A number of wolves suddenly approached, trooping together around their Alpha pair, seeking contact. Pack, the she-wolf knew. They joined her in licking their Alpha’s injuries, giving him the respect and thanks he was due for protecting them. A grey-black wolf with a white undercoat – Beta – threw back his head and released a loud, long howl. The melodic sound rang throughout the forest and mountains, and was answered far and wide as other wolves – both shifters and full-bloods – joined the pack in celebrating their victory.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Three weeks later

“It’s not funny,” said Taryn as she returned to Caleb’s side.

“Of course it’s not funny.”

She scowled at Caleb. He might have been more convincing if he wasn’t grinning. Come on, surely it was unreasonable to need to pee so often – eight times in a one hour period was just ridiculous! She wouldn’t mind so much if she was actually downing several mugs of coffee a day like she usually would, but now that she was pregnant, coffee wasn’t allowed. How humans went through this for a whole nine months she’d never know. Hell, elephants were pregnant for like a year and a half. Seriously, what was up with that?

Nervous and fidgety, she straightened the silky, slim-fitting, knee length dress for like the hundredth time. She wasn’t a fan of dresses and only ever wore them when she was attending a special occasion such as a mating ceremony. As this was her own mating ceremony, she couldn’t exactly wear jeans and a t-shirt. She had wanted to have the ceremony before her belly got too big with the pregnancy. She had no desire to be waddling like a penguin down the ‘aisle’.

Greta had been outraged to hear that Taryn was wearing white as apparently she was too much of a hussy for that. Although the woman had softened slightly to Taryn, it was only very slightly and she still took utter joy in insulting Taryn and being difficult. But then, Taryn took utter joy in returning Greta’s insults with some of her own so that worked out okay.

Taryn would have had the ceremony sooner, but she felt that it was better for everyone to have time to emotionally and physically recover from the battle. No one had let her heal them because she was pregnant – which was both unreasonable and dramatic since it didn’t make any difference at all to her gift. Although there was still a lingering sadness about how they had been betrayed by one of their own, everyone was by now simply relieved and happy about them having won the challenge.

Kirk, on the other hand, had been devastated and ashamed. No matter how often they had assured him that he wasn’t responsible for his father’s actions, Kirk hadn’t been able to even make eye contact with either Trey or Taryn. A few days after his father’s public execution – as was tradition for traitors – and the ceremony that been held to honor the few who had died in the battle, Kirk had decided to join with who was left of Darryl’s pack. Dante’s older brother, Josh, had been elected as their new Alpha and had agreed to accept Selma as well as Kirk. Well good luck to him with that.

There had been talk about some of Josh’s pack now joining Taryn and Trey’s, but so far nothing had been officially decided. It would be just her luck that she had gotten rid of Selma only to end up with a group of females that were far worse. The universe did seem to enjoy playing jokes on her.

“Ready?” asked Caleb.

Taryn released a long, calming breath. “Ready. Thank you for doing this.” Although Lance was – surprise, surprise – attending the ceremony, she hadn’t wanted him to do the giving away thing. In her opinion, he’d more or less given her away a long time ago. Caleb, on the other hand, had been a good friend to her since childhood and had been there for her over the years whenever she needed someone. It had seemed more appropriate for him to do it. Plus, it had put to rest all the arguments that had been going on between Dante, Don, and the enforcers as they fought over who should give her away.

“You don’t have to thank me.”

“I know you didn’t want me to mate with Trey.”

Caleb sighed and jiggled his head. “Of course I wish your mate wasn’t mentally unstable, but I’ve seen him with you, I’ve seen how much he cares for you. That’s good enough for me.”

“You don’t still feel like I’m betraying Joey, even though he was never my true mate?”

“No, I don’t. I never thought you were betraying him, just that you were wrong about Trey. Now I see that it was me who was wrong, and I’m happy for you. How can I not be happy for my best friend?”

