This whole thing hit too close to home, making Trey think of his own father. His dad had been pretty attentive and protective...right up until the Seer within the pack, when Trey was just five, had told his dad that Trey would one day usurp his position as Alpha. After that, his father had pretty much disowned him and left his care to his maternal grandmother when he wasn't busy taunting him or using him as a punchbag. His mom had tried to fix the divide between them, but she was too much of a submissive wolf to have had any influence on his father.

"Get the h.e.l.l off me!"

"But I'm comfortable here." Watching Lance try to glance around, Trey smiled. "No one's going to help you. Unlike you, they know better than to try to get between mates. Says a lot about you as an alpha if no one is willing to offer their life for yours."

"She's my daughter -"

"And she's my mate. She's mine. No one keeps her from me. No one insults her. And no one and I mean no one talks to her the way you just did, understand me?"

"Just tell me what it is you really want," snarled Lance. "You just that desperate for a pack healer that you'd tie yourself to a latent?"

Tightening his hold on Lance's throat, Trey smacked his head against the wall. "Didn't I just tell you no one insults my mate? Not very bright, are you?" He gave Taryn a baffled look. "You sure you two are related?"

She shrugged one shoulder delicately. "I do look a lot like the maintenance guy." Going to stand beside Trey, she c.o.c.ked her head at Lance. "I don't know what your problem is, Daddy Dearest. You can't stand the sight of me. You should be pleased that I'm leaving the pack. Oh and you should also stop insulting me if you expect Trey to release you anytime soon."

Lance stared at her with a disbelieving look on his red/purple face. "You honestly believe he isn't playing some kind of game? He's using you, Taryn. When you realize that for yourself, don't think you'll be welcome back in my pack."

She gave him a sad smile. "I stopped being welcome the day you realized I was latent. But then, you always were an a.s.s, weren't you."

"Is that what this is? Revenge? You know how bad I want that alliance."

Trey snickered. "What, an alliance with me wouldn't mean anything to you?"

Lance's gaze shot to Trey. It was obvious he hadn't thought of it that way and she could almost see the wheels turning in his head.

She released a bored sigh. "Trey, just leave him." But Trey didn't. He seemed to be having too much fun watching her dad struggle to breathe. "Come on, he's a waste of skin and fur."

After a deep, calming breath, Trey ever so slowly released him and stepped back. "This is what the situation is, Warner. Taryn is my mate, she is now part of my pack, and Roscoe Weston will not touch her ever again. If he has any kind of issue with that, he is free to come to my territory. I'll be waiting." He held his hand out to Taryn. "Come on, baby."

Shooting her dad a withering look, Taryn took Trey's hand and he pulled her against him. His warmth seeped into her body and calmed her wolf even despite the tension. As she looked at Shaya and Caleb and saw the concern and horror on their faces she felt a stab of guilt.

It's this or being Roscoe's little s.e.x slave! a voice in her head reminded her.

Mouthing 'bye' at Shaya and Caleb, she allowed Trey to lead her out of the club.

CHAPTER FOUR.

After a twenty-five minute journey, Dante was turning the hulking seven seater Toyota Highlander into a wooded area. Taryn's father's pack territory was a ranch that spanned six acres of land on which sat a main house wherein he, his Beta, his bodyguard, and his enforcers lived. Surrounding the main house were several converted barns for the other pack mates.

Phoenix Pack territory...was nothing like that.

For a start, it had a perimeter fence with an access/exit gate.

"We didn't bother having security on the gate until those human groups formed that call us abominations and like to stand outside pack houses with their 'Die Demons' banners," explained Trey. "Only pack is granted admittance or guests-by-invitation. It's guarded twenty-four hours. He waved to the shifter on duty who strolled out of a little security shack and approached the Toyota. "You remember this wolf, right?" Trey asked her. "Ryan's one of the pack's enforcers."

Taryn smiled at the apparently not very talkative Ryan or Grumpy, as she had branded him a few days ago who was eyeing her curiously. He made her think of one of those bionic soldiers in sci-fi movies. His movements were a little robotic and he had a real Terminator snarl going on. A guy who wouldn't hesitate to kill if the need arose, she deduced. Still, she didn't feel intimidated. In fact, she was determined to see that impa.s.sive expression falter.

