Nick folded his arms across his chest, but not in a manner that was confrontational. “Well, I hope – in spite of what happened – you enjoyed the mating ceremony.”

“It was real nice,” said Taryn. “It’s been a while since I went to one.”

“You and Trey haven’t had one?” asked Don, surprised.

Not liking this subject because she knew full well that Trey wouldn’t want one, she simply gave her uncle a bored look and a dismissive wave of the hand.

“You’re not one of those girls who dreamed about it all your life? Wow, my Ana already has hers planned and she hasn’t even found her mate yet. Not to mention she’s only seven.”

“What about you, Trey?” said Don. “Don’t you want a mating ceremony?”

Being the least romantic person alive, Trey hadn’t even thought about it before now. He’d never even wondered if Taryn would want something like that – which she did. And she didn’t. He couldn’t sense any more than that so he wasn’t sure what was behind her indecision, but it was something they would definitely be discussing in private. He just shrugged. “If Taryn wants one, we’ll have one. If she doesn’t, we won’t.”

Nick tutted. “You don’t want to be giving your mate her own way all the time.”

“Yes he does,” stated Taryn.

Greta huffed at Taryn. “In my day mates weren’t allowed to live together until after the mating ceremony.”

“In your day a guy named Noah was building an Ark.”

“And they had more self-control than to fornicate twenty three hours of every day.” She didn’t enunciate the word ‘fornicate’ properly as though she thought even talking about it was immoral and would get her sent straight to hell.

“There’s nothing depraved about sex. Of course with a little creativity, some toys and a whole lot of dirty talk, you can change that.”

Trey laughed into Taryn’s hair as he saw the horrified look on his grandmother’s face. God, he really did love his mate’s spunk. Greta looked at him expectantly, obviously wanting him to berate Taryn for talking to her about – heaven forbid – ‘intimate relations’.

Although shifters were easy about sex, Greta had always been, as his mate often called her, a prude. It was obvious, however, that the real reason she was berating Taryn was because she got a kick from it, and that was why Trey would never interfere on Greta’s behalf. Well, that and the fact that he liked sex with Taryn too much to risk angering her.

“You shouldn’t be using that word in front of your own uncle,” chastised Greta.

Taryn played dumb. “What? Oh you mean sex? Well I suppose there are other terms I could use. Trey likes to call it ‘Burying the Bishop’, but I prefer ‘Hiding Pedro’.”

“Enough, enough, enough,” insisted Greta, but she was barely heard over the laughter that spread around the table.

“So sorry, my halo slipped for a second there.”

Conversation seemed to flow a lot easier after that. However, even though the atmosphere became more relaxed, Trey still had to concentrate hard on keeping his wolf suppressed. Although Don had apologised, that didn’t matter to his wolf. Nor had he been satisfied by Don’s submissive behaviour. His wolf didn’t want his submission, he wanted Don to challenge him so he could attack and rip his throat out. Maybe he wouldn’t have been as overprotective and prickly if Taryn hadn’t been attacked only yesterday, or maybe he would always be that way where his mate was concerned.

Sensing that Trey’s wolf was far from at ease, Taryn snuggled deeper into Trey’s arms and began to softly pat his chest, scratching him lightly with her nails through his t-shirt. A growl of contentment rumbled up his chest and he curled his arm tight around her.

They sat that way for the next few hours, chatting and laughing with everyone. Don and Taryn even did a little reminiscing, talking about her mom and sharing some of the many stories that perfectly demonstrated just how dizzy the woman had actually been. Even Greta had laughed.

It was because the atmosphere was so cheery and relaxed that Taryn sensed the change the second it happened. “What is it?” she asked Trey who was speaking to Kirk – who was on guard duty – on his cell.

“What?” he snapped into the cell. “I’ll be right there.” Flipping his cell closed, he stood upright and then placed her on the chair. “Stay here, Taryn.”

“What? Why?”

