Feral Sins

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Taryn’s uncle and his mate were a lot warmer toward her than Trey had been expecting. They seemed pleased to see her and they were happy and relieved to know that she was away from Lance. If her uncle had anything to do with it, she would definitely be welcome here if she asked to join the pack.

In fact, the damn Alpha would probably be just as welcoming. He had been staring at Taryn for most of the evening and it was beginning to seriously piss Trey off. Had she not made Trey promise to ‘behave’ seen as he was apparently intimidating enough, he would have threatened to gut the ogling bastard. Even his promise to her wouldn’t have stopped him if the Alpha hadn’t been so careful not to cross any lines.

It was only then, as he sat lounging on one of the reclined deckchairs, sipping beer and watching her play with some of the pups that Trey realized he had secretly hoped that they were all assholes who didn’t care to know her. Without anyone to turn to, she could have been persuaded to stay with him a little longer even after the battle with his uncle. Although he still had just over a month left with her, it didn’t seem enough.

For the past few weeks he had tried convincing himself that it wasn’t the man in him that wanted to prolong her stay, it was just his wolf or his mating instincts or maybe a mixture of both. Only a moron would continue to deny the truth, and Trey was a lot of things, but he’d like to think a moron wasn’t one of them. The truth was that this wasn’t about their wolves, this was about Trey and Taryn. And Trey wanted Taryn to stay a little longer.

Of course he hadn’t told her that. He wouldn’t tell her because naturally the question she would ask would be ‘For how long?’ Unless his answer was going to be ‘permanently’, there was no reason for her to stay longer because it would only make their separation worse. Where was the sense in that? There was none. Yet even as he acknowledged that, he couldn’t change that he wanted more time with her.

How could he not? Who wouldn’t want more time with a woman who was so sensual and gorgeous? The quirkiness she had brought to his pack and his life was something he wouldn’t have originally thought he’d want, but he knew that when it was gone he would miss it. Just as he would miss their bedroom battles. She was so responsive, so challenging, and so damn receptive to everything they did. Each morning he would wake Taryn by gorging himself on her taste, and each night he would bury his cock deep inside her and fuck them both to sleep. Then he’d wake up some time through the night and fuck her again. What guy in his right mind wouldn’t want more of that?

He grinned as his little vixen suddenly looked up and met his gaze. He didn’t get his usual ‘come get me’ smile, it was more of a ‘please rescue me’ expression – which was a lot to do with the crowd of kids still hovering around her. With all her energy and sparkle she was like some sort of kid magnet.

He might have gone to her – that was all it would have took to make the pups scarper – if the Alpha, Nick, hadn’t chosen that moment to sit on the deckchair beside him.

“I think you might end up with a houseful of pups.”

Trey winced inwardly at the feel of one of them damn chest pangs. Ignoring it, he forced out a response. “You might be right.”

“You know, you’re very intense with Taryn. I don’t think you’ve moved your eyes from her for more than a few seconds since you got here.”

“Neither have you.”

Nick smiled unrepentantly. “Don’t worry, she spent the entire time we spoke talking about you and your pack. Apparently she has even developed a fondness for your grandmother, though she says she would still like to gag the senile old crone.”

Trey was pretty sure that both women actually liked each other. Neither would ever admit it because they enjoyed the battle of wills they engaged in too much.

“I’ve always been very selective in who I form alliances with.”

Trey grunted. “I don’t believe I asked you for one.” All he really wanted was to punch the arrogant asshole for ogling Taryn. His wolf liked that idea.

Nick only smiled. “The rumors about you are...worrying.”

“Then why invite us here?”

“Her uncle wasn’t convinced that you’re true mates. He believes her true mate died when they were pups. Don was worried that she had gotten herself into something dangerous and was looking for a way out.”

“Is that a fact?” Trey bit out. “Well hear me when I say this. Taryn’s my mate, she’s mine, and I’ll kill her interfering bastard of an uncle if he tries to take her from me. So either get out of our business or ask us to leave. Either one will please me just fine.”

