Marked Northern Shifters 1

you
    have to go slow with normals or it unnerves them. I told you that.”
He just gazed back at her, morose.
“I hope you convinced Alec you weren’t a rapist.”
“I think so.”
“You think so?” Alarmed, she stood. “ Liam! Did you have sex?”
He winced, wishing she wouldn’t say his name in horror. “He wanted it. I could
    smell desire on him. And he wasn’t scared anymore.”
She stared at him, not convinced. “I hope Alec knows he wanted it.” “He said ‘okay’. I drove him home. That’s good, isn’t it?” A pathetic grasp at
    salvaging something from the encounter, but still.
“Possibly,” she allowed, looking a little less appalled. “Did you throw him into the
car?”
Liam glared. “Very funny.” He paced again, stopped and raked a hand through his
hair. “Not that he had much choice. About the drive home,” Liam added hastily. “It was
absolutely pouring and would have been terrible to take the bus. He huddled in the corner
of the passenger seat, far away from me.”
Something like a groan escaped Veronica’s throat. “Did you chat while you drove
him home?”
Chat. Ha. “No.”
“You should have said something.”
Liam threw up his hands in despair. “I never know what to say. I always say the
wrong thing. He was angry at me, not frightened of me. I can smell the difference.” He
paused, because that was not the entire truth. Alec had definitely been rattled. “I don’t
think he hates me.”
“Oh, well that is certainly encouraging.” Veronica was not impressed, and for good
reason.
He fell into a chair. “I did it, didn’t I? Totally ruined Ira’s friendship with Alec.” “I can’t say. I wasn’t there.” She squinted at him again. She only squinted when she
thought he was in a bad way. “Did you kiss?”
Liam grudgingly nodded.
“Did Alec kiss you back?”
“Yes.”
She took in a fortifying breath. “Then maybe not all is lost. Did—?”
“Enough questions, okay?” Liam just didn’t think he could get into a conversation
about positions with Veronica, no matter how useful her advice might be. “I messed up.
But maybe not irrevocably.”
“So, are you going to call him for a date?” she said with hope. “I can babysit.” He stared at his hands.
“Liam?”
“I don’t think so. He has my number. I can’t after…” He gestured a little wildly. “I
can’t chase him now. He’d find it threatening.” He looked up at Veronica; his chest hurt.
“I don’t want to threaten him, Veronica. And I’m worried someone else did.” “David forgave me our rough beginning,” she said softly.
Liam really didn’t want to hear about Veronica and David.
“Though I pulled him down, I didn’t throw him down.”
“Veronica.”
“Okay.” But she dragged in a deep breath, which meant she had more to say. “Enough. I’ve reached my limit. I can’t talk about this anymore. I’m going to have to
leave the room if you continue this conversation.”
“It’s worse, actually. I have another conversation to start.” Her tone indicated she
was about to get even more serious. “About the quad.”
He threw his head back and closed his eyes. Mention of the quad never failed to
unnerve him, for all sorts of reasons. But the quad was far away. He wanted them to stay
far away and murder themselves. “Go ahead.”
“I heard from my uncle. He’s been tracking them. They’re moving east again.” Opening his eyes, Liam stared at the white ceiling. “Now tell me again. What is the
reason your uncle doesn’t take out his FBI gun and just shoot them?”
Veronica waited until Liam turned his gaze towards her. “Trey is no longer with the
FBI.”
“Okay, his rogue FBI gun. He could use that one.”
“Liam, don’t act stupid.”
“The quad needs to die.”
“We understand that. Trey shot two of them in the head last year, if you recall, so we
should really be calling them the duo, but it doesn’t have quite the same ring. Anyway,
they’ve been hiding and he has to be careful. Trey is strong, but he can’t outfight Gabriel
and Luke.”
“ He thinks he can.”
“You should save your hatred for the quad, not Trey.”
Liam scrubbed his face. “I don’t hate Trey. He just annoys the piss out of me.” “Alphas.” She rolled her eyes.
“I wouldn’t know. I never stayed with a pack.”
“Nor I, and I prefer it that way.”
“Well the quad doesn’t give wolf packs a good name, does it?”
She gave a weak smile. “Be extra careful with Ira. They can