Taryn was honestly starting to feel sorry for him. He obviously thought he had some sort of authority over her and she believed it would be a while before it became apparent to him that the female he had taken as his mate did her own thing. “Again I feel I must remind you that I don’t do well with orders, but I have no wish to interfere so the point is mute as the result will be the same.”
Resisting the urge to shake her, he huffed and turned away only to find that some of the others were watching the exchange with amusement. He didn’t blame them. Here was this dainty little female giving him shit and even managing to get her own way.
Greta growled. “You just had to bring her here, didn’t you. Trey, you don’t need her, there’s no way Darryl will go through with this challenge. Just hand her over and be done with it.”
“Can we not hand her over instead?” asked Taryn. Was it wrong that she was seriously considering it?
“The hussy’s not worth fighting over. If he wants her, let him have her.”
“She’s mine. No one takes her.” Trey nodded at the males around him. “Let’s go. Taryn, stay at the rear.”
“No.”
“What was that?”
“To the outside world I’m Alpha female here, Trey,” she reminded him as she slipped on her light denim jacket that matched her jeans. “The Alpha pair always presents a united front when there’s a confrontation. I’m not saying that if he challenges you I won’t step back, but I won’t be shoved at the rear.”
The steel in her voice aroused his wolf just as much as it pissed him off. Trey was feeling pretty much the same. “Taryn, you can’t expect me or my wolf to be okay with you being in such easy reach of Roscoe, of being in that kind of danger.”
Smiling sweetly, she cupped his chin. “I won’t be in danger. You’ll protect me.”
Despite everything that was going on right now, he actually wanted to smile at her impishness. The other males were ducking their heads to hide theirs. “Fine, we present a united front, but only because the mating wouldn’t look real if we didn’t.” He thought that was a pretty good way to save face, but one or two of the males snorted. “Now, let’s go.”
As one – with Trey and Taryn side by side – they all made their way out of the caves and headed toward the gate.
Taryn marvelled at how all the males could walk at such a leisurely pace yet look extremely menacing at the same time. Each of them suddenly seemed two inches taller than what they truly were and had the most sinister look. Even Marcus’s usual grin had been replaced by a hostile scowl. Trey…well that was another matter altogether. Scrap hostile and sinister, the guy looked like he needed a rabies shot. He was a walking promise of death. And her wolf totally approved – yet another indication that she was dumb.
Nearing the gate, they caught sight of several vehicles parked by the security shack while a large number of shifters stood tall beside them. A normally composed Roscoe was scowling with rage, flexing his fists at his sides.
“Oh good Lord,” she said, snorting at the sheer ridiculousness of the number of wolves he had brought with him. Forty against seven? Yeah, very brave. It was a clear attempt at intimidation but Taryn knew it hadn’t had the desired effect. Why Roscoe had thought that Trey – someone who was practically the personification of intimidation – would be rattled was anyone’s guess.
When Trey came to a halt twelve feet away from the intruders, Ryan came to join the wall that the Phoenix wolves had made. Roscoe’s gaze settled on her and anger flashed across his face, most likely in response to Trey’s marks.
“Never had you down as someone who played games, Taryn. As you can see, game’s over. Get in the SUV while I have a talk with Coleman.”
Taryn almost laughed. “You sound as though you honestly believe I will.”
“Come now and we can avoid all this.”
“I’d rather lie under an elephant suffering from diarrhoea with my mouth open wide.”
“You know what will happen if you persist with this. People are going to get hurt, namely Coleman. Do you really want that on your conscience?”
“Oh no, you don’t get to turn this on me. If anyone gets hurt today it’s because you refuse to let go of something that was never yours to begin with.” She would bet money that if she had been within reach, Roscoe would have slapped her for that.
“Don’t be looking at Taryn, look at me.” Trey’s tone demanded attention. “I’m the one you should be worried about.”
“You must have a death wish, Coleman,” said Roscoe. “It’s the only reason I can think of that would explain why you would kidnap my mate.”
