Finding again waiting by his car with a Starbucks coffee for her the next morning, Tasha thought he looked a lot calmer. She, by contrast, wasn’t so calm. “You know, you and Trevon are unbelievably alike. Neither of you can take a hint, and neither of you pay any attention to what other people want.” She still snatched one of the coffee cups, though. As always, Onyx and his wolf were amused by the snippy side of her nature. “Such charming manners.” When he tucked a stray curl behind her ear, she predictably slapped his hand away. Tasha went to take a sip of the coffee but then stopped. “Wait, this isn’t the one you’ve been drinking out of, is it?” “You ask that like I have an infectious disease or something.” She shrugged. “I just don’t like sharing straws or glasses or cups with other people.” “Really?” “It’s one of my quirks.”
Once Tasha was inside the salon, Onyx moved his gaze to the rearview mirror. Yep, the red Rolls-Royce was still a little distance behind Trevon. The car had been following them for the past two minutes. Irritatingly, a white van was also following—the same white van that the human extremists used. Deeply suspecting that the Rolls-Royce was the Shade's car and that he had something to say, Omyy drove away from the salon, not wanting him anywhere near Tasha. As he suspected, the Rolls-Royce followed him to the local park where Onyx had yesterday taken Pack. Similarly, so did the white van. As Onyx parked in the small, half-empty parking lot at the edge of the park, Trevon's SUV took the space on his left, and the Rolls-Royce took the space opposite Onyx’s car. The van pulled up a few cars away from the Rolls-Royce. As Onyx got a glimpse of the driver of the van, he noticed the familiar profile. Jace. Fucker. Ignori
As Tasha once again looked at the gift Onyx had sent her, she resisted the urge to groan. He hadn’t bought her flowers or chocolates—things she could have rolled her eyes at, considering how little thought and creativity would have gone into the gifts on his part. Nor had he written her a soppy poem or a lovey-dovey card—corny things she could have scoffed at. Nor had he bought her jewelry or perfume—expensive stuff that would have given her an excuse to claim he was trying to buy her. No…he’d bought her something funny, something that would make her laugh. Something that Jean was again playing with, making her want to snatch it back. So she did. “Hands off.” “Ooh, possessive.” Jean chuckled and went back to tidying the salon, ready to close up. “I think this is hilarious.” “What’s funny about a Public Toilet Survival Kit?” In truth, the only reason she wasn’t chuckling with her was that she was annoyed—Onyx was being nice, something h
But he didn’t tell Jean you were his mate, a voice in her head reminded her. He’s not proud to have you. “You’re angry that I cooked you something?” asked Onyx, sensing her mood shift. He tried examining her expression, but she was busy staring out the window. His wolf tensed, honing every sense on her. “No. It was sweet.” And very convenient because she was an awful cook and she tended to exist on cereal, noodles, and takeouts. “Then why are you mad at me?” She folded her arms across her chest. “I’m not mad.” “Yes, you are.” “I’m not. I told you, what you did was sweet.” Then why did she sound like she wanted to rip out his heart and use it as a mallet? “You’re mad that I did something sweet?” “No.” “So what’s the problem?” She didn’t answer, just continued to stare out the window. His wolf growled w
Two hours later, Onyx was still arguing with his mother about his decision to hold back certain details from Onyx. Yes, Kate had a valid point in saying that it was wrong for there to be secrets or lies between mates. And, yes, a lie of omission still counted. And, yes, it would be far easier to make Tasha forgive him if he told her the truth. But Tasha was worth the hard work. Plus, he’d never know if she’d given him a chance because she felt sorry for him or because she wanted him—he needed it to be the latter. “You won’t make me change my mind,” he told his mother. “Let it go.” Her eyes held his, staring at him to the point where he began to feel uncomfortable. Kate Loup had a way of making people feel guilty even when they hadn’t done anything wrong. When his dad had been alive, she’d been an expert at getting him to apologize for something when the fault really lay with her. She was also extremely good at getting her own way—usually by