The weird prick smiled again. “I didn’t say I agreed with him. If I hadn’t seen you interact with Taryn the way you have tonight, I’m not sure I’d have been interested in forming an alliance between our packs.” Most likely in response to Trey’s questioning look, he added, “Maybe you don’t realize just how different you are with Taryn than anyone else. And she you. You’re both much calmer when you’re together. It’s the way of it with mates. That’s why I’ve no intention of interfering in spite of her uncle’s concerns, and it’s also why I believe you’re not quite the rabid shifter everyone makes you out to be.”

“Hey Nick,” purred a husky voice that promised sex. Both males looked up to see a curvy dark skinned female standing before them wearing…practically nothing. Once upon a time she might have interested Trey. Right now she did nothing at all for him. He never would have thought he would have described breasts as too big, but they were. Not like Taryn’s that fit just right in his hands like they were made just for him.

“Is it time for the ceremony to start?” asked Nick.

“Almost.” Her eyes focused on Trey and she grinned wickedly. “I’m Glory. And you are?”

“Mated,” snapped another female voice. “So move your ass very far away.”

A smile curved Trey’s mouth at the sight of Taryn approaching, sneering and emitting a sexy low growl. He loved seeing her in possessive mode. He didn’t blame Glory for her fast departure. Even he wouldn’t be interested in fucking with Taryn right now. He’d happily fuck her though, especially while she was wearing that little black dress that clung to her like a second skin.

“I’d say I’m sorry for upsetting one of your wolves, but lying’s a sin,” Taryn told Nick who just smiled. Damn if the guy wasn’t hot with his short silky butterscotch hair, sensual mouth and that set of piercing dusky green eyes. Still, she preferred the dark, broody psycho beside him. “Hey Flinstone.”

Trey gave her a lopsided smirk as he appraised her for like the hundredth time. “Come here.”

She cocked her head. “If I don’t?”

“I’ll chase you, catch you and spank you in front of everybody.”

“Was that supposed to be a deterrent?”

Nick now forgotten, Trey reached out and snatched her arm, pulling her on top of him. He licked her lips and she immediately opened up for him, flicking his tongue lightly with her own and conjuring images in his mind of her flicking her tongue along the head of his cock. Her sly grin told him she’d known exactly what she was doing. “Careful,” he warned.

“Where would be the fun in that?”

Quietly, he replied, “You’re right. Fun would be if I forced you to get down on your knees and then shoved my cock in your mouth.”

“You could try, but I’d just bite it off. Maybe I’d heal it, I don’t know.”

He chuckled, running his hands along her back. “Such a snippy little bitch, aren’t you?”

“I am, yes.”

“Wrong. You’re my snippy little bitch.” Brushing her hair from her face he frowned. “You look tired.”

“I’m not surprised. I didn’t get much sleep.”

He heard the implication in her voice. “I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not.”

“You never are,” she grumbled, still smiling. “So what have you been doing all the way over here while I was practically attacked by a swarm of pups?”

“I’ve been busy enjoying myself watching some gorgeous female.”

“Oh is that so? You’ll have to describe this female to me so I can go kick her ass.”

Collaring her throat with his hand, he guided her head backwards and slid his hand away so he could kiss and nibble at her neck. “You can’t miss her. She has all different shades of blonde in her hair.”

“Poor girl.”

“And the cutest ass” – he tapped it lightly – “and a hot little body” – he smoothed the palm of his hand up and down her spine – “and a very sharp tongue. Oh and she has a wicked mouth that was made to take my cock.”

“Stop kissing my very sensitive neck so I can think straight and respond with a sarcastic comment.” She wouldn’t let him know that, in truth, she had thought about it several times. Had wondered what it would feel like to take him in her mouth, how he would taste. But – and maybe she was alone in this – that one sexual act felt like an extremely submissive one. She was working on letting him lead in bed, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to get on her knees before him and do what seemed like the ultimate surrender.

