? Never mind. You can spare me the details. I’m just glad you’re okay. I was so worried something terrible had happened to you.” I took a deep breath. I didn’t care about what Zoey did behind closed doors. I cared about her being alive enough to do weird shit behind closed doors.

Zoey waved her hand through the air. “Nope. And here you told me that I couldn’t date twins. Turns out I can date the twins and Otto. Fun twist.”

Why did she keep changing the subject?

Callum stopped on Main Street and pulled me in close. He leaned down to whisper in my ear. “I’m going to let the two of you have some time alone to talk about this. Maybe she’ll open up more to just you. Try to talk some sense into her.”

I was glad he wasn’t letting this go either. I thought it was just me that was making this a big deal. But Zoey was acting like it was nothing.

I nodded up at him. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Bright and early. We have some demo to do. ”

That sounded fun. And maybe it would be a healthy way to get rid of some of this nervous energy running through my body. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he whispered against my lips before pressing his against mine.

I hated that we weren’t living together yet. But it was good for me to have some alone time with Zoey. Callum was right, someone needed to talk some sense into her. I reluctantly let go of him and watched him walk in the opposite direction.

“You two are adorable,” Zoey said. “Maybe one day you’ll be saying that about Otto, Ace, Huxley, and me.”

I shook my head. “You really can’t stand there and tell me you’re not scared of them.”

“I’m not.”

“Zoey, they’re dangerous…” I started choking. Fuck. I coughed again. I thought once they revealed their secret to Zoey, I’d be able to talk about this out loud. I really needed to ask Bennett the particulars about this secret blood oath I’d taken.

But at least Zoey knew the truth now. I coughed again.

Zoey laughed. “I can’t believe just talking about their secret makes you look like you’re going to hurl. And I don’t understand all the secrecy behind it. I think it’s so hot. So. Incredibly. Hot.” She fanned herself.

I gave her a weird look. “Before or…after?” Was this like…some kind of fantasy I didn’t know about? Honestly, probably. If she was into orgies, she was definitely more adventurous than me.

“Before, after, during. All of it. God, they make me feel so alive.” She started whistling as we walked down the street.

She felt alive right now. But she wouldn’t after they murdered her.