Feral Sins

CHAPTER TWO

No sooner had Taryn closed the front door behind her than a voice was booming, “Where the hell have you been?”

It was always a surprise when her dad sought her out. Usually Lance Warner was indifferent to Taryn and could even go a whole day without talking to her. What was more surprising was that he seemed to believe she should be hanging around just in case he wanted to see her or to bestow some attention on her. She was pretty sure it confused him that she didn’t respond to his indifference by constantly striving to gain his attention and approval. But Taryn wasn’t going to beg for the scraps from anyone’s table.

“What is it?” She knew no one needed healing. She would have received a text message if that was the problem.

“It’s almost time for the evening meal.”

Since when did he care if she missed a meal?

“Roscoe’s going to be here soon. You have about two minutes to change.”

Ah. “Why would I change? And why wasn’t I told he was coming?”

Lance snickered. “Because you would have done a disappearing act just to be awkward. You know, I still don’t know why you’re so set against him. I never would have thought you’d have attracted an Alpha in a million years. Hell, a wolf shouldn’t want to be bound to a latent unless he had no choice. You should be grateful.”

“Grateful to be mated to someone I don’t like, let alone care for?”

“You’ll just have to grow to care about him, won’t you,” he snapped. “I want this alliance and you are not going to mess this up for me. Now get upstairs and change into something…I don’t know…”

“Slutty,” she offered. “You want me to look slutty.” It would have been a shock if he hadn’t been doing this every time an unmated male came here since she was fifteen. It still managed to hurt each time. “He already bit me and you’ve already exchanged contracts so it looks like we can skip the seduction stage.”

“While you’re denying him there’s still a chance he’ll back out.”

She searched his expression. “Doesn’t it matter to you at all that this will make me miserable? I know you must have heard the rumors about him and how he treats women. Does none of that matter to you?”

“It’ll be good for you to mate with someone who has a firm hand. You could use the discipline. Maybe he can be the one who manages to teach you the meaning of respect.”

Taryn couldn’t help that her mouth fell open. She had thought that her dad was just ignoring the rumors, blinding himself to them to escape the guilt. In actual fact, he felt none. He was perfectly content with the idea of handing her over to someone who would beat her, and he wouldn’t even be angry with Roscoe for doing it.

She took a step forward until she was invading his personal space, something that no wolf should do to their alpha, but in that moment he wasn’t her alpha or her father. He was just an asshole. “You know, for the first time in my life I’m actually glad Mom’s not around. If she’d been here to hear this, it would have broken her heart.”

He actually laughed. “You forget, Taryn, she died before it became clear you’re latent. She wouldn’t have wanted anything more to do with you than I do.”

Taryn smiled. She knew he didn’t really believe that just as she knew that her mom wouldn’t have cared about the latency. “You know, jamming your fingers into your ears might just prevent all that hot air from gushing out of your mouth.”

“You disrespectful little bitch,” he gritted out as he raised his hand to slap her.

She didn’t cower. “Go on, do it.”

“I’d really rather you didn’t, Lance,” said a voice from the doorway. They both turned to see Roscoe removing his leather jacket, flanked by two of his enforcers. As usual he looked like he’d just walked out of a photo shoot. A blond god, some of the females called him. Taryn thought of him more as the Antichrist. “When you signed that contract, you signed her over to me.”

In other words, the only person who had the right to slap her was him.

“Until the mating ceremony, I’m still her Alpha, Roscoe. Remember that.”

“And as her mate, I’d feel obliged to protect her if you were to lay a hand on her.” He turned to Taryn and smiled. “Nice to see you again, beautiful.”

Taryn almost shuddered. He had that same look in his eyes that he’d had when he’d bitten her. As that was something which was a kind of rape to her wolf, she was going crazy now inside Taryn – growling, pacing, flexing her claws.

