Page 22 of Marked by the Pack (Crooked Point #2)

Tuesday

Zoey

I stopped on the first step on the way up to the bank. I knew whatever I was about to see was dangerous. And…barely even human? Practically animals? Emma had given me hints. But for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what I was about to walk into.

Whatever it was had made Emma try to skip town.

It was bad.

Really bad.

And yet…I really liked Otto, Huxley, and Ace.

I took a deep breath. I already knew what these guys were into.

And I was into it too. I wanted this. And I knew Bennett wasn’t looking for a girlfriend right now.

He’d told me as much. But maybe he could still give his three friends his stamp of approval or something?

Gah, none of this made any sense. Otto, Huxley, and Ace should be allowed to date anyone they wanted. They wanted me. That’s all that mattered. So I was going to go in there and see whatever secret they wanted to throw at me next. And then hopefully I’d have a really fun night.

I took another deep breath and then sprinted up the stairs. It was like my feet knew if they kept moving, I couldn’t stop and overthink everything. I threw open the doors to the bank and immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

It was just Otto, Huxley, and Ace inside. Otto was sitting on the counter and Huxley and Ace were both leaning against it. My shoulders relaxed. “Hey, guys.”

Otto lowered his eyebrows. “Zoey, what are you doing here?”

I thought he’d be a little more excited to see me. We’d been spending every night together, but he hadn’t come last night. He’d sent Huxley and Ace instead. I kind of thought that maybe…he’d missed me. I’d missed him.

Huxley and Ace looked at each other like they were confused too.

Otto slid off the counter. “Zoey, you have to leave. Now.”

“What?”

“Now,” he repeated.

“But…” my voice trailed off in the most pathetic way. I thought maybe Ace would hit Otto in the back of the head for being stupid. Or that Huxley would laugh because it was all a joke. But they looked uncomfortable too.

“Now,” Otto said again.

I took a step back like he’d just slapped me.

“Zoey, we thought you were coming by this morning,” Huxley said. “Where have you been all day?”

That had been the plan. For me to come to the bank and explain everything to Bennett. But I’d run into him at the coffee shop instead.

Otto turned to Huxley. “Why would you invite her here at all? ”

Ouch. Was he really that embarrassed to be seen with me?

“You need to go,” Ace said. “Bennett is in a shit mood. We’ll tell him a different day.”

“You were going to talk to him without me?” Otto said. “What the hell?!”

Yeah…we were not in a relationship. Because if we were, he’d be a little more concerned about the fact that I was holding back tears. I took another step back.

Titan came out of his office. The permanent frown on his face combined with the scar on his left cheek made him look so intimidating when he was annoyed. “What is she doing here?” he said. “We’re about to have a meeting, Zoey. And it’s late. You should go home.”

Wow. Okay. You know what? Fuck all of them. “Yeah, I was just leaving. I actually have a date. Since I’m not currently in a relationship or anything.” I stared at Otto. “Two dates actually.” I looked at Huxley and Ace. “Back to back.”

All three of them frowned.

“I bet,” Titan said.

Excuse you? Seriously, what was his deal? “I was just stopping by to say hi beforehand.” Grudge and King would keep me perfectly entertained tonight. I did not need whatever this was.

“Great,” Titan said. “Tell Emma I say hi.”

Fuck you. “I will. Sorry it didn’t work out between the two of you,” I said to him. “I know she was your type.”

Titan glanced at Otto, Huxley, and Ace. And then he turned his gaze back to me. He looked even more annoyed than he had a second ago when he was glaring at me. “She was dating Bennett. Not me. ”

Yeah, I had no idea what the hell was going on. Titan was a part of the sharing one woman thing according to the twins. I didn’t know what game any of these guys were playing. But I was done.

“Right,” I said. “See you all never.”

Bennett emerged from his office just as I grabbed the doorknob. “Stop,” he said.

My feet immediately froze even though I wanted to keep going.

“Zoey was just leaving,” Otto said. “Right, Zoey?”

“Absolutely, asshole.” But it was like my feet wouldn’t move. What the hell?!

“No. You’re staying.” Bennett walked into the center of the bank. “Come here, Zoey.”

Again, my feet moved without the rest of me telling them to. I didn’t want to be here anymore. I didn’t want Otto to be staring at me like I meant nothing. Or for Huxley and Ace to look so…nervous? Why did they look nervous?

I stopped right in front of Bennett. “This was a mistake. I don’t want to be here anymore,” I said to him, hoping the rest of the guys couldn’t hear. Seriously, I was seconds away from bursting into tears.

Bennett’s eyes searched mine. “Okay.” He pulled his mind control watch out of his pocket. “You can leave. If you want to. But I want you to stay.” He tossed the pocket watch to Titan.

I still felt frozen in place, even without him controlling me. His gaze made me nervous. I wasn’t sure I wanted the same thing I had this morning. Otto, Huxley, and Ace were all dicks. And Titan. Especially Titan. I didn’t want a relationship with any of them .

“You told me this morning what you wanted.” Bennett reached out and trailed his thumb along my choker as he walked behind me. “I can give you what you want,” he whispered. “But I need something from you first.”

I swallowed hard.

His lips fell to my ear and he pressed his hand against the front of my neck so I wouldn’t move. “You’re going to help teach my friends a lesson.”

“What kind of lesson?” I whispered.

“This morning, you acted like you had me all figured out. You said I like an audience. Let’s test that theory.”

I pressed my thighs together.

“You’re going to want to keep your legs spread, Zoey.”

Fuck. I was angry at the other four men standing in the bank. But somehow that anger had turned into something else while Bennett was whispering sinful things in my ear.