“Baby, just stay here for me.”

He didn’t say please, but Taryn heard it in his tone. If he was so wary about a situation that he was pleading with her as opposed to barking at her, it couldn’t be good. She nodded once and he kissed her quickly before disappearing into the forest. Dante and the enforcers followed him.

“What’s going on?” asked Greta.

“No idea.”

Nick’s Alpha instincts kicked in and he straightened in his seat. “Maybe Don, Derren and I should go see if -”

“No, when Trey’s wolf goes on high alert he sees anyone outside his pack as intruders – he’ll just think of your behavior as interference.”

Greta huffed. “So, what, we just sit here while there’s obviously trouble going on?”

“I didn’t say that.” Taryn stood and pointed hard at the others. “Stay here.”

Of course they didn’t, and she wasn’t exactly in a position to preach at them. Taking the same route Trey had, she traipsed through the forest toward the front gate. As she stepped out of the trees near the security shack, two things made her halt. One, there was a group of approximately ten people – all wolf shifters, her nose told her – standing near the front gate. Two, although the gate had been opened to allow them through, Trey and the guys had formed a protective wall in front of the shack – a warning that they weren’t to move any further. Despite there only being eight of them, it was a pretty impressive and intimidating display, and it was working.

The eyes of every stranger moved to Taryn, scrutinising her intently. There was nothing confrontational in their posture or manner, but that didn’t ease her tension. “Who are these people?”

Trey replied without turning his head, not wanting to move his gaze from the wolves in front of him. He wasn’t one little bit surprised that Taryn had disobeyed his order. It wasn’t in her nature to sit around twiddling her thumbs when there was trouble, just as it wasn’t in his nature either. “These are some of the wolves from my old pack.” He felt her confusion, knew she was wondering why he wouldn’t be at least a little glad to see them. Simple: he didn’t trust anyone from his old pack around her right now.

For all Trey knew, in spite of what they said, they were in league with Darryl. Even his wolf who recognised their scents wasn’t comfortable with their presence at all. When Taryn came to stand beside him he lifted his arm to create a barrier, wanting her to remain slightly behind him. “Apparently they’re here to see you.”

Taryn frowned, both at his words and how he seemed to be shielding her. Only the fact that she could sense his distrust and apprehension kept her from stepping around his arm. It wouldn’t be a good idea to distract him if he truly had good reason to be suspicious. “Why is that?”

“This is your mate?” asked a tall male – who Taryn thought had a slight resemblance to Ryan – in an extremely deep voice. She had to roll her eyes at the surprise in his tone. Okay, so she was small and Trey was big – it wasn’t that odd a match.

Trey responded with a curt nod.

“But…I thought healers couldn’t heal themselves.”

Disliking that he wasn’t addressing her directly as though she didn’t count, Taryn answered, “They can’t.”

“I don’t understand. You look…fine.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

Trey explained. “It would seem that Martin overheard Darryl talking to the wolves who attempted to attack you last night. Everyone you see here knows Darryl ordered it done. What they don’t know is that the wolves were lying their asses off when they assured Darryl that you were in a bad physical state.”

“So the guys who interfered in the attack stopped it before it even started,” presumed Martin.

Taryn frowned. “What guys?”

A smile curved Trey’s mouth. “The ones who supposedly stumbled upon you being attacked and kicked the wolves’ asses.”

She laughed. “I can’t say I blame them for that sweet little lie.”

Martin’s brows pulled together. “Then who was responsible for their injuries?”

“Oh that would be Taryn,” replied Dante, his pride in his Alpha female clear in his voice and his grin. The other males wore similar smiles of pride.

A curvaceous peroxide blonde female who Taryn noticed was eyeing up Trey like he was a snack snickered. “She did it? Her?” Her voice rang with scepticism.

Taryn felt a spike of anger. “Her is standing right here and is Alpha female of this pack. I’m also very, very close to wiping the floor with your face for ogling my mate. Would you like that?”