This was one of the things that most annoyed Taryn about being latent. When her wolf was frenzied, her anger and frustration had nowhere to go and it was like a pressure gradually expanding inside Taryn’s chest. People tended to think that because her wolf didn’t physically show herself she must therefore be subdued and weak in spirit. Taryn wasn’t sure how it was for other latent wolves, but it certainly was not the case for her.

Her wolf was a big presence within her. She didn’t understand that she couldn’t surface. She didn’t understand that it was pointless to tug at the reins, pointless to try to fight Taryn’s will. So, in general, her wolf was bold, difficult and pushed her instincts and desires on Taryn. Right now, her wolf’s desire was to take a swipe at the smarmy bastard in front of her. When he leaned down to kiss her she turned her head away, but his mouth still managed to catch her ear.

Lance released a tired sigh. “Let’s go. Everybody will be waiting for us.”

As they made their way to the dining room, Roscoe attempted to hold her hand. She shot him a look that swore violence and curled her upper lip. His response was a smile. She kind of got the feeling that he liked seeing her riled. Damn if she could figure out why. He should find her rebellious behavior insulting and exasperating. She’d rather hoped he would anyway.

“You’ll be sitting at the head table tonight, Taryn,” Lance announced as they entered the room. She had to resist the urge to growl. Although she was the Alpha’s daughter and the pack healer, ordinarily she would sit at another table with Shaya and Caleb.

Of course Lance placed her beside Roscoe. She wasn’t thrilled to find her dad’s bodyguard sat at her other side. Like most of the others in the pack, he had always been nice to her when she was a kid, before puberty hit and her wolf didn’t surface. Maybe if Lance had still been accepting of her then things would have been different, but by dismissing her as unimportant and weak he had pinned a big fat target on her back.

What had saved her from a dozen beatings was that in spite of her latency she still had shifter speed and strength. Of course it hadn’t saved her from all of them. She had worked to become the best hand-to-hand combatant, and to be fitter and agiler than anyone within the pack. The bodyguard’s ego was still sore after the time he had snuck into her room in the middle of the night only to end up with a broken nose and a dislocated jaw.

Quickly the food was brought out and everyone was eating greedily while listening to Roscoe answer all Lance’s questions about his pack and the times he had been challenged in the past. Taryn rolled her eyes as she saw how many of the females were staring in utter admiration at Roscoe, clinging to his every word. Even Shaya for Christ’s sake! The males were also staring at him, all pretty pissed with him for his effect on the females.

She simply didn’t understand how everyone could be so taken in by him. Yes, he was charming, had a warm smile and was very nice to look at, but there was something very wrong with his eyes. There was so much ice there. No matter how wide his smile was, it never reached his eyes. From the second she had met him he had rubbed her and her wolf the wrong way, yet no one else seemed to have sensed that…wrongness about him.

“You haven’t eaten much,” he whispered in her ear.

She didn’t bother responding. How he could expect her to have an appetite right now she couldn’t imagine.

“If you’re done we could go for a walk. Alone.”

Slowly she turned her head and gave him an expression that said ‘You’ve got to be kidding me’. Ignoring his chuckle, she resumed poking at her food with her fork.

“You could at least make a little effort to talk to me. I came all this way just to see you.”

Well then wasn’t he a fool.

“You know, if things are really bad with you and your dad, we could both talk to him and try negotiating you coming to stay with me for a few days.”

At one point had she given him the impression that she was gullible?

He sighed. “Come on, Taryn, you can’t tell me you wouldn’t like getting away from here for a while. You could see where you’re going to be living, meet some of the wolves from my pack. You’ll soon be their Alpha female. Don’t you want to get to know them?”

No, not even a little bit. And she would never be their Alpha female.

“They’re eager to meet you. In a few days I’ll then be going to Australia, you could come.”

“Is there no way you could just go sit on a cactus or something?” He actually smiled at that. What was wrong with this guy? Surprising her, his hand slid around her neck; a gesture of ownership. Enraged she jumped to her feet and kicked his chair out from under him. She snarled down at him where he was splayed out on the floor. “Don’t you ever touch me like that! I don’t belong to you, I’ll never belong to you!”

