“Maybe I’ll retaliate.”

“Oh I really hope you do.”

“Great. How about now in your office?”

“Baby, does the word ‘nympho’ mean anything to you?” At that second, the cell phone in his jeans’ pocket beeped. “It’s a text from Brock,” he told her. “Apparently Ryan’s been trying to call me from the security shack and hasn’t been able to get through.”

“Is the signal crap?”

“Doesn’t seem to be. I’ll go see Ryan, find out what he wants.” He smacked a hard kiss on her lips. “See you at dinner, if not before.”

She released a dreamy sigh at the sight of his butt as he walked away at a leisurely pace. It was odd to see him do that – usually he was always marching or running, too intense to be in any way relaxed. With his newfound sense of peace, however, that had changed. Not his personality, no, that hadn’t changed. He would always be intense and menacing, and much too serious. But she loved him anyway.

She turned toward the stairs and ran her fingers idly along the mountain wall as she took each step. It tore at her to know that his life had always been so serious. He’d had so much responsibility, so much weight on his shoulders, from such a young age. The thought of him watching as all the others got to relax and have fun, of him always feeling on the outside, made her chest ache.

She could tell through their link that he hadn’t realized how much it had actually bothered him until they had bonded and suddenly he had someone who was his. As Alpha, he had always been slightly apart from the others. Now he had an equal, someone who he could share everything with, and who was held to him by more than just pack loyalty.

Someone who was also going to ensure that he learned how to have ‘fun’, whether he liked it or not. She would bet he had never set foot in a bowling alley or a cinema. Well he would soon. And he would grumble the entire journey there, yes, she knew that. Still, she was set on him –

Shit! Abruptly she felt a sharp tug on her ankle and suddenly she lost her footing, hit the ground hard, and struck the right side of her forehead on the stone step. Motherfucker. Then it was as if she was floating as spots began to dance before her eyes and there was a deafening, high pitched ringing in her ears. Everything was suddenly so distant and foggy, and it felt as though she was falling into a dream. She might have completely fallen into it right that second if there hadn’t been a sensation of two hands grabbing her ankles from behind and beginning to drag her down the stairs.

She wanted to fight that against that unseen force, she wanted to gain some purchase with her hands, but it was as if her body was disconnected from her somehow, like her limbs weren’t there at all. Her vision had gone blurry, everything seemed to be spinning, and she felt as though she was slipping away.

Distantly she realized that there was a voice shouting something – her name? Abruptly her ankles were released and there was the sound of footsteps running away from her. There was more shouting and she recognised the voice. Trey, it was Trey. She tried calling his name but although her mouth formed the word, no sound came out at all. The shouting was nearer now, but she couldn’t focus on the words, couldn’t make out what they were – she was slipping away again. Her wolf was howling, panicky and scared, and urging Taryn to fight that dreamy state. She tried, she really, really did, but things just became foggier and foggier. Then the blackness came.

Trey reached Taryn just before her body turned limp. He’d felt it the second she’d hit her head, felt just a hint of the pain, and he’d sensed it as the dizziness rushed over her and almost took her under. Instinctively he had rocketed through the forest and took the steps three at a time to get to her. Panic had speared him as he called her name over and over but received no response.

“What happened?” asked Dante as he rushed over with the enforcers, apparently having sensed his anxiety and Taryn’s pain through the pack link.

“I don’t know. Looks like she fell, hit her head, and passed out.”

“Is she breathing?” asked Marcus.

Trey placed an ear to her lips. “Yeah, she’s breathing.”

“Nothing’s blocking her airway?”

He swept his finger into her mouth and shook his head. “No.”

“Good. Everyone move so he can take her inside.”

Dante winced. “Going by that bump on her head, she smacked the ground damn hard.”

Tao pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. “But did she pass out, hit the ground then bump her head, or did the crack to the head cause her to pass out?”

Trey shrugged. “How the hell would I know? I wasn’t here.” He’d walked off toward the security shack and left her to make her way back to the caves by herself. The rational part of his brain told him that it wouldn’t have made any difference if he had been there. If she was going to fall then she was going to fall and that was that. But all he could think was that his mate was hurt and he hadn’t been with her.

At the door of the living area was a frantic Grace. “Lay her down and use something to elevate her legs so they’re above the level of her heart. It’ll help restore blood flow to the brain.”

With Tao’s help, Trey carefully placed her on her back on the rug and then gently rested her legs on the sofa. Ignoring Dominic’s suggestion that he slap her to wake her up, Trey stroked a hand through her hair, willing her to wake. His wolf was growling and pacing, just as anxious and fretful as Trey was. If she had been anyone else he would said it was only a bump, calm the f**k down. But this was his mate, and bumps and black outs were just unacceptable where she was concerned.

Quickly Grace came into the room with a bottle of spring water. “Dab some of that onto her lips.” Then she handed him an ice pack. “And place that over that ugly bump on her head.”

“It’s bruising already,” commented Trick. “She’s gonna be pissed, walking round with that egg on her head.”

“Is she alright?” asked Greta. She shrugged when all eyes widened and focused on her. “Not that I care. I’m just wondering.”

“Hi there gorgeous, you’re awake,” crooned Marcus. Instantly everyone crowded around the sofa.

Too distracted by the realization that Taryn had come round, Trey didn’t even shoot his enforcer a scowl for using an endearment with his mate. “Hey, baby, you okay? You scared twenty years off my life.”

Damn that light was bright. Taryn groaned as sharp, icy pains began shooting rhythmically through her head. Oh God, she wasn’t going to throw up, was she? She sure felt like it. Confused and dazed, she peered around her to see the entire pack hovering.

Grace pushed her way through the enforcers. “How’re you feeling?”