“Kidnap your mate,” repeated Trey with a smile. “I think you’ll find that Taryn’s mine.”
“She wears my mark.”
“Not a mark, a wound – one that I very nicely covered with a mark of my own.”
“She’s mine,” snarled Roscoe.
Growls of disagreement rumbled out of the throats of the seven males around her. Taryn couldn’t help but notice that, by contrast, although Roscoe had a large crew, they didn’t appear to be standing with him. There was no one flanking him or eyeing up the rest of Trey’s pack, picking an opponent they wanted for if it turned into an out-and-out fight. They were simply just…there.
“Here’s how it is, Roscoe. Taryn is my mate, I’ve claimed her, and I will kill anyone who tries to take her from me. If you can accept that, you can live and you can leave here peacefully. If you can’t, well, you must want to die.”
“Then it looks like we battle it out.”
Taryn gaped. “You have got to be kidding me. Why would you bother? You can’t tell me you’re that obsessed with the idea of breaking my spirit until I’m some kind of slave.”
“That’s what he had planned?” Trey’s wolf leapt for control, wanting to gut him.
Roscoe shrugged. “What male wouldn’t want to be able to turn a dominant female like Taryn into a gorgeously submissive slave?”
“Well they would be the sane males,” said Taryn.
“Stand back, baby,” ordered Trey as he removed his t-shirt and then tackled the fly of his jeans. “You heard him. He wants to battle it out.”
She might have tried to calm the atmosphere if she hadn’t known from experience that when two dominant male wolves agreed to battle, it meant the situation was passed help. She had the strange urge to kiss Trey, but knew he didn’t need to look weak right now.
“To the death,” Trey said to Roscoe in a calm but icy tone. “We battle to the death.” Having heard what Roscoe intended for Taryn, Trey’s wolf wasn’t going to be happy until he’d tore out his throat. There was no way Trey would stop him from going feral.
Roscoe, now naked, nodded. “To the death.” Suddenly bones were popping and his body was altering and then, mere seconds later, he was a large sandy snarling wolf.
But Trey was larger, Taryn soon found out as she watched him shift into a seven foot long and approximately thirty-two inch high gorgeous silvery grey wolf. He looked just as intimidating and overawing in wolf form with his powerful build, his heavily muscled neck, and his robust limbs. His hackles were raised, his angry eyes were drilling into Roscoe, his ears were upright, and his lips were curled back, exposing fangs and gums. The growl emitting from him sounded more like a boat motor.
Abruptly the sandy wolf sprang from his crouched position and rushed forward at the grey wolf, coming up short just to snap his teeth together. The grey wolf didn’t move a muscle, just stood looking large and fearsome, making a clear point that he was the more dominant animal in this situation. The sandy wolf reversed slowly only to once again rush forward aggressively and snap at the other.
Apparently the grey wolf had then decided that the other had had his chance to back down and he wasn’t going to stand still any longer. Growling, he began circling the sandy wolf, who then copied the move so that they were circling each other. Maybe because he was stupid or maybe because he was just suicidal, the sandy wolf growl
ed at Taryn. That was when her mate went feral.
The grey wolf lunged at the other wolf and they came together in a clash of claws and teeth. As shifters had superior speed and strength, it was like watching a recording in fast-forward motion. There was growling, there was body slamming, there was scratching, there was biting, and there were side swipes as each wolf fought to pin the other to the ground.
Taryn winced when the grey wolf bit down hard on the other’s hind leg, making him yelp loudly. The yelping faded to whimpering until the grey wolf yanked hard with his powerful jaws, snapping the sandy wolf’s leg. Damn, that had to hurt. When the injured wolf tried scooping himself off the floor, the other wolf slammed into him and knocked him onto his back. Then, in a typical wolf shifter killing move, the grey wolf slashed open his opponent’s midsection with his claws and simultaneously closed his jaws around his throat. With one sharp yank, he’d torn out his challenger’s throat.
