“
Let me guess,” drawled Taryn with a snort. “You think it’s best if you get a regular dose so the addiction stays under control.”
Again he was laughing. This female had a wit and an attitude that he could appreciate. He reluctantly withdrew from her body and then, unable to resist, he lightly slapped that pretty little ass before jumping out of bed.
It wasn’t until he was in the bathroom that Taryn finally forced herself into an upright position. She shook her head in sheer disbelief at how someone could be so energetic first thing in the morning. Eventually she not-so-gracefully rose from the bed and stretched her arms above her head. She would bet she looked very much like a contented cat. Well an orgasm was always a good way to start the day. At that very moment the sound of a cell phone ringing met her ears.
“
Trey, phone!”
In seconds he was out of the shower and answering the call. As she saw his eyes flash wolf and his body stiffen, she cursed. She knew exactly what that meant. There went her hope of Roscoe just letting the issue go or, in the event that that failed, him simply leaping to his death.
Instantly questions began swirling around her mind. What if he’d brought hoards of wolves with him? What if Trey got hurt? What if the others got hurt? She couldn’t exactly heal any of them if Roscoe spirited her away – and wouldn’t that be a fate worse than death.
“
That was Ryan. Roscoe’s here. He’s not going to take you,” he assured her as they both frantically began to dress, sensing her anxiety through the pack link. Within thirty seconds they were at the main entrance to the caves where many of the pack were already waiting.
“
Did Ryan tell you he’s brought quite a few wolves with him?” asked Dante in the same tone that someone might ask what time it was.
Men
.
Trey turned to her. “I want you to wait here and -”
“
Oh hell no! This mess is mine and you expect me to sit here twiddling my thumbs, relishing the feeling of my own safety?”
“
You’re staying.”
She smiled. “I believe you were warned before you even mated me not to bark at me unless you’re happy to be ignored.”
“
Taryn,” he drawled in an impatient tone, “I am your mate -”
“
And I’m stubborn. If you want absolute obedience, get a Labrador. I’m not quite the delicate flower people tend to take me for. Now let’s go.”
Right then, Trey wanted nothing more than to spank her ass. He didn’t want her anywhere near that male who coveted her. Both he and his wolf wanted to know that she was safe, but Trey knew by the look on her face that she would simply ignore him and follow him outside no matter what he said.
“
You don’t get to interfere, understand? There will probably be a wolf against wolf battle. You stay out of it.” He knew that once he was in wolf form and engaged in a battle there was a good chance that he would go feral.
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 growled 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.