You could tell a lot about a person based on the music they listened to in their car. Rowena listened to just about anything from K-pop to classical. Sitting in a truck with a somber Cross, she realized he listened to the news.

"I don't see why you didn't just let me ride back with Abby," Rowena grumbled, fumbling with the touchscreen that controlled the satellite radio stations.

Cross turned to her with a disbelieving brow lifted. "If I left you two alone, who knows what trouble you'd get into? Just consider this Cross and Rowena bonding time."

"I'm not sure we should be bonding but we told you—I wanted to pawn my crystal ball." She lifted the box her fortune-telling prop was held in. Cross had placed it on her lap after practically shoving her in his truck and ordering Liam and Matt to ride with his sister, Abby, back to Howler.

"Everything you need will be provided for you at Howler while you're under our protection. You didn't need to pawn anything. Just admit you lied about the ball so you two could talk to Little Mikey."

"I admit nothing."

Cross shook his head, his hands tightening on the steering wheel. "I can't believe you convinced Abby to take you to Howler. It was dangerous. Flint Sloane is out there somewhere, gunning for you. If you don't care about your own life, at least care about my sister's."

His words caused an unfamiliar weight in her stomach. So, he didn't care if she put herself in danger as long as his sister was safe? She shrugged the hurt away. It wasn't as if she really knew Cross. Sure, he had asked her to be his consort but only in name. As far as him showing flashes of possessiveness—she had a feeling it was more of a compulsion than something he voluntarily did.

Maybe it was because she smelled so good? She shivered. It was weird to know the town of Howler was comprised of wolf-shifters hiding in plain sight.

The trip to Little Mikey's was necessary. As much as Cross said he believed she didn't kill Casey, a big part of her didn't believe him. What he said made sense. There was no way she could've killed Casey based on strength alone. Originally, he thought she was a witch and had used her powers to help tie the she-wolf to a chair before setting Reed's house on fire.

It became clear she didn't really have powers after having her tied up and her second kidnapping with the Nightshade pack.

"You act like I twisted your sister's armed," Rowena muttered.

His grey eyes flashed in amusement. "Ro, I believe you could talk a nun into devil-worshipping."

"Sacrilege!" She gasped in mock horror. "And did you just call me, Ro?"

He smirked. "Abby called you that and you said you liked it. I figured if you're going to be my consort one day, you should be okay with me calling you a nickname."

There he went again with the whole consort thing. Why?

"Cross? Why do you keep joking about me being your consort? Abby, Liam, and Matt seemed surprised about it."

He exhaled but didn't speak. She pressed the button to turn the radio off.

"Ignoring me won't stop me from talking," she warned him.

His mouth twitched.

"Seriously, I can hold full conversations on my own. I'm used to it."

He turned back to her, his brows in the shape of a V. "Why would you have conversations with yourself?"

She tilted her head and waved her hand in front of her like what she was about to say was no big deal. "My family."

"Your family?"

She sighed. "You know how Little Mikey kept saying everyone in my family had a gift or magic? Whatever you want to call it—it's true. Everyone except me. So, all my cousins except Lorena, either made fun of me or ignored me."

"You don't have any siblings?"

Rowena shook her head. "Nope, just me. My parents didn't really want to have children. I was a happy surprise."

Cross frowned at her facetious statement. "So, your parents didn't talk to you either?"

She chuckled. "I wish. No, my dad was very vocal about how it was disappointing that I hadn't inherited the gift. At one point, he left my mom after accusing her of having an affair and getting pregnant with another man's baby."

Cross' mouth fell open.

"Every female in the Flores line has a gift, Cross. Without fail. I was the outlier. It made no sense."

"I can't imagine my parents ever doing that. Then again, as wolf-shifter, we can scent family."

"Well, my mother had a DNA test done to prove I was his. Still, they both seemed to resent me. My dad, because I didn't have a gift, and my mom because my dad was so unhappy about it."

She didn't tell Cross how she had once heard her mother tell Lorena's mom how she had wished she'd never gotten pregnant.

Cross patted her hand. "I'm sorry, Rowena."

She grinned. "So, no more Ro?"

His mouth twitched again. "I'm sorry, Ro."

"Anyway, enough with the sad story," Rowena said, sitting up straighter in her seat. "My point was that I could have full conversations by myself. I could even start talking about the romance novels I read in my book club, Cross. Save yourself the torture and tell me why you keep bringing up me being your consort."

He stretched his neck to the right and then the left. "A few reasons. One, I think it would be easier for the others to accept you. Right now, they think you're the crazy witch who cursed Reed, set his house on fire, and then killed Casey. Don't get me wrong, our wolves aren't opposed to violence or a fight to the death—but you aren't a wolf, Rowena."

"Obviously."

"You're a human. A possible witch."

"I told you, I'm not a witch."

"Ro, I hate to break it to you—but you cursed two men and it worked. You uncursed Little Mikey and as much as you want to say it's a coincidence...I don't believe that."

His using a nickname for her made her stomach feel like it was filled with bubbles. "But I've never been able to make things happen before and I think it's a stretch to say my curse was the cause of Reed's house being set on fire."

Cross shook his head. "You're not looking at the big picture. A curse is you demanding the universe take action. It's not always something that happens right away."

"So, you're saying it's my fault Reed's house was set on fire?"

"No, but your words inadvertently caused the universe to set the wheels in motion."

"That's you saying it's my fault," Rowena cried. "It's not like I really meant them. I was angry. Everyone says stupid stuff when they're angry."

"Did you light the match that set Reed's house on fire?" Cross asked.

"Of course not! I told you, I was probably at home with Kitty gorging on junk food and ice cream."

"Then you have nothing to feel guilty about."

