“Oh I don’t know maybe because no one’s supposed to know that we’re not true mates.”
Taryn’s mouth dropped open. “You think I told him? You think I went back on our deal and told him all about it?” A deathly silence filled the room because everyone knew that questioning Taryn’s integrity was a very bad thing.
“Awkward,” muttered Dominic.
“Seriously, you think I would actually do that?”
No, actually, Trey didn’t think she’d do something like that, but he tended to say stupid shit when he was pissed off, and hearing that she had been in touch with her uncle when he knew she was hoping to join the guy’s pack had made his blood boil.
It shouldn’t have made his blood boil because it shouldn’t bother him that she would soon be leaving his pack, yet it did. “It just seemed unlikely that you’d try to fool him if you’re planning to later ask him for a place in his pack. You think he’ll actually take you in when he realizes you lied to him right to his face about us?”
“No Doofus,” she spat in a goofy voice. “That’s why I’m planning to say to him what I’ll say to everyone else – that I was wrong about us and that Joey had actually been my true mate after all. Sure it’s going to make me seem a little nutty that I could mix up something like that, but it’s a better fate than a life with Roscoe ever would have been. I figured that this might be good for you too, that maybe you could get an alliance with my uncle’s Alpha out of this. He must be at least willing to consider it or he wouldn’t have given my uncle permission to invite us to this mating ceremony. I’ve told him to expect us.”
Everything in Trey rebelled against the idea of Taryn going to that ceremony, of her building a bond with her uncle so she could leave. He knew she needed to leave his pack eventually. Logic even told him that the sooner she left the better because their separation would become harder the longer that they were in the mating. But logic wasn’t ruling just then. It was being overshadowed by a tangle of intense emotions that Trey didn’t understand, but all of which drove him to do one thing; try to stop her from going to meet the other pack.
“Look, Taryn, I’m going to have a lot of stuff going on in the next couple of weeks. I can’t shove it all aside just to go to some mating ceremony of people I don’t even know.”
She stared at him for a minute. “Fine. I’ll take Dante or Marcus with me.”
“You don’t think it would look both weird and disrespectful that I didn’t go with you?”
“Of course it would. I’m still going.”
“Taryn, listen -”
She took a step toward him. “No you listen, Flinstone. We made a deal and I will live up to my part of it. At the end of this, you’ll walk away with tons of alliances. Me? I’ll have nothing because I walked away from everything for this deal we made. I need to have somewhere to go because I’m not going to live the lone wolf lifestyle. My best bet is to get a place in my uncle’s pack – even if it’s only temporary, at least it’ll be something. If you don’t want to come with me to this ceremony and maybe try and get yourself an alliance out of this then fine. But I will be going in the hope of increasing my odds of getting a place in that pack because the alternative is taking a chance being out there on my own and that’s not acceptable to me.”
He could tell her the truth of why he didn’t want her to go to the ceremony, he could, but now wasn’t the time or the place. Alright that was in fact an excuse but it was an excuse he was sticking to. Rather than piss her off any further, he went to her and tugged her to him. “I didn’t think of it that way. If you want us to go, we’ll go.”
“Really?” she drawled, suspicion dripping from the word.
“Really.”
A nod. “Okay.” She squealed as he suddenly scooped her up and began strolling out of the room. “What the hell are you doing?”
“No more talking. Really need to fuck.”
And he really did need it. He needed to be buried deep inside her body, needed to be swimming in her scent, and he needed the taste of her in his mouth. Only then would he be able to calm himself and his wolf.
The thought of being separated from his mate had sent his wolf pacing and growling, fighting for supremacy. It had nettled Trey’s mating instincts, playing on his protectiveness and possessiveness until all he wanted was to pin her down and bite her, remind her that she belonged to him.
As for Trey the man…equal measures of infuriation and angst had shot through his blood, making anxiety curdle in his stomach. He told himself that if he hadn’t mated with her, there would be no such anxiety whatsoever, that the separation wouldn’t particularly bother him. In truth, he wasn’t so sure that the man in him was still detached from the mating, or even if he ever had been.
Now this was one of the things Taryn would really miss about Bedrock, she thought with a smile as she sank into the luxurious bath. There was a brief stinging sensation as the hot water made contact with the fresh scratches and bites now coating her body, but it passed pretty quickly. Damn the bastard for branding her so thoroughly! How in the hell was she supposed to move on after this mating when his marks were all over her, serving as constant reminders of him? Maybe that was what he wanted – to make sure that she wouldn’t be able to forget him. He might not particularly care about her, but the possessiveness that came with the mating was probably messing with his mind.
She had no intention of telling him that he didn’t need to brand her so completely to ensure that she remembered him. As much as it pissed her off, she couldn’t change that she sort of, well…she really liked him. A voice in her mind insisted that was an understatement, but Taryn ignored it. She didn’t understand how she could like him so much. The guy could be so tactless and impatient, so remote and unapproachable. He was unbalanced. He had shitty communication skills. He thought apologies went in the form of oral sex, and he could brood with the best of them.
And yet, she truly liked the guy. Naturally, her wolf was very pleased about that.