What made the whole thing even worse was that he was smiling. He had wanted her to lose control. He was enjoying being able to get her so incensed. Cursing, she stormed out of the room, ignoring the gasps, the horrified mumblings, and her dad’s bellows. She didn’t stop marching until she was outside.

The cool evening air was like a soothing caress – one she so desperately needed. She took several calming breaths, trying to not only ease her own anger, but that of her wolf. Her wolf was raging over how that male had held her with proprietorship.

It was only minutes later when she heard footsteps approaching and his scent drifted toward her. He sighed as he halted a few feet behind her. “Taryn, it really is time you stopped fighting me. I think we’ve proven who the more dominant one is.”

She turned slowly, clenching her fists. “All you proved when you bit me is that you can physically overpower me and you have sharp teeth, just like I proved that I can deliver some serious pain to your groin whenever you use them on me. None of that has anything to do with dominance.”

“Oh you might want to know that your father and I have arranged the mating ceremony to take place on the next full moon, which is a week from now.”

She couldn’t help but gape. “You know, I can’t work out whether you have selective hearing or just don’t give a shit about a single word you hear. I do not want to mate with you. In fact, I would rather have a porcupine brutally shoved up into my rectum than mate with you.”

He shrugged. “I’ve already claimed you.”

“I don’t accept that claim.”

“Your father does.”

She shook her head incredulously. It occurred to her that getting angry with this wolf never helped her cause. Maybe if she tried being diplomatic? “What is all this really about? You don’t even like me, why would you want me as your mate?”

“Of course I like you.”

“If it’s an alliance with Lance you want, I’m pretty sure you could get it without mating me.”

He looked at her curiously. “You truly don’t see your own worth, do you? I wasn’t sure if it was an act at first.”

“You don’t need a pack healer, you already have one.”

He folded his arms across his chest. “I’m not talking about your worth as a pack member. I’m talking about your worth as a person, as a female. You’re a very beautiful, sensual, refreshing female. Totally without artifice. You have just as many alpha vibes emitting from you as any other female alpha, latent or not. And as for your iron will…I never thought I would meet a person more stubborn than me.”

So he recognised that she was more stubborn than him and yet they were still having this discussion? She failed to see the logic in that. “Look, you and me…we don’t sing from the same hymn sheets, we’re not even the slightest bit compatible. You need a nice submissive female who’ll say and do what you tell her to and make all the right noises at the appropriate times. Me…I’m just going to piss you off.”

“You’re right, Taryn, I do like my females submissive. And that is exactly what you will be when we mate.”

And he really believed that, she could tell. “You must seriously be smoking crack.”

He laughed. “The delusional one in this situation is you, Taryn.”

“I’ll never mate with you. Never.”

His look was sympathetic. “It’s sad that you actually think you’ll win this battle.”

“It’s sad that you even started this battle. Why would you want me when you know I don’t want you? Why would you want me when you know I’d fight you every step of the way?” The chilling smile he gave her made everything suddenly click into place. “You don’t want me in spite of those things. You want me because of those things. You get your kicks out of forcing yourself on women.”

“No, not forcing myself on them. I’m not a rapist. But I love a challenge, and I love to be in control. Power is a heady thing for me. What greater power is there than to be able to own someone who doesn’t want you; someone whose will you can break bit by bit until they have gone from a spirited, dominant, independent individual to a person who is totally submissive to you?”

It took a few seconds for Taryn to be able to speak. “You’re sick.”

He jiggled his head. “Maybe I seem that way to you now, but just think, Taryn. A year from now you will want nothing more than to please me in every way I want to be pleased.”

“Never,” she bit out.

“I won’t need to force you. You will crave my dominance and my direction. I’m looking forward to you moving into my home. Then we can begin your training.”

“Sick, delusional and suicidal. That’s what you are.”

“Suicidal?” He sounded amused.

“I’d kill you before I let you touch me.”

