Midnight Moonrising (Moonrising #2)(93)

"Christ, Mena!" he said, and hurriedly tucked himself back into his jeans then buttoned and zipped before stepping out to follow her. "Hold on. I was only joking—well, I was half joking. If you'd have gone for it, I wouldn't have objected."

She sniggered as she reached for the lobby handle, but Phoenix was there to open it before her fingers wrapped around the brass.

"After you, Lupacchiotto."

He purposefully stayed a couple of steps behind her, so he could admire the way she looked in that dress from behind. The way her hips swayed made him wish she'd taken him up on his suggestion.

Mena pressed the elevator button and the doors opened immediately.

Phoenix smiled and nodded to a guy and girl as they walked out, leaving the elevator empty for Mena and himself. He pressed the 3 button on the elevator wall and watched as it lit up. As much as he'd read about it or watched it in movies, he had never had an interest in making out in an elevator. Until now.

After the doors whispered shut, he took a step toward her then frowned when she whirled toward him, her expression the epitome of serious.

"Have you had any luck finding any," she started, and he raised an eyebrow, warning her that she needed to be careful with her words and thoughts, "werewolves? I'm sure Jessica realizes by now that Dana isn't coming back. She has to be planning her next move."

He knew her question wasn't about the rogue werewolves, but about finding an Alpha wolf she could bond with in order to save them all from the moonrising wolf living inside her. "We've been looking. I'm sorry. None have turned up yet."


She nodded as she averted her anxious eyes from him, and he didn't know if the tightness he was feeling in his chest stemmed from the fact that finding another wolf for her to be with was the only way to save them or that she appeared saddened that they hadn't found one yet.

Neither option made him want to dance or sing.

Actually, he was almost certain he couldn't live through either one of them. He'd only read about broken hearts, but just the thought of living in this world without Mena felt like something was crushing his soul.

Raising a hand, he brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers as he looked into her beautiful green eyes. "Remember what I promised you, Mena. Don't worry about anything. I'll take care of it."

Her eyes shimmered with emotion. "I want to believe that—"

"Then believe it. Nothing is going to happen to you. I won't let it."

"You can't predict the future, so don't make promises you're not sure you can keep."

He sighed as he pulled her to him. "Not everyone will be happy when this is over, but I swear that you will be. That I can promise."

She pulled away and looked up at him. "But how can you be so sure?"

He couldn't tell her without the wolf in her knowing that they weren't talking about Jessica and the rogue wolves, but he was convinced they would find at least one Alpha who would come. "Just trust me." Lifting her chin with a finger, he forced her to look him in the eye. "Do you trust me, Mena?"

She gave him a slight nod. "More than I've ever trusted anyone."

"Okay then."

The elevator doors opened and he grabbed her hand, bringing it to his lips for a kiss before leading them toward the suite.





Chapter 48



Mena





Roel opened the hotel room door with a huge smile on his face. I'm not going to lie, I smiled, too, especially after I got a look at the jeans he was wearing.

He pointed to his head where the bruises were just barely visible now. "Sorry about the almost concussion, Mena. Jaxon jumped to conclusions."

"I hope that kiss was worth all our pain," I said, and nudged him in the arm as I walked into the room. "I had to run to the bathroom, feigning sickness, to keep Alex from seeing me flop around on the floor like a fish out of water."

Heath laughed. "He probably thinks you were having morning sickness. The guy is probably sweating more now than he would have if you'd just told him the truth."

I raised an eyebrow. "Not that it's any of your business, but he uses protection." My eyes slammed shut when I realized how that must have sounded to Phoenix; of course he knew the wolf and Alex had sex, because everyone linked with us pretty much knew everything that everyone did, but it wasn't something we'd talked about.

When I opened my eyes, Brad was grinning at me. "Alex may, but does Phoenix?"

I blushed, remembering that Phoenix and I had had sex right before we came up to the room. I opened my mouth to say that vampires couldn't have children—Phoenix had never bothered with contraceptives the two times we'd been together—and then I recalled the story he'd told me about his father being a vampire and I blanched. My heart began to pound in my chest at the thought that I might be pregnant. There was no way I could bring a child into this world full of vampires, werewolves and danger. How could I have been so stupid?

"Relax, Mena," Roel said. "Your heart is about to beat out of your chest. Female shifters can't get pregnant, neither can female vampires."

I let out a heavy breath that I hadn't been aware I was holding in, and lifted my gaze to look at Phoenix. His face was void of any emotion. I needed to change the topic of conversation. He only wore that mask when he didn't want me to know what he was thinking.