«You think you're some kind of victim here? Grow up, Lark.» He hadn't meant to shout, but he didn't care if it scared her. She acted as if he'd forced her, or tricked her, into making love with him. Bullshit. They'd thrown themselves into the fire with equal abandon, and he wouldn't let her forget it.
«You lied to me!» she raged. «You-you tried to trap me, you act like I don't have a choice, like…like…you can just decide my future! I'm not ready for this, I didn't…»
«What did you expect, Lark? Casual dating? A fuck buddy? Is that what you wanted?»
«No, you asshole! That's not what I wanted! I don't know what I wanted! I didn't expect any of it to happen! I didn't expect you to want me, and when you did, I couldn't stop it, I just couldn't…»
«Don't you mean you didn't want to stop it?» he shouted.
«Yes! That's what I mean! I didn't want to stop, I always wanted-but I never thought you'd-
and then-« «Lark, listen to me.» He took her by the arms and drew her to him, trying to calm her.
But she flailed at him, knocking his hands away. Her elbow caught his chin in a glancing blow and he staggered back with a shocked snarl. She stumbled and fell on the couch, one hand on her mouth and her shoulders shaking as she stared up at him with huge tears pooling in her eyes.
«I'm not staying here,» she blubbered. «I'm leaving. Now.»
«For God's sake, Lark, get a hold of yourself! Drop the hysterical bullshit and listen to me. I'm not trying to push you, I'm not telling you what to do, I just-« «Taran.»
«We need to discuss this like adults and you need to take responsibility for what happened. And you can't leave as long as we don't-« «Taran!» his Alpha bellowed.
His head whipped around like Nick had jerked it on a choke chain.
«Go outside for a minute and let me talk to her.»
«This is my house, Nick,» he growled.
«I'm your Alpha, wolf. Get your tail outside. Now.»
He balked, but then he thought-fuck. What good would it do? He'd only make her more hysterical if he tried to talk to her while this pissed off himself. He went outside to prowl the deck.
Nick joined him ten minutes later.
«All right,» his Alpha sighed. «She's going to TJ's house for the night. I couldn't get her to promise me anything more.»
«What do you mean you couldn't get her to-« He didn't finish the sentence. Nick calmly grabbed him by the throat and applied just enough pressure to make breathing iffy and vision blurry. Just for good measure, he picked him up off the deck a couple inches. Nick was three inches shorter and thirty pounds lighter than Taran, but he lifted him as if picking up a broom, which explained why he was a Pack Alpha and Taran wasn't.
Taran dropped his head in submission. Nick let go and set him back on his feet.
«Bro, you know how much I love you,» Nick said grimly. «I feel for you, I really do, and I think I understand what happened. But that female is madder than hell, and there's nothing you can do about it right now. I won't force her to stay here, and neither will you. Think of another way to keep her safe.»
He could breathe normally again. He put his hands on his hips and scuffed his cowboy boot against the patio table.
«All right,» he muttered. «All right. Can you ask TJ to try to make her stay at her place?» « «Absolutely.»
«I already put a GPS locator on her car, so I'll know where she is when she's not with TJ.»
Nick snickered. «I shouldn't be surprised. When did you do it?»
He grinned bitterly. «Monday morning.»
«I'm assuming she doesn't know.»
«Nope.»
«If you think she's pissed at you now…»
He shrugged. «What's she gonna do? Hate me more?»
«Taran. She doesn't hate you. You scared her, wolf. You just altered her life, and it's gonna take some time for her to adjust.»
«I was trying to tell her she could have all the time she needed. She doesn't want me, Nick, I think that's pretty obvious.»
«Don't be stupid. Sounds like she wanted you all night, and I think she's wanted you a long time.
She just needs-« «You said you came over here to talk about Kuba.»
He probably shouldn't interrupt his Alpha so abruptly. Nick fixed him with a narrow-eyed stare for a beat, clearly trying to decide if it warranted a more thorough throat-crushing, but he crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. «What?»
«Kuba. The Czech wolf. You said you came over to talk about him.»
«So we're not going to talk about your mate anymore?»
«No point. It's over, I'll deal with it.» Cracks had been repaired, the barrier restored.
He'd let the pain seep through later, a bit at a time. «What about Kuba?»
Nick shook his head and sighed with resignation. «Okay, fine. A wolf out in Channelview says one of his buddies saw the Czech wolf in a dive bar. He snapped a picture of Kuba on his phone.»
«Nick, that's huge!» He eagerly latched on to the one thing that could push Lark out of his mind for a bit. «Who was it? You have the photo? When did-« His Alpha held up a hand. «Whoa, hold up. I don't have anything yet-I'm still waiting to hear from the wolf himself; he's a roughneck, moves around a lot, he's supposed to call me.»
«When did he see Kuba?»
«From what I was told, the day I sent out the photo you gave me, so what-Monday? Yeah, I think so. But there's more. Another wolf who doesn't want me to give his name plays in some big poker games around town-he's an attorney, and there are a few high stakes games around right now.»
«Yeah, yeah, I know-I wouldn't try to bust one up or anything.»
«That's what I told him. Anyway, he's pretty sure he saw Kuba at a game this week. Naturally he didn't try to take a picture or anything, but he said it looked like the picture I sent out, and the guy had a thick accent and played huge-he walked away with something like fifteen grand that night.»
«Okay, that's good. That's good,» Taran said half to himself, mind racing. He felt the itch coming on-the wholly irrational but highly accurate signal telling him a case was moving, clues were popping, maybe this thing had some legs after all. He started to prowl restlessly across the deck again. «Your guy's gotta me get into one of those games, Nick.»
Nick started to say something, and Taran cut him off.
«Tell your guy I don't give a shit about the poker game. My captain won't, either-if I bring Kuba in, no one's gonna care where I found him. Would you talk to your wolf and tell him I want in? I know they're always looking for more players and I'll spend money. No one will know I'm a cop.»
Nick nodded. «He'll do it if I tell him to. I want these assholes off the streets and out of my town.»
«I wonder if I should take someone along. Maybe Denardo.»
«Who?»
«Rookie, officer from Oklahoma. Wants to get on SHIU. He hasn't been here long, so he wouldn't be recognized either.»
«Oh yeah, I've talked to him on the phone but we haven't met yet.»
Any wolf moving into an area with an established pack had to meet with the Alpha at least once, to pay respects and acknowledge the Alpha's authority, even if the wolf chose not to join the pack.
In cities like Houston, with large wolf populations, the process was much more informal than in smaller cities.
«He seems like an honorable wolf, real dedicated.» He stretched and sighed. «All right. Shit. I need a drink. Can I go back in my house now?»
Nick laughed shortly and threw an arm around him. «Yes. I'll go see if I can help Lark out of here, and then you and I can get drunk for a little bit, if that's what you want.»
«Yeah. Yeah, I think it is.»
When they went back inside, they found Lark gone.
TJ had the margaritas ready when she got there. She dumped her things in the apartment's tiny second bedroom and threw herself down in the vintage eighties Papasan chair TJ wouldn't throw out no matter how many people pointed and giggled.