Page 36 of Marked by the Pack (Crooked Point #2)

Thursday

Zoey

I barley slept at all. The excitement about pulling a bank job today was completely outweighed by the fact that Titan was blackmailing me.

I bit the inside of my lip, thinking about the way he’d stared at me while his friends fucked me.

Gah.

Why did arrogant, hot-headed, domineering assholes always have to be so devastatingly handsome?

This wasn’t the first time I’d been blackmailed though. And in my line of work, it probably wouldn’t be the last. I hated the fact that he had a tape of me though. Just thinking about it made me feel a little panicky.

When my sex tape got leaked back in college, I’d gotten a few private messages that weren’t from pervs.

People threatening to reveal my identity if I didn’t pay them some exorbitant amount of money.

At the time, I didn’t have the money. If I did, I probably would have been na?ve enough to pay it.

But it was good that I didn’t, because my name was already starting to circulate since crooks weren’t the only ones interested in me.

The lesson I learned? Ignore the blackmail.

But…it was different now. This wasn’t just about me. I cared about Otto, Bennett, Ace, and Huxley. I re ally liked them. I liked our arrangement. I liked the way they made me feel. And I didn’t want to have to walk away.

I bit into my éclair, knowing full well that I’d ordered it because it reminded me of Bennett. Emma would be meeting up with me at the coffee shop any minute. And I really needed her advice.

Maybe Titan was bluffing.

Or…maybe he just wanted something from me. He was one of hundreds of thousands of followers. Presumably he liked what he saw. But I’d given him what he wanted last night and he still blackmailed me.

Maybe Titan didn’t even matter in this equation. I needed to tell my boyfriends about my camming anyway. Better now than later.

No, better sometime after I broke into their bank and cured them.

God, the secrets I was keeping from them just kept piling up.

“Stress eating?” Emma asked and sat down across from me.

I wiped the side of my face with a napkin. “Yeah.” I put the éclair down on my plate.

“Me too.” She picked it up and took a bite.

“Wait, why are you stressed?”

“I just figured out a major flaw in our plan now that I’m not drunk. How do we know the guys aren’t going to be at the bank tonight? They were there with you last night after hours.”

“I thought about that exact same thing this morning.” When I wasn’t obsessing over Titan being a jerk.

“I texted Otto and there’s a football game on tonight that they’re all excited about.

He asked me to come over but I told him I was busy hanging out with you tonight.

Which is true. I didn’t even have to lie.

I can’t believe we almost forgot to make sure the coast was clear. ”

Emma laughed. “It’s a key point.”

“Almost as important as the key to the bank itself.” I wondered if Ace had noticed his missing keychain yet.

Hopefully not. The last thing I needed was for him to change the locks to the bank.

I kept glancing at my phone. Waiting for a rude message from Titan or a message from Ace asking where his keys were.

“Okay, so we’re good.” Emma nodded. “Why do you still look stressed?”

“So get this. It turns out Titan is one of my subscribers on MyFanatics. He requested a private session last night while wearing a mask, recorded the whole thing, and then revealed his true identity. And now he’s blackmailing me.”

Emma opened her mouth and then closed it again. “What the fuck? What does he want? Is it a money thing? Should we report him to Officer Davis?”

“I wish it was just a money thing. And I can’t take this shit to Officer Davis. He’ll never look at me the same.” God, what if Titan leaked the video to everyone in Crooked Point? I loved this town. I didn’t want to have to leave.

Emma just stared at me. “So what does he want?”

“Titan says I have until midnight tonight to tell the guys what I do for a living. Or he’ll show them the video. I was planning on telling them, Emma. I just thought I’d have more time. You know how much I love what I do.”

“Yeah. It’s your photography.” She nodded to the camera around her neck .

“Exactly. But it took you a while to understand and you know me so well. I’m worried that they’re just not going to get why I do it.”

Emma pressed her lips together.

“What?”

“Well…if they don’t understand…are you willing to give it up for them?”

I’d had a lot of time to think about that last night.

“Recently I’ve just been picturing them during my sessions anyway.

” I mostly just hung out with Grudge. Or bombarded King with questions.

“I’d give it up if they wanted me to. But I’m more worried that they’re going to dump me as soon as I tell them the truth.

Titan seemed to think I was despicable.”

“Titan’s a little uptight.”

I laughed. “Yeah. But he knows his friends. And he clearly thinks they’re going to be upset about it. He wants to get rid of me. And I gave him his smoking gun.”

“It’s a good thing we’re robbing them tonight then. They’d never dump you after you present them with the cure they’ve been searching for.”

I sighed. “Maybe.”

“Definitely.”

“Even if they do understand and forgive me. Whether I keep camming or not…Titan will always hate me. Eventually that will weigh on his friends. They’re supposed to agree on stuff like this. And he wants me gone.”

Emma leaned forward. “Question for you. Say Bennett, Otto, Huxley, and Ace disappeared tomorrow. Without a trace. How would that make you feel? ”

“I…I’d be heartbroken.” Honestly, I felt a little teary eyed just thinking about it. “I don’t want to lose them.”

She nodded. “That was exactly how I felt when Callum disappeared. You love them, Zoey. And you have to fight for what you love.”

“By stalking them for the next ten years?”

She threw the éclair at me.

I laughed and caught it.

“Rude. No. Don’t pull a me. Don’t let them go. Tell them how you feel. Rip off the Band-Aid of the camming thing. Just put it all out there.”