“You really would try to, wouldn’t you? Even if it meant risking your own life.”

“If I mated with you I’d be practically dead anyway,” she spat. “Being some little slave for you wouldn’t be a life.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever met a female who has more resistance to the idea of submission than you.”

“My resistance is to the idea of submitting to you.”

His creepy smile widened. “And that just makes the whole thing so much sweeter.”

Oh he was so very, very, very sick. “It will never happen.”

“I’ll remind you of this conversation in a year’s time. It will be interesting to know what you make of it then.” With that, he strolled back toward the house, leaving her stood there gaping.

It was honestly like talking to someone who didn’t understand your language. Someone who also had a hard-on for the ‘Lord and Master’ lifestyle and intended to take it to the extreme. Suddenly the idea of taking her chances by just packing a bag right now and leaving the pack to do the lone wolf thing seemed worth the risk. Four more days until I meet up with Trey, she reminded herself. In four days she could be free of her father. Moreover, there would be no way that sicko could get near her.

Almost as if her father or Roscoe, or maybe even both, had suspected she was a flight risk, it was decided that evening that her whereabouts for the entire twenty-four hours of each day up until the mating ceremony would be monitored. If she was at home, one of her dad’s enforcers was to accompany her around the property. If she left pack territory for any reason, she was to be tailed by two of his other enforcers. Protection, they called it. Yeah, right.

After only one day of being spied on and followed wherever she went, Taryn was more than pissed. She was a bomb waiting to go off. She couldn’t even relax in the knowledge that she had her arrangement with Trey. There was still a chance that it could fall through and she needed a back-up plan.

The constant surveillance had made it hard for her to get into her dad’s office to hunt down her uncle’s address and contact number – even if she didn’t end up seeking refuge with her uncle she still hoped to contact him at some point. Eventually she had found the details, but the cell phone had been disconnected. Fuck it all!

If Trey’s plan fell through, she was prepared to drive all the way to that address and beg her uncle’s Alpha to give her sanctuary. Maybe if he liked her uncle a lot, he would take pity on her. It would be convincing him not to hand her over to Roscoe or her dad that would be the problem after that. Really, though, what else could she do?

Knowing that she would never be able to come back here no matter what happened, Taryn packed a large dufflebag complete with clothes, passport and a few sentimental objects with the plan that she could stash it in her car ready for Friday night. Unlike the other wolves, she always drove to the club as she was constantly on call in case someone from her pack needed healing.

She didn’t have a lot of stuff, so it wasn’t hard to sift through it and only take the things she really liked or wanted. Her dad had forbid her from getting an actual job that paid wages, wanting her here at all times due to being the pack healer. The only times she ever had money to buy herself things were when he gave her some, which wasn’t often. One thing she had learnt from her mom was the importance of saving money, so at least she had some to take with her.

The problem was getting the dufflebag to the car without her constant companion seeing. She figured that her best chance of making Perry a little distracted was if she seemed the most boring person imaginable. Of course that wouldn’t be enough because she was considered a flight risk. She ensured that she appeared to be angry, but drained of the will to fight, hoping to pass as someone resigned to her fate. So that was what she did.

After another two days Perry became less vigilant and she found a moment to stash the dufflebag in the trunk. Then she busied herself concentrating on what she would do if Trey didn’t appear at the club. She knew she was going to her uncle, but what she hadn’t mastered was just how she would do that while being watched so closely.

She figured that her best option would be to disappear in a crowd of people. If she could slip away from the club while her dad’s enforcers were still inside the club, she might have a chance at getting away. She had to have a chance. She couldn’t mate with that sicko.

Finally Friday morning came. It had felt more like two weeks than four days. She had remembered what Trey had said about not doing anything out of the norm, but there was one thing she had to do before she left. Her usual visit to Joey’s and her mom’s graves were every other Sunday, but Perry didn’t seem suspicious. Surprised, but not suspicious. Although there was a chance this might seem suspicious to him later, it wasn’t something she could leave without doing.

