“Fifty-seven?”
“It’ll just be people wanting to know if the mating’s kosher and all that. All I’m interested in is whether Shaya and Caleb have been in touch.” It turned out that they had both been in touch. Again they both expressed concern about her safety and tried convincing her that she was wrong about Trey being her true mate, asking to meet up with her so they could all talk. “I think that’s exactly what I’m going to have to do.”
“What?”
“Meet up with them. They’re not buying that the mating is real. If they hear it from my mouth, if I can convince them that I’m fine and Trey doesn’t intend to hurt me, then maybe they’ll accept it. They’re both tenacious bastards, they won’t let this go.”
Rhett sighed. “I doubt Trey will let you leave the property.”
Let her leave? Snort. She leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. “Actually I was thinking that if they see me here in this setting it might be more believable for them.”
“You’re probably right there. Okay, you got time to help me with this before you go ask Trey?”
“Sure.”
Trey looked up from an old photograph of his dead mother when he heard the knock on his office door. “Come in.” As he expected, Tao strolled inside. He had also anticipated Dante tagging along since he was a nosy bastard. Both wolves took the seats in front of Trey’s thick oak desk. Shoving the photo underneath the slip of papers beside it, he focused his attention on Tao.
“I’m electing you as Taryn’s personal bodyguard.” The Head Enforcer nodded agreeably, which sort of stunned Trey. “You know what this means, don’t you? I’ll need to pull you away from your usual duties because your main priority will be Taryn’s safety.”
“Someone else will become Head Enforcer, I know,” said Tao with a nod.
“I was sort of expecting a protest.”
Tao shrugged. “I considered it an honor when I was made Head Enforcer and I enjoy that position, but it will be just as much an honor to be my Alpha female’s bodyguard. Besides, Taryn’s interesting to be around,” he added with a smile.
Trey arched a brow. “I hope that’s all you find her to be.”
“Isn’t it going to be a bad idea for you to have someone else looking out for her?” Dante asked rhetorically.
“Why would it be?”
He sighed. “Because it’s your job as her mate to be her protector and it will nettle your protective instincts – not to mention your wolf – if you ignore that.”
“I’m not ignoring it. I’m assigning someone to watch over her which means I’m addressing the issue of her safety. Protective instinct covered.” Trey had kept his tone aloof and cool, but the way Dante narrowed his eyes told him that he was seeing more than Trey wanted him to.
“Speaking of Taryn, you might want to come see what her and Rhett set up.”
“Set up?”
“On the computer. Come see.”
Minutes later many of the pack were crowded into Rhett’s bedroom as he showed them their pack web and explained everything about how it worked and how it would benefit the pack. He then showed the others how to use it and introduced them to the public blog for their pack.
“Well, what do you think?” asked Rhett.
“This was your idea?” Trey asked Taryn, impressed.
“And Rhett’s. It was a joint project.”
“I had no idea other packs had this kind of stuff,” said Dante, sounding a little awed. “How long ago did your dad set his web up?”
Taryn jiggled her head as she thought on it. “Five years ago, maybe?”
“It’s good,” said Trey, “really good.”
Tao draped an arm over her shoulders. “Guess who’s been assigned to you as your bodyguard?”
“I need a bodyguard?”
“No, but most Alphas have them. In reality, bodyguards are more like hovering slaves.”
“And you’re happy to be a hovering slave?”
“I’m happy to be your hovering slave.”
At this moment Trey was very much regretting having made Tao her bodyguard. He didn’t like Tao’s flirtatiousness, didn’t like how easily Taryn had taken to the other male’s touch. He wanted to grab Taryn and pull her to him, wanted to lick over his mark to remind her she was claimed. Claimed by Trey.
Rhett’s voice broke into his thoughts. “I checked to see if Darryl had set one up, but he hasn’t. Shame. We could have gotten an idea of who has what position within the pack nowadays.”
“Oh by the way,” began Taryn as she went to stand directly in front of Trey. “Remember the female who kept trying to get me to walk away from you while we were in the club?”
“Yeah,” he replied, hiding how content he was that she was away from Tao. It was a struggle not to touch her, but he wouldn’t let those instincts rule him.
“Her name’s Shaya, she’s my best friend. Well, her and Caleb.”
“Caleb?”
Rolling her eyes at the amount of jealousy coating that one word, she continued, “I’m going to need to meet up with them. They’re not buying that this mating’s real, they need to hear it from me, face to face.”
“Then we’ll meet up with them somewhere public like -”
“No, no, no, you can’t be there when we talk.”
“What do you mean I can’t be there?” He had meant to sound affronted but it came out petulant.
“Not the whole time anyway. They’re worried about me, they think you might be hurting me or that you’re forcing me to stay. It’s why they’re so desperate to speak to me alone. I want to see if I can get them to come here, to see that I’m alive and fine and that you and I are ‘happily’ mated.”
He folded his arms across his chest to stop himself from reaching out to her. “Why exactly weren’t they so worried when Roscoe forced his claim on you?”
“That was different. Unlike you, Roscoe wrapped his meanness up in charm and managed to fool a lot of people with it.”
“You’re saying I have no charm?”
