Marcy was dragging me through the park, hell bent on getting freakin’ ice cream. The wind was cold. The sky was black. And all I wanted to do was lie in bed and pretend as if nothing was wrong. I wanted to forget about the black wolf that wasn’t Dominic. I wanted to pretend I had never met Aidan, and I seriously didn’t want to think about Ray’s death and why no one was talking about it. But no, of course I couldn’t do that. Marcy needed ice cream.

Baskin Robbins was just on the other side of the soccer field. We stuck to the path, rounding the field, and from this distance, it looked as if the shop lights were dancing through the night, as the silhouettes of customers moved passed the window.

“Shit,” Marcy said. Her arm weaved through mine and she jerked me to a stop. “Jade, we need to go.” She started tugging on my arm, pulling me back the way we had come.

“I thought you wanted ice cream,” I said, cutting her a sideways glance. Even in the dark, she looked guilty.

“Marcy!” someone shouted, and I swiveled, looking into the secluded field. Someone was walking toward us, but I couldn’t tell who it was. Behind him, a small group of people, maybe ten, were gathered.

“Shit. Shit. Shit.” Marcy looked up at me with wide eyes and chewed on her bottom lip for a second, thinking. “If he asks, you begged me to go out, okay?” she whispered, her eyes pleading.

“What?” I asked, completely lost, and I glanced back at the group. Had they been there the whole time? I didn’t know, and not knowing made me crazy nervous. I should have noticed them. I should have been alert, not worrying about some boy that I had hardly talked to. If Aidan wanted to be part of the pack, that was his problem, not mine.

“Trevor,” she said urgently. “He told me to stay home tonight. Please, Jade. Just please say this was your idea.”

I wanted to shake her by her shoulders — literally. “What does Trevor have to do with anything?” I asked, not bothering to try to hide how pissed off I was.

“He’s my awesomesauce news,” she mumbled, averting her eyes from mine. She started kicking at the ground, digging a little hole in the grass with the toe of her shoe.

Clearly, she needed more than just a shake. Awesomesauce news and Trevor seriously didn’t mix. Trevor was not awesome anything, werewolf or not. He was a complete douche bag. And I was about to tell her as much, until I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Trevor was moving in on us, closing the distance quickly, so I bit my tongue and started pulling her down the path. I didn’t move fast enough.

“Mac, what the hell are you doing here?” Trevor shouted, snagging her arm and tearing her away from me. He spun her around to face him. “I told you to stay home.”

Trevor stood stiff, looking down at her. He wasn’t much taller than I was, but his bulky frame seriously increased his intimidation factor. His hoodie was snug; hugging his thick arms and chest, and his white baseball cap shielded most of his face. His jaw was locked, and his grip on her arm looked painfully tight.

Marcy shot me a desperate look before focusing on him. “Um, Jade wanted ice cream. It’s a girl thing. We eat ice cream when we’re upset.” Her voice squeaked unnaturally high as she rushed out the explanation, and Trevor shifted his glare to me.

His scrutiny made the hairs on my neck prickle, and like a wave, they slowly rose, as a shiver traveled up my back and neck. I took a step toward him, trying to hide how nervous I was, and clenched my fists. “Take your hand off of her, Trevor, before you lose it,” I said, glad my voice was strong and didn’t jump the way my stomach was.

“You’re not helping, Jade,” Marcy hissed at me and moved closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I’m sorry. She was upset about the whole Dom thing. I couldn’t say no.”

Trevor stood stiff, not moving closer, but not moving away from her either, and he kept his gaze focused on me. “You should have called me,” he said through gritted teeth. “I told you I didn’t want you walking around alone. Is it really going to be like this again, Mac? Not even a day and you’re already trying to push the limits.”

“I didn’t want to bother you,” Marcy said sweetly. She brought her hands up to his cheeks, pulling his gaze back to her, and she batted her long lashes at him. “You said you had pack stuff to deal with tonight, and it’s not like Baskin Robbins is far.” She glanced over her shoulder at me, and laid the sweetness on thick. “Look at her, honey, she’s a mess. Ice cream is totally mandatory right now.”

Trevor cupped her face with both hands, thankfully not looking back at me. I was sure that if he had, he would have known she was lying. “You make me crazy, you know that, right?” He bent a little, planting an incredibly hot kiss on her, so hot, in fact, that I blushed and had to turn away.

I glanced back at the field as I waited for them to stop, and relief washed over me. The group had pretty much dispersed, with only two of them left watching us.

The relief died fast.

The two that were left were heading over and as they neared us, I realized who they were. Dominic and Aidan. Dominic gave me a completely fake smile and cleared his throat. “Sorry to interrupt guys, but did she just tell you that Jade wanted ice cream?”

