chapter 43

Days later, Dayne and I have settled into a kind of routine. And by routine, I mean we fuck at night and during the day he disappears into his office. I hang out with Regan or Jenna, or wander aimlessly, knowing I should be doing something with my day, but having no idea what that something should be.

Uncle Glynn never had a Luna. Mostly because I think he’s evil, but that’s just my interpretation. Or maybe it’s that he never showed the slightest interest in mating with anyone. If he ever got the urge to fuck, he certainly didn’t turn to a pack member since we’d have all smelled her on him, and him on her.

The only Luna I ever knew was my mother. But when my parents were still alive, I was a kid who spent all her time running wild, hardly paying any attention to what my mother did, since her role was a lot less visible than my dad’s was as alpha.

More and more I’m wondering what my purpose is here, and why Dayne agreed to this mating at all, unless he wanted someone to keep his bed warm. Or something.

Not that it’s all bad. The sex is good between us. Okay, it’s better than good, it’s so incredible I catch myself daydreaming about it more often than I should. But is that all I want from Dayne? Is that all I want from my mate?

There hasn’t been another sighting of the strange wolf, and any attempt I’ve made to venture any further than the lake has resulted in Dayne giving me a tongue lashing of epic proportions.

The first time I told him I’d wandered further than I intended. The second time I told him I got lost. The third, I retraced my steps back to the last place I saw the wolf and tried to sniff him out. Except, just like the first time I saw him, there was nothing.

All I could sense was that there’d been hunters in the area recently, and thinking I could prove myself by finding this strange wolf before anyone, I tracked the hunters deeper into the forest, and off pack land.

One minute I was scanning the ground in search of clues, following my nose because it felt like I was on the right track.

The next day, Dayne was tossing me over his shoulder and marching me back to the farmhouse. It’s strange, this whole mysterious wolf situation since other than scaring Savannah, the wolf doesn’t do anything else.

Well, nothing that we can see, except leave Dayne in a constant state of frustration as some unknown wolf keeps wandering in and out of his territory.

When he has Marshall or Luka out patrolling a perimeter, the wolf just fades away again, and when they stop, they find signs the wolf came back, but never close enough to be seen from the house or easily tracked.

None of us can guess what he wants, or if he wants anything at all. Jenna thinks it’s a lone shifter looking for somewhere safe to stay, but why would he run if he were, and why doesn’t he have a scent? With nothing to do, and a need to prove I’m capable of doing something, I’m at the lake working up the courage for my fourth attempt. It’s taking a while, given how furious Dayne was the last time. That and his threat to tie me to the bed.

“Oh, hi Talis, I didn’t realize you were here.”

I jerk my gaze away from the lake in front of me and turn to the naked leggy blonde rising from her crouch at the edge of the forest. My lips thin at the sight of her perfect body and perfect face, and long flowing golden hair.

If all Dayne wanted was for someone to fuck, I don’t know why he settled for me when he had Savannah right in front of him.

“Yeah,” I murmur, preparing to stand and return to the house. Or anywhere where she isn’t since already my wolf is tensing in readiness to break free of her cage and rip out Savannah’s throat.

I’m finding avoidance is proving to be the best policy at controlling my wolf. As long as I stay away from Savannah, and Dayne remains too busy in his office to order me about, I’m just about managing to hold my wolf at bay.

“Do you mind if I join you?” she asks, already dropping beside me, which puts an end to my mission to run away.

If I get up and leave now, it’s obvious I’d be running away, and that I’ve been avoiding her. So, forcing a smile on my face, I settle back down beside my usual spot beside the water and work on shoring up my walls to stop my wolf from charging through.

“I guess, but I need to head back inside and start lunch soon.”

Savannah blinks in surprise at me. “I thought Regan was… oh, is she back at work now?”

I nod. It’s busier now at the veterinary clinic in town, which means Regan’s back to working her regular hours, so I catch up with her in the evenings and on her days off. Mostly, I hang out with Jenna when she’s not busy with Marshal since she works from home as an online home-school teacher and her hours are super flexible.