It wasn’t that she had never done it before. It was just that whenever she had done it in the past it had been while she was the dominant figure in the relationship. Giving a guy a blowjob when she was supposed to be mostly submissive seemed like something else altogether, in which case it surprised her that she was even considering it. Just as it surprised her that as much as the wolves in Nick’s pack were great and as much as she could see herself being happy here if they accepted her, that didn’t make her feel as relieved and excited as it should. No, because she would miss Trey and his pack.

She really had thought she was being careful not to get comfortable in the pack, knowing that her stay would be a short one. But with them being so warm and fun – with the exception of a few – and seeing her as more than a healer who was rather inconveniently latent, it was damn hard to keep an emotional distance from these people and the situation itself.

If she was honest with herself – which she really didn’t want to be – she had also stupidly gotten a little too comfortable in her temporary mating with Trey. His heavy masculinity bounced off the impression of a hard individual, but she had come to see that there was more to him than that. Sure he could be aggressive, sullen and psychotic, but he had demonstrated that he could also be attentive, reassuring, gentle, and even indulgent – or at least he could be with her. Not to mention how his sexual appetites matched her own. Without realising it, she had somehow fallen a little into the fantasy of their mating even though she had resisted the urge to mark him. How shitty was that.

“It’s almost midnight,” announced Nick as he stood. “Ceremony’s about to start.”

Taryn frowned when she noticed how Trey was scowling at the Alpha. Sure Trey was pretty antisocial with ninety nine percent of the population – she was working on that with him – but when he scowled at someone like that it usually meant they had pissed him off.

Having made a mental note to ask Trey about it later, she rose to her feet and pulled him with her to join the loose circle that the pack had made around the mated pair in the clearing. She snuggled back into Trey as he pressed against her back and locked his arms around her. As always, she never felt squashed or suffocated by his huge body. He made her feel safe and protected.

At exactly midnight Nick began to speak the ritual words that called to the full moon to bless the mating. She had been a witness at several of these ceremonies in the past and the intensity of the sacred event never failed to amaze her. Although the ritual words didn’t hold any particular power and the ceremony was a case of the mates demonstrating to each other just how committed they were and wanting to celebrate that, the whole thing still gave her goose bumps and stirred her wolf.

What affected Taryn most, however, was witnessing the succession of intense emotions that flittered across the mated pair’s faces. To be loved, adored and worshipped like that by the person you loved in turn had to be the most amazing thing in the world. And it was something she would never have. She only ever experienced the tiniest twinge of jealousy. It was impossible not to be happy for those people who had found it. For a moment she wondered what it would be like to have that with Trey but quickly dismissed the dumb thought.

“What do you think they’ll do?” he whispered into her ear.

She knew what he was asking. It was traditional that mates celebrated the ceremony by having sex, and whereas most preferred to do so in the privacy of their home after the party, there were some who gave in to their exhibitionistic urges and had sex beneath the full moon regardless of who may be there to watch.

She whispered her response. “Well, I only spoke to Lena a couple of times but she seems pretty shy so I can’t see her wanting to get down and dirty with her mate in front of everyone. Then again, it’s the quiet ones you have to look out for.” Knowing how dominant and possessive his wolf was, she said, “I don’t have to ask what you’d prefer.”

“Oh?”

“You’d love the idea of everyone watching. You’re quite the exhibitionist, even for a shifter.”

Trey merely shrugged. “We all have our kinks. Want to know what I think? I think you’d like having people watch while I pin you down and fuck you.”

Ignoring the flutter in her stomach, she replied, “Wishful thinking on your part, Trey.”

“You’d like people seeing what a good girl you are for me, how well you take my cock.” And he’d love for others to see it. Not in this place around all these strange wolves he didn’t know or trust, but he couldn’t resist teasing her with the idea.

“Careful, you’re at risk of disappearing into La La Land.”

