An Alpha's Choice (Talon Pack #2)(13)

Others would just have to get over it. Because while Brie might not want to fight, she could, and was freaking amazing at it. Brynn was there as backup because damn it, she was f*cking strong, too.

“The dominance challenges are getting on my last nerve,” Brynn admitted. Many things were getting on her last nerve it seemed. The Pack, Finn, this assignment…

“Is Katherine still being a bitch?” Brie asked, her face scrunched.

Katherine was the lead dominant female that kept trying to take Brynn’s place. She’d been on Iona’s side when Iona had tried for Brie back when Gideon and Brie had first mated. Iona had backed down and had even almost died protecting Brie when a betrayal had almost ended her life. Katherine, on the other hand, had stepped into Iona’s place and wanted to push Brynn around.

Nothing would come of it, of course. Brynn was too strong for that, but it made for tense Pack circles. She hated that she didn’t have a firm place within the Pack other than the Alpha’s sister. At one point, before her uncles had died and had still held the Pack ranks, her brothers had thought she’d be the Beta or even the Enforcer. Instead, she was…nothing.

Just herself, and not good enough in the moon goddess’s eyes.

The others said it was because she was made for greater things, but now, she wasn’t so sure.

If Finn had wanted her, had seen her as his, she’d be the Redwood Heir’s mate.

And yet he’d stayed away.

And she was left alone.

Again.

Fate didn’t make sense and left her wanting. Yet she couldn’t wallow. Not anymore. She’d pick up the pieces that had been her soul and find a way to move on. Because the humans were coming, and the world was changing. She needed to protect her Pack because that was one thing she could do.

The only thing.





Chapter Five


The damned scent of her was going to kill him. One devastatingly seductive second at a time. Finn took a deep breath to calm himself and held back a curse. Inhaling a big gulp of air wasn’t the best thing to do when it was Brynn’s scent putting him on edge. Now he had her in his system, the tantalizing floral and spice wrapping around his cock until he was so hard he was afraid he’d f*cking burst. He casually adjusted himself, aware that if her back hadn’t been to him, she’d have tracked the movement. Then would have probably kicked him in said cock.

She seemed to hate him so much, and yet he couldn’t stop thinking about her. Damn his Alpha and hers for putting them into this situation. Of course, if he’d fessed up to the fact that she made him hard and he couldn’t stop thinking about her, maybe they’d have relented.

Or more than likely, they’d have told him to grow the f*ck up and deal with the situation instead of hiding from it like a teenager.

If only she’d been his mate, then he’d feel free to act on his needs…her needs, as well. Because damn if he couldn’t scent her arousal when the wind brushed along her skin just right. That soft skin that looked so f*cking ready for him to bite and suckle, to rake his claws down as he pumped in and out of her sweet cunt, his dick filling her so full that neither of them would be able to walk for days afterward.

Fuuuuck.

Okay. Time to get his mind off that track. As it was, he wasn’t sure he would be able to walk for much longer, considering his dick was so hard he practically had to waddle to keep up with her.

Because that was attractive and not at all conspicuous.

Way to blend in with the humans.

With a huge f*cking hard-on for a woman who couldn’t care less about him in her presence.

“What kind of coffee did you want?” Brynn asked, not bothering to look behind her. Her back was ramrod straight—like it had been since she’d walked into the shop and spotted him there. At least he’d been early this time.

Jesus, what the f*ck was her problem? Yeah, they’d both been pulled into this job, but it wasn’t as if it were the worst thing in the world. She hated him, and he had no idea what he’d done to deserve it.

Maybe she hated that she wanted him.

And he wasn’t that much of an * to point it out to her.

At least not yet.

He saddled up next to her, knowing he was probably risking blood for getting so close, but damn it, they were supposed to be acting normal. Following her around while she stomped from place to place wasn’t normal.

She stiffened at his side, but he didn’t back down. Instead, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, knowing he was risking more than blood this time. He leaned closer, aware that her wolf rose to the surface with each passing second. He could see it in her posture, her general being.

He was in her space, holding her too close when he knew she didn’t want it, and he was a damned bastard for loving the feel of her by his side.

If only they were mates.

If only.

“Something cold, actually. It’s hot outside.” It was May in the Pacific Northwest. So it wasn’t as hot as it was in the rest of the country, but he was burning up. That probably had more to do with the woman pressed up closely to his side than the temperature.

She turned her head so she faced him, a smile plastered on. Well, hell, this wasn’t going to end well—not that he’d thought differently two seconds ago. “Two iced lattes, then,” she said to the cashier even as she looked at him. “Wouldn’t want you to overheat.”