toward him. “Did you want me to go up there and cower beneath their reek? Did you think it would knock me down and put me in my place?”
I don’t blink as I stare at him with pure challenge, and he doesn’t look away from me either. I don’t even care right now that there’s a roomful of unknown shifter males witnessing this. I’m too pissed.
Our stare-off makes the room feel tense, nearly claustrophobic, even though the space itself is large, and there’s a big bay window to the left overlooking the lake.
“Well? Are you going to say something, or did those bitches fuck you mute?”
Someone in the room whistles low. Someone else makes a coughing noise.
But I only have eyes for Tyran, and a flare of satisfaction goes through me, because that stolid expression on his face finally cracks, letting me see the anger simmering beneath the surface. “I warned you.”
My eyes narrow on his low, threatening words. “What?”
His hands drop to his pants, to the leather stays tied between the V of his pelvis. “What did I tell you earlier about walking around naked in front of others when it’s not necessary?”
“You think I’m going to wear some other female’s clothes?” I demand, seething. “There’s no amount of necessary that will ever have that happening,” I snap tauntingly.
“Then you should have put on mine,” he snaps back, his tone gravelly and dripping with warning.
His words clamor in my skull, but my eyes blaze. “You won’t fucking touch me.”
“Wrong.” Deft fingers begin to undo the ties at his pants, and my mouth goes dry. But I’m not ready to give up this anger, and I won’t just stand here and get punished. I’ll get even.
“You fucked all those females, so how about you leave while I fuck all the males in this room? Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to rub all over the furniture so that when you least expect it, you can catch a whiff.”
Tyran goes utterly still.
The ties on his pants undone, the rough fabric hanging off his sharp hips, a hint of dark hair just visible at the top. But the fury that suddenly emanates from him is centered in the growl that rumbles like thunder through the room. The males surrounding us have all gone rigid, and I smirk in satisfaction that my threat has landed its mark, that my words had an effect.
Tyran’s eyes glow, the muscles of his chest, arms, and abs jumping, as if he’s physically having to restrain his wolf from taking over.
“Get. Out.”
I stop myself from flinching at the ferocity of his words, but the other males don’t hesitate. Faster than I can track, they all leave through a second door in the back of the room, knocking over chairs in their haste.
And then it’s just him and me, my wolf and his.
I launch myself at him.
A curved swipe at his face is deflected before I can land the blow, and my claws catch into the wall instead. I make them retract, replaced by only my fingernails, but he grabs my other arm, wrenching it behind my back and spinning me around until my back is against his chest. “Submit.”
“Fuck you!” I spit.
He pulls me against him harder, and I can feel his erection against my ass, but even my wolf doesn’t get sidetracked. She’s infuriated, nose still clogged with the scents of all the faceless females that he left for us to find.
With my free hand, I reach up and fist his hair, yanking on it as hard as I can.
He growls and shoves me away, and I aim a kick at his balls. Unfortunately, he manages to grab my leg before I can deliver the blow, and he bends back my foot, making me hiss in pain. “You need to calm the fuck down and learn better control. Go for a damn run.”
I hear the words, but I don’t comprehend their meaning. Instead, my teeth snap at him, hands once more taking swipes. I’m so lost to the rage that my eyes are burning bright, fur popping up along the length of my arms.
“Shift and run,” he orders.
I close my eyes as my wolf batters inside of me, trying to break free, but I don’t want her to yet. I want to punch and shove and scream at him, I want to fling horrible words, because I feel horrible inside. There’s this horrible, gnawing wrongness that won’t stop screaming in my skull, and I just need...I need...
“Shift!”
My spirit