“So if I slipped my finger inside you right now, you wouldn’t be wet?”

“Nope,” she lied easily.

He inhaled deeply. “I can smell your arousal, Taryn. I can sense it. Just to be sure…”

Feeling his hand discretely snaked behind her she hissed, “Trey, don’t you dare.”

“Shh, be still. Unless you want everyone to turn and watch. I don’t mind.” He delved beneath her dress, slid her thong aside and slipped his finger inside her. He groaned as her muscles tightened around his finger. “Nice and wet, just like I knew you’d be.”

“Remove your hand right now.”

“This pussy is mine, remember. I get to play with it whenever I want.”

“You -”

“Shh,” he murmured again as he withdrew his finger and wrapped both arms around her middle again. “Do you really think I’d let down my guard around all these strange wolves when you’re mine to protect? Now, on the other hand, if we’d been on our own territory surrounding by our own pack well then…” He let the sentence trail and smiled as he sensed her arousal spike. He knew she’d never admit that the idea turned her on.

“And so,” said Nick, “do you, Robert, and you, Lena, enter this mating with your body, mind, heart and soul?”

“I do,” they said in unison.

Nick then blessed the mating using a string of Latin words that Trey didn’t have a hope of understanding. He couldn’t help frowning as Lena kissed her mate before then biting his unmarked shoulder, branding him for all to see. The one thing that his own little mate had never done – though she’d have every right considering how many damn times he had done it to her – was leave her brand on him. Although she had scratched him and nipped him plenty of times, she had never marked him. His wolf keenly felt the absence of that mark; he didn’t understand why she hadn’t branded him. Neither did Trey.

He knew that she wanted to, knew that her wolf was pushing her to act on the basic urge to mark her male. Taryn’s resistance had to be pissing her wolf off and making her feel insecure in the mating. Yet, Taryn was fighting her. Much like he’d been fighting his own wolf from the beginning, he mused. So maybe he hadn’t been the only one of them who had been battling emotions they didn’t understand. Or maybe he had found his way into La La Land.

“I was right,” whispered Taryn, “she’s too shy to have an audience. Come on, let’s eat, I’m starving.”

Shoving his thoughts aside, Trey allowed her to lead him to the large table beneath the canopy where a huge feast was set out. Although the ceremonies were considered to be sacred and solemn, the after-party was always jubilant and lively – the general plan being to dance, eat and get ridiculously drunk. Seen as neither he nor Taryn were particularly good at dancing, they stuck to stuffing their faces with food and gulping down plenty of beer – though not too much considering Trey needed to drive them home.

He really didn’t want to like these people who would soon take Taryn away from him – or at least that was how he saw it – but a part of him could admit that they seemed to be pretty okay people. If he was going to lose her to another pack then this was a fairly decent one for her to join. The only wolf he couldn’t be too sure about was her uncle. The tall, bald guy had purposely avoided Trey the entire time they were there. Several times Taryn had tried to introduce him, but Don always managed to artfully dodge her. Trey didn’t particularly care, though he didn’t like that it was upsetting Taryn.

That meant that when the party ended at six in the morning and Don finally approached him while Taryn was saying goodbye to the pups, Trey really wasn’t in the mood to take any shit. And of course Don happened to have some shit to throw at him.

“You seem fond of my niece,” said Don, squinting, as he crossed his arms over his chest in a very confrontational posture. “And you’re certainly possessive of her. Still, I’m not buying the true mate thing. Nor am I buying that you’ve mated with her because you care for her. Being fond of her and wanting her with you for life are two very different things. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful that you got her away from her father who was a bastard to her. My issue is that I’ve heard all about your reputation, Coleman, and I promise you now if I find out you’ve got my niece involved in anything dangerous you’ll have me to deal with.”