"Are you miserable by choice?" As she'd hoped, he was so taken aback that his guard dropped for a split second; his dark eyes widened and his lips twitched. "It's fine and everything. I was just curious about whether you were born looking like you were sucking on a lemon or if the whole gloomy att.i.tude is a lifestyle choice."

When Ryan's lips curved the tiniest bit at one corner, Trey inwardly gaped. For the mostly mute and anti-social Ryan, that was a gushing reception. "Everything went as planned with the claiming," he said to Ryan. "I'll tell you more in the morning at breakfast." Ryan nodded then patted the vehicle before returning to the shack.

After a short drive over a rocky trail, they finally arrived at Bedrock there was really no other word for it, was there? She found it amazing that even with light coming from some of the windows it didn't stand out at all. It was one of those things that unless you were looking for it, you'd probably miss it. "Who did all this?"

"Apparently the ancestors of the last pack started it yonks ago. It's been added to and modernised over the years. We did a lot of improvements to it ourselves."

"There are actually hotels in places like Turkey that are luxurious cave dwellings just like this," Dante told her as he drove through an opening in the bottom of the mountain which Taryn soon realized was actually a concealed parking lot.

As she hopped out of the Toyota, she noticed Tao parking her Hyundai Tucson a few s.p.a.ces away. His sulky expression as he got out of the car was the same one he had worn when Trey ordered him to drive it here for her. "I need to get my bag out of the trunk," she told Trey as she took a step toward her car.

"Tao will get it."

The Head Enforcer froze and a muscle ticked in his jaw. Begrudgingly he retrieved her bag and Taryn couldn't help smirking at his petulant behavior. The a.s.s shook his head when she went to take the bag from him and stormed past her, following behind Trey and Dante as they strolled out of the opening they had just driven through. Smiley gestured for her to go before him and Burly. Sighing, she removed her high heels and headed for Bedrock.

The night was dark, cool and silent. The earthy smell, the little sounds of small animals, the wonderful night-breeze, the rustling of the tree branches...all of it called to her wolf. She wanted to explore this new woodland, wanted to find out what those unfamiliar scents and sounds were around her. Instead Taryn was hiking up several narrow flights of steps that had been carved into the mountain wall.

They came to a large door that appeared to be at the centre of the other entrances. Then they were going through an indoor maze of tunnels that took them deep into the mountain. Taryn was pretty sure she would get lost if left to wander anywhere alone. Eventually they came to a black door that led to the same kitchen she had sat in only a few days ago.

Realized that she had been pretty much dismissed as unimportant right now, Taryn hopped onto the black marble counter and grabbed herself a peach from the fruit bowl. Munching happily on it, she listened as all five male wolves sat around the table discussing strategies for when his uncle made his challenge. They were so cool about it that anyone would think they were referring to an X-Box game or something as opposed to an actual life or death situation. There was even a kind of child-like excitement there.

Rolling her eyes, she dug out her cell phone from her purse and read the dozens of text messages she had received from several members of the pack. All were asking if the rumor that she had mated Trey Coleman was true. Shaya and Caleb had sent several, both expressing concern about his reputation and trying to convince her that she was wrong about him being her true mate. She knew she would have to respond to them soon, but right now she was feeling too raw.

Aware that all had suddenly gone quiet, she looked up from her cell to find several pairs of eyes focused on her. Surprised, she pulled her finger from her mouth having sucked off the peach juice. "What?"

Trey cleared his throat. "Nothing." Not liking even the thought of the other males ogling her, he shot them all a cautioning look. Of course he couldn't blame them. She was so d.a.m.n sensual and so d.a.m.n unaware of it.

"By the way," said Dante, grinning from ear to ear, "welcome to the pack, Taryn."

She snorted. "You might not be saying that when Roscoe appears on your territory."

"Are you kidding? We're looking forward to it."

"Yeah, we have to thank you for bringing a bit of life to things round here," agreed Smiley as he leaned back in his chair or Marcus, as he had introduced himself as on the drive here. Although he didn't seem any more accepting of her than the others did, he wasn't as antisocial toward her as they were.

"You have to understand, Taryn," said Dante, "we don't get a lot of challenges. This is the most excitement our pack has had in a while."

"Why were your dad's enforcers following you around?" asked Trey.

