When an impish idea whispered into her mind, she smiled. “God, that feels so good, Kade,” she rasped. Instantly she was flipped onto her back and there was an extremely pissed male draped over her.
As she laughed uncontrollably beneath him, realization dawned on Nick. He narrowed his eyes. “That was sneaky. And who the fuck is Kade?”
“No idea. I was just paying you back for teasing me—again.”
He spoke against her lips. “You like it when I tease you.” There was a twinge in his chest as he thought of how much time they’d missed together, how he could have had her with him, laughing and bantering with him like she was now, if he’d only claimed her when he first saw her.
Seeing the light in his eyes dim, Shaya was about to comment when his cell phone rang.
Having retrieved his cell from the pocket of his jacket, Nick saw it was Derren. “What?”
“You have visitors.” Derren sounded slightly amused.
“Well then tell them to go away.” He had a mate to explore, taste, bite, and fuck all over again.
“I think you might want to speak to them.”
“Is it a matter of life and death?” Nick gritted out.
“Possibly.” The smile in Derren’s voice had him and his wolf intrigued.
“I’ll be down in a minute.”
As Nick ended the call and began pulling on his clothes, Shaya decided to do the same. She’d heard his phone call, and she wasn’t reassured by Derren’s apparent amusement—she’d come to learn that he had an offbeat sense of humor. If it was Logan, she wanted to be with Nick to ensure he didn’t let the human provoke him.
Dressed, Nick landed a kiss on her lips. “Stay here for me, baby.”
“Oh no. If someone’s here, I want to know who it is.” Seeing that he was about to object, she added, “This is my home. If shit comes to my doorstep, it’s my right to be part of dealing with it.”
Fair point, thought Nick with a sigh. Neither he nor his wolf was worried about her coming along because both he and his wolf knew that if there was any true danger, Derren would have warned Nick about it. “Fine. But if, for any reason, I need you to go inside, don’t ignore that.” Only when she nodded did he take her hand in his and lead her out of the room and down the stairs.
Keeping Shaya slightly behind him, Nick opened the front door…and almost gaped. Derren and the rebels were standing on the doorstep. But the rebels weren’t the visitors. No, the rebels appeared to be joining Derren against the visitors. Visitors who had his wolf on alert, growling and ready to pounce.
At the sight of Taryn, Trey, Tao, and Dominic all scowling at Nick, Shaya gawked. “What are you guys doing here?” Oh shit.
“No, what’s he doing here?” demanded Taryn, though she didn’t look surprised to see Nick, simply pissed—Shaya could only assume Taryn had also seen the news footage that featured Nick and Shaya together in the background. Great. The members of the Phoenix Pack all briefly moved their gaze to Shaya, shot her a teeny smile, and went back to scowling at her mate. Shaya’s wolf didn’t like that. Oh God, oh God, this could get really, really bad.
“If you’re here to take her,” began Nick, his voice a deadly growl, “you’ve had a wasted journey.” His wolf growled, backing Nick up on that. No one was taking Shaya anywhere.
“I already explained that.” Derren sounded a mixture of bored and amused.
Taryn snarled at Nick, clenching her fists. “I told you to stay away from her.”
“You knew I wouldn’t,” said Nick, his voice deceptively patient. “She’s my mate. Nothing’s going to keep me away from her.”
Tao snorted. “Really? Strange. Because you stayed away from her for months of your own accord.”
“Leaving us to care for her and comfort her,” added Dominic, which made Nick growl—he really would like to kill that wolf. “Call us odd, but we don’t want you around her when there’s every chance you’ll upset her again.”
“And you will upset her again,” maintained Taryn, glaring hard at Nick. “Because you’re a cruel, insensitive shithead—something you’ve proven by even thinking of coming here! You lost the right to see her when you ignored her instead of claiming her! Don’t you think it’s a little late to come knocking now?”
Nick raised a brow. “Don’t you think that’s up to Shaya to decide, who I’m sure isn’t liking that everyone’s speaking on her behalf?”
Her mate knew her well. As his arm lifted in invitation, Shaya let him tug her to his side. He wasn’t forcing her to remain behind him—he was treating her like an equal. She hadn’t expected that. Sensing that Taryn’s anger was increasing, which in turn was increasing the anger of the Phoenix wolves—of course, all of that was feeding Nick’s anger and putting his wolf on edge—Shaya decided it was past time to defuse the situation.
Petting Nick’s chest to calm him, Shaya smiled at her best friend. “Taryn, I really appreciate your concern for me—it was the same concern I showed for you when you first mated with Trey.” Ignoring Trey’s affronted look, Shaya continued, “But I’m asking you to give me the same support I gave you.” When both Dominic’s and Tao’s mouths opened, Shaya gave them a dark look that made their mouths snap shut. “You’ve made your opinions clear. I don’t need to hear them again.” She swept her gaze over all of them as she said, “This isn’t a negotiation. If you’re not willing to give Nick the same chance I’m giving him, you need to leave.”
When Trey’s eyes moved to her neck and narrowed, Shaya knew he’d seen one of Nick’s many marks. “You haven’t officially claimed her,” noted Trey, studying Nick curiously.
“Yet,” Nick quickly said. “When Shaya’s ready, I will.”
Lips pursed, Trey considered that for a moment, and then nodded in satisfaction. Tao did the same while Dominic shrugged.
Taryn gawked at her mate. “You’re okay with this?” she practically screeched.
“Baby, you knew this would happen.” Trey ran a hand through the various shades of blonde that made up his mate’s hair, clearly trying to calm her down. “Nothing in this world could keep me away from you, and nothing was going to keep him away from Shaya.”
“He should have claimed her when he had the chance!”
“Yes, but he didn’t.” Trey gestured to Shaya’s neck. “And look, he still hasn’t. He’s waiting for her to be ready. That’s more than a lot of shifters would do, and we all know it.”
After a thoughtful pause, Taryn turned to Nick again. “I want to talk to Shaya alone.” Her eyes dared him to say no.
“Then you need to ask Shaya,” said Nick. “I’m her mate, not her boss.”
Taryn’s brows rose in surprise, and Shaya saw a hint of approval in her eyes.
“Why don’t you all wait inside while Taryn and I talk out here?” When Nick tensed almost imperceptibly beside her, Shaya knew he didn’t like the idea of her being completely out of his sight with Taryn when it was clear that the Alpha female wanted her away from Nick. She laid a reassuring hand on his chest and rubbed her jaw against his side. That easily, the tension left him. Looking up at him, she said, “I’ll just be a few minutes.”
Common sense told Nick that Taryn wouldn’t attempt to sneak away with Shaya because that would mean leaving without her mate and pack members. Common sense also told him that Taryn was too brazen to do “sneaky”; she’d do it right in front of him and expect him to deal with it. But he couldn’t help being anxious. It was one thing for the two females to talk where he could see them. It was another for him to wait inside. But as he looked down into gray-blue eyes that were begging for the same trust she was trying to give him, there was no way he could object.