Resisting the urge to grip him by the throat, Trey took a threatening step toward him and cocked his head. It pleased his wolf when the other male backed up a little. “You know what pisses me off most about what you just said? That you think you have the right to act the caring uncle now. Where were you when she was growing up? Like you just said, Lance was always a bastard to her and yet you left her there with him believing that there would never be a true mate to come along and take her away. You didn’t even keep in touch with her, did you? No. So don’t think you get to stand here and be all high and mighty with me or that being my mate’s uncle will save you. Taryn might care about you, but I don’t, and I sure as shit won’t have anyone saying she’s not my mate.”

“You’re right,” he conceded, surprising Trey, “I wasn’t there for her. I will be from here on out though. I want her to be happy. I want her to have the kind of mating you’ve seen tonight and I’m not sure you can give her that. I don’t see how you’ll bring anything to her life other than danger and trouble.”

He was right of course and that only nettled Trey’s agitated state. “As Taryn would say, if I wanted to hear from an ass, I’d fart.”

“Trey,” said Taryn cautiously as she approached and took in the tension, “everything okay?” Slipping a slender arm between the two male bodies that were almost pressed together, she stroked Trey’s chest.

“Fine, baby,” he replied, using her closeness to calm him. “I’m just getting an idea of what it’s like for you when you have to listen to my grandmother’s shit.”

Rolling her eyes and groaning, Taryn looked at Don. “I really hope you haven’t just done the man-to-man talk when you’ve only been back in my life five minutes.”

Don sighed. “That’s pretty much what he just said. I just want you to be happy and -”

“Well I was until you put Trey in a bad mood.”

“I know you, Taryn. Beneath that hard exterior you’re not so different from your mom. You want kids and commitment and a happily ever after – he can’t give you that.”

“If I was pining for the pitter patter of tiny little feet, I’d buy a kitten and put slippers on it. And what do you know about what Trey can or can’t give me? You don’t even know him.”

“I know this mating isn’t real -”

“Watch what you say,” she snapped. Her wolf growled inside her head, just as incensed as she was by those words. A much louder growl was coming from Trey.

“You deserve better, you can have better – plenty of wolves would be happy to mate with you. Hell, there are wolves here who’d be happy to mate with you.”

Taryn wasn’t in the least bit surprised when Trey’s eyes flashed wolf and he made a move toward Don. Quickly she placed herself in front of him and wrapped both arms tightly around his waist. “It’s okay, it’s okay,” she whispered. He halted but released a chilling growl.

Don was quieter as he said in a shaky voice, “He’s not good for you.”

“If that’s how you feel then I guess we part here.”

“Taryn -”

“No. We’re leaving.” Rubbing her chin on Trey’s chest she said, “Come on, Flinstone, let’s go.” But his entire focus was on Don.

Don tried again. “Taryn, I -”

“I said no. You insulted my mate. If you were anyone else, I’d go for your throat. Now back off.”

“Let them be, Don,” ordered Nick who was walking up behind them. He nodded respectfully at Taryn and Trey.

“Thank you for inviting us, Nick,” she said quietly. Pressing her body weight against Trey, she tried urging him to move. No effect, unsurprisingly. “Come on. Let’s go home.” The word ‘home’ seemed to penetrate his ‘Must kill Don’ haze because a little of the tension left his body and he gave her a very slight nod. Mute and Terminator-stiff, he walked her to the car and had them out of Nick’s territory in seconds.

When minutes later he showed no signs of calming or becoming less robotic, she was tempted to try to talk to him. However, she somehow sensed that, for whatever reason, Trey needed to be alone with his thoughts right now. Going with that instinct, she turned her focus to the view ahead and said nothing.

Trey had thought that the further he got from that other pack the more he would calm. That just wasn’t happening. Maybe it should have been Don’s claim that Trey wasn’t good for Taryn that was agitating him. Or maybe his claim that she wanted things that Trey couldn’t give her. Or maybe even Don’s suggestion that she stay with his pack and mate with another wolf. But no. As much as all that had seriously pissed him off, it wasn’t any of that that was responsible for his mood. What had him as annoyed as fuck right now was that Taryn had defended him.

