Feral Sins

CHAPTER SIX

Dreams didn’t get much better than this.

On one level, Taryn couldn’t help finding it a little depressing that her best sexual encounters tended to happen during her sleep, but the pleasure spiking through her body left no room for such thoughts.

A thick talented finger was stroking in and out of her while sharp teeth nibbled on the back of her shoulder. The thrusts were shallow, leisurely, teasing. She squirmed and tried impaling herself further but the finger withdrew – a warning. She moaned her frustration. A low, wicked chuckle was her response and then two fingers plunged inside her and her next moan was of sheer bliss.

Ordinarily Taryn wasn’t a huge fan of finger-fucking, but these fingers were extremely clever, hitting all the right nerves with unerring accuracy as if they knew just how to play her body. If they would only pick up speed…

Oh, and then they did. The teeth stopped grazing her shoulder as that hot mouth drifted to her ear and a tongue swirled inside the shell.

“Come for me, Taryn.” The whisper was hoarse and filled with authority. “I want to feel you come all over my fingers.”

That was when she woke up and became very aware that she hadn’t been dreaming at all. Instantly she stiffened, but obviously knowing she’d fight him, Trey slipped an arm beneath her and locked it tight around her, pinning her arms against her body. “You tricky fucking bastard,” she rasped, struggling against his grip and the sensations. But his grip only tightened as he kept her right where he wanted her and pumped his fingers hard and deep, demanding her orgasm.

“Come. Now.” He bit down hard on the back of her shoulder.

Her traitorous body gave him what he wanted. An orgasm washed over her and her muscles clutched his fingers as she came with a loud cry. Then in one decisive movement he raised her leg, tucked it into the crook of his elbow and drove into her. Oh she hated him.

Trey groaned as her muscles contracted around his cock. “Fuck, Taryn.” She melted against him for a second and then went back to struggling. Well of course she did. In this particular battle for dominance he had basically cheated by seducing her in her sleep, but she just felt so damn good around him that he couldn’t bring himself to care.

He thought it odd that his appetite for her body hadn’t began to dull yet. He only had to smell her scent or hear her voice for him to become immediately hard. Unlike Trick and Dominic, Trey wasn’t the type to have so little control over his libido or his body. But where Taryn was concerned, it was a whole different matter. He couldn’t even blame it on the mating. This primitive hunger had hit him the second he saw her and didn’t seem to be going anywhere.

“That’s it, baby, fight it,” he urged. The little wildcat did. Even though his cock was pistoning away in her pussy, even though her groans told him that she loved it, she still thrashed and fought to be free. Fought his dominance. If he hadn’t been as strong as he was, she’d have twisted out of his hold by now – and most likely have snapped his neck. Those flailing hands were clawing at whatever skin they could reach. It was a real good thing her arms were trapped.

“Cock-sucking son of a goddamn dick-faced bitch!”

“You’re the bitch, baby. My little bitch. And I’ll fuck my little bitch whenever I want.” He knew she was fighting her orgasm, but he also knew by the way her inner muscles were fluttering around his cock that she wouldn’t last much longer. Surprising him, she turned her head and snapped her teeth, grazing his face ever so slightly. Growling, he locked his teeth onto her nape and pounded harder. Seconds later she screamed and her pussy spasmed around him, triggering his own orgasm. “Fuck!”

When she finally stopped panting Taryn gave him a sideways glance as she muttered, “Bastard.”

He laughed before bringing the fingers he had fucked her with to his mouth. He hummed appreciatively as he sucked them clean. “I could become addicted to your taste.” He wasn’t lying. Her taste was just like her; spicy and seductive.

“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.

“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 decided 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.

“Trey, I need you to come back now or I can’t heal you. I don’t want to hear any macho shit about Alphas not needing healing. If you expect to have sex ever again, you won’t fight me on this.”

It was something like twenty seconds later when the change began and suddenly Trey was back in his human form. Instantly he flopped to his back, breathing hard.

“Someone get him a bottle of water,” she called out as the living area filled with people.

“I’m okay,” he wheezed.

“Sure you are, Flinstone.” His wounds actually weren’t that bad, but they were ugly and would most likely scar if she didn’t heal them.

Greta appeared, growling. “Now if you’d have just handed her over, Trey, you’d be fine.”

“Not now, Wicked Witch of the East,” groused Taryn.

“Here.” Grace placed a bottle of water beside Taryn.

She offered Trey the bottle but he shook his head. “Hey, you still have some blood on your mouth and I’m not going near said mouth to heal you until you’ve washed your face at the very least.”

“Why would you need to go near his mouth to heal him?” asked Rhett in that curious tone of his.

Turning to see that Trick was the one standing closest to the window, she asked, “Trick, would you open that for me?”

“Why?”