"When Roscoe came to visit I wasn't very nice and they considered me a flight risk. The mating ceremony was supposed to take place in a few days."

"Do you think her dad will keep fighting this?" asked Burly. His name was Patrick, remembered Taryn or 'Trick' for short.

Trey shook his head. "He might be p.i.s.sed off and wish things had happened differently, but it's like Taryn said. He'll be worried I'll defeat him and make him look weak to the rest of his pack. He recognised that my wolf was more dominant than his."

"And the alliance? Do you think we have any chance of getting it?"

Trey looked at her. "What do you think?"

"I'd say yes," she said. "I saw the look on his face when you asked if an alliance with you wouldn't have meant anything to him. It gave him something to think about."

Dante tilted his head at her. "He'll switch loyalties that easily from Roscoe to Trey?"

"As long as he gets an alliance with a powerful alpha out of this, he'll be content. Give it a few weeks for him to finish sulking and he'll make contact, wanting us to meet up. I'll put money on it."

"You're that confident?"

"He's that fickle."

"Well, we'll know for sure on Sunday," said Trey. "If he comes along with Roscoe, he's stating that he allies himself with him, no matter the outcome."

"Do you think Roscoe will come as soon as he realizes you've mated Taryn?" asked Dante.

"Yep. What time's he due to arrive on Sunday?" Trey asked her.

"Early in the morning."

"Greta's not due back 'til after lunch. She'll be disappointed she missed the confrontation."

"Actually she called earlier to say she'd be arriving in the morning," Trick informed him.

"Greta?" Taryn was glad that none of the possessiveness and jealousy had leaked into her voice. Her wolf snapped to alertness, wondering at the mystery female.

"Grandmother," explained Trey.

Taryn didn't like the way he was grinning. It said he was aware of her wolf's immediate response to him having said another female's name with such familiarity. She shot him what she knew was a petulant scowl. He laughed silently.

"She doesn't go out much," said Dante, "but occasionally she goes to stay with her sister who mated into another pack. I think she might be hoping to try and secure an alliance between that pack and ours. It could have been done a long time ago but Trey was never interested in making them until now."

"Does the Alpha of that pack have many alliances?"

"Not really, but it would be more than what we have now."

"Then I guess it's a good thing my dad's so fickle." Sighing, she smoothly slid off the countertop. "Where's my bag?"

"Trey's room," Tao told her, his tone unwelcoming. "It's the same room you woke up in last time you were here."

Dante gestured with his hands as he spoke. "Just take a left at the end of this tunnel. You then need to take your second left after that. Then go straight until you come to a junction and take a right."

When her eyes flicked to his, Trey thought he might have seen hesitation there. "Go anywhere else and I'll just hunt you down and drag you to bed."

She rolled her eyes. "Easy there, Flinstone."

"Flinstone?"

"If you're Alpha of a place like this, you're Fred Flinstone. I have no intention of hiding from you. You're mistaking me for one of your submissive Jane's. That's not to say there won't be some struggling involved if you expect to get in that bed with me."

"I'll be following you there in about twenty-minutes. We'll let the struggling commence then. But, what with your wolf riding you so hard to complete the mating, I can't see you struggling that much."

"Ah, so you're a resident of La La Land. I bet you're Sultan there too." The sound of Dante's throaty laugh followed her out of the kitchen.

d.a.m.n if psycho boy hadn't been right about her wolf's eagerness though. It wasn't just that her wolf craved the feeling of his body possessing hers. The drive to consummate the claiming also had a lot to do with her wolf being anxious that the mating was incomplete. Being back inside Trey's bedroom where his scent was overbearing made her wolf a little less restless, but still she didn't like being separated from her male. Not while the mating was half-finished.

Opening the door at the opposite side of the room, she found herself in the most amazing en-suite bathroom. She very much liked the look of the all-gla.s.s corner shower, but the masterpiece was the square, s.p.a.cious bath. It was so humungous you needed to climb a few steps before you could get into it. Unfortunately she didn't have time for a leisurely soak, so corner shower it was.

A thought struck Taryn as she entered the shower...It was well known that mates found it uncomfortable to be apart for the first few months. Would that apply to her and Trey or would they be spared that because they weren't true mates? She suspected that, in any case, things would always be more trying for her and Trey due to how both their wolves constantly reached for the surface.