As much as it had seemed like forever before it was over, it couldn’t have taken more than a minute for the feral wolf to have overpowered the sandy wolf. Overpowered was a mild word. Hell, the grey wolf had the other’s lifeless body by the throat, shaking it like a rag doll while growling loudly.
Several more minutes went by and the grey wolf continuing to attack the carcass, showing no signs of tiring or calming or any willingness to part with it. It was clear that he wasn’t coming out of his feral state any time soon.
“One of us is going to have to do something,” said Taryn.
Dante shrugged. “When he gets like this, you just have to leave him to tire himself out.”
Trick nodded. “At least he hasn’t charged at any of us this time.”
“But he’s injured, I need to heal him and I can’t while he’s in wolf form.” She was going to regret this, she knew she was. “Let me see if I can calm him down.”
“Whoa, now hang on a minute,” began Dante, palms out to ward her off. “Taryn, you can see the state he’s in, right? That’s not Trey. He’s buried way down deep, very much aware of what’s going on, but with no way of taking control for as long as his wolf is feral. If you go near him, he’ll see you as a threat and he’ll attack you just as he would anyone else.”
She rolled her eyes, implying he was being dramatic. In actuality, he was dead on. “He won’t hurt me. I know it’s not Trey, I know his wolf is in control, but his wolf considers me his mate just as Trey does.”
“She’s got a point,” said Trick, sighing. “She’s the person he’s least likely to hurt. He usually shows signs of calming by now.”
“His mate was threatened. That’s why he’s like this.” Marcus gestured at him, as anxious and fidgety as the others. Whenever an Alpha was unstable it leaked out into the pack link.
“I can’t just stand here.” When Dante again blocked her path she growled. “Move out of my way.”
“Taryn, come on, I’m Beta he’ll kill me if something happens to you.”
“And I’m temporarily Alpha female, which means I outrank you, but even if I wasn’t Alpha, I’d still expect you to move the hell out of my way. So do it.”
“What if he hurts you? It’ll distress him to know he’s harmed his mate. Have you thought about that?”
She huffed impatiently. “He won’t hurt me.”
“You’re sure about that?”
Of course not. “Yes, I’m sure. Now move.”
Finally he did, signalling for the others to give her some space, but without going too far. Very slowly she took a few steps toward the wolf. She knew there was no point in calling Trey’s name and appealing for him to come back. The wolf wouldn’t respond to the name, wouldn’t understand the words. The only way that Trey could overcome his wolf was if his wolf came down from his feral state. And that wasn’t going to happen until she got him away from that carcass. The smell of the blood would only be making him worse.
As she couldn’t exactly go over there and snatch away his prize, she decided her best bet might be to distract him from it. As an idea formed in her mind, she removed her denim jacket and balled it up. Hoping like hell this worked and didn’t just act like a red flag to a bull, she gently threw the jacket so that it landed to the side of the carcass. Instantly the feral wolf dived on the jacket as though it was a rabbit or a hare. Picking it up with his jaws, he shook it just like he had the carcass.
And then he seemed to pause and his growling eased a little as if he recognised the scent on the jacket. Hopefully he recognised it as the scent of his mate and not another threat.
“Hey Cujo,” she called in a soothing voice. His head whipped around to face her and he snarled while at the same time standing over the carcass and flattening his ears outwardly, warning her away from his prize. There was no logic or rationality in those eyes. “Now that’s not very nice,” she said in the same gentling tone. She knew he wouldn’t understand her, that the words would be indistinguishable, but her hope was that he might recognise her voice and find it calming.
His head extended toward her and his nostrils flared, scenting the air. He let loose a low whine, and she had the feeling that he acknowledged who she was but wasn’t sure how to calm himself.
Feeling reassured by him recognising her, she moved another step toward him but then halted; she wanted him to come to her so that he was away from the dead wolf. Easier said than done, of course. “Come on, big guy, you don’t want to play with that nasty carcass. If you can hear what’s going on, Trey, then let me just tell you that you’ll be buying me a new jacket. This one’s now covered in foam, fur and blood.”