She went to her mom’s grave first and, as usual, spent a few minutes tidying it up by replacing the decaying flowers with a fresh bunch. Silently she apologised to her for this being the last time she would ever be able to visit and for not being able to have the kind of loving relationship with her dad that she would have wanted.

Her eyes filled as she gave Joey’s grave the same treatment as her mom’s. She then sat in front of it as she silently spoke to him.

Hey Joe. I don’t know how much you guys up there know about what goes on down here, but there’s been some really weird crap going on. Remember I told you last time about that weird-ass alpha my dad is trying to force me to mate with? Well, it turns out he’s also a very sick son of a bitch and my dad doesn’t even give a shit.

There’s this other alpha who’s offered me a deal that would get me out of this, but it means I’d have to mate with him. It wouldn’t be a real mating, because all he wants is an alliance with my dad and it will only be temporary. The thing is…I need to make everyone believe that he’s my true mate, which means I’m going to be telling them that you never were. And I’m so sorry for this, so fucking sorry, but I can’t see any other way out.

People say I must wish I’d never found you if it meant you were going to die before we even had a chance to have the mating bond, but I don’t wish that, you know. Never have. We might not have mated, but we did have a bond.

I’m so sorry, but this is the last time I’ll be here. My dad’s not going to let me come back after this, but you can bet your ass that I’ll still be talking to you sometimes. I’ll find a river just like we use to and I’ll go sit there and talk to you. And you better listen, too, Joseph Winters, because you always had a habit switching off when you thought I’d been talking for too long.

You’ve probably switched off now. Okay, it’s fair to say that I’ve been jabbering on. She stood, wiping the tears from her cheeks, as she said the words she always said just before leaving. Miss you, love you.

Then, with a heavy heart, she turned away and began walking back toward the pack house. And it hurt so, so bad knowing she’d never be back. It was like there was this huge constriction around her chest that tightened with each step.

“He was a good kid,” stated Perry.

“Yeah.”

“He won’t hate you for mating with Roscoe, you know. He wouldn’t want you living your life alone. And Roscoe’s not a bad guy.”

Deciding that arguing would only make Perry more likely to watch her more closely, she continued with her ‘I’m pissed but resigned’ act.

Knowing that she would never again see the graves of the two most important people to her, Taryn would have spent the next few hours in a gloomy mood if it hadn’t been for her dad’s fantastic news. Roscoe was due to arrive the morning after tomorrow for another visit. That put her thoughts back in order like nothing else could have. Not only did it remind her why exactly she was doing this, but it helped her shove the guilt aside – guilt which had been heightened by how her body and her wolf reacted to Trey.

It wasn’t that she had never desired a guy before, but the desire had never been this intense before. If Taryn had met him under different circumstances she would have most likely ran far and fast from that desire. As much as she had always told herself that she would one day mate, whenever she had gotten involved with a guy she had found herself involuntarily holding back. Although she craved safety, protection, and the type of connection that only mates had it made her hate herself, because she felt as though she was betraying Joey. A part of her knew that wasn’t the case but it didn’t change how she felt. If she ever particularly liked a guy, her instinct was to stay the hell away from him.

Therein lay the problem with Trey…she wouldn’t be able to stay clear of him. Not only because they needed to spend time together to pull off the true mate stuff, but because they would be mated. It wouldn’t matter that what brought them together wasn’t love or even a desire to be mated, the second he marked her and she accepted him, they would be classed as mates and their wolves would make it damn difficult for them to keep a physical distance.

She was pretty sure she wouldn’t need to work hard to keep an emotional gulf between them, because neither she nor Trey wanted to imprint on each other. Still, the idea of being around someone who could so easily prime her body with just a look was, to say the least, disconcerting. It didn’t help that her wolf had such a big thing for him.

Figuring it was important that Trey knew, she sent him a text message around midday to warn him about her dad having her followed. The whole claiming might work out better if his enforcers were aware that they might have to either distract or fight off two of her dad’s enforcers.

