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, ‘fuck 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.

“Roscoe gets here on Sunday,” warned Perry. “He’ll come for you.”

Trey laughed. “Oh I certainly hope he does.” With that, he flung Perry away from him and signalled for Tao to release Oscar. He then turned his back on them, communicating his lack of fear, and snaked his arm around Taryn’s waist to pull her tight against him. “Time to look mesmerised by each other while we have a little chat,” he whispered in her ear.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she locked her gaze with his and fixed a smile on her face. His answering smile was devilish. “My dad’s going to shit a brick. He’ll have felt my disconnection from the pack by now.”

“I think he’s already on his way here. When the enforcers first tried interfering, one of the males from your pack announced to a female that he was going to call him. Are you going to be okay watching what happens next? I don’t want to battle with your father and risk the chance of an alliance, but there’s a possibility that the confrontation will lead to a battle.” He wasn’t expecting to be granted an alliance straight away, not when Warner was going to be pissed about having his daughter taken from him.

“He won’t want the fight any more than you do. He’ll know you’re a more dominant wolf and that you’ll most likely defeat him – he won’t want to chance looking weak in front of his pack in case it inspired one of them to challenge his position.”

“You’re going to have to openly claim I’m your true mate, Taryn,” he reminded her gently as he breezed his thumb over his mark. “Are you going to be able to do that?”

It took a good deal of effort not to let the smile drop from her face. “Yes. I know what has to be done.”

He brushed his lips against hers. “Good girl. How’s your wolf doing? Did she want you to fight me off when I marked you?”

She shook her head. “She likes you.”

Trey smiled crookedly. “You say that like it makes her stupid.”

“She’s impressed by your level of dominance.”

That surprised him. “Not intimidated?”

“No. She thinks you’re strong enough to take her on, she doesn’t like weaklings. It’s your scent she likes most.”