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“Fane Maverick.” The name dropped from his mouth with a lethal mixture of contempt and hate. “If you wanted to mount your woman in private, maybe you should have taken her to a bedroom. But you are a beast so…” He gave a casual shrug.
“I’m not—”
“Shut up, Teague. For once.”
His booming voice in my head stole the words right out of my mouth. His lips pulled back to reveal those lethal teeth, and a warning snarl twisted out, stopping the guy in his tracks. Fane rolled his head, and in one swift move, he shifted back into a man, still braced over me on all fours.
I couldn’t stop from peeking at the massive appendage dangling between his legs. Shit. How did he walk with that thing?
Fane hauled me up and shoved me behind him. “What do you want, Dom?”
Dominic shook strands of honey brown hair from his green eyes. “Who’s your friend? Don’t be shy, sweetheart.”
Invisible bugs crawled over me from the way he saidsweetheart. “Call me that again, and I’ll break all of your teeth and make you choke on them.” That was definitely the old Tate coming out to play.
His laughter reverberated through the forest. “Feisty. Where’d you find her, Fane?”
“You couldn’t just stay quiet, could you, Teague?”
“Not a chance, Maverick.”
Fane’s arm curled back to push me farther behind him. “She’s none of your damn business.”
The tattoos continued over his ass, and I had to resist the urge to grab a cheek and squeeze. He could probably bounce ten quarters off that thing.
I shook my head.For shit’s sake, Tate. Get it together.
Dominic took a few steps forward with movements almost as fluid as Fane’s. No ink colored his skin, though, and the few scars spotting his body seemed like scratches compared to the ones marring the demon shifter. “Even though you aren’t part of the pack anymore, you’re on pack lands. I’m Dorian’s second, and he’s beta to the alpha, so whatever you do and whoever you bring hereismy business.”
Why did Fane leave the pack? Or did they force him out?
The air around Fane crackled, and his flesh puckered as the beast within him fought for control. He wanted to let it out to tear Dominic to shreds. The amount of malice pulsating from him would make most collapse to their knees and beg for mercy.
But something kept Fane from attacking. Maybe he didn’t want to do anything to hurt his family whodidbelong to the Mohan pack.
I rested my hand between his shoulder blades and took a deep breath, willing him to do the same like I had at dinner. After a few tense moments, he mimicked my slow breathing.
How could I calm him when I could also provoke his worst temper?
Dominic took another step closer and sniffed the air. “She’s a tasty female shifter. Too bad your stench is all over her.” He licked his lips. “I can take care of that, though. She’ll smell like sex and me when I’m done with her.”
A low, menacing laugh that sounded like something from a horror film curled out of Fane, and as he angled his head, I caught the crimson glow that spilled into his irises. “Try it. I fucking dare you.”
Some of the bravado melted away from Dominic, and he shuffled back, the leaves crunching under his bare feet.
This was the first time Fane had seemed more demon than man or shifter. My knees trembled, but it wasn’t out of fear. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, and I wanted to wrap my arms around him for threatening Dominic after what he hinted at doing to me.
No one had ever done that for me. I didn’t even care if Fane’s only reason was to protect the Infernal Sol.
“You’re lucky we’re not alone, Dom.” Fane rolled his shoulders as if he was shaking off the urge to murder him. “And as for your beta, I could take him just as easily as you. I could take your alpha too. No problem.”
His family had alluded to that during dinner. Fane could challenge the alpha—the current or the next—and win. I had no doubt about it, even if I hadn’t seen either of them.
The blood drained from Dominic’s face, and he spat at the ground. “Fuck you, you half-breed mutt. If you took the pack, no one would follow you.” Another cruel twist of his lips had me moving away from Fane so I could march over and smack the other shifter. “We’d all turn our backs on you like—”
A vicious, feral growl erupted from Fane, shaking the forest around us. I slammed my hands over my ears to muffle the thunderous roar as it intensified, sending birds into the air. I stumbled, smashing into his back.
Fane’s fury washed over Dominic and forced him to his knees and then his belly. Howls from other wolves in the distance responded as if they couldn’t refuse such a powerful call.