No female other than his mother or Greta had ever defended him. Not only had Taryn done that, she had basically chosen him over her uncle. It pissed him off that it meant something to him when it shouldn’t have. What annoyed him more was that he couldn’t be sure if that had been real or she had just been sticking with their true mate act. He tried telling himself that it didn’t matter. Tried telling himself that it wasn’t relevant, but it goddamn was to him.

He was sick of her doing things that touched him like that and then left him sitting there wondering if he was looking too deep into things or if she was having the same inner struggle as him.

Like the way she snapped if anyone questioned their mating as she had with Brodie and her uncle. Was it because her sense of possessiveness now ran bone deep just as his did, or was it just her wolf? Like how she held back from marking him. Was that because she was already finding it hard to remain detached, or was it only her wolf finding it hard? And like how she had repeatedly tried so hard to help him form so many alliances when he had never asked that of her. Was it because she cared for him in some way and wanted to help him, or was it that she just wanted to help the pack as a whole?

He didn’t want to be going through this weird inner struggle on his own and, as idiotic as it was, he wanted her to care about him. Mostly because he was afraid that he just might care about her.

And so his bad mood remained with him throughout the long journey home and was still there hours later while he was sat on one of the chairs by the lake soaking up the midday sun. He knew Taryn wouldn’t let him brood in peace much longer so it wasn’t a surprise when he heard footsteps. Unfortunately it turned out that those footsteps didn’t belong to Taryn.

“Hey,” called out Dante in his usual gruff voice.

“What do you want?”

“Yes I will have a seat, thank you, Alpha.”

“No one likes a smart ass.”

He took the chair opposite Trey’s and straddled it. “I take it things didn’t go well with her uncle.”

Trey sighed. “Actually, he was happy to see her. All of them were pretty hospitable.”

“Well I can understand why that might piss you off since – though you’ll never admit it – you don’t want her to leave, and nor do you seem ready to face just why that might be. But I don’t see why it would have Taryn all irritated.”

He chose to ignore the first half of what Dante had said. “Her uncle didn’t believe we were true mates, said the mating wasn’t real.”

Dante winced. “Ooh, yeah, that’ll do it. She might know this mating’s temporary, but she sure doesn’t like anyone saying it’s not real.”

“He also said I was bad for her. Said I couldn’t give her those things a woman wants. Then he suggested she stay there and mate with another wolf.”

“Prick.”

After a pause, Trey said, “She defended me, you know.”

“Of course she did. You’re her mate. Mates don’t stand for that shit.”

“Yeah. Her wolf wouldn’t want anyone insulting her mate, would she.”

Dante snickered. “You’re one blind bastard.”

“Blind?”

“Or maybe just dumb.” Shaking his head, he looked away and sighed. When he looked at Trey again there was a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Well…I don’t see what you’ve got to be pissed about. Her uncle’s an ass, but he’s right. You are bad for her. You can’t give her the things a female wants because the mating’s temporary. And, yeah, there’s a good chance she’ll go and mate with another wolf when she leaves.” When Trey growled warningly Dante’s face took on a superior, smug, know-it-all look. “You know, you could just ask her to stay for good.”

At that moment, Trey hated him. Hated him for seeing far more than he should. Hated him for making Trey see exactly how much he wanted that – which seriously scared the shit out of him. He hated his wolf too. Hated him for constantly fighting Trey over the idea of Taryn leaving, for being so unreasonably possessive of her. He also hated Tao for wanting Taryn, he hated the wolf she might one day mate with, and he hated her uncle for speaking the truth he’d been trying to ignore. Mostly, he hated his-fucking-self for caring about a female who didn’t even care enough to mark him. “Why would I do that?”

“The two of you are good together. You actually laugh these days. You behave a lot like true mates do.”