“So I can gaze lovingly at the sun. Will you just open it?”

Grunting, he did as she asked while Trey finally drank down some water and wiped his face.

“Now be still.” She was pretty sure he only did it out of curiosity. Taryn placed her hand on his forehead and watched as several patches of his skin suddenly illuminated where there were scratches and bites. She heard a few gasps, a ‘Whoa’ and a ‘Holy shit’ coming from behind her, but ignored them.

Leaning down, she placed her mouth at Trey’s and inhaled deeply, taking the foulness from him and then blowing it out of her mouth through the window. She repeated the move over and over until, finally, the last luminous patch faded. “I’d say you’re done.” With that, she allowed herself to flop backwards onto her back much as Trey had five minutes ago. She almost laughed as she opened her eyes to see several faces all peering down at her. Then suddenly she was snatched from the rug and was being cradled against Trey’s chest.

“You shouldn’t have done that, you look worse than I did.”

“I’ll be fine, you ungrateful asshole. I just need some water and maybe some sort of sugary food.”

“You got it,” said Grace as she dashed out of the room.

“You do know that was awesome, right?” Dante’s grin was almost as wide as Marcus’ clown grin.

“More like unnatural,” muttered Greta.

“Did you just use the word awesome?” Dominic asked Dante, chuckling.

“Come on, she totally calmed a feral wolf and at the same time negotiated an alliance before then doing some weird healing stuff. That’s some seriously cool shit.”

Trey strangely felt a twinge of pride for her, though he still wanted to spank her ass for going near his wolf while he was feral. “My wolf could have hurt you.”

“Yeah, I know. Blame Dante, he told me I should go for it.”

Dante spluttered. “That’s not – I didn’t – She -”

“You should see your face.” Her chuckle was interrupted by a cough. Her throat always felt a little hoarse after she used her healing gift. At that moment Grace handed her a bottle of water and an energy bar. “Thanks.”

“Never again are you allowed to use that gift,” stated Trey firmly, not liking how pale she was. His wolf wasn’t happy about it either.

“Don’t be a goof. Of course I’m going to use it. I wouldn’t be much of a healer if I didn’t.”

“You look like a corpse.”

“I’ll be fine. Just plonk me on that monstrosity of a sofa and let me have a twenty minute nap and I’ll be just as lively as I was before.” She wouldn’t have even needed the nap if Trey hadn’t had so many bruises and wounds. “Just a little power nap and I’ll be fine.”

Trey couldn’t help smiling at the way she curled up on the bulky sofa in a fetal position five minutes later. She looked even tinier than usual, but still not fragile. There was too much steel in her for that.

“Ryan just called,” Tao informed him. “They’ve gone.”

Trey nodded and then watched in surprise as some of his pack gathered around her. Dante, Grace and Rhett sat on her left while Lydia, Marcus and Cam sat on her right. Trick, Dominic and Tao then all sat on the floor with the back of their heads resting against her legs. It was a gesture of support, comfort and acceptance as well as an indication that they intended to guard her as she slept. She had earned the respect of each of them in the short time that she had been here.

A strange pang struck his chest – unfamiliar and unnerving. “I’m going to take a shower. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” They nodded but were focused on Taryn who had gone out like a light. He and his wolf were comforted by the knowledge that they would stay with her while Trey removed the streaks of blood and the lingering scent of the dead wolf from his body. The dead wolf who was now no longer a threat to his mate or their mating.

It was as Trey was showering that he thought back to how he had felt when, forced to be nothing but an observer, he saw Taryn tentatively trying to gain his wolf’s attention. The anger, the frustration and the anxiety rushed back. There had been something else in that cocktail of emotions. Fear. Trey had actually felt fear.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t experienced that emotion before. Of course he had. Having an underdeveloped conscience and an explosive temper didn’t mean he didn’t know fear. What was bothering him right now was that he had felt such fear for Taryn, had feared she would be seriously hurt and feared she would be taken from him just like that – and at his own hands. He couldn’t even say it was his wolf’s fear. His wolf had been going through his own shit right then. No, that had been all Trey.

It had to have been a direct consequence of the natural crazy-possessiveness and crazy-protectiveness that came with mating. It was obviously age-old instincts pushing to the forefront, taking over. Trey understood that the mating would be temporary, but his instincts to protect his mate were obviously going to override his thoughts. Obviously. Just like his instinct to mark his mate and make her submit to him had overridden his true indifference to those things.

Yeah, that was all it was, all it could be. Obviously. That didn’t improve his mood any because there was another issue that was bothering him. Taryn shouldn’t have been able to calm his wolf.

When a wolf shifter went into feral mode they behaved a lot like a rabid animal. They attacked senselessly, they felt no emotional attachments, they lost all sense of reason and logic. And yet her scent and voice had reached his wolf even through that fog.

