“No.” The truth was that I had no idea what to say to them, and I wasn’t prepared for the inevitable questions. Any answers I gave could expose my lie, and until I knew exactly what had happened to my brother, I wasn’t going to risk revealing his part in the infection of Corey Morris.

“Well, I do.” Robyn’s shoes squeaked on the marble floor as she spun and headed toward the kitchen, where I could hear most of my men speaking in soft voices. “Hey, I just wanted to say goodbye before we go,” she said, and I closed my eyes and prayed for patience.

“Where are you going?” Knox said. “Aren’t you supposed to stay here?”

“Yes.” Concern rode Drew’s deep baritone. “She is.”

I exhaled slowly, then set my bag down and headed for the kitchen. “I told the council I’d protect her, and I can’t do that if she’s not with me,” I said from the doorway.

“Are you sure about that, Titus?” Drew asked, and his concern raised the hairs on the nape of my neck. It was only natural that he would challenge me, considering his battlefield promotion to Alpha.

And it was only natural that his challenge would irritate me.

“I’m sure.” Even though Robyn had to talk me into it.

“I hate to question your judgment, man. Especially in your own house. But you gave your word as Alpha of this Pride,” Drew said, and the collective focus of the enforcers volleyed back to him, as the level of tension in the room rose. “Shouldn’t that promise be transferred along with the position?”

“No.” I didn’t bother to elaborate, because outlining my reasons would make it look like I felt the need to justify my position. Or that the matter was up for debate. Neither of which was true. “Robyn, say goodbye. We’re leaving.”

Drew opened his mouth, obviously ready to argue, but Robyn pulled him into a hug before he could. “It was great to meet you, and hopefully I’ll see you again before they drag me back to Atlanta.” She let Drew go and looked up at him with gratitude so earnest it could only be an act. A manipulation. “It’s so awesome of you to step up to help Titus. Hopefully, he won’t have to impose upon your generosity for very long.”

Drew stared at her, stunned by her blatant characterization of his tenure as temporary. In front of all of the enforcers.

I fought not to laugh out loud. Robyn might be smaller than the toms, but that woman’s mind was badass in a way that no enforcer’s claws or incisors would ever be.

She went around the room, hugging my men, saying something nice and personal to each of them, but when she got to Brandt, her hug lasted longer than it should have. Because she was whispering something in his ear.

When she finally let him go, his gaze fell on me, and he appeared—if not friendly—a little less hateful than he’d looked half an hour ago, in my study.

“What did you say to Brandt?” I whispered as I grabbed my suitcase on our way toward the front door.

“I told him that sometimes you have to trust the people you know and love, despite what logic seems to be telling you. After all, logic tells us that humans can’t turn into cats, but we all know that’s not true.”

“Wow.” I tried not to look too impressed. “Thanks, Robyn.”

She smiled as she pulled open the passenger door of my car, and a single raindrop hit the tip of her nose. “Does that mean I can ride up front? Or do I have to hide under your clothes all the way to Jackson?”

THIRTEEN

Robyn

Titus drove us south toward Jackson, in the dark and the rain, and we arrived at the Millsaps campus around ten o’clock. But the car didn’t stop.

“Where are we going?” I asked as we rolled past the campus’s concrete-and-brick welcome sign.

“My brother has an apartment off-campus. I figured we’d start there.”

Justus Alexander’s apartment turned out to be a thirteen-hundred-square-foot space with two large bedrooms, two baths, hardwood floors, and walk-in closets. I’d seen smaller houses.

“I’m guessing your brother got an inheritance as well?” I said as I ran my fingers across the granite countertops in the generous galley-style kitchen.

“Yes, but he won’t get the first lump sum until he turns twenty-five. I pay for the apartment. Which is why I have my own room, for when I visit.” Titus pushed open the door to the back bedroom and flipped a switch to turn on the light. “But I’ll take the couch tonight. You can have the bed.”

“Thanks,” I said. But I personally thought the overstuffed couch piled with designer pillows looked pretty damn comfortable—until I stepped into Titus’s room-away-from-home.

The bed was smaller—full-sized instead of king—but the mattress was tall enough that it had to be padded and the bedding looked plush and soft. And it smelled like him.

The sudden, visceral need to roll around on Titus’s comforter took me by surprise so strongly that I’d taken two steps toward the bed before I realized what I was doing. Mortified, I stopped, pivoted, then marched past him and out of the room, my cheeks flaming at the puzzled look he gave me.

And I certainly did not inhale his scent as I passed him on my way out the door.

The living room was freshly swept and smelled clean. The kitchen was spotless, and I didn’t see even a hint of dust buildup on the full-sized washer and dryer peeking from behind a set of bi-fold doors off the living room. “Your brother’s even more of a neat freak than you are.”

Titus snorted. “No, he has a bi-weekly cleaning service.”

“Of course he does.” I tried not to roll my eyes or sound too jealous of a nineteen-year-old attending a private college with no student debt, living alone in an expensive apartment with someone else to clean up all his messes.

Justus’s life was not without problems. Thus the reason for our visit.

I set my toothbrush on the glass coffee table. “Okay, I’m unpacked. So, where do we start?” Titus had been calling Justus every few minutes since we’d left the mansion, but he’d gotten no answer. “Is he onl your cell plan? Can you track his phone?”

“Yes. But I’m going to give him one more chance to answer.” He tapped a name in his contacts list, then held his phone up to his ear. It rang once from Titus’s end—then again from the front bedroom.