“Like my head has been stomped on. Repeatedly. By a giant.” Tentatively she brought her hand to her forehead and moaned at the feel of the bump. Realizing she was on the floor, she tried pulling herself up, but her body was like jello and her elbows gave out. She slipped onto her back again, but that was okay because she didn’t feel like doing anything.

Carefully, Trey scooped her up and held her against his chest. Begrudgingly he allowed the stubborn woman to take over holding the ice pack to her head. “You really f**king scared me.”

“Do you feel dizzy, honey? Disorientated?” asked Grace, biting her lower lip.

Was she kidding? “I blacked out, of course I do.”

“What about headaches. Do you have one? These are all signs of concussion.”

“A headache?” Trey pointed to the bump on her head. “What do you think?”

Grace rolled her eyes. “Alright, fine. Keep that ice pack on that bump.”

“Can’t you heal it?” asked Trick.

Taryn shook her head. “Healers can’t heal themselves.”

“That’s okay,” said Grace. “I know a remedy that’ll clear that right up. Ice, egg whites, and chocolate.”

“Huh?”

“I told you, chocolate is the answer, no matter the question.”

Dominic frowned. “I thought that was sex.”

Dante bumped Grace aside, startling a hmph sound from her. She kicked him in the shin and then left the room – presumably heading to the kitchen to mix up her weird concoction. Dante didn’t even flinch at the kick. “So what happened? Did you fall?”

She frowned. Now that the haze had begun to clear, a very important detail struck her. “Someone…”

“Someone what?” pressed Trey, breezing his thumb along her jaw.

“It felt like someone grabbed my ankle.”

“There was no one there when I got there.”

“Someone grabbed my ankle,” she said with more conviction. “They grabbed it, and they pulled it to make me fall. Then I was being dragged down the steps.” She lifted her hands and stared at the burning abrasions on her palms. If the same burning and tingling coming from her elbows and knees were anything to go by, she had similar abrasions there.

“That’s probably just from when you placed your hands out to break your fall.”

Dante took a closer look and shook his head. “No, those are scrapes…You can see where the skin was peeling like her hands were dragging along the floor.”

“Okay, well maybe she slipped down a few steps.”

“I didn’t slip.”

Not liking what this could mean, Trey shook his head. He didn’t want to believe it. “Baby…No one here would hurt you.”

Her brow arched. “Oh really?”

“Spray painting your car is one thing -”

“What about LJ?”

“Who?”

“The raven. Someone killed him and hung him upside down outside my window. That someone is not balanced.”

Dante winced. “Yeah, that was some sick shit.”

“Killing a bird and trying to seriously hurt you are two very different things.” He kissed the uninjured side of her forehead and scanned the room for Rhett, intending to tell him to go ask Grace to make Taryn a coffee. That was when he noticed Ryan. “Ryan, what’re doing over here? Have you left the gate unguarded?”

He frowned. “I’m not on guard duty this morning.”

“You’re not?”

“No.”

“Tao is the one on duty,” Trick informed him.

Trey’s frown now matched Ryan’s. “Brock said you’ve been trying to call me from the security shack.”

“I haven’t tried calling you at all.”

An uneasy feeling came over Trey. “Where’s Brock?” Looking confused and defensive, the guy stepped forward. “Why did you say Ryan wanted to talk to me?”

Brock double-blinked. “I didn’t. I haven’t spoken to you all morning.”

“But you sent a message to my cell phone.”

“No.”

“Where is it?” demanded Dante. “Where’s your cell?”

Brock dug his hand into his empty pockets and shrugged. “I must have left it in my room or in the kitchen.”

“Well that’s convenient.” Dante marched out of the room with Marcus and Trick on his heels.

Trey switched his attention back to Taryn. Suspicion was written all over her face. “They pledged their loyalty to you,” he reminded her, or maybe himself.

“Not all of them.”

She was right, and he knew Selma and Kirk disliked her enough to hurt her, he just didn’t believe for one minute that they had the guts to do it. Not only would they be very much aware that there was a strong chance Taryn would kick their ass, but they would then be branded traitors and exiled. Selma and Kirk didn’t have the nerve to take that kind of risk – which was partly why they acted so big and bad. As for Hope…he suspected that the only reason she hadn’t offered her loyalty to Taryn was because she was following Selma’s lead, just like always.

Dante’s re-entry brought him out of his thoughts. “You have the phone?”

His Beta nodded. “The message is right there.”

Brock spluttered. “What do you mean the message is there? I didn’t send him any message, dammit.”

“Well it’s right there in your Sent box,” said Dominic.

Brock snatched the phone, read the message and his face reddened. “Then someone else must have sent it. I didn’t. Why would I? Why would anyone even lie to you about Ryan wanting to talk to you?”

“Maybe you wanted Trey out of the way so you had a chance to snatch Taryn. You would have known that he would feel her panic and help her…unless he was far enough away that he wouldn’t reach her in time. Just what were you planning to do with her? Or to her?”

“I didn’t send that message!”

“If my dad says he didn’t do it, then he didn’t do it,” said Kirk as he stood beside him, folding his arms across his chest. “I’m not disputing that someone tried to pull you away from Taryn,” he told Trey. “But whoever it was used my dad’s phone, most likely to implicate him and shift the blame. It wasn’t him.”

Taryn groaned. “I can’t deal with all this yelling.”

“Come on, baby.” Trey rose with her in his arms and carried her out of the room, through the tunnels and into their bedroom. He placed her gently on the bed and lay down next to her.

“Now do you believe me?” She sighed when he didn’t answer. “I don’t care what you say, someone grabbed me. If you don’t want to face the fact that someone in your pack – the people you’ve grown up with – could do that, then I can understand that. I really can. But it doesn’t change that I’m right. Like it or not, you have someone in your pack who would willingly hurt your mate, because I’m not lying.”