The next morning, Tasha was ready to slip on her shoes and jacket when her cell phone rang. Digging it out of her purse, she saw that the caller was Jean. “If you’re calling to check if I’ll be late, the answer’s actually no, so—” A snort. “Well that would be a first. But that’s not why I’m calling. I want you to take the day off.” Surprised, she paused in her movements. “What? Why?” “I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that you and Onyx have some serious talking to do. He was severely pissed last night, Tasha, and I can’t say I blame him.” She didn’t blame him either. “You told him about the date, didn’t you?” “Yes. But Trevon was following us anyway, and it wouldn’t have taken much thinking on his part to work out what was going on. What happened when you got back home?” Sighing, Tasha fell back onto the sofa and told him everything. “Is he as good with that mouth as I’ve been betting he is?” A half smile surfaced
It was only when she neared the vehicle that the door opened. But it wasn’t Onyx who stepped out. It was Trevon. She frowned when he closed the door behind him and stood in front of it like a protective barrier. “I’ll be driving you to work this morning,” he said stiffly as he came forward, making her shuffle backward. “I want to see Onyx.” His expression hardened. “You’ll have to wait until later.” “I want to see him now.” He arched a brow. “Why? So you can hurt him even more than you already have?” She inhaled deeply. “I understand you’re mad at me, I know how protective you are of Onyx—” “Then we don’t need to have this conversation.” What was bugging her more than Trevon’s reprimanding tone was the fact that Onyx hadn’t come outside. He had to know that Trevon was trying to keep her away; he had to hear what was going on, but he wasn’t interfering. That meant one of two things: Onyx genuine
Suddenly unsteady, she took a seat on the sofa. She’d noticed the occasional tint of pain in his eyes, but she hadn’t prodded him about it, determined to hide her concern for him…like an insensitive bitch—something out of character for her. She’d let the anger she harbored change her behavior in some ways. No more of that. That wasn’t the person she wanted to be. “I didn’t know about the headaches.” “Why would you? I’ll bet you haven’t taken the time to try to know him at all.” “Look, you can take as many potshots at me as you want. But not now, okay. I need to understand what’s happening with Onyx. And if you’re not going to let me wake him up and talk to him”—not that she really would disturb him, but Trevon didn’t need to know that—“then you’re going to have to be the one to tell me.” He snorted. “After what you did last night, I’m not in the mood to tell you shit. I’m guessing part of the reason you went on that dat
Too shocked to speak, Tasha just stared at him. As his eyes took on a faraway quality, Tasha knew he was back there, seeing those flames surrounding him all over again. Wanting to bring him to the present again, she said, “Onyx?” His gaze snapped to her. “You’ve heard of shifters whose animals have surfaced early before, right?” She nodded. “I don’t know any. But I’ve heard that it can happen.” “Do you know what happens to them in later life?” At his hard tone, a blast of cold traveled down her spine. “What?” “Healers aren’t sure why it happens, though they speculate that it’s because the body and the mind were forced to deal with changes they weren’t ready for at a young age and that those changes put too much of a strain on them. It causes the cognitive functions to degenerate later on. When I found you, I was having healing sessions to try to fight it. The sessions worked. But I had that fear that the improvement was only temp
The image of a small version of Tasha feeling so lost and empty that she used her friend as a substitute sister almost broke his heart. “I’ll bet Tala was happy to be part of that game.” Tasha's smile widened. “Yeah, she was. She never had any siblings, so we both got a lot of fun out of that little fantasy.” Her smile faded as she continued. “But maybe I would have coped a lot better if it hadn’t been for what happened when I was four.” It was a struggle for Onyx to keep his voice even when anger was riding him at the idea of anything hurting her. “What happened, Tasha?” “For the first four years of my life, my parents and I didn’t live on pack territory. The Alpha—Tala’s dad, Jakob—didn’t approve of my mom mating a human, even though my dad was her true mate. So they lived in a house close by. But my parents…See, my dad was a Navy SEAL, so he went away a lot. My mom wasn’t very good at handling it—not
Before Onyx’s car had fully come to a stop, Tasha was attempting to jump out of the passenger seat. She might have been successful if Onyx’s arm hadn’t clamped around her waist. “Wait.” He didn’t release her until she nodded. Tasha thought it was strange how he could sound so unyielding yet so gentle at the same time. Taking a proper look outside, her mouth fell open in horror as she saw the front windows of the salon almost completely shattered and the door hanging from its hinge. Pieces of broken glass littered the sidewalk like glistening diamonds, and the salon’s sign had been splashed with black paint. “Oh my God.” Her wolf whined, anxious and angry. Once Onyx had opened the passenger door, Tasha was out of the vehicle and dashing toward the salon only to, once again, be hampered by an arm around her. “It’s okay, baby, Jean’s not inside. She’s over there.” Jean caught sight of her at the sam
Before Jean had even revealed the Anti shifter ’ involvement, Onyx had known they were responsible, because he could clearly see Jace among the gathering humans. His expression was smug and daring. Little bastard. Vandalizing Onyx’s mate’s—or girlfriend, as Jace believed—place of work definitely counted as personal and was definitely one very good way to rile him. As both Tasha and Jean tracked Onyx’s hard gaze, they each snarled at Jace as the same realization dawned on them. “He’s got balls, showing up here after what he’s done,” hissed Jean, moving toward him. Trevon’s hand on Jean’s arm stopped her. “Not balls,” said Trevon. “He’s hoping Onyx will react.” Trevon briefly explained the situation. Onyx had expected Jean to be pissed with him, to blame him to some degree for bringing this trouble to her salon. But Jean gave Onyx a look of sympathy. “I can’t imagine what you must have gone through in that place. A lot o
shoulder hard, he flinched. “Hey, what was that for?” “You don’t get to blame yourself for other people’s actions.” Her wolf fully agreed. “I won’t allow it.” The fierceness in her tone surprised him so much, he found himself smiling. “Is that right?” “Yes." “I am not stupid.” She patted his chest patronizingly. “No, of course not. You just have bad luck in the thinking department.” Scowling, he turned on the ignition and began heading back to her house. Unfortunately, he got there to find his mother, Kass, and Sansa was waiting outside the motor home. Surprised by their anxious expressions, he exchanged a confused look with Tasha. No sooner had they got out of the car than the three females were in front of them. “My God, I saw what happened to the salon.” Kate studied Tasha, rubbing her arm. “Are you okay, honey?” “You saw what happened?” Onyx
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