Page 31 of Mated
Nisha
My earlier assumption that the pack is set up for the weekend like a family barbecue is entirely correct. The Sabbat Games turn out to be things for the younger shifters to do in order to start testing their place in the pack. Every moon seems to be the same. All the pack members will show up, strip down to comfortable clothes, and spend the weekend seeing whose dick is biggest.
Tensions are high. Both among the pack and through it.
But the worst case of it is Tanner and the Alpha, Callus. Though Tanner pretends to be oblivious, his shoulders remain tight, hardened, as Callus goes out of his way to parade through his people. Most of the women, those Tanner said were part of the inner circle, preen and gravitate to him. Daisy excluded.
I wanted to dislike her for the easy affection Tanner seems to have for her. But the woman has done the exact opposite of what I expect. Though they were awfully cozy in the basin thing earlier, that seems to be the extent of their relationship.
Which would be great, but he seems even less interested in me.
Caine and Tanner walk around a group of men racing in headstand walks across the field. Their keen eyes seem to be scouring each male body as they speak in low murmurs.
Tanner is lean and ripped as he stalks the crowd. His tattoos are a bad ass mix of sugar skulls and four leaf clovers. Something you wouldn't think would work together, he blended in a single crazy mix of Hispanic and Irish folk lore and tradition.
But when he held me earlier …
I wanted to roll over him, naked. Hell, I want his scent on my skin, that delicious musk that seems riddled with spice, leather, and gun oil. He damn near exudes masculine, deadly power from his pores. All in one ultra-sexy sleek package.
“If you stare at him harder, he may turn around.”
My head whips over.
Daisy stands a foot away, her green eyes glittering slightly.
I shrug but the motion is tight.
“Look, it’s not my place to say, I know. But if you plan on joining the pack, you may want to focus somewhere besides T,” she says.
My brows raise.
“You seem like a decent woman. And that is strike one against you,” she adds quickly.
“What do you mean?”
“T isn’t a stick-around-man.” She grimaces a little. “Love him dearly, but he is the definition of a leaver.”
“What does that say foryouif you like him?” I ask. The words are bitchy, cold. I’m more angry at myself for finding interest in a guy nearly as bad as Chuck. Apparently I didn't learn my lesson the first time, but the pull Tanner has may be worth getting burned for.
She winces. “I get that. I do. But T helped me out of a jam a few years back. Despite his extracurriculars, he's a good guy. Loyal to that team of his and his job. But he will never have a place in this pack. Not with Callus running the show.”
“What is the deal between them, anyway?”
“Callus and T?” I nod, and she snorts. “Exactly what you would expect. They were best friends once. Both of them in line to lead the pack after they turned eighteen.
My jaw drops. “Wait, T was supposed to lead the pack?”
She nods. “Their fight was set the night T turned eighteen. But the morning of T's birthday ... “ She shivers. “We could feel him. Feel his power, his strength. He would be Alpha, and pack alliance shifted.”
I glance back at the man on the other side of the field. His dark head is turned in profile, giving me just the strong line of his narrower jaw.
“But he's not Alpha.”
“Nope. He walked.”
My head whips back to her fast enough my neck cracks. “What?”
She nods. “It was an hour before the match and no one could find him. He had slipped away through the trees, no word. No explanation. Not long after that the horn started to blow in theCiorcal.”