Tao took a step toward her. “Taryn -”
“Don’t,” she ordered, but the grey wolf had already seen the male approaching his mate and he wasn’t too pleased about it. With her jacket still in his mouth, he began to advance on Tao who very smartly froze. “Cujo,” she sang. “Hey, remember me.”
The wolf’s gaze darted from her to the carcass to Tao repeatedly. Clearly he was torn on whether he wanted to continue playing with his new toy, go see his mate, or attack the male who dared talk to her.
Knowing she was about to make herself vulnerable to attack but not sure what else to do, Taryn squatted and tapped the ground with her fingers. “Come here, come on.” He took one tentative step toward her, but then glanced back at his carcass. “Seriously you don’t want to keep that. Come on.” Again she tapped the ground, knowing he could feel the vibrations through it.
Flicking a disgruntled look at Tao, the wolf slowly took a few steps toward her before halting to whine at the carcass.
“No, we’ll get you another toy. Get your furry ass over here.” Still at a sluggish pace, he covered those last remaining steps between them and dropped the jacket at her feet. “Hey there.” The wolf rubbed his cheek along hers and buried his nose behind her ear to inhale her scent. Then he took to happily licking along her jaw. “Ew.”
She now considered it a good thing that the foam and blood from his mouth had transferred to her jacket. Rather the jacket than her face. She winced when she saw that he was injured in several places. It was nothing fatal or even anything that would cause him much pain, but the healer in her wanted it fixed.
Allowing the wolf to continue rubbing himself against her, she turned her head toward the mass of wolves that Roscoe had brought along, all of whom were still waiting. Not even one of them appeared to have moved a muscle. Keeping her tone light so as not to startle the animal, she asked, “So which one of you considers yourself Alpha now, because I’m pretty sure you all had this sorted before you got here?”
They gave her ‘I’m not sure what you mean’ looks.
“Come on, don’t play dumb. Not one of you looks even the slightest bit bothered that your Alpha is dead. I really don’t care one way or another how you feel about it. I just want to know who I should be talking to when I ask if we should be expecting retaliation over this.” The challenge was fought fairly, but it wouldn’t be the first time that someone who was sour about the loss d
ecided to take revenge.
The three males at the front of the mass glanced at each other and then the one in the center stepped forward, identifying himself as the Alpha. “There’ll be no retaliation. We didn’t agree with him coming here to try to separate mates, but he was set on having you.”
“And you were following orders. Nothing wrong with that, just like there’s nothing wrong with you not being prepared to die for an ill cause.” The wolf, apparently not liking that he didn’t have her full attention, nipped her chin. She rubbed her cheek against his reassuringly and then turned back to the new Alpha. “Now that Roscoe’s gone and there’s no animosity between the packs, I don’t see a reason why there can’t be an alliance.”
The new Alpha’s expression was a mixture of shock and eagerness. “An alliance would be acceptable,” he said coolly, seemingly trying to hide his excitement and look the composed Alpha.
“We can’t exactly discuss it properly now for obvious reasons,” she said, flicking a look at the Alpha male of her pack who was still very much in wolf form. “We’ll call it a temporary verbal contract, one that will expire in thirty days if you don’t contact us to lay out the details with Trey.”
Looking apprehensively at the grey wolf, the Alpha said, “You’ll be there too, right?”
She smiled. “Don’t worry, I won’t let him eat you. Once we’re inside, you can take Roscoe’s body.” At the Alpha’s surprised look, she said, “We’re not trophy killers here.” His nod communicated respect.
With that, she slowly stood and began to walk toward the caves, signalling for the rest of the pack to keep a fair distance away so that Cujo didn’t feel threatened and turn feral again. She didn’t have to encourage him to follow her. He remained at her side, half-companion half-guard the entire time.
Once they had passed through the main entrance of Bedrock, she went to the living area and sat down on the large rug. The wolf sat between her legs, closing his eyes as she ran her fingers through his fur.
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