Trey jumped to his feet as the door to his office suddenly burst open.
Thinking that there must be some sort of emergency and feeling a spike of fear that something might have happened to Taryn he walked around the desk toward where Dante, Marcus and Trick stood, scowling. His wolf had snapped to alertness and was pacing within him.
“What the hell did you do?” demanded Marcus.
Surprised by not only the question but Marcus’ insubordinate behaviour, Trey frowned. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Taryn. What did you do to her?”
His wolf went still. “What about Taryn?”
“You’ve been holed up in here all morning so you wouldn’t be aware that she’s got the personality of a zombie right now. We can barely get any conversation out of her. She’s not even responding to Greta’s taunts just looks through her like she’s not even there. That’s not Taryn.”
No, it wasn’t and he had the sudden urge to go see her and find out what was wrong. Instead, he simply shrugged. “She seemed kind of quiet earlier but other than that…” “Yeah? Well now she’s really quiet. As in mute. That’s when she’s not telling us to get out of her way while she cleans every room.”
“Cleaning?”
“Like Mary Poppins on crack. You know the way women do that fast-forward cleaning when they’re pissed off.”
“It’s not just that,” said Trick, looking more worried than agitated.
“It’s like, I don’t know…like one wrong word would break her. I’m not sure if she’s angry or just trying to distract herself from something.”
“What did you do to her?” repeated Marcus. “What did you say to her?”
“Maybe it’s what he hasn’t done or said,” said Dante as he folded his arms across his broad chest.
Trey glared at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You don’t talk to her, Trey. In fact, you don’t bother with her at all.
You claimed her, brought her here, solidified the mating, and then handed her safety over to Tao. Look, I get that this is only supposed to be a temporary thing and so there’s no need for you both to build a bond, but it’s more than that Trey. You purposely avoid her. You never touch her don’t try to tell me that’s not driving your wolf crazy. And unless my hearing’s suddenly gone to shit, you’re not sleeping with her either.”
“That’s none of your business,” snapped Trey.
Dante held up a placating hand. “With all due respect, this is our business because you’re our Alpha male and, whether it’s temporary or not, she’s our Alpha female. Your relationship affects the rest of the pack. And we like her, we respect her, it’s in our nature to protect our females. Right now, there’s something wrong with Taryn and you need to do something.”
“You know, I hear you all whining but look who’s not here. Taryn. If she had a problem with me, I’d know about it. If her wolf was riding her too hard she’d have come to me whether she wanted to or not.”
Dante laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Is that what you think?
She’s not like the women you’re used to, Trey. She’s an alpha. Her wolf’s probably going just as crazy as yours is, but neither Taryn nor her wolf will ever come to you begging for some attention. Not ever.”
“Maybe this isn’t about you,” said Trick, “maybe it’s something else eating at her, we don’t know. We’re worried about her and thought you might have some luck reaching her.”
The urge to find her was fierce now, but again Trey shrugged. “She could be just having a rough day -” “Christ, Trey,” interrupted Dante. “She was there for you when you were in a bad state. She reached you while your wolf was feral, and you’re going to ignore this?” He waved his hand dismissively at Trey and headed for the door. “Forget it. Hide some more, whatever.”
Looking both disappointed and disgusted, the three males walked out of his office and left Trey alone with his thoughts, thoughts that revolved around Taryn. He had noticed that she seemed off her odd mood had unnerved his wolf and had him clawing at Trey, wanting to get to her. But, as always, Trey had acted against his wolf’s wishes and his own instincts and simply shrugged off his concern.
He wanted to do the same thing again now, but one thing was stopping him; as he had reached out through the pack link to sense her emotions, he’d hit a wall. She had somehow erected a big enough barrier around her that her own mate couldn’t reach her. A person didn’t do that unless a strong emotion was eating at them and they were trying desperately to hold themselves together.
With a determined stride he strolled out of the office and made his way to the living area where the majority of the noise was coming from.
The fact that her scent was stronger the closer he got told him that that was where she was.
He entered the room. And stopped dead in his tracks. Across the room was Taryn balancing on one of the dining chairs as she used a feather duster to tackle non-existent cobwebs. But it wasn’t Taryn. Taryn was life and fire and sensuality and adorable sarcasm. She was not quiet or expressionless or withdrawn or robotic.