“Look, Dante, I’ll admit I like her – she’s fun to have around and she knows what she’s doing in the bedroom – but it wouldn’t have mattered if I hadn’t liked her or if she was someone else, we still would have mated and fucked. This is about a deal, that’s all.” Trey was aware that he’d sounded pretty harsh. He was also aware by the scent that suddenly flavored the air that Taryn had heard him. Shit.

Taryn had been following Trey’s scent, hoping to hunt him down and get him to stop brooding when she heard Dante’s words: “You know, you could just ask her to stay for good.” It was said that eavesdroppers tended to hear things they didn’t like. In this case, the saying had proven to be true. It wasn’t as though she’d thought things were any different than how Trey firmly stated to Dante, and it wasn’t as though she’d thought he cared for her. Yet the effect was still like a hot lance slicing through her. Why? For the same reason that a dull pain had struck her chest and her windpipe had begun to ache…She loved Trey Coleman. The realization punched the breath from her lungs.

God, how horrible was this. She loved a guy to whom she was basically a faceless fuck. She could be anyone to him. In other words, she was no one and nothing to him. Her wolf – who was already insecure in the mating due to not having marked Trey – was tempted to curl up and whine. Taryn was tempted to punch the ass right in the face. Overruling all that was an uncharacteristic urge to flee. To run far and fast. To get away from this person who had so much power over her. To find somewhere to be alone while she faced her pain.

As the conversation abruptly came to a halt and awkwardness filled the air, Taryn knew they had sensed her presence. There went the option of retreating as if she hadn’t overheard. Although the urge to lunge at Trey was great, Taryn had been dealing with asshole Alphas long enough to know that it was imperative that they didn’t believe they had the power to hurt you. They would stomp all over you if they spotted a weakness, just like her dad and Roscoe. She couldn’t afford for Trey to know that she felt anything for him.

Having pasted an easy smile on her face, she walked out of the trees and over to the patio table, examining Trey’s cautious expression as well as Dante’s apologetic one. “Hell, Dante, was it really necessary to needle him when he was already in a bad mood?” she said playfully.

“I, um, we just -”

She rolled her eyes and waved away his attempt to explain himself. “I just came to see if Trey had stopped with the whole brooding thing, but I see he hasn’t so I’ll leave him to sulk some more.”

Feeling like absolute shit, Trey said, “Taryn, wait -”

“I promised Shaya I’d call her so I’ll see you guys later.”

“Taryn, wait.” He reached out and caged her wrist with his hand but when he tried tugging her to him she shook him off like he was a spider.

“I said I’ll see you later.”

“Look, what I said…” Words completely failed him because, as he’d told her before, he wasn’t good with apologies. He wasn’t good with words at all.

“Trey, it doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, it does.” It especially mattered because he could sense her hurt, could feel it.

“You only said the truth. It wasn’t anything I didn’t already know.”

Trey growled, pissed at himself for saying dumb shit and pissed at her for walking away from him. “Taryn?” His call went unanswered.

Dante sighed. “You fucked that one up.”

For the rest of the day, Taryn kept herself thoroughly occupied. She called Shaya. She went shopping with Grace for groceries. She did a run around the border of pack territory. She showered. She did some laundry. She beat Trick’s ass at Mario Kart. Hell, she even watched a T.V. program about knitting with Greta during which they engaged in a battle of wills. Anything so that she didn’t have to think about Trey or what he’d said or, more importantly, the fact that she…cared about him. She wouldn’t say the L word. It was officially banned from her vocabulary.

She had tried real hard throughout the evening meal to appear normal, but she was pretty sure that no one had bought it because the guys had crowded around her supportively while shooting scowls at Trey. Still she had persisted with the act. When Trey had spoken to her, she had talked to him and when he had pulled her onto his lap, she had let him. There had been a sort of desperation in the way he held her so tightly yet gently. Like the way a person would try to hold a butterfly – careful because it was small and delicate but on-guard because it was flighty. None of his touches were seductive or teasing. All were soft and soothing, kind of apologetic. But it didn’t ease her hurt or make her relax. How could she be relaxed by the touch of a guy she…cared for when to him she could be anyone?

