An Alpha's Choice (Talon Pack #2)(26)

That barb hurt more than it should have. Everything Katherine said was true in a way, but Brynn was smarter than that. At least with coffee and sleep she was.

Brynn let out a low growl. A warning.

“Katherine,” Iona, another dominant wolf said from the side. “Let it go.” Iona was more dominant that Katherine, but ranked lower because she’d f*cked up with Gideon during his mating with Brie. Iona wasn’t a threat anymore, but Brynn didn’t like the other woman interfering.

“Go home, Iona,” Katherine bit out. “This isn’t your concern.”

“Enough,” Brynn growled.

“No,” Katherine snarled.

Brynn jumped. Before the other woman knew what was happening, Brynn had Katherine face down in the dirt, her arms bent back at an awkward angle. Katherine let out a whimper, and Brynn’s wolf preened.

“Go the f*ck home, Katherine.” Brynn didn’t even sound out of breath. She was that dominant. “I’m done with you.” She pushed Katherine down into the dirt before letting her go and walking away. She gave her back to the other wolf, a clear sign that she didn’t think Katherine was worth looking out for. Oh, she could move faster than the other woman and kept her senses out in case the bitch tried something, but she was done.

This was just one more challenge to add to the countless she’d faced since her father had died. She’d gone from one form of torture to the next.

“Brynn.”

She closed her eyes. Of course.

Of course, Finn would be here to see her challenge, to see part of her shame.

“What do you want, Finn? You’re here early.”

She looked over her shoulder as he jogged toward her. Iona had dragged Katherine away, and Brynn was glad of it.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

That made two of them.

“What do you want?” she asked again.

“I came to see if you wanted breakfast. But first, are you okay?”

She snarled at him. “I’m fine. I’m not going to faint and cry because some wolf thinks she’s better than me. I’m not where I am because I can’t take a few challenges.”

He held up his hands in a position of surrender. “I was just asking because challenges suck. I deal with them, too.”

She raised her brows.

“I might be Heir, but I also have to prove to the Pack that I’m strong. Just because I hold the title doesn’t mean I’m dominant. Sure, that’s the case most times, but the Pack needs to see it, too.”

She relaxed marginally. “I forget that. I guess the others have to deal with their own forms of challenges.” She shrugged. “I think I just have to deal with a few more than them.”

He nodded, his gaze studying her face. “I can see that as you don’t have a set title but have the strength to have any of them. I don’t know what the moon goddess was thinking when it came to you.”

That was the understatement of the century.

Something he said came back to her. “Wait. You came here to ask me to breakfast? We have phones you know. Plus, I thought we were done with the whole in public thing together.”

Finn raised a brow. It was wrong that she still found that sexy. “I could have called, but I needed the fresh air. And you know as well as I do that we’re too public to change things now. You’re stuck with me, Brynn. Like it or not.”

That wasn’t the problem. She liked it. A little too much.

So she said the only thing she could say. “Fine.”





Chapter Eight


Fine was a better answer than Finn could have hoped for, in all honestly. At least she hadn’t clawed his face for showing up. He hadn’t been able to sleep, that much was true. But it was because he kept thinking of Brynn beneath him. And then that wasn’t good enough because he wanted her on top of him, taking over, showing him that she could ride him just has hard as he could ride her.

Hence the lack of sleep.

Brynn had agreed to breakfast, and that had to be a step in the right direction. Whatever that direction was, he didn’t know, but at least she wasn’t looking at him like she wanted to kill him.

She sat across from him outside of the morning café, her hands wrapped around her coffee cup. She hadn’t said much to him, but since they were in public, she hadn’t snarled or snapped at him either.

“Need a refill?” he asked, nodding toward her cup. She looked up at him, her eyes shifting back and forth across their surroundings.

Things had been tense since they’d gotten there—even more so than usual. It wasn’t even about them at that point, though he knew that problem was still there, lurking under the surface, ready to burst out at any moment and threaten them both. Yet through all of that, it was the feeling of something coming, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on that had him sitting a little stiffer than usual.

“I’m okay. Thanks.” She let out a breath. “Something’s weird. Isn’t it?”

He snorted, and she rolled her eyes. Damn, he didn’t think she could do something as simple as that—not around him. He liked it. Liked knowing she had something other than a snarl for him.

“I meant sitting right here, together, out in the open. The news had the accident on their broadcast, so even though we’re not in a small town, people have probably recognized us at this point. But, it’s not even that…”