Touched, Taryn went to hug him but he shook his head fiercely. “If your mate smells my scent all over you, he’ll kill me.”

Rolling her eyes, she took the hand he offered her and allowed him to escort her out of the caves, down the mountain steps, and through the trees that led to the lake. As it was the place where she and Trey spent most of their quality time together, it seemed rather fitting that the ceremony take place there.

Caleb halted as the forest began to thin out and then howled. A harmony of howls responded, giving Taryn goosebumps. Caleb held his arm out and, taking another deep breath, she looped her arm through his as they walked through the last of the trees until they entered the clearing near the lake. The entire pack was there, plus Shaya, Lance, Perry, Oscar, Derren, Don and his mate. They had all formed a huge circle, and Taryn knew that in the center would be Trey and Nick. Any Alpha could perform a mating ceremony, and Nick had kindly offered to do it for them.

When they reached the slight opening in the circle of people that was between Shaya and Grace, Taryn entered the circle, leaving Caleb to fill the space. A smile surfaced on her face the second she looked at Trey. He was wearing…hell she didn’t know what he was wearing. She couldn’t move her gaze from his – the intense mix of heat, possessiveness and adoration in his eyes made her inhale sharply. She didn’t remember moving her legs but seconds later she was standing before him, hearing Nick’s words and answering when required to, but all her focus was taken up by her mate.

Trey’s entire body clenched at the sight of Taryn. She looked so beautiful in that figure-hugging dress that he planned to tear from her body as soon as possible. Another one of those chest pangs struck him, but now he knew what they meant. Now he knew that he didn’t just care for her, he loved her. He hadn’t been able to work up the courage to tell her, to say the words.

He knew what she’d meant now when she told him that love was giving someone the power to destroy you and hoping that they didn’t. She had that power. She could break him, end him. It scared him, and he knew that the moment he gave her those words and admitted that she had that power, he would be utterly defenseless. Maybe other people wouldn’t fear that, but it had always been important to Trey that he was never vulnerable to another person. So he was shitting his pants.

As the other wolves repeated the ritual words and appealed to the power of the full moon to bless the mating, Taryn soaked up the lust that was pouring from Trey and feeding her own. Knowing that the ceremonial words were almost at an end, her anticipation levels rocketed. Feeling hypersensitive, she ran her hands along her dress – something she was pretty sure was going to be utterly destroyed in the next five minutes.

Finally Nick said the final words, and this was the part where she should demurely step forward and kiss her mate before allowing him to once again bite her for all to witness. Instead, she let a wicked smile curve her lips…and then she dashed toward the woods, shifting as she ran.

Fuck. Instantly Trey removed his shirt and pants, intending to shift into his wolf form. The last thing he would have expected was for Taryn to want to complete their mating with a chase and have him mount her for all to see – she was still new to that aspect of being a wolf. A part of his brain noted that many of the guests were laughing in surprise and also removing their clothes, clearly intending to follow. All he gave a shit about was tracking Taryn.

The grey wolf didn’t need to use his mate’s scent to find her. Their bond told him which direction she had taken, enabling him to find her much faster. He was nearing a clearing when a ball of white fur suddenly barreled into him. His mate had managed to ambush him. The she-wolf stuck her rear in the air in a pounce position, inviting him to play. The grey wolf was happy to do that. They ran together, keeping their bodies close and enjoying the contact. Then, finally, he mounted her, aware that other wolves were watching – some were also mounting their mates, others were simply observers. The grey wolf had no care, however, for what the others were doing. He was only interested in taking pleasure from his mate, releasing his se**n inside her.

“Hussy, did you help with making all this?” Greta asked from her seat at the long table on which the feast was spread out under the huge outdoor gazebo. “A lot of the food has got a real funny aftertaste.”

“That weird taste is just from the shit you’re always talking,” replied Taryn who was sitting on Trey’s lap directly opposite the old dragon.

Greta gasped. “I hope your language will improve when the baby’s born. I don’t want my grandchild going round cursing like that or being sarcastic.”

