“Trey, phone!”

In seconds he was out of the shower and answering the call. As she saw his eyes flash wolf and his body stiffen, she cursed. She knew exactly what that meant. There went her hope of Roscoe just letting the issue go or, in the event that that failed, him simply leaping to his death.

Instantly questions began swirling around her mind. What if he’d brought hoards of wolves with him? What if Trey got hurt? What if the others got hurt? She couldn’t exactly heal any of them if Roscoe spirited her away – and wouldn’t that be a fate worse than death.

“That was Ryan. Roscoe’s here. He’s not going to take you,” he assured her as they both frantically began to dress, sensing her anxiety through the pack link. Within thirty seconds they were at the main entrance to the caves where many of the pack were already waiting.

“Did Ryan tell you he’s brought quite a few wolves with him?” asked Dante in the same tone that someone might ask what time it was. Men.

Trey turned to her. “I want you to wait here and -”

“Oh hell no! This mess is mine and you expect me to sit here twiddling my thumbs, relishing the feeling of my own safety?”

“You’re staying.”

She smiled. “I believe you were warned before you even mated me not to bark at me unless you’re happy to be ignored.”

“Taryn,” he drawled in an impatient tone, “I am your mate -”

“And I’m stubborn. If you want absolute obedience, get a Labrador. I’m not quite the delicate flower people tend to take me for. Now let’s go.”

Right then, Trey wanted nothing more than to spank her ass. He didn’t want her anywhere near that male who coveted her. Both he and his wolf wanted to know that she was safe, but Trey knew by the look on her face that she would simply ignore him and follow him outside no matter what he said.

“You don’t get to interfere, understand? There will probably be a wolf against wolf battle. You stay out of it.” He knew that once he was in wolf form and engaged in a battle there was a good chance that he would go feral.

Taryn was honestly starting to feel sorry for him. He obviously thought he had some sort of authority over her and she believed it would be a while before it became apparent to him that the female he had taken as his mate did her own thing. “Again I feel I must remind you that I don’t do well with orders, but I have no wish to interfere so the point is mute as the result will be the same.”

Resisting the urge to shake her, he huffed and turned away only to find that some of the others were watching the exchange with amusement. He didn’t blame them. Here was this dainty little female giving him shit and even managing to get her own way.

Greta growled. “You just had to bring her here, didn’t you. Trey, you don’t need her, there’s no way Darryl will go through with this challenge. Just hand her over and be done with it.”

“Can we not hand her over instead?” asked Taryn. Was it wrong that she was seriously considering it?

“The hussy’s not worth fighting over. If he wants her, let him have her.”

“She’s mine. No one takes her.” Trey nodded at the males around him. “Let’s go. Taryn, stay at the rear.”

“No.”

“What was that?”

“To the outside world I’m Alpha female here, Trey,” she reminded him as she slipped on her light denim jacket that matched her jeans. “The Alpha pair always presents a united front when there’s a confrontation. I’m not saying that if he challenges you I won’t step back, but I won’t be shoved at the rear.”

The steel in her voice aroused his wolf just as much as it pissed him off. Trey was feeling pretty much the same. “Taryn, you can’t expect me or my wolf to be okay with you being in such easy reach of Roscoe, of being in that kind of danger.”

Smiling sweetly, she cupped his chin. “I won’t be in danger. You’ll protect me.”

Despite everything that was going on right now, he actually wanted to smile at her impishness. The other males were ducking their heads to hide theirs. “Fine, we present a united front, but only because the mating wouldn’t look real if we didn’t.” He thought that was a pretty good way to save face, but one or two of the males snorted. “Now, let’s go.”

As one – with Trey and Taryn side by side – they all made their way out of the caves and headed toward the gate.

Taryn marvelled at how all the males could walk at such a leisurely pace yet look extremely menacing at the same time. Each of them suddenly seemed two inches taller than what they truly were and had the most sinister look. Even Marcus’s usual grin had been replaced by a hostile scowl. Trey…well that was another matter altogether. Scrap hostile and sinister, the guy looked like he needed a rabies shot. He was a walking promise of death. And her wolf totally approved – yet another indication that she was dumb.

Nearing the gate, they caught sight of several vehicles parked by the security shack while a large number of shifters stood tall beside them. A normally composed Roscoe was scowling with rage, flexing his fists at his sides.

“Oh good Lord,” she said, snorting at the sheer ridiculousness of the number of wolves he had brought with him. Forty against seven? Yeah, very brave. It was a clear attempt at intimidation but Taryn knew it hadn’t had the desired effect. Why Roscoe had thought that Trey – someone who was practically the personification of intimidation – would be rattled was anyone’s guess.

When Trey came to a halt twelve feet away from the intruders, Ryan came to join the wall that the Phoenix wolves had made. Roscoe’s gaze settled on her and anger flashed across his face, most likely in response to Trey’s marks.

“Never had you down as someone who played games, Taryn. As you can see, game’s over. Get in the SUV while I have a talk with Coleman.”

Taryn almost laughed. “You sound as though you honestly believe I will.”

“Come now and we can avoid all this.”

“I’d rather lie under an elephant suffering from diarrhoea with my mouth open wide.”

“You know what will happen if you persist with this. People are going to get hurt, namely Coleman. Do you really want that on your conscience?”

“Oh no, you don’t get to turn this on me. If anyone gets hurt today it’s because you refuse to let go of something that was never yours to begin with.” She would bet money that if she had been within reach, Roscoe would have slapped her for that.