It was eight-thirty when Shaya and Caleb finally came knocking on her bedroom door. Since they were kids they had all been best friends. Joey had been the leader of their little group and it had hit every one of them hard when he died. These two people had seen how badly Taryn had dealt with Joey’s death. They would remember how Joey was so protective and possessive of her. As such, they would be the most difficult to convince that Trey was her true mate. Hell, she might not be able to convince them at all. She would feel a little guilty lying to them like that, betraying their friendship.

It’s act well or mate with Roscoe.

“You ready to go?” asked Caleb as he fiddled with the collar of his shirt.

“Yep,” she replied.

“Hey you look you great,” remarked Shaya in her usual giddy voice as she took in Taryn’s silk, sapphire blue dress and matching heels.

Caleb nodded his agreement. “I’m not sure Roscoe will like that you’re going out looking like that without him around to keep other wolves away.” As they began walking down the stairs, he added, “I still can’t believe you put him on his ass at dinner the other night.”

Shaya shrugged. “Looked to me like he kind of liked it. It’s only what he should expect if he picks a dominant female.”

“Taryn, I wanted to ask,” began Caleb, “do you seriously not want him, or is this some big thing that dominant females do? Do they make the males really work for it?”

Deciding it was best not to launch into how much she detested Roscoe right before apparently stumbling upon her true mate, she bit her lip. “It’s our way of testing if the male’s a worthy mate.” That wasn’t a lie. Alpha females didn’t submit without the male proving their dominance. It was just that, in this case, that didn’t apply, because Roscoe had never been a consideration.

“Oh I think he’s definitely worthy,” said Shaya with a smirk. “I’d do him.”

Taryn rolled her eyes, smiling. “There aren’t many people you wouldn’t do.”

Shaya jiggled her head as she conceded that, making her short auburn tresses dance around. She talked a lot about other people she would do as Taryn drove them to the shifter club in her Hyundai Tucson. Caleb then criticised each one of her choices purely to annoy her. Taryn laughed when she was supposed to and spoke wherever necessary, but mainly she was concentrating on keeping herself and her wolf calm. How could she, though, when her nerves were shot?

When Taryn finally pulled up outside The Pulse her dad’s enforcers parked their own car two spaces behind. She prayed – literally – that they would follow her inside. If it came to her needing to resort to plan B then she couldn’t exactly sneak off in her car if they were outside watching over it. Relief swept over her when they began following at a discrete distance.

A nervous sigh escaped Taryn as she entered The Pulse. Although some clubs allowed both humans and shifters to enter, this club was open only to shifters. Her wolf picked up on her anxiety, but didn’t understand what was really happening. Confused and frustrated, her wolf was pacing within her, clawing at her. In addition to that, as a creature with the most basic instincts, her wolf wanted to investigate some of the male scents and also hiss at some of the female scents. Yeah, her wolf could be a right bitch when she was all worked up.

“You okay?” asked Caleb as he halted behind her. Great, he’d sensed something was off.

“My wolf’s not having a good day. She’s practically clawing at my insides in an effort to get out. Sometimes I think my being latent is harder for her than it is for me.”

Shaya shot her a sympathetic smile. “The feeling of being trapped must drive her wild.”

Taryn nodded. “Come on, let’s go get a drink.” And try to stay near the bar so Trey could easily find her. She sidled through the incredibly tight crowd on her way to the bar. The incidental social touches soothed her wolf a little.

The owner of the club and Head Barman, Roger, looked up as they reached the bar. In greeting he nodded at her, Caleb and Shaya. “What can I get you all?”

A Valium, maybe? “The usual for me please, Roger.” Being constantly on call, she mostly stuck to Coca Cola when she went on a night out. Depressing, but a drunken healer wasn’t a good one.

As Caleb ordered a beer and Shaya ordered some weird cocktail, Taryn discretely searched for her dad’s enforcers, Oscar and Perry. They stood at the other end of the bar, chatting while still alert. At least there was a decent distance between them all. She had to resist the urge to scan for any sign of Trey.