After the meal Taryn had done as she usually did – she lay down on what was, hands down, the most comfortable sofa in the world to watch some T.V. When it had reached the time when she normally went to bed, she hadn’t been able to move.

Maybe it was dumb that she had originally thought that if she just had a little time physically away from him she could somehow build some mental walls that would freeze him out again. Could freeze out the pain. But even as she lay there reminding herself that none of this was real, that Trey wasn’t important, that soon her part of the deal would be over, another part of her was considering just flipping him the finger and leaving. She wasn’t sure she could bear being around him every day knowing he thought so little of her.

Then she took in the wolves in the room and realized that she couldn’t run. This whole thing was about more than just Trey. They didn’t deserve to suffer just because of one asshole. She had always dealt with assholes. What was one more to throw into the mix? He wouldn’t even be the first asshole who she cared about who felt nothing for her.

Still, even though the constricting sensation around her chest seemed to ease, she knew there was no way she could lay beside him tonight knowing that he would snuggle into her and then try to bring her to orgasm as she woke. Not tonight. Tonight was a night for rebuilding her walls, and to do that she needed distance. So instead of saying her goodnights and making her way to bed, she let her eyes drift shut and took comfort in the scents and voices around her until they lulled her to sleep.

It should have sent him into threatening mode to have other males giving him looks that warned him away from his mate. His mate. But Trey honestly didn’t blame them for the way they were crowding Taryn’s sleeping form and regarding him like he was a threat. He’d fucked up. Just like Dante had said. Whether he’d meant for Taryn to hear those cruel words or not, he had hurt her and there was now a gulf a mile wide between them and he didn’t know how to close it.

She was now uneasy around him again and emotionally wary of him, both of which were like a blow to his system. He wanted her to know that he was sorry, that he hadn’t meant what he had said, that he would never purposely hurt her, but each time he had tried to get her alone she had managed to slip away. She was freezing him out again. It burned even more this time than it had the first time. His wolf had also sensed her withdrawal as well as her pain and both ate at him.

As Trey stared down at her he promised both himself and his wolf that he would fix this. He refused to believe what Dante had said – that he might have broken something that couldn’t be mended. No, he refused to believe that. He couldn’t accept that. Because feeling the sting of her withdrawal had given him a taste of what it would be like to be without her, and although Trey still wasn’t sure about those chest pangs or the emotions that tormented him or the extreme sense of possessiveness, he now knew that he couldn’t be without her.

Despite his low ‘move out of my way’ growl, none of the males moved even an inch from their positions. Tao, Trick, Dominic and Ryan remained sitting on the floor with their backs against the sofa while Dante was sitting on it with her feet on his lap and Marcus was beside her head stroking her hair. Trey had to admire their loyalty to their Alpha Female, and it was a good thing considering that she wasn’t going anywhere, but no one kept him from his mate. His wolf was in full agreement with him on that.

He released another menacing growl, letting his eyes flash wolf. Reluctantly the males on the floor shuffled along to make room for him. Trey bent and gently scooped her up to cradle her against his chest. She fussed a little in her sleep but didn’t wake. He held her tighter against him, stilling her movements, and strode out of the room through the tunnels.

In the bedroom he placed her gently on the bed and then carefully he removed her clothes. Once he’d removed his own he slid under the covers and held her possessively to him, wanting his skin against hers. As she always did, she wriggled a little until she found that groove that seemed to have been made just for her. Then instantly she settled and her expression melted into that sinful angel look she had when sleeping.

Cupping her face and breezing his thumb along her cheekbone, he whispered, “I’m sorry, baby.” Then he nuzzled his face into her hair and closed his eyes, feeling a strange kind of peace now that he was no longer at war with himself and had made the decision to do whatever it took to keep her.