“Yeah,” I mutter, wondering if it’s too soon to make my excuses and leave.

“So, how do you like the clothes? I can see that everything fits, but did I do a good job?” She’s smiling at me. And goddamn it, even her teeth are perfect and without even a hint of imperfection. Is there anything wrong with this girl? Everyone has flaws.

“They’re good.”

“Except the shoes, huh? I notice you don’t wear shoes.” She grins, the long waves of her hair settling around her like a cape.

It’s exactly the sort of hair I was desperate to have at my moon-blessing ceremony; long enough it would have covered all of my nakedness, saving me from more embarrassment.

“I prefer not to,” I say, rising. “I should go ”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to upset you. I was hoping we could get to know each other. You know, maybe even be friends.”

I stop and stare at her. Is she being serious? She the woman who every time I hear her laughing, it’s coming from Dayne’s closed office door wants to be friends with me?

At my continued silence, Savannah’s smile fades. But she doesn’t turn away from me, just keeps her gaze fixed on me and that’s when I see it. She’s no meek submissive. In all the time I’ve seen her around Dayne, she’s always meeting his gaze head-on, never lowering it. Never acting like a submissive. Although I’m not getting the alpha vibes from her as I do with Dayne, all the signs point to her being one.

And it riles me as I think about why Dayne mated with me instead of Savannah. Surely, she must wonder too, and she can’t be alone. The rest of the pack must compare us all the time and find me lacking.

“I have to go,” I finally say, standing.

“Talis, have I done something to upset you?” the question bursts out of her as an expression of concern settles on her face.

“Upset me?” I echo softly. “What could you possibly have done to upset me?”

How about having more of a relationship with my mate than I do? How about we start there?

She’s silent for a beat, as if she doesn’t trust my soft voice, and she’s right not to. For a second, my vision shifts and then it’s my wolf using my eyes to communicate exactly what she wants to do to Savannah.

The effect is instantaneous. Savannah shoots to her feet, naked fear bleeding across her face. At the same moment I back away, squeezing my eyes shut as I spin around so my back is to her. I smash into something solid, nearly going down.

Hands tighten around my shoulders. “Talis, what’s wrong?”

Fuck, fuck, fuck. It’s Dayne. And I can’t open my eyes because I don’t know what he’ll see, and I can’t turn around because the second I face Savannah again, I won’t be able to stop the change. Already I can feel my wolf is waiting for the perfect opportunity to lunge.

“Talis?”

Not knowing what else to do, I do the only thing I can. I throw myself at Dayne and press my face hard against his muscled chest, my fingers grabbing onto his t-shirt in case he attempts to move me.

I have no idea what words are shared, or what looks exchanged as I’m pressed so tight against Dayne, trembling with the effort to suppress my wolf, but something happens because Dayne’s arms come up and around me, making me feel small, and I sense Savannah moving away.

I lose count of how long we stay like that; Dayne holding me tight, me gripping his shirt even tighter. Soon tension is fading away and I’m burrowing closer as I wrap myself in his clean and woodsy scent. Why does he smell so good to me?

With Dayne’s arms wrapped around me, the soft trickle of the lake beside us, the sweet echoes of birdsong in the trees all around us, and the cool grass beneath my bare feet, I never want this moment to end.

“You’d better not be stretching my shirt,” he says, his voice a rumble against my hair. “It’s my favorite.”

Since I’ve stopped trembling, and my wolf for the moment is silent, I shift back until his arms fall away from me. I examine his expression and see something I never noticed before. “You’re trying to provoke me.”

His gaze is sharp, piercing me. As if he’s trying to peer beneath my layers and get to what’s hidden deep inside. But when he speaks, his voice is casual. “Am I? Why would I do a thing like that?”

He’s got the unreadable expression on his face. The one like a smooth surface of a stone, and I don’t even know why I’m bothering to see beneath or around it, but for a moment a second, it feels important. Urgent even that I understand what he’s trying to keep from me.

“I don’t know,” I whisper. “Why would you?”