“Well if it isn’t the latent.”

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

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

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

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

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

“Sure you did,” said Caleb dryly.

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

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

“Ooh, did I touch a nerve?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CHAPTER THREE

Three times Trey had strolled the length of the bar, searching for Taryn. Where the hell was she? For a second, he wondered if she had backed out, but the thought had left his head as quickly as it came. Taryn Warner wasn’t the type to wriggle out of a deal.

He knew she had been in this exact spot not so long ago. Her scent still lingered and it was reasonably fresh. His wolf growled at the exotic smell, wanting to hunt her down. To hunt her down and mark her, claiming her as his.

“Her scent disappeared not far from here,” said Dante as he reappeared at his side. “Looks like she went into the private office and she hasn’t come back out yet.”

“What would she be doing in the boss’s private office?” If anything sexual was going on, Trey would kill him. Surprised by the vehemence behind that thought, he double-blinked. The sight of his Beta and three enforcers grinning told him that they knew what he’d been thinking. They had all warned him that because his wolf was so near to the surface his possessive streak would be hard to control. Know-it-all bastards.

What they couldn’t know was that his body reacted to Taryn in a way that it never had to another female. He tried to think of it as a good thing; it would mean the sex would be amazing. But he didn’t like that she seemed to have some sort of power over his body, not to mention his wolf. Already he was feeling possessive of her for God’s sake.

Intending to answer his own question of where she was, Trey began edging through the throngs of people toward the office. He was barely three feet away when the door opened and Taryn walked out looking pale and shaky. He knew that look. It was the same look his old pack healer had worn whenever she had used her gift. Concern – relatively unfamiliar and unwelcome – travelled through him, but then a smile split her lips at something her friend had said and a shaft of lust shot through his system.

Seeing that she hadn’t noticed him, he stayed where he was and waited for her to near him. Once she was close, he deliberately bumped into her and watched in satisfaction as surprise and then lust flashed in her eyes.

Oh God, thought Taryn as she saw the heated, determined expression on Trey’s face. His enticing male scent surrounded her, blocking all else. Her wolf shot to alertness and growled her arousal. Taryn held still as he buried his nose in the crook of her neck and inhaled deeply. When his face returned to hers, his eyes had turned wolf and he was so unbelievably focused on her that they might as well have been the only two people in the club. She knew it was an act, but her body still reacted and her cl*t began to throb in time with her overactive pulse.

Knowing what she was supposed to do, Taryn placed her nose at the junction of his neck and shoulder and, just like he had done to her, took in his delicious scent on a long inhale. She didn’t have to fake being drunk on it. As Taryn returned her gaze to his, Trey’s hands landed on her h*ps and he tugged her to him. Then he pretty much took her over. His mouth crushed hers as his tongue thrust forcefully into her mouth, sweeping against her own. The kiss was dominant and possessive as he took the response he wanted, demanding her submission.

One hand collared her throat possessively as his other clutched her ass, branding it as his. She didn’t realize she was grinding against him until he hoisted her up and curved her legs around his h*ps to better the friction. Helplessly she moaned her pleasure into his mouth, digging her nails into his back. If the growl that rumbled up his chest was anything to go by, he liked to be scratched.

Trey couldn’t believe how responsive Taryn was. The whole claiming might be an act, but he knew that her body’s reaction wasn’t forced or exaggerated. She was like fire and he couldn’t help but revel in it, in her taste, in her scent, in the feel of her skin, and in how her body seemed to conform perfectly to his. It shouldn’t have been possible that a slender person could fit snugly against someone as broad and burly as he was, and yet she did. Those little moans she was making were driving him insane and he wanted nothing more than to flip up her dress and f**k her right there. Only his awareness that there was a nearby threat to their claiming kept him from thrusting into her.

Pulling his mouth from hers, Trey moved his hand from her throat to tangle in her hair as he kissed and nibbled his way down her throat before settling in the juncture of her neck and shoulder. He scraped his teeth over the spot, letting her know what was to come. When he was sure her cl**ax was near, he bit down hard, breaking the skin and tasting blood. Instantly she shattered, groaning and shuddering. He sucked strongly on the patch of skin he had bitten, being sure to leave a distinct mark that couldn’t be considered as anything other than what it was. A claiming.