She, Caleb, and Shaya found some vacant stools by the bar and got comfortable as they drank and chatted. Although she was fully part of their conversation, it was always at the forefront of her mind that her life was about to change. She was about to enter a temporary mating with the wolf shifter equivalent of the Black Mamba snake and had a worryingly overwhelming effect on her body. To add to that, she would never be returning to her dad’s pack and this could even be the very last time she saw her two best friends.

“Thank God you’re here! I need your help badly.”

A curse flew out of Taryn’s mouth as she looked up to see Nicole, one of her pack mates. She had run over everything in her head before coming, but she hadn’t once accounted for someone needing her for her healing skills right in the middle of her fake claiming. Crap. As the pack healer, it wasn’t like she could refuse to help and nor did she want to.

“It’s Ashley,” explained Nicole as she took Taryn’s hand, pulled her from the stool, and began to lead her through the tight throngs of people. Shaya and Caleb followed closely behind them. The combination of the brushing of bodies against her and strange hands occasionally fondling her as she went by further soothed Taryn’s wolf while simultaneously rousing her.

“What’s wrong with her?” asked Taryn.

“She’s barely conscious. I guess she must have taken something, but Taryn you know Ashley doesn’t do drugs.”

Nicole abruptly stopped. Not because they had reached Ashley, but because there was such a large crowd of shifters huddled together that it was like coming up against a wall. Clearly there was a very powerful alpha male somewhere within that crowd who was being both protected and harassed. She wondered if it was Trey. A shudder rippled down her spine as she thought of what was to come – if he found her, that was.

Advancing further involved a lot of foot squashing and elbow clashing, but eventually they stopped before a chair where Nicole’s boyfriend, Richie, stood as though on guard. He gave them all a nod in greeting. In the chair was Ashley, slouched, pale, and limp.

Nicole crouched before her and rubbed her forearm. “Ashley?”

The small red head opened her eyes slightly, but her expression was pretty vacant. Yep, she’d been drugged alright.

Nicole, worrying her lower lip, rose and turned to Taryn. “Can you help?” She knew that Taryn didn’t have to help anyone who had been dumb enough to drug themselves into a practically catatonic state, but she had to agree with Nicole. Ashley wasn’t the type of person who would do drugs.

“You think Roger will let us use his office? I can’t heal her here.”

“I’ll go ask him,” said Caleb. Before she could say a word, his tall form had disappeared in the crowd.

“Do you think someone spiked her drink?” asked Shaya.

“She was fine up until those hyenas were sniffing around her,” said Nicole in a panicky voice, twirling a blond curl around her finger.

Richie nodded. “They looked like a bad bunch, so I chased them off.”

Taryn puffed. “Roger’s going to be so pissed off. Not only is someone using drugs in his establishment, but they’re using them to spike people’s drinks.”

“You not with Roscoe tonight?”

“It’s only a few days until the mating ceremony,” said Nicole. “You must be pretty excited.”

“Hey it was really cool when you knocked him out of his chair,” said Richie with a grin. Clearly Nicole had been one of the females staring at Roscoe, pissing Richie off.

“What had he done?”

Taryn ran a hand through her hair, hoping she didn’t look as stressed out as she was feeling. “You know how it is with alpha females and making sure their mates are worthy.” Feeling a tap on her shoulder, Taryn swerved to find Caleb. “Roger said it was okay?”

Caleb nodded. “He’s waiting by the door with the key. He likes to keep it locked.”

“Come on then people, let’s get Ashley moved.”

Taryn grabbed Ashley’s purse as Richie and Caleb each draped one of Ashley’s arms over their shoulders and lifted her from the chair. She didn’t react other than to let out a low whiny moan. With Nicole and Shaya on either side of her, Taryn led the way to the office, making room through the crowds for the guys to carry Ashley through without dropping her on her ass.