Trey doubted that he would ever find it any less amusing to watch the shock on people’s faces when his little mate let her bitchy attitude come out to play. Quickly the blonde averted her gaze and edged closer to Martin. Each of the wolves of Trey’s old pack once again appraised his mate, seeing not the delicate tiny female she appeared at first glance to be, but the tough, strong, powerful alpha that she truly was.

“Well, well, well…This is quite a turn out.” Greta came to stand beside Taryn, her arms folded and her expression judgemental and suspicious. Don, Nick, and Derren were now behind them. “Shame none of you bothered to visit us sooner. Like fifteen years ago when a teenage boy was banished instead of being given his place as Alpha.”

Some of the wolves did look a little shamefaced, but not enough to satisfy Taryn.

A male who was basically an ancient version of Cam stepped forward, staring at Greta adoringly – Taryn smiled, brows raised, as the old woman blushed. “You look well, Greta. We just wanted you all to know that it wasn’t the pack as a unit acting against you or your mate, Trey. Not all of us agree with Darryl’s challenge. Of course we’d love for the pack to again be whole, but not for it to happen like this.”

A roundish, greying woman spoke in a placatory tone. “We may not have been much help to you all those years ago, but we wouldn’t wish you harm.” Her gaze settled on Dominic. “I certainly wouldn’t want anything for my nephew other than happiness.”

The other wolves here, including Trick’s parents who were staring at their son with glittering eyes, nodded in agreement. Trey was surprised to see them given that they had been loud supporters of his banishment – an attitude that had backfired when their son left along with him. Even with their seemingly harmless behavior, however, neither he nor his wolf was happy about them being around Taryn. “Well, you’ve seen that she’s alive and well. Now you can go.”

Dante’s older brother, Josh, who was ironically much smaller than Dante spoke up then. “I was sort of hoping I could talk to my bro, you know. It’s been a while.”

“Whose fault is that?” said Dante, sounding deceptively aloof.

Trey looked at Josh incredulously. “You don’t honestly think I’d allow anyone from the Bjorn Pack near Taryn after what happened yesterday, do you?”

“Trey, come on man, you can’t think we’d hurt your mate.”

“I take it that red-headed female you’re holding is your mate?”

Josh nodded. “Yeah. We mated a few months ago.”

“Then you should have a pretty good idea of how I’m feeling right about now.”

“None of the wolves you see here would hurt her, Trey,” vowed Martin.

“I won’t take chances where my mate’s concerned. Her safety is my first priority, and right now my intention is to be more vigilant than ever. Fortunately Darryl had greatly underestimated Taryn and she was unharmed despite his efforts. If there’s a next time, he won’t underestimate her, and I don’t intend for there to be a next time.”

“Trey?” It was spoken in a low, gentle, appealing tone by a very thin, dark, middle-aged woman who was gazing at him in a motherly way, surprising Taryn. “I can understand you being a little surprised by us showing up like this, but you know that I’d never do anything that would hurt you or yours. You trust that, don’t you?”

It was clear to Taryn that the woman was very much expecting the answer to be ‘yes’ and she wondered why.

Trey narrowed his eyes at the woman. The affectionate way Viv was looking at him was making him uncomfortable. “No. The only people in this world I trust to never betray me are those you see standing with me here. If any of you take offence to my not welcoming you all into my home with open arms, I don’t much care. I’m extremely protective of what’s mine, but I won’t let Darryl trick me into losing control and attacking him for going after Taryn – you might want to pass that on.”

Martin seemed to think on that for a moment and then nodded. “Going by the fact that you didn’t lose control…Does this mean you’re not as, um…impulsive…as you once were?”

Trey had to smile. Impulsive wasn’t the right word, but he knew what Martin was getting at. He went with the truth. “No, it doesn’t mean that at all. It just means that Taryn keeps me calm.”