Tarian Alpha (New Tarian Pride #1)(18)

A growl rattled his throat and Ronin backed away. “Rules, Em.”

“You won’t hurt me if I break them.” Not like Cassius.

The woods spun slowly around them. The merry-go-round was easy at turning, and the wind kept them moving. He stared off into the world, turning around them, while they sat still. “The Pride is finding me a mate.”

Oh, what those words did to her heart. They physically hurt. “Why?”

“Because we need allies. And a pairing secures them.”

She blinked hard and stared at the paper bag of food. “Okay.”

She gritted her teeth against jealousy because she had no right to it. Instead, she forced a smile and began to remove the wrapped sandwiches from the bag.

“Just okay?” he asked.

“It’s fine. I have no right to have any feelings about who you pair up with.” A wave of bitter envy washed through her, and a snarl rattled her throat. Emerald gasped and clamped her hands over her mouth. “I’m sorry. My lioness doesn’t to that.”

“She doesn’t growl?”

“No. Never. Not even when I Change. She just crawls around on her belly and cowers a lot. She doesn’t even hiss!”

Another growl tickled her chest. Oh, dear goodness, this was mortifying. She rambled, “The one time I need to be an emotionless girl, and the animal does this.”

“An emotionless girl? That’s not you.”

“Yes it is!” Okay, she was panicking. “I think you should take your jacket back.”

Ronin canted his head and narrowed his eyes, and why was he smiling? “You like me.”

“No. No, no, no, you are just a boy. From my childhood. Whom I can’t have a crush on.” Walls up, woman! “Who I thought kindly of, but I’m promised to someone else—”

“Who’s an abusive asshole.”

“And you’re promised to someone else—”

“Not yet. Not technically. The Pride is just looking at applications.”

Emerald’s mouth flopped open and she scoffed. “Oh, you’re going to let them choose who you end up with for the rest of your life? That’s great. I hope she’s super duper nice—”

“Yeah, that’s what I told them. Except without the ‘super duper’ added in there,” he murmured, his eyes narrowing with suspicion. Oh yeah, he was definitely starting to figure out she was turning into a lunatic!

“Don’t invite me to your wedding,” she demanded sarcastically.

“Oh…my…God.”

“Why are you smiling like that?” she shrieked like a psychopath.

“Because this is fuckin’ awesome. Keep going. Jealousy looks hot on you.”

She meant to flip him off, but her hands got stuck in her jacket pockets. “I don’t need this—this—”

“Insanity?”

“Stop. Smiling!” she yelped, struggling to exit the merry-go-round. She fell. Yep. She totally busted it, slipped on the metal edge, and went down hard in the snow. And how did she react? She didn’t. She laid there in the snow looking up at the sky like a frozen starfish.

Ronin’s stupid, sexy, grinning face appeared over her. “Sooo…do you want to bone now, or…?”

“This isn’t funny,” she muttered, covering her burning cheeks. “You turned me into a crazy person.”

“Good dick’ll do that.”

“Ronin,” she snarled.

“It’s good. Trust me.”

Emerald bit her bottom lip hard to hide her smile because this man did not need encouragement. She grabbed a handful of snow beside her and blasted it up into his face. He was laughing as he shook the frozen stuff out of his hair. Laughing!

“Oh, yeah, this is hilarious. You’re gonna pair up with someone you’ve never met and I’m marrying the dude who split my lip first meeting, so laugh it up, Chuckles! Our lives are so entertaining.”

“I mean…it’s a little funny, Sweet Kitty.”

“Don’t call me that. I’m changing. I’m mean and terrifying now. I growled. Listen! I’m still growling.”

He hopped off the merry-go-round and landed right beside her in the snow. “All I hear is purring.”

“It’s not a purr. You make me furious. I’m growling.”

His eyes sparked goldish-green. “I could make you purr.”

“Eeep!” Emerald covered her face with her hands to hide from him. “Dirty.”

“Not me. I’m a gentleman.”

“I’m pretty sure gentlemen don’t bite a girl’s neck the first time they meet them.”

Ronin tugged her hand away from her face and pulled her to her feet so fast her stomach dipped like she was on a roller coaster. Whoa.

“Make a fist.”

“What?”

“Come on.” Ronin held his clenched hands up to his face and said it again. “Make a fist.”

“I’m not going to fight you.”

“You will fight someone at some point, Em. I want you to know how to throw a punch.”

“But…I’m not a fighter.”

He raised his eyebrows in warning and shook his head. “Wrong attitude.”