Well enough thinking about him. All she wanted to do right now was relax and soothe those aches that always came with the rough fuckings he gave her. She had a strong feeling that her manly mate wasn’t going to be too happy about the smell of jasmine that now filled his bathroom thanks to the soap Lydia had given her. Just the thought of that made her smile – simply pleasures and all that stuff.
So relaxed that she was beginning to wonder if she had entered subspace, the little tapping sounds were just background noise to her at first. Soon, though, they penetrated her daze, pissing her off. The noises reminded her of when Shaya used to throw stones at her window at night when they were teenagers, hoping to get her attention. She tried real hard to ignore the incessant tapping. After a short while, though, they began to grate on her nerves.
“Trey?” she called out, hoping to have him check out the noise. “Anyone?” Nothing, which meant she was going to have to see what the fuck it was herself. Fabulous.
Muttering curses, she stepped out of the bath, wrapped a white fluffy towel around her, and made her way into the bedroom. As she had suspected, something seemed to be tapping against the window. Still muttering curses, she stalked over to the window and pulled aside the curtain. And jerked back. “What the fuck?!” Oh no, that wasn’t what she thought it was. It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t be.
Having sensed her alarm and anxiety through the pack link, Trey came dashing into the room. “What is it? What’s wrong?” And then he saw it. Slowly he went to her. “Is that…is that the raven you always talk to?”
Grinding her jaw, she nodded, close to tears at the sight of the beautiful bird now dead. Not just dead, but hanging upside down by some kind of string as his beak repeatedly tapped against the window as his body blew with the wind. “I heard the tapping.”
“Baby, come here.” Not giving her a choice, he pulled her to him and enfolded her in his arms.
“Somebody did that,” she said through her teeth as shock and rage flooded her ve
ins.
“I know,” he said, working to keep his voice soft or else his rage might feed her own.
“Somebody killed him and then hung him there, like that, for me to find.”
“What happened?” asked Dante as he, Tao, Marcus and Trick came dashing into the room after obviously having sensed their Alphas’ alarm. “Shit!”
“Is it dead?” asked Trick. “Why would someone – Shit, Taryn, is that your crow?”
Marcus supportively squeezed her shoulder as he passed to get up close to the window. “Looks like someone snapped its neck.”
“Who the hell would do something like that?” Dante shook his head, sickened.
“Maybe the same person who vandalised her car,” suggested Tao. “Maybe not, but it wouldn’t surprise me.”
Leaving Trey’s arms, Taryn demanded, “Out. Everyone out. Now!”
Dante nodded. “I’ll go…get him down.” He gestured to the enforcers to follow him out of the room. Casting her sympathetic smiles, they reluctantly did so.
“Baby, what’re you doing?” Trey asked as he watched her snatch clothes out of the wardrobe in a rush. She didn’t answer. Just began pulling on her blue cashmere sweater and tight fitting jeans. “Taryn -”
“Someone did that to hurt me. They went to the trouble of hunting him down, catching him, killing him, and creeping around outside our cave to hang him upside down like that where I’d find him. I want to know who the sicko is ass, and I want to kick his ass.” Having now slipped on her knee high boots, she headed for the door.
Understanding her need to retaliate but not liking her hurting so bad, he dashed after her and wrapped both arms around her front, bringing her to a halt. Nuzzling her neck, he rocked her from side to side. “Let me deal with this, baby. I promise you, as soon as I find out who’s responsible, they’re all yours.”
Her voice came out flat. “Let go of me, Trey.”
“Come on, you’re upset and in shock. Let me deal with this for you.”
She could sense that he was just as infuriated as she was yet he was containing it all in the hope of easing her anger and hurt. It was sweet, but there was just no way anything could soothe her right now. “Let go.”
Dabbing a soft kiss to her neck, he slowly released her. Before he could say anything she was marching through the tunnels. He stayed at her heels as, to his surprise, she headed outside and down the flights of stairs.
“Stay back,” she told him as they reached the bottom.
Seeing that she was close to snapping, he stopped still and held up his hands in a white flag gesture. He had thought she intended to head to the river as she had the last time she was upset. Instead she paced a short distance away from him and looked up at the crowd that had gathered at the mouth of the caves.
“So which one of you was it, huh?” she shouted, enraged beyond belief. “Which one of you was it?!” No answer. They each looked from one to the other but didn’t move from where they were. “You have a problem with me then come down here! Come on! You and me, let’s go!” Still, nobody moved. Pacing back and forth, she continued to shout. “I’m latent, remember! I can’t possibly win! You think killing a bird, a small creature that couldn’t even fight back is brave? It’s sick and it’s cowardly! If it’s me you want then get the fuck down here! I dare you! No, I challenge you!” Still, not one person moved from where they were. “COME ON!”
“It’s okay, baby,” said Trey softly when no one spoke or reacted in any way. “You know they won’t come. Whoever it is knows they can’t take you. Come here. It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not!”
Slowly he closed the distance between them and pulled her into the cradle of his shoulder. “Shh, let’s go inside. The coward’s not going to own up to it.”
“When I find out who it is, there’s a good chance I’ll kill him.”