Trey had felt how quickly his wolf had recognised her as his mate, how quickly he had switched from wanting to kill to wanting to protect. The only reason his wolf had been reluctant to leave the carcass was because he still hadn’t been stable enough to understand that the sandy wolf was dead and no longer a danger to Taryn.

If his wolf was this attached to Taryn now, what would he be like in three months? What would happen when she left? Trey’s wolf growled his objection, confirming Trey’s suspicion that his eventual separation from her could be more problematic and uncomfortable than he had anticipated even though they hadn’t imprinted.

Unlike with true mates, a relationship between imprinted mates could wither over time. For an unhappy imprinted couple it wasn’t simple for them to shake hands and go their separate ways because of the metaphysical bond that existed between them. The pain of that kind of separation was on a psychic level just as much as a physical one.

For most wolves, it meant constant migraines, a lingering sense of emptiness, and slipping in and out of depressive states for a few years, if not longer. Some wolves even retreated within their human half completely, unable to function without their mate. The worst case scenario for any wolf separated from their mate was that they turned rogue, remaining in wolf form and turning completely feral, attacking anyone they came into contact with – like his mother had.

After his dad had banished him, his mom – who had been a submissive wolf – had for the first time in her life rebelled against his dad’s authority. When he refused to reconsider his banishment, she had left with Trey and the others, believing that she would cope with the separation because her bond with his father had been through imprinting as opposed to them being true mates. However the separation had proven too difficult for her, most likely because she had been a submissive wolf. Within six months she had turned rogue…and Trey had been the one to kill her.

There was no way that he was prepared to go through something like that again. As long as he and Taryn didn’t imprint, there was no risk of either of them suffering any of those effects when they separated, but it was obvious that his wolf was already becoming attached to her. And that spooked the hell out of Trey. So instead of going straight to Taryn to check on her like he wanted to, he shut himself in his office.

Another thing that spooked him was the knowledge that if she hadn’t been with him in that Mediation meeting, if she hadn’t kept him calm with her touch, he would have most definitely lost it and went for Darryl’s throat. Never had he been able to truly rely on another person. Never had there been someone for him to draw strength from. But that had been okay because he hadn’t wanted to need anyone. He hadn’t been the type of kid who craved physical affection – which had been a damn good thing since he’d never gotten it.

He had always prided himself on not having that weakness of needing anyone or anything. Having a mate, having a connection that came with mating, was fucking with that. Not that he believed for even one minute that the mating connection could override the way he functioned and had always functioned, but he didn’t have any interest in encouraging the cravings for his mate by feeding them.

Maybe if he distanced himself from her, spent little time with her, didn’t touch her, it would ease the matter and ease his wolf’s attachment to her. He needed to ignore these urges he had to be with her, to touch her, to mark her entire body, to ensure his scent was all over her. Those urges had nothing to do with Taryn as a person and everything to do with the fact that she was who he had mated. If she had been someone else, things would still have been the same.

Would they really though? a voice in his head questioned, a part of him who thought he was talking out of his ass.

Of course it would. That wasn’t to say that he didn’t like Taryn. He did. And he respected her which said a lot. And yeah, okay, there was that weird thing between them, that primal hunger. And she made him laugh, and she was refreshing because she wasn’t afraid of him or to speak her mind in front of him, and she –

Dammit, no! No, the attraction was mostly just due to their mating. It was just his instincts driving him, not his regard for Taryn. Trey wasn’t at the mercy of those instincts or his wolf. He had a mind of his own and that mind was going to rule how he behaved from here on out.

Unless the situation required him to touch her – like when they were posing as mates – he would resist doing so. It would probably be best not to have sex with her again given that he could never resist the urge to mark her whenever he was inside her, but he couldn’t guarantee that sex wouldn’t happen because if she made advances he very much doubted he’d be able to ignore them.

To satisfy his overprotectiveness he would allocate her a bodyguard. No his wolf wouldn’t like her spending large amounts of time with another male, but his wolf would just have to deal with it because Trey was going to get a handle on this situation and he was going to start now.

Taryn jerked awake at the sound of laughing. Three heads that had been leaning against her legs swerved around.

“Oh sorry,” said Tao, “it’s just that this episode of Friends is hilarious.”

“They’re all hilarious,” she mumbled as she sat upright. Trick and Tao each scooted over a little so that she had room to stretch her legs out.

“How are you feeling?” asked a voice to her right as a finger trailed down her cheek.

She looked up to see Grace. “Fine, thanks.” It was only then that she realized that they were all gathered around her. She understood what this meant. Not only had they been offering her comfort, they accepted her as a member of the pack. Temporary member of the pack, she reminded herself.

“You look better,” said Tao.

