“Someone did that to hurt me. They went to the trouble of hunting him down, catching him, killing him, and creeping around outside our cave to hang him upside down like that where I’d find him. I want to know who the sicko is ass, and I want to kick his ass.” Having now slipped on her knee high boots, she headed for the door.
Understanding her need to retaliate but not liking her hurting so bad, he dashed after her and wrapped both arms around her front, bringing her to a halt. Nuzzling her neck, he rocked her from side to side. “Let me deal with this, baby. I promise you, as soon as I find out who’s responsible, they’re all yours.”
Her voice came out flat. “Let go of me, Trey.”
“Come on, you’re upset and in shock. Let me deal with this for you.”
She could sense that he was just as infuriated as she was yet he was containing it all in the hope of easing her anger and hurt. It was sweet, but there was just no way anything could soothe her right now. “Let go.”
Dabbing a soft kiss to her neck, he slowly released her. Before he could say anything she was marching through the tunnels. He stayed at her heels as, to his surprise, she headed outside and down the flights of stairs.
“Stay back,” she told him as they reached the bottom.
Seeing that she was close to snapping, he stopped still and held up his hands in a white flag gesture. He had thought she intended to head to the river as she had the last time she was upset. Instead she paced a short distance away from him and looked up at the crowd that had gathered at the mouth of the caves.
“So which one of you was it, huh?” she shouted, enraged beyond belief. “Which one of you was it?!” No answer. They each looked from one to the other but didn’t move from where they were. “You have a problem with me then come down here! Come on! You and me, let’s go!” Still, nobody moved. Pacing back and forth, she continued to shout. “I’m latent, remember! I can’t possibly win! You think killing a bird, a small creature that couldn’t even fight back is brave? It’s sick and it’s cowardly! If it’s me you want then get the fuck down here! I dare you! No, I challenge you!” Still, not one person moved from where they were. “COME ON!”
“It’s okay, baby,” said Trey softly when no one spoke or reacted in any way. “You know they won’t come. Whoever it is knows they can’t take you. Come here. It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not!”
Slowly he closed the distance between them and pulled her into the cradle of his shoulder. “Shh, let’s go inside. The coward’s not going to own up to it.”
“When I find out who it is, there’s a good chance I’ll kill him.”
“I know, baby. And I’ll be cheering you on,” he said, using the supportive words she had once given him.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Taryn’s uncle and his mate were a lot warmer toward her than Trey had been expecting. They seemed pleased to see her and they were happy and relieved to know that she was away from Lance. If her uncle had anything to do with it, she would definitely be welcome here if she asked to join the pack.
In fact, the damn Alpha would probably be just as welcoming. He had been staring at Taryn for most of the evening and it was beginning to seriously piss Trey off. Had she not made Trey promise to ‘behave’ seen as he was apparently intimidating enough, he would have threatened to gut the ogling bastard. Even his promise to her wouldn’t have stopped him if the Alpha hadn’t been so careful not to cross any lines.
It was only then, as he sat lounging on one of the reclined deckchairs, sipping beer and watching her play with some of the pups that Trey realized he had secretly hoped that they were all assholes who didn’t care to know her. Without anyone to turn to, she could have been persuaded to stay with him a little longer even after the battle with his uncle. Although he still had just over a month left with her, it didn’t seem enough.
For the past few weeks he had tried convincing himself that it wasn’t the man in him that wanted to prolong her stay, it was just his wolf or his mating instincts or maybe a mixture of both. Only a moron would continue to deny the truth, and Trey was a lot of things, but he’d like to think a moron wasn’t one of them. The truth was that this wasn’t about their wolves, this was about Trey and Taryn. And Trey wanted Taryn to stay a little longer.
Of course he hadn’t told her that. He wouldn’t tell her because naturally the question she would ask would be ‘For how long?’ Unless his answer was going to be ‘permanently’, there was no reason for her to stay longer because it would only make their separation worse. Where was the sense in that? There was none. Yet even as he acknowledged that, he couldn’t change that he wanted more time with her.
How could he not? Who wouldn’t want more time with a woman who was so sensual and gorgeous? The quirkiness she had brought to his pack and his life was something he wouldn’t have originally thought he’d want, but he knew that when it was gone he would miss it. Just as he would miss their bedroom battles. She was so responsive, so challenging, and so damn receptive to everything they did. Each morning he would wake Taryn by gorging himself on her taste, and each night he would bury his cock deep inside her and fuck them both to sleep. Then he’d wake up some time through the night and fuck her again. What guy in his right mind wouldn’t want more of that?
He grinned as his little vixen suddenly looked up and met his gaze. He didn’t get his usual ‘come get me’ smile, it was more of a ‘please rescue me’ expression – which was a lot to do with the crowd of kids still hovering around her. With all her energy and sparkle she was like some sort of kid magnet.
He might have gone to her – that was all it would have took to make the pups scarper – if the Alpha, Nick, hadn’t chosen that moment to sit on the deckchair beside him.
“I think you might end up with a houseful of pups.”
Trey winced inwardly at the feel of one of them damn chest pangs. Ignoring it, he forced out a response. “You might be right.”
“You know, you’re very intense with Taryn. I don’t think you’ve moved your eyes from her for more than a few seconds since you got here.”