She gave him a bright, mocking smile. “Why of course you have charm, you practically ooze it. Ego better now?”
He sighed. “Call them, invite them to come here sometime this week.”
“The weekend would be better because they work through the week. I’m thinking Saturday morning.”
“Fine.”
The way he so abruptly left the room had Taryn frowning. It was as though the guy was desperate to get away from her or something. It wasn’t until later that evening when she found herself lying in bed very alone that she began to think on it a little more.
Trey had been different with her since the confrontation with Roscoe that morning. Or, more accurately, he had been indifferent. There had been no more heated looks, no more whispered promises, no more licking the marks on her neck, no more taking the odd moment to inhale her scent. But it wasn’t just that. He was barely speaking to her.
And now here she was alone because he had ‘things to do’ in his office.
Well it seemed like the very sexual male from the past two days had retreated, or had retreated from her at least. It occurred to her then that maybe it had only been his wolf’s insecurity in the mating that had been behind his fevered urge to be inside her and mark her. Maybe now that the threat of Roscoe was gone and his wolf was more settled Trey would no longer have that urge. Hell, maybe without the mating urges he would never have wanted her at all. The idea of that shouldn’t have sparked a dull ache in her chest and it shouldn’t have made her have the sudden desire to cuddle herself. Yet it did.
But what had she expected? Trey was a big guy with a lot of pride and probably didn’t have a thing for tiny females who would challenge his dominance. Her body wasn’t exactly model material and then there was the fact that she was latent. He acted as though it didn’t bother him, but it was likely that in truth he saw the latency as a weakness and it made her very unattractive to him.
A noise penetrated her t
houghts and she realized that someone had entered the room. The scent flowed over her, stroking her senses and stirring her wolf who was anxious for some contact with her mate. But Taryn hadn’t begged for scraps from her dad’s table and she wouldn’t be begging for scraps from Trey’s table either. So she remained on her side facing the wall, faking sleep, ignoring her wolf’s growling protests.
Trey took one look at Taryn’s still form and sighed in relief. She was asleep. He hadn’t woken her. He had been fighting his wolf – hell he’d been fighting himself – for hours on the subject of going to Taryn, of getting in some physical contact, social or sexual. He was literally starving for it. Had he known that mating would be this bad with all its urges, instincts, and needs, he probably wouldn’t have mated at all.
After quietly using the bathroom and stripping down to his boxers, he slipped beneath the covers and resisted the desire to snuggle into her. Instead, he rolled to his side so that his back was to hers and there was enough space between them in the large bed to fit another person. His wolf growled at that idea, but Trey ignored him and ignored his instincts. And he closed his eyes, completely obvious to the fact that the eyes of the women behind him had opened and had a haunted look in them at the realization that she was now of no interest to a wolf she was bound to.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Just as she had each morning over the past week, Taryn was perched on the kitchen counter sipping her coffee while engaged in a staring contest with dear old Greta. It was practically ritualistic for them to partake in a battle of wills whenever they were in the same room. Each and every time, Taryn would leave the room smiling while Greta was purple in the face and growling. Once Greta had realized that she wasn’t going to scare Taryn off, she had taken to simply insulting her and generally being difficult. In truth, Taryn found the whole thing just as entertaining as everyone else did. As usual, they were all eating quietly as they waited for the verbal spar to begin.
“What are you looking at, hussy?” Greta finally spat.
“I haven’t figured that out yet.”
Huffing, Greta drank down more of her weird green herbal tea. “I hope you’re not getting comfortable, you won’t be here for much longer.”
“So you’ve said. Repeatedly.”
“You might have some of the others fooled, but I see you for what you are.”
“Is that right?”
“I warned my boys all about females like you.”
“Oh come on, your imagination was never this good.”
Hand over her heart, she said with fake misery, “My daughter is probably turning in her grave now. You’ve got tattoos for God’s sake!” A cruel smirk suddenly curved her lips. “I suppose I shouldn’t have expected much better, what with your wolf basically being disabled. What does it feel like to be latent? To know your wolf will forever be trapped?”
“I don’t know. What does it feel like to be so old that your birth certificate is in Roman numerals?” The smirk quickly fell from the crone’s face and Taryn smiled.
Entering the kitchen, Trey wasn’t surprised to find his mate and grandmother glaring at each other. Neither even spared him a glance. Given that Taryn seemed cheery while Greta looked like she was chewing a wasp, Trey could guess who was on top of the situation. His grandmother was doing her best to intimidate Taryn, however his little mate was holding her own, making it clear that she didn’t take any shit from anyone, especially one who was ‘old and senile’.
His wolf didn’t like that Taryn’s attention hadn’t immediately shot to him and, before Trey knew it, he’d yanked gently on her hair to make her look at him. Restraining himself from nipping her lower lip, he simply gave her a nod. A growl of approval built in his chest as he saw that she was wearing a black tight fitting t-shirt that showed off some of his marks – marks that were fading, he then noticed. His wolf growled angrily inside his head.
“Morning son, come sit down and get something to eat.” Greta’s voice was now sugary-sweet.
“How long before your friends get here?” he asked Taryn as he took his seat.
