Midnight Moonrising (Moonrising #2)(110)

Ace stared at the door in silence.

"That was a dick thing to do—" Brad started.

"Shut up," Ace growled, and then shot to his feet and stomped to the bedroom.





v''''v





Phoenix





The room was too small. Even with twenty feet of distance between him and Ace, it was still not far enough away from the guy to suit him.

Brad was present, but that didn't comfort him in the slightest if, for some reason, the conversation took a left turn toward Weareallscrewedville. Ace's lion shifters stood dutifully at his back, ready for anything.

The Alpha still hadn't said he would do it. He'd only told them he would meet her. And by the look on his face, someone had pissed him off before he came downstairs. Phoenix would bet a lot of money it had been Roel, even after he'd told him to keep his trap shut about the human Ace brought home. Phoenix just needed things to go smoothly until they got Mena back, and then the guy would leave. That was the plan, anyway.

"Tell me a little about my new sweetie," Ace said, the cocky grin from the night before erasing the scowl.

"Mena doesn't belong to—"

Ace chuckled. "I know you're banging her, vampire. I'm not here to take your girl."

"Mena is not only Phoenix's girl," Rhodes said as he walked into the room, followed by Roel, Jaxon, Lea, Heather, Tracy and Heath.

Phoenix damn near gave a sigh of relief as the odds were evened.

"This the guy?" Rhodes said, irritation thick in his voice.

Ace grinned up at Alex from his seat. "She's into threesomes? I may change my mind about keeping her then." Rhodes' face contorted into a mask of disgust before he schooled himself.

Phoenix gestured to the empty couch, sofa and chairs between him and Ace before the cop bit off more than he could chew. "Please, let's have a seat and discuss this like mature adults. Shall we?"

Phoenix's group sat. Ace's pride remained standing.

Rhodes was leaning forward, his elbows propped on his knees and his head in his hands. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea for him to be here; he looked like he was about ready to snap. Phoenix supposed he still had it in his head that he could do this without the help of anyone else outside their circle.

Ace let his eyes roam the new faces, his expression free of anxiety. When he got to Rhodes, his eyes narrowed as he studied the man. "Who are you? I thought I'd heard all the rumors, but you've managed to slip through the gossip train. Are you lycanthrope?"


Rhodes lifted his head. "I was bitten two weeks ago."

"The moonrising wolf was in an intimate relationship with Alex while Mena and I were together," Phoenix said.

Ace's eyebrows shot into his hairline as he did a little back and forth action with his head. "Wait," he said, "you were okay with that?"

"The wolf was in control. I wasn't letting her go," Phoenix said.

"And neither was I," Alex said.

"What was your name again? Adam?" Ace said.

"Alex Rhodes."

Ace scrunched up his face. "You named your wolf that?"

Alex raised an eyebrow. "No. I named my wolf Peanut. Alex is my name."

The room fell silent for a moment, and then Ace gave a short chuckle as he stared at him, waiting. "You're joking, right?"

"What's wrong with my name?" Alex said, defensively.

"Rhodes," Roel said. "Please tell me you're f*cking playing about your wolf's name being Peanut."

"I only had one dog when I was a kid. I loved that dog. What's wrong with Peanut?"

Roel groaned. "Oh, God, he's serious."

"Dude," Brad said, "Peanut is okay for a beagle, not a wolf!"

The burst of laughter coming from Ace startled everyone. "This is the best day ever!"

Alex's face began to turn red in embarrassment and anger. "Why does it even matter?"

Tears were rolling down Ace's face as he threw himself back against the chair, laughter taking over his body. "It—it's your—" He laughed even harder.

"I'm really sorry, Rhodes. I should have told you, but I figured you would pick a manly name. I wasn't thinking."

"What?" Alex said in disbelief.

Phoenix removed the hand covering his eyes and looked at Rhodes. "They all go by their wolves' names, Rhodes. You will be known as Peanut to the pack now."

Alex reached at the small of his back with two hands, and then swiftly pointed two of Phoenix's handguns at Ace and Roel.

Each one of Ace's pride members pulled a gun out and pointed it directly at Alex.

Fuck! Phoenix thought.

Roel's hands flew up. "Whoa, Rhodes! All this because I didn't tell you—"

"Shut up!" Alex shouted.

The room fell silent again, and Ace lost his smile as he stood from his chair.

"What the hell are you doing, Rhodes?" Phoenix said.

"You invited me here to kill me?" Ace bellowed. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Cop," Heath said, "do you have a death wish?"

Brad took a step toward Alex, and Alex quickly aimed the gun he had pointed at Roel at Brad. "Don't move! If anyone bonds with Mena, it will be me."