Taryn sighed dreamily. “I really wish I’d known you when you were alive. I bet you weren’t so sour, prudish and senile back then.”

“Trey, you can’t let her talk to me like that! This rudeness is uncalled for.”

“He’s not going to help you,” sang Taryn. “He likes sex too much to interfere.”

“There she goes again with that language. You shouldn’t talk like that in front of your elders, and you especially shouldn’t mention it in the presence of your own father and uncle.”

Lance did look as though talk of sex was making him a little uncomfortable, but – petty though it might be – Taryn was fine with that. She cocked her head at Greta. “So let me get this right: I can’t mention sex, but Dominic can deliver sleazy chat up line after sleazy chat up line, and that’s okay?”

Dominic pouted. “Aw, come on, Taryn, smile. It’s the second best thing you can do with your lips.”

Taryn flapped her arms. “I give up.”

Trey threw the last of his cake at him, growling. Dominic, of course, just laughed.

“It was a very nice ceremony,” declared Don, obviously hoping to change the subject.

“It was,” agreed Taryn. “Thanks again Nick for performing it for us.”

“No problem. I was happy to do it.” For like the millionth time, his gaze wandered to Shaya who, for like the millionth time, met his gaze and blushed. Caleb had also noticed and had been teasing her all night long about it, hence why she’d bitch slapped him at one point. Not many people were capable of making Shaya blush – she was just so flirtatious and bubbly – so it would be interesting to see if anything happened between her and Nick.

“I still can’t believe that you had a mating ceremony,” Tao said to Trey. “There isn’t a romantic bone in your body.”

“Oh and you’re a regular Romeo, are you, Tao?” Taryn’s question was rhetorical.

“Hey, I admit it – the likelihood of me ever having one is slimmer than slim.”

“Same here,” said Trick. Ryan grunted, agreeing with him.

Trey tskd. “You say that now, but it’ll be different when you meet your mate. They have a way of always getting what they want.” He gave Taryn a mock scowl. She smiled brightly.

Dante snorted. “Look, I’m not saying I wouldn’t have a ceremony. You know me, I love parties and if there’s an excuse to throw one, I’ll do it. But if you’re insinuating that anyone could have me wrapped around their little finger, you’re damn wrong.”

Marcus turned to Dominic. “With all your lines, they’ll be wrapped around your little finger,” he said sarcastically. “There’s no way a woman could possibly resist your charm.”

Dominic smiled. “Or my dick. Don’t worry, I won’t get it out. I don’t want you all to get intimidated. And in the interest of health and safety, I think it’s better that he’s not unleashed.”

Taryn gaped when Greta laughed. Laughed! “Excuse me a sec,” said Taryn, standing up, “I need to pee again.” Seeing that Marcus and Trick were trying to hide laughs, she smacked them both over the head as she passed the table.

“Hey, wait, I’ll come with you,” called Shaya. “So how are you feeling?” she asked as they walked, gesturing to Taryn’s belly.

“Fine, just irritated by the constant need to pee. How are you?”

“I’m good. Speaking of pee, I swear I almost peed in my pants earlier. Isn’t Dominic hilarious! I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.”

“Yes, he is. And very cute. So is Nick.”

“Don’t start trying to play matchmaker.”

“Would I do that?” Taryn asked with mock innocence. Shaya snorted. After a quick journey to her en-suite bathroom to answer the call of nature, they both descended the steps of the mountain. To Taryn’s complete surprise, Lance was waiting for her at the bottom.

“I’ll just go back to the party and wait there,” announced Shaya, her expression confused.

Taryn faced her father and raised a brow questioningly.

For a few seconds, he just looked at her. Then, having cleared his throat, he finally spoke. “I’m not going to make excuses for any of my behavior toward you, but I will tell you that a big part of it was that you looked so much like your mom that it made recovering from her death that much harder. I know that’s not an excuse, and like I said, I’m not going to make any. Why are you looking at me like that?”