When Tasha had come outside to find no Onyx in sight, she hadn’t been surprised since she was fifteen minutes early. She’d love to say it was because she was working on her punctuality, but the truth was that she’d known Onyx would have to go inside the motor home at some point this morning to change clothes and clean up, and she didn’t like the idea of Sansa around him. Yes, that should be inconsequential considering that Tasha didn’t want to mate with him, but it was consequential whether she liked it or not. How could the idea of her mate with another female be anything but agonizing? Her anxiety and restlessness had given her the jumpstart she’d needed and quickened her movements. Her wolf was eager to see him, to get him away from the other female, and was urging Shaya to go to him. But when Tasha came up close to the motor home, she froze at the sound of two voices talking. “Tasha makes me happy.” “
Missing me? Though she had promised herself she would never, ever, ever reply to his texts and encourage what she should consider annoying behavior, she had found herself responding:Sadly, yes, my aim seems to be off lately—either that or I need a new rifle. Then she had waited in anticipation for a response—irritated about the whole “anticipation” part but unable to help it. She’d soon received one:I’d ask how you’re doing and if you’ve been busy today, but these new binoculars work great—a “must-have” for all intense investigators.And, once again, she was fighting a smile. Once again, she failed. What further irritated her was that when he turned up at the salon at lunchtime, she was pleased to see him. Apparently, so was Danna, because she was immediately at his side, trailing along as he made his way to Tasha. “Are you here to book an appointment, sir, or were you hoping to—” Onyx looked at
Onyx raised a hand. “Three things. One, I never wanted to be Alpha. Two, my family is important to me, but so are you. Three, I don’t have friends.” She double-blinked in surprise. “What do you mean, you don’t have friends?” “Exactly what I said.” “Then what’s Trevon." “A pain in my ass. I told you, I don’t like company—except for yours, obviously.” He truly did enjoy being around her. His wolf, too, enjoyed it, even to the extent that he relaxed slightly when she was around. A shifter who didn’t like company…Yeah, that was definitely a new one. “You do know that’s weird, don’t you?” He shrugged. “I was never what you’d call social. But when I came out of juvie…I just didn’t feel like I could relate to other people. Trevon, sure. But the others…they spent their teenage years going on dates, attending proms, and sneaking out to parties. I spent those years trying to stay alive in prison.” Her wolf
few years later. Opening your eyes to find that you’re upside down can’t be good, can it? Through the cobwebs clouding her mind, Kass realized that it wasn’t just she who was upside down. The car had toppled over.Well, that sucked. Clearly the fuck-up fairy had made an appearance.Strangely, Kass felt no rush of panic, no fear. And despite that she was pretty sure her head was bleeding, there was no pain. There was only a feeling of weightlessness. Even the fact that her wolf was frantic didn’t disturb Roni in this dreamlike moment. Her brain distantly registered that the car kept leaning sideways, as if something was repeatedly pulling at it. But it was the various sounds that penetrated her mental fog: low moans, a phone ringing, a child crying, and strange voices arguing.Sensing that the ringtone and the moans were coming from her left, kass turned her head to find a male wolf shifter in the driver’s seat, e
When she finally untangled herself from him, he explained, “It’s not just the only lodge here now. The owners built and rented out several other lodges on the land, which would be perfect for the ‘pack’ to live in. It means you and I will have our own space.” Touched to the point that she was tearful, she said, “I really, really can’t believe you’ve done this. I never would have guessed. I suppose I should have—you always try to spoil me.” “It’s my right, and it’ll happen a lot, so you need to get better at accepting gifts.” She waved away that comment. “You know what else I can’t believe? That the prejudiced humans sold the place to a shifter.” When he opened his mouth to speak, she raised a hand. “Don’t tell me…Your contacts got involved, right?” “Right,” he confirmed. “Want to go inside?” “Do Dalmatians have black spots?” “One thing first: I made a few…changes.”