I groaned. “I was so excited for today and now my stomach is a pit of nerves.”

“Titan said you have until midnight, right? We’ll be out of the bank by then. Let’s focus on that. And then we can all ride off into the sunset happily ever after.”

“Happily ever after with four hot men.”

Emma laughed. “I honestly don’t know how you do it. One is plenty for me.”

“Are you sure you don’t want two? Because you can have Titan.”

“I don’t know…I think you kind of have a thing for him.”

Definitely not. “He’s the worst.”

She smiled. “See? You’re passionate about him.”

“I loathe him.”

“So the sex will be amazing.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Did you have fun with him last night before he took off his mask?”

“Ugh. No.”

“You so did,” she said .

“Fine! He’s hot. Sue me. It’s not my fault. I have a thing for…”

“For bad boys. I know. I can’t believe he’s blackmailing you though. What an asshole. That’s not bad boy behavior. That’s dick behavior.”

“Agreed. Maybe you can talk to him for me. He seems to like you.”

Emma laughed. “No, he definitely doesn’t.”

“I don’t know. He talks about you a lot. I think he partially does it to piss me off. But maybe he really liked you.”

“Titan doesn’t even know me. And he tried to burn me with a magical pen.”

I laughed. “Fair. God, what if the guys break up with me?”

“Then it’s their loss. And you still have me. And Callum. And Kebe I guess.”

“You hate Kebe so much.”

“I don’t hate her. I just hate the way she talks about Callum. And the way she talks to Callum. And the way he talks about her.”

“Isn’t that what I just said?”

Emma shook her head. “It’s fine. Kebe’s funny.

And I’m glad you’re not all alone in that big house you bought with your camming money.

But …we should probably find out more about her, right?

She did not seem all that surprised when she heard about vampires and werecats.

We had normal reactions. She had zero reaction. ”

“That was kind of strange,” I said.

“Very freaking strange. ”

“Were you thinking a stake-out before the bank job? Spying on her would definitely keep my mind off the blackmail.”

“Yes! Let’s do it! Actually, we can go right now. You’re done with that, right?” She started grabbing my uneaten food to throw it out.

“I did not think you’d say yes to that. But I’m loving your enthusiasm.”

“Full disclosure? She’s with Callum right now looking at properties. And I have a list of the houses they’re going to stop by.”

I laughed. “Were you about to do this anyway?” I stared at her camera.

“No. I’m not a stalker.”

“We just talked about the fact that you kind of are though. Because of the whole being obsessed with Callum for ten years thing.”

“He was obsessed with me too, so it doesn’t count.”

“True. Okay, show me the way.” I pulled on my jacket and followed her out of the coffee shop.

The chilly fall air made me shiver. I stared at one of the jack-o’-lanterns that was still on display.

Now that I knew monsters were real, Halloween was suddenly so much spookier.

I shook the thought away. My boyfriends weren’t monsters. Titan on the other hand...

“They should be stopping by a house right off Main Street soon if they’re not already there.”

We turned down a side street.

She grabbed my arm and pulled me behind a bush.

“What are you doing?” I hissed.

“They’re walking out right now.” She pushed some of the branches aside so we could see the front of the house one door down .

Kebe laughed about something and touched Callum’s forearm.

He laughed too, but he immediately lowered his arm so her hand would fall.

Well that’s a relief. “He’s being so well behaved,” I said. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

“I’m not really worried about him. I know how he feels about me. I’m worried about her .”

Kebe patted Callum’s shoulder and held each pat a beat too long.

“Yeah, I get it,” I said. “She definitely has a thing for Callum. But Callum’s being such a good boy.”

We both watched in horror as Kebe touched the side of Callum’s face.

“What the fuck?” Emma said.

“I’m going to kill him,” I said when he just stared down at Kebe and nodded his head.

Kebe’s hand slid from Callum’s cheek down to the center of his chest. And they just stood there talking like that. With her hands all over him.

I glanced at Emma. I could see that she was holding back tears. “I’m going to throw a rock to distract them.”

“Don’t,” she said. “It’s fine. I trust him.”

Hell no. Callum and Kebe were suddenly staring at each other like they were having the world’s most intimate conversation.

And I was worried if they had another second alone they might kiss.

I grabbed a rock off the ground. But before I could throw it to distract them, Callum reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Look. He’s probably pretending to get a phone call so she stops touching him. ”

“Or he’s calling the listing agent for the next house on their list.”

But as soon as the words left Emma’s mouth, her phone started ringing. Really loudly. Why was her volume all the way up?!

Callum and Kebe’s heads snapped in our direction.

“Shit,” Emma said as she pulled out her phone. “He’s calling me . What do I do? Hang up?”

“No, answer it and be cool.”

Her finger hovered over the accept call button. “But they just heard it ring.”

“For all they know, they’re just staring at a random bush. They don’t know we’re hiding behind it. Answer it and distract him.”

“How?” Emma said.

“Just do it! Wait! Shit, they’re coming this way.”

“I already hit accept call. Fuck!”

“Emma?” Callum said.

“Why is it on speaker phone?” I hissed.

“Hello?” Callum said. “Emma are you there?”

I hit the screen of her phone and somehow made Callum’s voice come through even louder.

“Emma?” Callum said again, this time his voice echoing.

I cringed. It wasn’t echoing. He was standing right next to us, staring at us crouched behind the bush.

We were so screwed.