As quick as that, a rush swept through Trey and he felt a sort of snap in his head similar to that which he’d felt with each of his pack members when they blooded. Then he sensed her through the pack link, not her thoughts, but her fiery, spicy, sensual presence. It was done, she was his to protect as his mate and part of his pack. His wolf growled his approval, urging Trey to sweep her away to their territory away from the threat that her dad’s enforcers presented. He pulled back to admire his work and swiped his tongue over the mark, liking the look of it on Taryn’s skin and how she trembled in response.

Taryn knew her face was a mask of surprise and she knew everyone would mistake it for her shock at supposedly finding her mate. Her surprise, however, was genuine. She hadn’t expected Trey to be able to pull that kind of response from her body, even with the effect he seemed to have on her. She had practically melted for him and he hadn’t even really touched her. And when his teeth had sunk into her skin…it was as though an electric current had travelled through her, sparking her release to hit her. Not like when Roscoe had bitten her against her will; that had left her feeling violated and enraged.

Her ever-present connection with her dad as Alpha had now disappeared and was replaced with this new connection. Lance’s presence in her mind had always felt invasive because of his aversion to her; he was all ice and arrogance and deviousness. But Trey was so different; he was strength and danger and raw sexuality. His presence inside her was like an anchor to her wolf who was a little smug right now, since she was a big fan of psycho boy.

“Trey,” he said gruffly as he slid her down his body, as if introducing himself. It was pretty common that two wolves could mark each other before exchanging names, swept away by the urge to claim.

She smiled. “Taryn.”

Trey almost rolled his eyes when Dante said, “Hey, congratulations, Alpha.”

“Oh. My. God,” said Shaya, gazing at them wide-eyed.

And so it begins, grumbled Taryn inwardly, turning to see that many of her pack had observed the claiming and were staring. Every face was the picture of shock. Even Oscar and Perry, who looked as though they had been trying to get passed Tao and Dante, were shock-still and gaping.

“Hand Taryn over,” demanded Perry. The unsteadiness of his voice suggested he was aware of who Trey was. “As her father’s enforcers, we are responsible for her.”

Trey gripped her hip possessively and growled at him. “Not anymore you’re not.”

Their eyes were dancing continually from him to Taryn. They didn’t look so determined to try to get to her now, she noticed. That could have had a lot to do with the scowl on Trey’s face and the death threat in his eyes. Unless they were dumb, a shifter didn’t dare attempt to separate mates, and as unbelievable as it may have seemed, that was indeed what she and Trey looked to be. Still Perry’s and Oscar’s dedication to her dad meant that they couldn’t just let her go on her merry way, especially since they all believed she would be mating Roscoe.

Oscar straightened to his full height. “Release Taryn or we will be forced to contact her Alpha.”

“He’s no longer her Alpha, you know that.”

“There doesn’t have to be any trouble. Just let her go.”

Instead Trey locked his arm around her waist and released a deep, rumbly, ‘f**k off’ growl that had everyone around them tensing. “She’s mine.”

“Taryn,” said Shaya in a pleasant voice, “why don’t you come over here and -” Trey’s growl cut her off.

“She’s not yours,” stated Caleb through gritted teeth before fixing his gaze on Taryn. “You know he’s not your mate, Taryn. You’re confused or something but you -”

Abruptly Perry reached out to grab her arm and she gasped. Before she knew what was happening she was behind Trey whose hand was tightly wrapped around Perry’s throat. Tao was restraining Oscar to prevent him from interfering while Trey’s enforcers, Smiley (he wasn’t smiling now) and Burly, were on either side of her in protective stances.

“Don’t. Touch. My. Mate.” Trey bit out each word.

“She’s already mated,” Perry somehow managed to wheeze out. “She’s mated to Roscoe Weston.”

“If she’d been mated, I couldn’t have claimed her – you know that. And you just watched me claim her.”

“Her dad won’t allow it.”

Trey smiled. “It’s already done. Now, here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to start by getting the f**k away from me and my mate. Then you’re going to call your Alpha and tell him to inform Roscoe Weston that he won’t be touching her ever again. If your Alpha has a problem with any of that I’ll be right here. But he should know in advance that she won’t be leaving here with anyone but me.”

The steel in his voice had Taryn’s wolf growling her approval. The dumb animal was impressed by his dominant display, liked that he was shielding and protecting her. She wasn’t even adverse to the idea of him squeezing Perry’s throat a little tighter despite that the guy had lowered his eyes in a sign of submission. She could understand why Perry had. Trey had a certain intensity about him that made him always seem intimidating, but this was different. He was menacing, fierce, unyielding. Every word had been a command and rung with power and authority. It had Taryn feeling a little flushed, if she was honest.