As Bree yapped beside him at the dining table about something or other, Onyx forced a smile for her. Oh, she was a nice enough girl and stuff, but he just didn’t do the friend thing, and apparently a person didn’t have a choice in the matter when it was Bree He noticed that his mate, who was sitting on his other side, was stifling a smile of amusement at his discomfort—as usual. Just a little longer, he reminded himself. Just a little longer, and then he and Tasha would be finished with their evening meal and leaving Sliver Pack territory, and they would only be returning as visitors. Since the night of the battle, he and Tasha had been living on pack territory temporarily. Although they had slept in the motor home outside the caves, they were still constantly harassed and, as such, had had very little time alone. Onyx and Tasha weren’t the only ones who had remained on pack territory. Trevon,
Abruptly, she snatched the knife her father had long ago given her that was tucked into her boot and speared it into his chest.When a stunned-looking Chubby came charging at her, she rolled to the side and sliced both his Achilles tendons as he stumbled past. Like a sack of spuds, he fell to the ground, crying out. Rolling once again, she seized the rifle and twisted to see that Chubby was trying to crawl away. He froze when she cocked it and gave her a pitiful look. She shrugged. “I told you I’d kill you.” The bullet hit him dead-center in his forehead. It was then that Merk swung the door open. But she had already cocked the gun again, ready to shoot, and was aiming it as his head. “You should have run, Monkey Boy.” But the awkward bastard dove to the side, making the bullet skim his ear. “Fuck.” Then a wall of flames suddenly formed around the hut, and Merk slammed the door closed. “Double fuck.” Before she could even think of acting, a
There was gunfire, there was growling, there was screaming, there was yelling as the wolves came at the group from all directions. It was also the go-ahead for Tasha to act. Aiming for those who she judged the biggest threats and of whom she had a clear view, Tasha fired one bullet after another, gratified down to her gut as she disabled the bastards. One of those bullets hit her target’s arm rather than his heart, and he dropped his gun as he flinched with the pain. When Onyx wolf turned his attention to him, the human turned and ran in what could only be described as a blind panic. He suddenly screeched in pain and fell to the ground, having stepped on one of the barbed-spike plates that were planted around. Onyx dived on him, closing his jaw around the asshole’s throat. The wolves were all merciless in their assault. Ethan wolf had gone feral by this point and was tearing into whatever human was near him. Although he’d taken a bull
Entering the living area a little while later, they found Jaime, Ace, Kass, Marcus,Royd Grace, Lydia, and Sansa. The smell of Onyx and Tasha’s combined scents seemed to hit everyone at once, because they were all smiling—even Sansa, despite that it was fake. “Well, well, well,” said Bree, delighted, as Onyx and Tasha perched themselves on the gigantic sofa where everyone other than Kass and Royd, who had each claimed an armchair, was sitting. “It would appear things are moving along nicely.” Bree swapped places with Ace so that she was then sitting by Onyx, winking at Tasha when he stiffened at her proximity. “How’s my BFF doing?” When Onyx gawked at her, Bree said indulgently, “Not you, sweetie, I was talking to your mate.” Tasha would have been pissed by people continually poking at him if she didn’t know this meant they accepted him. “Fine, thanks.” Tasha patted Onyx’s thigh soothingly. “I’m glad things are working out for you gu
As it was important that Onyx knew every inch of pack territory in preparation for the attack, Tasha took him on a thorough tour of the land while they were in their wolf forms after breakfast. She showed him every lake, every clearing, every hidden entrance to the caves. She even showed him the “hut”—the small building where trespassers were taken to be interrogated by Dante.When they stopped at a particular lake, she shifted back to her human form. “This is my favorite spot on Sliver land. Come on, I want to swim.” Back in his human form, Onyx glanced around, taking in his surroundings. Instantly, he understood. “You used to come here to be alone, didn’t you?” he asked, smiling. It was almost funny, considering she was so sociable. “Yes,” she admitted, slowly going deeper and deeper into the lake. “Sometimes a girl likes a little alone time.” He gasped in mock outrage. “All this t
knock at the door the next morning was quickly followed by Trick’s voice. “Tasha you’ve got visitors. If Tala right, you might not be too happy about it.” As those words penetrated her sleep-dazed brain, Tasha groaned. She didn’t have to ask who the visitors were. Her mother had been trying to contact her nonstop over the past two days, but Tasha had ignored her calls. Caleb would have told her that Tasha had returned to Sliver Pack territory. It had only been a matter of time before the woman showed up. Sleepily, she called out, “I’ll be down in a minute.” “They’re waiting for you in the kitchen.” The sound of Zeeb's footsteps faded down the tunnels. Any other time, she would have been stumbling around the room on just waking. But knowing her parents were here was enough to galvanize her into action. Hopping out of the bed, she told Onyx's “It’s got to be my parents. You might want to sit this one out.” F
“I have a feeling the shifter behind all this will come with them,” said Ryan. Nick was surprised to hear him speak. “Me too,” said Zeeb. “He hates shifters anyway, and now that he’s no longer making money from charging humans to kill our kind, I’d say he’ll be pissed enough to join Jace in the attack.” “Let’s hope so,” growled Tala. She rose from her armchair and approached Onyx. “It’s time. We need you at top strength. I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to heal you, but I can certainly do my best.” She then turned to her pack. “Grace, you know what I need. Ryan, the window.” While the short brunette nodded and left the room, the grumpy-looking enforcer opened the window wide. Determined to only think positive thoughts, Tasha rose from his lap. “Lie down on the floor, flat on your back.” “That’s usually my order,” rumbled Onyx, smiling at her blush. Hoping against hope that the Alpha female would