“I know, baby. And I’ll be cheering you on,” he said, using the supportive words she had once given him.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Taryn’s uncle and his mate were a lot warmer toward her than Trey had been expecting. They seemed pleased to see her and they were happy and relieved to know that she was away from Lance. If her uncle had anything to do with it, she would definitely be welcome here if she asked to join the pack.
In fact, the damn Alpha would probably be just as welcoming. He had been staring at Taryn for most of the evening and it was beginning to seriously piss Trey off. Had she not made Trey promise to ‘behave’ seen as he was apparently intimidating enough, he would have threatened to gut the ogling bastard. Even his promise to her wouldn’t have stopped him if the Alpha hadn’t been so careful not to cross any lines.
It was only then, as he sat lounging on one of the reclined deckchairs, sipping beer and watching her play with some of the pups that Trey realized he had secretly hoped that they were all assholes who didn’t care to know her. Without anyone to turn to, she could have been persuaded to stay with him a little longer even after the battle with his uncle. Although he still had just over a month left with her, it didn’t seem enough.
For the past few weeks he had tried convincing himself that it wasn’t the man in him that wanted to prolong her stay, it was just his wolf or his mating instincts or maybe a mixture of both. Only a moron would continue to deny the truth, and Trey was a lot of things, but he’d like to think a moron wasn’t one of them. The truth was that this wasn’t about their wolves, this was about Trey and Taryn. And Trey wanted Taryn to stay a little longer.
Of course he hadn’t told her that. He wouldn’t tell her because naturally the question she would ask would be ‘For how long?’ Unless his answer was going to be ‘permanently’, there was no reason for her to stay longer because it would only make their separation worse. Where was the sense in that? There was none. Yet even as he acknowledged that, he couldn’t change that he wanted more time with her.
How could he not? Who wouldn’t want more time with a woman who was so sensual and gorgeous? The quirkiness she had brought to his pack and his life was something he wouldn’t have originally thought he’d want, but he knew that when it was gone he would miss it. Just as he would miss their bedroom battles. She was so responsive, so challenging, and so damn receptive to everything they did. Each morning he would wake Taryn by gorging himself on her taste, and each night he would bury his cock deep inside her and fuck them both to sleep. Then he’d wake up some time through the night and fuck her again. What guy in his right mind wouldn’t want more of that?
He grinned as his little vixen suddenly looked up and met his gaze. He didn’t get his usual ‘come get me’ smile, it was more of a ‘please rescue me’ expression – which was a lot to do with the crowd of kids still hovering around her. With all her energy and sparkle she was like some sort of kid magnet.
He might have gone to her – that was all it would have took to make the pups scarper – if the Alpha, Nick, hadn’t chosen that moment to sit on the deckchair beside him.
“I think you might end up with a houseful of pups.”
Trey winced inwardly at the feel of one of them damn chest pangs. Ignoring it, he forced out a response. “You might be right.”
“You know, you’re very intense with Taryn. I don’t think you’ve moved your eyes from her for more than a few seconds since you got here.”
“Neither have you.”
Nick smiled unrepentantly. “Don’t worry, she spent the entire time we spoke talking about you and your pack. Apparently she has even developed a fondness for your grandmother, though she says she would still like to gag the senile old crone.”
Trey was pretty sure that both women actually liked each other. Neither would ever admit it because they enjoyed the battle of wills they engaged in too much.
“I’ve always been very selective in who I form alliances with.”
Trey grunted. “I don’t believe I asked you for one.” All he really wanted was to punch the arrogant asshole for ogling Taryn. His wolf liked that idea.
/> Nick only smiled. “The rumors about you are...worrying.”
“Then why invite us here?”
“Her uncle wasn’t convinced that you’re true mates. He believes her true mate died when they were pups. Don was worried that she had gotten herself into something dangerous and was looking for a way out.”
“Is that a fact?” Trey bit out. “Well hear me when I say this. Taryn’s my mate, she’s mine, and I’ll kill her interfering bastard of an uncle if he tries to take her from me. So either get out of our business or ask us to leave. Either one will please me just fine.”
The weird prick smiled again. “I didn’t say I agreed with him. If I hadn’t seen you interact with Taryn the way you have tonight, I’m not sure I’d have been interested in forming an alliance between our packs.” Most likely in response to Trey’s questioning look, he added, “Maybe you don’t realize just how different you are with Taryn than anyone else. And she you. You’re both much calmer when you’re together. It’s the way of it with mates. That’s why I’ve no intention of interfering in spite of her uncle’s concerns, and it’s also why I believe you’re not quite the rabid shifter everyone makes you out to be.”
“Hey Nick,” purred a husky voice that promised sex. Both males looked up to see a curvy dark skinned female standing before them wearing…practically nothing. Once upon a time she might have interested Trey. Right now she did nothing at all for him. He never would have thought he would have described breasts as too big, but they were. Not like Taryn’s that fit just right in his hands like they were made just for him.
“Is it time for the ceremony to start?” asked Nick.
“Almost.” Her eyes focused on Trey and she grinned wickedly. “I’m Glory. And you are?”
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