“They should be here any minute now. Remember what you promised.”
“I’ll give you some time to talk with them alone,” he assured her, though it would nettle his wolf to know there was a strange male wolf around her. He told himself it wouldn’t bother Trey the man so much, and if his wolf could have snorted, he would have. “At some point I’ll come over there so we can act the mated couple, totally devoted to one another and completely smitten and all that.”
Again Taryn was struck by the feeling of how unfair it was that she would never have that, especially that she would never have it with Joey. And now here she was again about to commit the ultimate blasphemy and claim that the one person created for her had never been her true mate at all. God, this sucked big time.
At least she and Trey were exchanging a few words. Occasionally he wouldn’t speak to her at all. Or there were the times when she would enter a room and he would immediately leave it. He spent most of his time cooped up in his office. She knew he had to keep an eye on his investments – he actually had a pretty good head for business – but surely he didn’t need to spend that much time in there. Making the whole thing even more annoying was that Selma had picked up on the huge divide between them and tried clinging onto him as much as she could – just as she was doing right now at the table. The only thing preventing Taryn from reacting was that Trey was growling, warning the female away from him. Still, it pissed her off to no end, but damn if she would let either of them know that.
“Morning,” drawled Tao as he strolled into the room. He play-punched her shoulder before joining the others at the table.
“Ass,” she snapped, smiling.
Trey knew he shouldn’t have the urge to growl at his ex-Head Enforcer. It was just a play punch – it wasn’t sexual, it hadn’t hurt her, and it had only been the briefest touch. But Trey was honestly considering stabbing the wolf with his fork. It might not have annoyed him so much if Tao wasn’t always touching her. The guy had taken his role as ‘bodyguard’ a little too literally. Trey couldn’t understand how he hadn’t noticed before the way Tao looked at her. Mixed in with admiration and respect was a deep longing. And Trey didn’t like it one bit.
His wolf was urging him to take a swipe at his enforcer and warn him off. Perversely, Trey the man liked that others wanted what was his, and that gave him strength against his wolf’s drive to separate her from the other male. Also, Trey knew that no matter how much Tao might want Taryn, he would never encroach – he was too good a guy for that. Nonetheless, his wolf wasn’t particularly interested in whether or not Tao was a good guy, he didn’t want him around Taryn so much.
Trey inhaled deeply, reminding himself that he was in control – not his wolf, not those primal instincts. The smile on Dante’s face said he knew what inner struggle Trey had been going through. The ringing of his cell phone distracted him from thoughts of flicking scrambled egg at his Beta. “That was Kirk,” he announced on ending the call. “They’re here. He just let them through the gate. Should only be a minute before their SUV pulls up outside.”
Taryn hopped down from the counter and stretched. “Time for Scene One: The Alpha Pair’s Welcome. Make it good, Flinstone. These guys won’t be easy to convince.”
“I noticed that at the club.”
“They won’t be trying to separate the two of you like they did that night,” stated Dante.
Hearing the fierceness in his tone and watching the way his body language became confrontational, Taryn pointed hard at him. “You are not going to spend the next few hours trying to intimidate them. They’re already scared half to death by Trey.”
“Are you going to tell me they won’t try to convince you to leave with them?”
“Of course they will.”
“Let’s hope our luck stretches that far,” muttered Selma. Hope and Kirk chuckled. Everyone else ignored them.
“They won’t dare as
k you to leave if a few of us are sitting with you,” said Dante.
Taryn shook her head. “Not a chance, Barney Rubble. You all stay the hell away and give us some privacy.”
“It’ll only be until Trey comes over.”
“No, I’m not having any of you hovering around us like parental supervisors. Not even Tao.”
Tao frowned. “But I’m your bodyguard.”
“They’re not a threat to me.” As all three males opened their mouths to say something she held up her hand. “I don’t want to hear it. Now let’s do this.”
Seeing the resolve in her expression, Trey sighed and took her soft hand in his large calloused one as they walked together to the main door. Marcus was holding it open, watching with his usual grin as their visitors hesitantly exited the SUV and, with a slow nervous stride, made their way up the stairs.
Trey locked his arms around Taryn’s waist, keeping her back against his chest, and allowed himself the luxury of burying his face in her neck to drown in that scent that could so easily make his cock hard. He shouldn’t have been surprised when he woke up that morning and found himself curled around her with his face nestled in the crook of her neck, taking comfort in the exotic smell of his mate as he slept. At some point in his sleep he had covered that huge space between them and fed the hunger that he had ignored for the past week. Then he had snuck out of bed before she realized. Had she not been such a deep sleeper, he would never have gotten away with it.
As Shaya and Caleb finally came to stand in front of them, shuffling from foot to foot and completely avoiding eye contact with Trey, Taryn had to refrain from groaning. She knew he had an intimidating presence, but she didn’t think he was that bad. Okay, maybe he was. “Thanks for coming.”
“It’s been weird not seeing you every day,” said Shaya.
Taryn discreetly pinched Trey’s arm, urging him to do his part.
Flinching a little, he said, “Welcome. I have a few things to do, but Taryn will take you down to the lake, won’t you, baby?”
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