If it was going to be really uncomfortable then that could prove a problem. Although she hadn't known Trey for very long, she had picked up that he wasn't a touchy-feely person. For shifters, touch was a need. It was as basic as eating and breathing. But Trey didn't seem to experience that craving, or had conditioned himself to ignore it somehow. Yes, he had slid his hands all over her at the club, but that had been for the purpose of their 'true mate' act. The second they were in the Toyota he had released her and he hadn't touched her since. He always seemed to sit apart or stand apart from the others. If this continued while they were mated, it would be d.a.m.n hard for their wolves.

As she stepped out of the corner shower she wrapped a thick white towel around herself and went back into the bedroom, all the while ignoring the way her stomach was clenching at the mere thought of having Trey inside her. Not Trey as her mate, but Trey as the man who had an overwhelming effect on her body merely by looking at her.

It was no wonder that he had always reeled in females with little effort. Not that there would be any more reeling. A split second later she realized just how much possessiveness had been in that one thought, and she had to roll her eyes.

Hearing a low growl, Taryn slowly turned her head. Closing the bedroom door was Trey, staring at her with such heat in his eyes that she sucked in a breath.

"You have tattoos," he all but growled. Trey had never really thought of them as s.e.xual but the sight of them on Taryn's body had his c.o.c.k throbbing. He couldn't decide which he liked best, the anklet or the howling wolf on her shoulder.

She grinned wickedly. "So I do."

All Trey wanted right then was to trace both with his tongue, but he doubted he'd have the self-restraint to take things nice and slow when his l.u.s.t for her was like a fever in his blood. His wolf was eager to come inside her another way to mark his mate. But both he and his wolf knew that this was about more than just consummating the claiming. Taryn needed to acknowledge, accept, and admit that she was his mate.

They weren't mates of the soul or even the heart both of which made it possible for it to be temporary but she had to understand that this didn't make the mating any less real. They were still mates in the physical sense which meant that she still belonged to him. If he didn't make her understand and admit it, this would never work. He wouldn't have her always throwing in his face that he wasn't her true mate, implying that he didn't have any rights to her. She was his now. Or at least for a short while anyway.

"Lose the towel," he ordered. Not many people would dare to ignore an order from him, but of course Taryn did. "Lose the towel," he repeated. But she only smiled.

"Honestly, does that usually work?" She could understand if it did. h.e.l.l, that implacable, uncompromising tone had very nearly worked on her. She was just so d.a.m.ned h.o.r.n.y and her wolf craved his possession, but even her wolf knew he had to prove he was worthy of her surrender.

"I know you're an alpha, Taryn, but I think you might be forgetting that so am I. Believe me when I say that I will have your submission."

"Unleash the beast if you want. I'll try not to laugh, I promise."

His wolf stretched within him, ready and content to catch and subdue his little mate. "Don't make me chase you, baby. Don't make me have to spank that a.s.s." Not that that would be such a bad thing. "Come. Here."

"Yeah, well, ordinarily I would but it's been such a long day and -" Abruptly he dived at her but she swiftly and skilfully dodged him and managed to place a good distance between them.

"You want this, Taryn." He grinned as her gaze zoomed in on his hands as he unsnapped the b.u.t.tons of his fly. His painfully hard c.o.c.k sprang out and she licked her bottom lip. He groaned then shoved down his jeans and stepped out of them. "I can smell your arousal," he added as he unb.u.t.toned his shirt and had her backing up toward the bed.

"If you say so." Her aloofness might have been more convincing if her voice hadn't been so hoa.r.s.e with l.u.s.t. In her defence, his body was unbelievable. All muscle and sinew and power, but not in that over-the-top way were veins were popping out or anything. No, it was all sleek, smoothly shaped muscle made all the more better by that golden tan. Her wolf was growling her approval, wanting Taryn to lick a path along that golden skin from the column of his throat to the base of that thick, long c.o.c.k. It wasn't such a bad idea.

"I can sense how hard your wolf's riding you."

"Jealous that she is and you're not?" Again he rushed at her but again she dodged him, jumping onto the large bed and then running across it to land nimbly on the other side.

His expression was castigating as he stood on the opposite side of the bed. "You're denying me what's mine. That hot little body is mine now."