Marcy made a throaty whimpering kind of sound and Trevor chuckled. “Yeah,” Trevor said, his voice muffled by Marcy’s lips.

My body temperature dropped and a painfully tight knot twisted in my stomach. He wouldn’t, I thought. Dominic grinned at me and winked, and sweat beaded up on my upper lip. “Shut up, Dom,” I hissed, and his grin widened.

“Jade’s allergic to dairy,” he said. “Trev, your girl is lying to you.”

I felt my jaw drop. Aidan moved a bit closer, and Dominic laughed. I was stunned. Absolutely stunned. Did he really hate me that much? Really?

“You lied to me?” Trevor asked, pushing Marcy back, and holding her at arm’s length. His eyes raked over her as if he wasn’t really sure if he should believe Dominic or not.

“Wwwhat?” she stammered, her eyes growing wide and panicked. She cut Dominic a disbelieving and completely betrayed look, and said, “No, of course not. Why would I lie about ice cream?” It probably would have been believable if her voice hadn’t trembled so much.

Knots twisted in my stomach. I couldn’t think. We had been so close. So close to just walking away.

Trevor growled. It came from the back of his throat, and his eyes flashed yellow. Marcy started to squirm, trying to shake him off. I shot Dominic the coldest look I could muster and he chuckled, and mouthed, ‘Do your thing.’

It took me a second to process it, but once I did, I almost laughed. If I hadn’t wanted to kill Dominic at that very moment, I probably would have roared with laughter. He was setting us up. Except, we had been seconds away from walking away, and Marcy had been handling it just fine without Dominic’s seriously unneeded help. I wanted to march over to him and smack that grin off his face, but instead, I groaned and stomped up to Marcy. “Have you lost your mind?” I snapped, grabbing her arm and tugging her out of Trevor’s hold. “Mac, he’s already broke your heart once. What the hell is wrong with you?”

Marcy didn’t miss a beat. Confusing Trevor had always been the easiest way to get his temper down to a bearable level. And Trevor, well, he wasn’t exactly the smartest werewolf of the bunch. She jutted out her bottom lip in a pout. “You’re supposed to be happy for me.”

Dominic chuckled, swiftly moving in between Trevor and Marcy, cutting off Trevor’s attempt at grabbing her again. I tugged her a bit further away, before throwing my hands up in the air. “He cheated on you.”

Dominic’s chuckle turned into a full-bellied laugh, and I shot him a murderous glare. Why he felt the need to set up a distraction was lost on me. He could have just ended it, pulled rank on Trevor, and made him walk away or even better, let us handle it.

“It was a misunderstanding,” Marcy said, pacing around me until both Dominic and I were effectively blocking Trevor from her.

I followed her movement, crossing my arms over my chest and rolling my eyes. “Oh, I’ve got to hear this,” I said dryly. “A misunderstanding? How exactly did you misunderstand seeing his tongue down Erika’s throat?”

“Okay, so maybe it wasn’t entirely a misunderstanding. But he promised he won’t do it again.” She went up on tiptoes and glanced over my shoulder, smiling sweetly. “Right, honey?”

“And you believed him?” I said, before Trevor had a chance to answer.

“I’m happy, Jade,” she said, and stomped her foot. “Can’t you just let me be happy?”

Dominic was roaring with laughter, and it took everything I had not to burst out, too. Trevor looked so lost, his gaze shifting back and forth between us as if he was watching a game of tennis. Another minute or so of this, and we’d be able to walk away; I was sure of it.

“Babe,” Aidan said, stepping in front of me, “give her a break.” He slung an arm around my waist, pulling me against him, and nuzzled my neck. “Trust me,” he whispered in my ear, his lips brushing against my earlobe. My breath caught in my throat and I tried to push him away. He looked down at me with that knee-melting smile of his and whispered again, “Trust me.”

~ AIDAN ~

Jade gave me a dirty look. Not just a little dirty, but mud puddle dirty. I tried to pretend that it was directed at someone, anyone else, but it wasn’t.

I should let go, I thought. I should let go and just walk away. But watching her manipulate one of my wolves, without a shred of violence … It was amazing. She was amazing. And all I could think about as I watched her was touching her. Being closer to her. I needed her.

I held her tightly against my body, and she tried to push me away, but it was a halfhearted attempt. I could feel her frantic heartbeat pounding against my chest, and her breath was coming fast and short. I pulled her a bit closer, and she melted against me. Too bad she still glared up at me with hatred. It was frustrating as all hell, and all I could think of was wiping that look off her face.