Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 151489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
“I know, I know it’s bad but -”
“You’ve always known who and what I am. You’ve always known what I’m capable of. Don’t ask me to ignore what he did to you, don’t ask me to be something I’m not.”
“That’s not what I’m doing. I know you want to shred the bastard into tiny pieces – you’re not alone there. All I’m asking you to do is put a pin in it. Just delay it for a while. You have to see that it’s a trap.”
“A trap?” asked Ryan.
“No shifter would dare harm another shifter’s mate unless he was hoping to die a long, painful death. He will have known that Trey would react ten times worse and most likely go feral. He’s probably getting desperate now – the twelve weeks are almost up. If he could get you to go against council protocol and attack within the next seven days…” She didn’t need to say more, knowing he would see her point.
“Makes sense,” said Tao after a minute. The other males nodded. Other than Trey.
Taryn dabbed another kiss on Trey’s lips. “He thinks he’s got you all figured out. But he hasn’t. You might be the wolf shifter version of the Black Mamba snake and have homicidal urges from time to time, but you’re also smart. Smart enough to know that if you go to him now and react like he wants, you’re giving him power over you. Smart enough to know that the important thing now is to figure out who his informant is before they feed him more information.”
Trick stepped forward. “She’s right, Trey. I say we let Darryl sweat. He’ll know he’s not going to get away with it. Leave him to sit and wonder what you’ll do and when you’re going to do it.”
Trey snickered. “And what if he goes after her again? Huh? What if I put a fucking pin in it and then he sends more wolves after her in the meantime? He’d most likely send an even larger number the next time just to be sure she got the beating he ordered.”
Growling, Taryn gripped his head and turned it sharply so that she could stare into his eyes. “You listen to me, psycho boy. You might be happy to give your uncle the satisfaction of falling into his trap but I’m not. Here’s what’s going to happen. We’re all going to calm down and drive back to Bedrock and you’re not going to give me any shit about it or so help me God I’ll beat you so bad you’ll have to put toothpaste in your ass to brush your teeth!”
There was a moment of quiet before some of the guys chuckled and others just smiled.
“I think she’s having caffeine withdrawal,” said Dante.
Trey sighed in frustration. Why did she have to be right? All he wanted was revenge. Was that really that bad? He didn’t think so. Nor did his wolf. But, as Taryn had pointed out, that was what his uncle was counting on. Well, if Trey was going to do something totally out of character and delay his revenge, then there was going to have to be a few changes round here. He pinned his little mate with a look. “No more telling me to stay behind. If you leave pack territory, I’m right there with you.”
Not liking his tone but recognising how hard it was for him to back down, Taryn nodded. “Got it.”
“And if he comes after you again don’t expect me to play the waiting game any longer.”
“Sure thing, Flinstone. Now let’s go home.” Apparently not willing to part with her just yet, he ordered Tao to drive her car home while he pulled Taryn on his lap in the backseat of the Toyota. He didn’t say a word during the entire journey, not even to contribute to the ‘We hate Darryl’ chat that Dante, Trick and Marcus began. She could tell that the guys were eager to discuss who the informant might be, but they knew their Alpha well enough to know that he needed time to calm the hell down before having any discussion.
Knowing how much he liked it, Taryn snuggled into his arms and melted against his chest, but not even that or her feather-light kisses to his neck or her soft petting to his chest was able to ease the tension from his body. His rigid body barely moved other than to run his hand gently through her hair. When they arrived home he did what he always did when things didn’t go his way – brooded. And Taryn did what she always when did he brooded – left him to get on with it alone.
After stashing Trey’s gifts in the bedroom and hanging up her new clothes, she took the groceries she’d bought to the kitchen and helped Grace with getting started on dinner – chicken curry. It wasn’t exactly a surprise when Trey didn’t appear for dinner. When he sulked, he did it good.