"B-but you just said—"

"Forget it. I didn't say it so you would feel guilty. I said it so you would understand. Your words always have importance. My father used to tell me to always think before I speak because my words have the power to soothe or anger others. As alpha, I have a lot of sway in the pack."

"According to the books I've read, your word is law," Rowena mumbled.

Cross chuckled. "Not always. Abby didn't exactly follow orders when she took you to Clarkton, did she?"

"Yeah, but she's your sister. She can probably get away with murder as your sister." Rowena watched him drive for a few moments. Even his profile was attractive. It wasn't fair. "Where are your parents?"

"Out of the country."

Rowena's eyes narrowed. "I just opened up to you about my family and that's all you're going to tell me about your parents?"

He grinned. "You really do have a temper, don't you?"

She crossed her arms across her chest and turned away from him.

"My father passed the role of alpha to me years ago before he and my mother decided to travel the world. There's no major story involved."

Rowena had a ton of questions, but she wanted to get them back on topic. "If your pack thinks I'm able to curse people, they won't trust me?"

Cross shook his head. "Have you ever tried to curse anyone before you cursed Reed?"

"No, but I've never felt as angry as I did with Reed. I mean...I didn't love him or anything, but we'd been together for so long. To find out he'd also been with Casey was a low blow. Sometimes, it feels like I'm walking a tightwire of low self-esteem and anger."

"You really have low self-esteem?" Cross asked, not quite understanding her. "But you're beautiful and your scent is so—"

Rowena held up a hand. "Please, let's not talk about how I smell! Thank you for the compliment but when you have your family constantly telling you you're not good enough, low self-esteem is ingrained in you. My therapist said it's good to be aware of it and call myself out on it. Recognize and move past it."

"You see a therapist?"

"Sometimes. In the past it was court-ordered."

His eyebrows lifted. He made a mental note to ask Liam to look into Rowena's background. He didn't want to upset her any more than he already had by asking her questions about what sounded like a difficult time. Instead, he went back to talking about her being his consort. "If you were my consort, you'd be accepted in the pack and more likely to get their help if trouble with Casey's brother arose."

"Are you saying they'd let me fend for myself?" Rowena asked. "I met some of Reed's neighbors and they seemed really nice." She was trying to remember their names. Wyatt and Maybelle were the two names that stuck out to her.

"Everyone in my pack is great but if you're not pack, you're an outsider. Being dominant is important in a pack. If you're not born with alpha or beta traits, then you're an omega. If you're pack, the stronger wolves will protect you. If you're not pack—you're on your own."

"Why are you so willing to help me?" Rowena couldn't help but ask.

"Because I'm alpha."

"So? I'm not a wolf-shifter. I'm not pack."

"No, you aren't. Reed is. Bringing you in the way he did was his mistake. His mistakes are my mistakes. You could essentially expose us. We brought you in thinking you were part of our world."

"Our world?"

Cross nodded. "Witches exist. The kind that do magic and cast spells. They don't expose themselves either. Your family has gifts but they aren't witches—not really. Witches know about shifters. When I realized Reed was wrong and you weren't a witch, I decided that you being a consort would be a great option to gaining your loyalty to the pack. You wouldn't be able to expose us. If humans knew we existed, they'd send the government after us. People would think we're some sort of circus act and invade our town."

"What makes you so sure I won't expose you even if you make me a consort?" Rowena couldn't help but ask.

He shifted in his seat. "If you were my consort, you'd be compelled to keep us safe."

"What do you mean?"

"You wouldn't want to expose us because you would know it would hurt us. You couldn't open your mouth to say the words even if you did want to. Your body wouldn't let you betray me or the pack."

"Wow, is that how it is for all the shifters in your pack? They can't say anything because of compulsion?"

He chuckled. "Kind of but for a consort it's a bit stronger. You would essentially be mine so you would want to protect the pack just as much as I would."

"And what happens when I no longer want to be your consort?"

He rolled his shoulders before looking at his mirror and turning onto a single-lane highway. "You wouldn't."

"What? That makes no sense. If you took a mate, I definitely would not want to be your mate any longer."

"I'm not sure I'll ever take a mate," Cross whispered.

Before Rowena could ask him any other questions, a dark sedan was speeding up behind them. Rowena grunted. "I hate drivers like that. They can clearly see it's a single-lane. They have to wait to pass you unless they want to hit oncoming traffic."

The sedan was practically riding their truck's bumper.

Rowena turned her head. "You should hit the brakes."

"Then they'll hit us."

"So? They're driving a rinky-dink sedan. It'll do them more damage than us plus they'll be responsible for the accident. It'll be a learning lesson for them."

Cross rolled his eyes. "You really have a bad temper."

He moved to the shoulder to let the car pass.

Rowena fumed. "I can't believe you're letting them pass. If it were up to me, I'd teach them a lesson—Rowena style."

Cross grinned but continued driving on the shoulder. The sedan sped up and was keeping pace with them.

Rowena looked over at the sedan. "Why isn't he passing us? He was on our tail but now he decided to go the speed limit?"

Cross rolled down his window and put his hand out, gesturing for the sedan to move forward.

"I'll show him a gesture," Rowena muttered, fisting her hands so she wasn't tempted to lift her middle fingers. Cross already thought she had a bad temper, she didn't need to prove it again.

"Do not flip them off," Cross ordered.

"But my middle fingers are just itching to pop up," Rowena whined.

The passenger window of the sedan rolled down and the unmistakable barrel of a gun was being pointed at them.

"Cross! Brake!" Rowena shouted at the same time grabbing his wheel and turning it left. The truck rammed into the sedan and a loud crash vibrated around them.

Rowena screamed as gunshots filled the air.