Five footsteps later Taryn accidentally bumped into a curvy brunette. A familiar curvy brunette. Everything about her was false; her breasts, her plush upper lip, her eyelashes, her nails. God, even the length of her hair wasn’t natural – she clearly wore hair extensions. Hell, she was so fake she probably had ‘Made in China’ stamped somewhere on her body. Taryn would happily have ignored her if she hadn’t turned and sneered, speaking in that acidic tone of hers.

“Well if it isn’t the latent.”

Having been listening to Brodie’s crap for years, Taryn could only roll her eyes and sigh. “Must we go through this every time? Yeah, I’m latent, get over it.”

“Should you even be in here? This is a shifter club and, when you think about it, you don’t really count as one, do you?”

Noting how loud and obvious Brodie was being and just how close she was to the notorious alpha of the local falcon pack, realisation dawned. “Oh, you’re putting on a show for the big bad alpha here. I’m sure he’s very impressed hearing you mouth off to someone who you clearly believe is weaker than yourself.”

Shaya snorted. “You’d think she would have learned her lesson years ago when you kicked her ass at the school prom.”

Brodie’s face scrunched up in mortification. “I had a migraine that day.”

“Sure you did,” said Caleb dryly.

Turning her attention back to Taryn, Brodie shot her a wicked smirk. “How’s your dad? Is he doing as good as when I left him last night?”

Her wolf growled inside her head. “You know, one day you’re going to get seriously banged up and need healing, and I’m not going to do a damn thing about it.”

“Ooh, did I touch a nerve?”

“You get on my nerves, does that count? Now as much as this might surprise you, Brodie, the world doesn’t revolve around you. I have shit to do, including helping out Ashley here, so run along.”

She stepped a little closer, pouting. “But I’m having fun, aren’t you little freak?”

With a speed that Brodie obviously hadn’t been expecting, Taryn grabbed her mop of hair and yanked down her head to connect with Taryn’s sharply rising knee. There was a crunch – her nose, probably. Then she flung a squealing yet dazed Brodie aside and watched as she landed awkwardly on her ass. “I am now.”

Ignoring the claps and cheers – did all guys love watching females fight? – Taryn continued making her way to the office. Roger unlocked and held open the door, allowing them all to enter before then clearing off the surface of his bureau. The guys then carefully laid Ashley on top of it.

Knowing the drill, Nicole opened the window and then stood against the far wall with Caleb, Shaya, Roger, and Richie to give Taryn some space. She placed her palm over Ashley’s forehead and, as quick as that, there were patches of luminous lights shining through Ashley’s skin, indicating where the most damage was done by the drug Ashley had taken. The first light was coming from her stomach, making her baby pink dress give off a neon glow. The other was beneath her scalp, gleaming behind her red hair.

Taryn bent over and opened Ashley’s mouth as if she would give her the kiss of life. It wasn’t quite far from the truth. She put her mouth to Ashley’s and then inhaled deeply until she tasted the foulness she had been expecting. When she could breathe in no more, she lifted her head and turned it toward the window before blowing all the foulness out of her lungs. It escaped her mouth in a whoosh of what looked like black particles and zoomed out of the window.

She repeated the process over and over until Ashley’s stomach and scalp no longer glowed, indicating that all of what had been polluting her insides was gone. Taryn then stumbled backwards, breathless and a little weak. “She should wake up soon.”

Caleb urged her onto Roger’s leather office chair and placed a bottle of water into her hand.

Shaya shook her head. “No matter how many times I see you do that it always amazes me.”

“So…you extracted the drug from her system?” asked Roger.

“No,” said Taryn. “I can’t explain it well, but it’s like I extract the badness.”

“Like…the bad effects of the drug or illness or injury?”

Nodding, she replied, “Kind of, yeah.”

“That was so cool,” gasped Nicole. “Even cooler than when you broke Brodie’s nose. You going to heal her?”

Taryn tilted her head as she considered it. “Nah.”