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Chapter Nineteen
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ALPHA'S CLAIM Chapter Twenty
Missing me? Though she had promised herself she would never, ever, ever reply to his texts and encourage what she should consider annoying behavior, she had found herself responding:Sadly, yes, my aim seems to be off lately—either that or I need a new rifle. Then she had waited in anticipation for a response—irritated about the whole “anticipation” part but unable to help it. She’d soon received one:I’d ask how you’re doing and if you’ve been busy today, but these new binoculars work great—a “must-have” for all intense investigators.And, once again, she was fighting a smile. Once again, she failed. What further irritated her was that when he turned up at the salon at lunchtime, she was pleased to see him. Apparently, so was Danna, because she was immediately at his side, trailing along as he made his way to Tasha. “Are you here to book an appointment, sir, or were you hoping to—” Onyx looked at
ALPHA'S CLAIM Chapter Twenty One
Onyx raised a hand. “Three things. One, I never wanted to be Alpha. Two, my family is important to me, but so are you. Three, I don’t have friends.” She double-blinked in surprise. “What do you mean, you don’t have friends?” “Exactly what I said.” “Then what’s Trevon." “A pain in my ass. I told you, I don’t like company—except for yours, obviously.” He truly did enjoy being around her. His wolf, too, enjoyed it, even to the extent that he relaxed slightly when she was around. A shifter who didn’t like company…Yeah, that was definitely a new one. “You do know that’s weird, don’t you?” He shrugged. “I was never what you’d call social. But when I came out of juvie…I just didn’t feel like I could relate to other people. Trevon, sure. But the others…they spent their teenage years going on dates, attending proms, and sneaking out to parties. I spent those years trying to stay alive in prison.” Her wolf
ALPHA'S CLAIM Twenty Two
The human smiled at Tasha, creeping her out. “It’s clear to me that you’re Onyx’s girl. What’s not clear to me is whether or not you know he’s an animal.” “Being a shifter doesn’t make someone an animal,” she replied. Her wolf bared her teeth at him. “Oh, so you’re a shifter groupie.” The humans all laughed. “There sure are plenty of them roaming around.” She was about to correct him and declare that she was a half-shifter and proud to be, but then Onyx took her hand and squeezed lightly. She understood the signal: He didn’t want them to know in case they targeted her. Neither did she but, dammit, this jabbed at her pride. “How can it not bother you that he’s inhuman? You’re a traitor to our race.” “And you’re a pedophile, a rapist, and a sadist…aren’t you, Jace?” said Trevon, ending the sentence with a snap of his teeth. “You have a fondness for young boys, as I recall.” Shock crashed into Tasha as the implications of that comme
ALPHA'S CLAIM Twenty Three
Huffing, she replied, “Of course I’ve talked to him.” The first time it had happened, she’d nicely asked him if he could turn down the music. He’d said of course he could…but that he wouldn’t and she could fuck off—and all because she’d politely declined his offer of a date. So she’d argued with him a little, and usually Tasha was pretty good at negotiating with people. But this guy was determined to make her pay for being “stuck up” and rejecting him. He’d even spat at her. Tasha hadn’t done too well with that, and her response had been to dig out her baseball bat and attack his car; the amount of noise coming from the house meant he hadn’t even heard her. Naturally he’d turned up at her home the next day, automatically suspecting it was her. Naturally she’d denied it, as time in prison wasn’t appealing. Since he hadn’t been able to prove it was her, the police hadn’t acted. “And?” prodded Onyx
ALPHA'S CLAIM Twenty Four
Shock took over Edward’s face, and his eyes bulged. “What the—” “Don’t speak. Just listen.” The chattering in the room suddenly stopped, and Tasha was pretty sure that if Onyx had been anybody else, people would have intervened. But it was like Trevon had once said: When Onyx was angry, people paid attention. At that moment, he was absolutely livid, and only a fruit loop would have wanted Onyx's wrath shifted to them. Her wolf was feeling pretty smug about the whole thing, liked that her mate was protecting her; it was important to her to know that he could. “You can see Shaya beside me,” growled Onyx. Edward’s eyes briefly flickered to her. “So I don’t think I need to explain why I’m here or why I’d like to snap your neck, do I?” Edward did what was typical of any bully—he stood down the second someone stronger than him confronted him. Rather than fighting Onyx’s grip, he stayed very still. “No.” “I don’t think I need to explain what wil
ALPHA'S CLAIM Twenty Five
Onyx had never had so much trouble putting one foot in front of the other. But while an ass like that was right there in front of him, he had no interest in moving anyway. As Tasha was bent over riffling through a shelf of canned foods, Onyx simply gazed at her ass in awe. What he wouldn’t give to know what kind of underwear she wore under that skintight denim. Normally he didn’t like jeans on a woman; they didn’t allow him easy access and they hid way too much, but with Tasha it was a sweet torment having it all left to the imagination. He looked for a panty line but couldn’t make one out. Maybe she was wearing a thong. Maybe she was going commando. Fuck. As usual when he was around Tasha, he was assaulted by a number of erotic images. He could imagine her being bent just like that, but naked and over a table while he was slamming into her. Or sprawled across his lap while he spanked her as
ALPHA'S CLAIM Twenty Six
Her traitorous body had responded to that, just like it was responding to his very presence now. But getting him to go away would be simple enough. Not simply because seduction wouldn’t be possible, but because no wolf liked to be around menstruating female shifters. Shifter PMS was a bitch—a time filled with excessive fatigue, mood swings, irritability, cramps, bloating, aching breasts, tension, increased appetite, sleeplessness, and hot flashes. “So that’s why you’re snippier than usual,” said Onyx. “It explains what your pretty ass is doing out of bed so early, too—you usually have major trouble getting up in the morning.” It also explained why her breasts were bigger than usual. But he wouldn’t comment on that. He wasn’t stupid. She gasped, indignant. “I get out of bed just fine each morning, thanks. And I’m not snippy.” If he was sensible, he’d walk away. Female wolves with PMS were likely to eat someone’s fa
ALPHA'S CLAIM Twenty Seven
Wearing a reprimanding expression, Onyx tsked. “Yes, you are, baby,” he insisted softly, tapping the tip of her nose. “You always will be, no matter what. You were made for me, belong to me in a way you could never belong to anyone else.” He soothingly combed his hand through her red corkscrew curls. “I love how soft your hair is. Like silk.” The compliment seemed to disarm her, and he got the feeling that she hadn’t gotten a lot of them in her life. “What will it be: the sofa or the bed?” She sighed, slumping in defeat. “Sofa.” Her eyes widened as he curled her legs around him and carried her to the living area. He placed her gently on the sofa, where she immediately curled up like a fetus, and handed her the TV remote. Instead of leaving the house, he disappeared back into the kitchen. Hearing the banging of the cupboard doors, she realized he was unpacking her groceries. A part of her wanted to yell at him to get out, but then she’d have to do the unpa
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