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 ha**ng s*x, 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 f**k 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 pu**y 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 f**k 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.