“How long was I out?” she asked no one in particular as she stretched her arms which were a little stiff from her fetal position.

“About an hour,” replied Dante.

“You should have woke me, I didn’t need to sleep that long.”

Tao, who was rubbing his jaw against her knee, asked, “Do you always need sleep after you use your gift?”

She shook her head. “I was just tired because Trey had so many injuries, even though they weren’t fatal. Where is Flinstone anyway?”

Dante suddenly seemed a little uncomfortable. “He went to have a shower and um…he’s probably making some calls or something in his office.”

In other words, he hadn’t reappeared to check on her. Why should he though?

“You need anything?” asked Grace. “Coffee or something?”

Taryn waved her hand. “I can get it, I’m fine.”

“No,” they all said in unison before Grace rushed from the room.

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not an invalid.”

“No,” agreed Lydia, “but you’re our Alpha female which means we look out for you.”

“Come on, you know it’s only temporary, you don’t need to take things so far.”

“Then let us just do it temporarily.”

“Is there anything else you want?” asked Grace as she handed her a huge mug of coffee.

Taryn took the mug gratefully and sipped from it. “Actually, I was wondering if any of you have a computer I could use once I’ve had a shower.”

“I do,” said Rhett. “It’s in my room.”

“Then let’s go.” Seeing that they were all ready to object to her moving just yet, she held up her hand. “I said I’m fine. As much as I appreciate the concern, I’m going to need you all to stop fussing.” Wearing petulant expressions, they gave her space to rise and leave.

A shower and a change of clothes later she was in Rhett’s bedroom. It was smaller than Trey’s and had quite a geeky feel to it. He led her to his ‘IT Corner’ and introduced her to his amazingly hi tech contraption. He had almost every program she could think of, thousands of games, access to all kinds of confidential shit and a mind that worked just as fast as that piece of technology. She didn’t know whether to be impressed or freaked out. “So, in short, you’re a hacker. I can just about manage e-mailing.”

“Hacking’s not as hard as you might think. It’s pretty much like sex – you want to get in and out leaving little trace of you ever having been there. So, what do you need?”

“I just need access to the internet. I’ve probably been disconnected from my old pack web so I’ll need to join yours.”

“Your what?”

“You don’t have a pack web?” Taryn was surprised considering he seemed to have everything else.

He shook his head. “What is it?”

“It’s kind of like a social network but it’s exclusive to whoever is in your pack.”

“A little like Facebook and Twitter.”

“Exactly, only it’s not so much to encourage social interaction as it is to showcase your pack. Let me show you.”

After typing in the http address, Taryn took them to the homepage of USA Pack Webs. Entering her name and password, she was then immediately transferred to a visual of what was termed the Onyx pack web – her old pack. It was a little like looking at an image of the solar system, only instead of the sun being in the center it was a photo of the Alpha, her dad. And instead of planets being dotted around the eight surrounding circles of the sun, individual photos of each pack member were randomly dotted around the circles. Her own photo was set aside as if free floating in space. Oh yeah she’d been disconnected alright.

“Because we’re not part of the pack, we don’t have access to this web which means we can’t see the public blog and add to it, but watch this.” Using the mouse, she moved the arrow to point on one of the photos and instantly the photo enlarged and a little personal information on that pack member came up; it was like looking at a baseball card, only it was referred to as an information card.

Rhett read it aloud. “Full Name: Shaya Critchley. Gender: Female. Age: Twenty-three. Status: Unmated. Rank: Subordinate. Challenges: Four. Challenges Won: Two.”

“That’s all you can know unless you were to gain permission from the Alpha to browse through the pack web.”

He turned to look at her. “Every pack has one?”

She shook her head. “Not every pack. They’re a good thing to have, because not only is it a good way for all pack members to socially interact no matter where they are, but it means that other packs can get a vague idea of how powerful yours is. Look at this.” Taryn pointed the cursor at Lance and instantly a photo popped up with a small amount of personal information underneath.

Again Rhett read it aloud. “Full Name: Lance Kai Warner. Gender: Male. Age: Forty-three. Status: Mate Deceased. Rank: Pack Alpha. Challenges: Twelve. Challenges Won: Twelve. Number of Alliances: Thirty-two. Total Number of Wolves: Twenty-six.” He seemed lost in thought for a moment before turning his attention back to Taryn. “So we could create our own web?”

She nodded. “Easy. You just need to sign up first to USA Pack Webs. You know, this would be a good way to form alliances. Other Alphas now have a way of getting in touch with Trey without risking turning up only to get their head chewed off.”

“How could they contact him?”

“See the option on the top right of the information card, Send Message. The same option is on everybody’s information card. Speaking of which, let me just check to see if I have any.” She double-clicked on her own card and saw a notice that she had fifty-seven messages.

“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 thoughts 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.