“What are you doing, Trevor?” Austin questioned.
“This isn’t our business,” Trevor growled, sounding less than pleased. “At least not unless we need to make it our business.” His eyes met Dillon’s and narrowed.
Dillon growled. His wolf wasn’t about to back down to another. He felt the tension escalating between them and noticed beads of sweat forming on Trevor’s forehead. Maintaining Dillon’s gaze seemed to require considerable effort, but Trevor hadn’t looked away yet. Dillon’s wolf pushed forward, and Dillon felt his teeth lengthen. He stalked toward Trevor, intending to put the less dominant male in his place. However, Tanya stopped him in his tracks when she suddenly appeared right in front of him. He’d been so focused on Trevor that he hadn’t even seen her move.
She was only a few steps away, her hands outstretched as if to prevent him from advancing further. Dillon noticed she had let go of her food and drink to approach him, and he mentally promised himself to buy her new ones before leaving.
“Don’t,” she said softly. “They’re my pack.”
Dillon leaned down; although he was just shy of six feet tall, he still towered nearly a foot over her. “And you are my mate.” Voicing the words provided a satisfying surprise.
She lowered her hands and straightened her shoulders as she looked up at him. Her boldness impressed Dillon, and unlike Trevor, Tanya held his gaze effortlessly.
“That’s yet to be seen,” she replied, her voice as soft as his had been.
“Tanya, let’s go,” one of the three males called, though Dillon wasn’t sure which one. “We can let your father know there’s a lone wolf running around these parts.”
Dillon’s eyes shot up to the speaker, and he bared his teeth. “What business is it of his?”
“He’s the alpha of the Colorado pack,” Trevor replied. “It’s any alpha’s business to know if there are wolves running around without a pack, no matter where they are located.” He crossed his arms and rocked back on his heels. “You should know that unless you’ve never been part of a pack.”
“Were your parents rogues?” Austin’s sea-blue eyes shone with his inner beast.
Dillon acted swiftly, wrapping an arm around Tanya’s waist and pulling her behind him. A moment later, he had Austin by the throat and slammed him against the truck. Dillon lifted his arm until the younger wolf’s feet no longer touched the ground. He heard the snarls of the other two males, but the power radiating from him stopped them in their tracks. Turning his head, he saw Trevor still trying to move, but when Dillon’s eyes met Trevor’s, he dropped to the ground and bowed his head. Why on earth had Tanya’s father sent her so far from their pack with three males who couldn’t even stand up against a lone wolf?
“Dillon, let him go,” Tanya’s voice almost soothed his wolf enough to obey, but then he remembered Austin’s mention of Dillon’s parents, speaking as if they were insignificant rogue wolves with no pack, undeserving of respect from these self-righteous pricks.
“You speak of something you know nothing about, pup.” Dillon growled through wolf teeth. “You talk about my parents as if they didn’t matter, even if they had been rogues, which they weren’t. Not that it’s any of your business. Perhaps you should get off your high horse before someone knocks you down. I can assist with that, if necessary.”
Austin’s face turned a disturbing shade of purple. Dillon knew their mate would likely be upset if they killed her friend, so he released him. Austin crumpled to the ground, gasping for air as he touched his neck.
Dillon panted heavily, his breathing affected by rage rather than a lack of air. He took several steps back until he could see all three males. “You can tell her father you met me, and you can tell him I am Tanya’s true mate. I will come to claim her once my affairs are in order here.”
As Dillon reined in his power, the males managed to stand, though none dared to meet his eyes. He turned to see Tanya walking toward him, her face red, lips thin, and anger burning in her eyes. She reached up and slapped him. He didn’t flinch, which seemed to infuriate her further. She pulled her hand back to strike again, but Dillon caught her wrist just before her palm could make contact. Then he pressed her hand against his face. The effect of her touch, skin to skin, was immediate. His wolf settled, his heart slowed to beat in tandem with hers, and the urge to mark her surged like a tidal wave.
Tanya inhaled sharply, and Dillon felt her fear and curiosity through their bond. She stepped closer, her body heat radiating onto his. He gazed at her red lips, imagining how good she would taste, like the scent of a spring morning and air just after the rain. A scent only he could detect. Without his conscious thought, Lilly’s face flashed in his mind, and guilt wrenched his gut.
Tanya frowned and yanked her hand away. She’d seen it. His walls had been weak enough, distracted by her closeness, that she’d glimpsed Lilly’s face. “Tell me she’s a family member,” she demanded, her hands curling into fists.
Dillon simply stared at her, unable to do anything other than accept the emotions pouring into him from his mate.
“Tell me,” she snarled. “Is she related to you? Is she a rogue? Tell me she’s not what I think she is.” The betrayal in her voice threatened to crush his heart.
“I can’t,” he finally answered, opening the bond enough to speak to her.
She took a step back, her eyes boring into him as she shook her head. “Do not come after me. You are not claiming me. You have obviously already laid claim to another.”
“Tanya,” Dillon’s voice rumbled as he started toward her, but she snarled at him.
“No!” She continued to shake her head slowly, as if unable to believe his admission. “I will kill you if you come to Colorado.”
“Or we could just do it now,” Daniel interjected, as if they had any chance of taking Dillon on.
“He is mine to deal with,” she told her companions. The claim she made was not that of a mate but of someone with a vendetta against another, allowing no one else to deal out punishment.
Dillon wanted to argue with her, but now wasn’t the time. He would go after her no matter what she wanted. She was his, and he was hers. Regardless of their pasts, their future was meant to be together. “Go,” he said gently through their bond. “But you know that as your true mate, I will never stop coming for you. You are mine.”
“I don’t want you.” Her words cut him to the bone.
