People say I must wish I’d never found you if it meant you were going to die before we even had a chance to have the mating bond, but I don’t wish that, you know. Never have. We might not have mated, but we did have a bond.
I’m so sorry, but this is the last time I’ll be here. My dad’s not going to let me come back after this, but you can bet your ass that I’ll still be talking to you sometimes. I’ll find a river just like we use to and I’ll go sit there and talk to you. And you better listen, too, Joseph Winters, because you always had a habit switching off when you thought I’d been talking for too long.
You’ve probably switched off now. Okay, it’s fair to say that I’ve been jabbering on. She stood, wiping the tears from her cheeks, as she said the words she always said just before leaving. Miss you, love you.
Then, with a heavy heart, she turned away and began walking back toward the pack house. And it hurt so, so bad knowing she’d never be back. It was like there was this huge constriction around her chest that tightened with each step.
“He was a good kid,” stated Perry.
“Yeah.”
“He won’t hate you for mating with Roscoe, you know. He wouldn’t want you living your life alone. And Roscoe’s not a bad guy.”
Deciding that arguing would only make Perry more likely to watch her more closely, she continued with her ‘I’m pissed but resigned’ act.
Knowing that she would never again see the graves of the two most important people to her, Taryn would have spent the next few hours in a gloomy mood if it hadn’t been for her dad’s fantastic news. Roscoe was due to arrive the morning after tomorrow for another visit. That put her thoughts back in order like nothing else could have. Not only did it remind her why exactly she was doing this, but it helped her shove the guilt aside – guilt which had been heightened by how her body and her wolf reacted to Trey.
It wasn’t that she had never desired a guy before, but the desire had never been this intense before. If Taryn had met him under different circumstances she would have most likely ran far and fast from that desire. As much as she had always told herself that she would one day mate, whenever she had gotten involved with a guy she had found herself involuntarily holding back. Although she craved safety, protection, and the type of connection that only mates had it made her hate herself, because she felt as though she was betraying Joey. A part of her knew that wasn’t the case but it didn’t change how she felt. If she ever particularly liked a guy, her instinct was to stay the hell away from him.
Therein lay the problem with Trey…she wouldn’t be able to stay clear of him. Not only because they needed to spend time together to pull off the true mate stuff, but because they would be mated. It wouldn’t matter that what brought them together wasn’t love or even a desire to be mated, the second he marked her and she accepted him, they would be classed as mates and their wolves would make it damn difficult for them to keep a physical distance.
She was pretty sure she wouldn’t need to work hard to keep an emotional gulf between them, because neither she nor Trey wanted to imprint on each other. Still, the idea of being around someone who could so easily prime her body with just a look was, to say the least, disconcerting. It didn’t help that her wolf had such a big thing for him.
Figuring it was important that Trey knew, she sent him a text message around midday to warn him about her dad having her followed. The whole claiming might work out better if his enforcers were aware that they might have to either distract or fight off two of her dad’s enforcers.
It was eight-thirty when Shaya and Caleb finally came knocking on her bedroom door. Since they were kids they had all been best friends. Joey had been the leader of their little group and it had hit every one of them hard when he died. These two people had seen how badly Taryn had dealt with Joey’s death. They would remember how Joey was so protective and possessive of her. As such, they would be the most difficult to convince that Trey was her true mate. Hell, she might not be able to convince them at all. She would feel a little guilty lying to them like that, betraying their friendship.
It’s act well or mate with Roscoe.
“You ready to go?” asked Caleb as he fiddled with the collar of his shirt.
“Yep,” she replied.
“Hey you look you great,” remarked Shaya in her usual giddy voice as she took in Taryn’s silk, sapphire blue dress and matching heels.
Caleb nodded his agreement. “I’m not sure Roscoe will like that you’re going out looking like that without him around to keep other wolves away.” As they began walking down the stairs, he added, “I still can’t believe you put him on his ass at dinner the other night.”
Shaya shrugged. “Looked to me like he kind of liked it. It’s only what he should expect if he picks a dominant female.”
“Taryn, I wanted to ask,” began Caleb, “do you seriously not want him, or is this some big thing that dominant females do? Do they make the males really work for it?”
Deciding it was best not to launch into how much she detested Roscoe right before apparently stumbling upon her true mate, she bit her lip. “It’s our way of testing if the male’s a worthy mate.” That wasn’t a lie. Alpha females didn’t submit without the male proving their dominance. It was just that, in this case, that didn’t apply, because Roscoe had never been a consideration.
“Oh I think he’s definitely worthy,” said Shaya with a smirk. “I’d do him.”
Taryn rolled her eyes, smiling. “There aren’t many people you wouldn’t do.”
Shaya jiggled her head as she conceded that, making her short auburn tresses dance around. She talked a lot about other people she would do as Taryn drove them to the shifter club in her Hyundai Tucson. Caleb then criticised each one of her choices purely to annoy her. Taryn laughed when she was supposed to and spoke wherever necessary, but mainly she was concentrating on keeping herself and her wolf calm. How could she, though, when her nerves were shot?
When Taryn finally pulled up outside The Pulse her dad’s enforcers parked their own car two spaces behind. She prayed – literally – that they would follow her inside. If it came to her needing to resort to plan B then she couldn’t exactly sneak off in her car if they were outside watching over it. Relief swept over her when they began following at a discrete distance.
A nervous sigh escaped Taryn as she entered The Pulse. Although some clubs allowed both humans and shifters to enter, this club was open only to shifters. Her wolf picked up on her anxiety, but didn’t understand what was really happening. Confused and frustrated, her wolf was pacing within her, clawing at her. In addition to that, as a creature with the most basic instincts, her wolf wanted to investigate some of the male scents and also hiss at some of the female scents. Yeah, her wolf could be a right bitch when she was all worked up.
“You okay?” asked Caleb as he halted behind her. Great, he’d sensed something was off.
“My wolf’s not having a good day. She’s practically clawing at my insides in an effort to get out. Sometimes I think my being latent is harder for her than it is for me.”
Shaya shot her a sympathetic smile. “The feeling of being trapped must drive her wild.”
Taryn nodded. “Come on, let’s go get a drink.” And try to stay near the bar so Trey could easily find her. She sidled through the incredibly tight crowd on her way to the bar. The incidental social touches soothed her wolf a little.