“You can always tell me to stop,” he whispered. “But if you’re right about me…and what you said about yourself this morning is true…I think we’re both about to really enjoy this.”

Jesus.

Bennett’s lips fell from my ear and he cleared his throat. “While Titan and I were out working the past several days…Otto, Huxley, and Ace were busy playing.” His hand moved down my chest, cupping one of my breasts through my shirt. “Isn’t that right?” he said as he stared at his friends.

The three of them didn’t reply. But Otto looked really pissed .

Good. I wanted him to feel the way he’d just made me feel.

“Otto’s been sneaking over to Zoey’s house every night. In a ruse of keeping her safe.”

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Titan asked.

Otto still didn’t reply. But his gaze was tracing Bennett’s hand. Over my hip and down my thigh. Bennett’s hand stopped at the hem of my skirt.

“And while you’re there, Otto, are you fucking Zoey with your fingers?” Bennett slipped his hand beneath my skirt, slowing tracing his fingers up my thigh. Bunching my skirt up over his wrist. “Your mouth?” His fingers brushed across my thong. “Your cock?”

Otto’s nostrils flared.

“That’s a yes,” Bennett said. “And yet, she’s soaking wet and I haven’t even touched her yet. Isn’t that right, Zoey?”

I tried to stifle my moan. We both knew it was true. He could feel me through my thong.

“And while Otto’s pretending to keep her safe…you two are having a turn, right?”

“We were going to tell you,” Ace said. “This morning actually. We…”

“Well, Zoey beat you to it. Didn’t you?” He pressed my thong to the side and slipped a finger inside of my wetness.

I moaned and shifted forward. But he grabbed my hip and pulled me back against him. I could feel his hardness pressed against the small of my back. I knew he liked an audience. And it just so happened that I did too .

“And it wasn’t just that you three fucked her without my permission. It’s that you two idiots let Otto be alone with her. After everything that just happened.”

God, I didn’t know why that mattered, or what they were referring to. But Bennett’s fingers were driving me insane.

“He was being careful,” Ace said. “We were all being careful.”

Bennett sighed. “I had the pocket watch.”

“Yeah, but I gave her the necklace,” Huxley said.

“Really? How was that supposed to keep her safe? We both know that was to cover up the hickey Ace left on her neck so I wouldn’t see it.”

“No,” Huxley said. “It was to protect her from…”

“From Callum. Not from the three of you.”

God, I could barely pay attention. The necklace protected me from…Callum? If it only protected me from Callum, that meant these guys weren’t vampires too. Bennett slipped another finger inside of me, ending my train of thought. My body shuddered.

He groaned as my pussy clenched around him. “So do you think you were right about me?” he whispered into my ear.

“Yes.” I leaned back, feeling his hardness pressed against me.

“Do you like me teasing you in front of the guys you fucked?”

I moaned.

He kissed the side of my neck and across my clavicle. He bit the strap of my bra and pulled it and the strap of my dress down my bicep. “Keep riding my hand. Just like that.” He lifted his lips from my skin. “And that wasn’t all the three of you did. ”

No one responded.

“You also let her believe that this was our secret.”

“We never lied to her,” Otto said. He’d finally spoken. “At least, I never lied to her.”

“We didn’t say anything either,” Ace said. “And this is one of our secrets. If she thought…”

“You all let her think it. Isn’t that right, Zoey? Didn’t they let you think this was our secret?” He pressed down on my clit with his thumb.

“Yes!”

Otto growled. Like actually growled. It was the sexiest sound I’d ever heard. This guttural, raw desire for…me.

I stared at him. He looked really pissed. Like he wanted to rip Bennett’s head off. He could have avoided this whole thing if he hadn’t wanted to keep me his dirty little secret.

“Mmm,” Bennett groaned. “She’s so responsive to my touch. I think it’s only fair that we show her our real secret. Don’t you? After teasing her for days?”

“No,” Titan said. “Absolutely not. I’m using my veto.”

“It’s too late for that,” Bennett said. “She’s seconds away from coming on my fingers. And I think we all know that Otto is seconds away from turning. Because he has no fucking control!”

“I’m in control!” Otto yelled, not at all sounding in control. “I wouldn’t have hurt her. I’d never hurt her.”

“So you’re in control when you’re deep inside of her pussy?” Bennett pushed his fingers deeper into my wetness.

Jesus.

“I don’t think so, Otto. ”

He growled again.

“And you think you were in control when Ace bit her shoulder?” He looked down at the mark on my shoulder. “Was his cock inside of her pussy when he did that? And you really didn’t mind him claiming her like that?”

“He didn’t claim her,” Otto said. His nostrils flared.

“But if he did, you wouldn’t have minded? So you wouldn’t mind if I claimed her then? Maybe I’ll cum all over her pretty little face. Would you like that, Zoey? If I left my mark on you too? I bet you’d love if all five of us marked you.”

God. My pussy clenched around his fingers, again and again as I came. “Bennett.” I grabbed his wrist so he wouldn’t stop fucking me with his fingers.

“I’m using my veto,” Titan said again.

“Titan, not another word,” Bennett said. “This isn’t about you. We’ll discuss this later.”

Otto growled again. Louder than before. No. Not Otto.

Otto didn’t look pissed anymore. He looked…concerned. I turned my head to look at Titan.

Titan’s body shook as he fell to…all fours.

He screamed in pain as his body tripled in size and black fur covered him, transforming him into a huge beast.

He looked at me with eyes almost as black as his fur. And roared at the top of his lungs.