Taze (Rise of the Pride #11) - Theresa Hissong Page 0,3

her in the beginning, too. He didn’t think females were strong enough to fight, and he had been just as agitated as her brother. It had taken Talon threatening his Guardianship to set his ass straight.

Calla was a natural when it came to self-defense and tracking. He eventually started talking to the female and took her under his wing when it came to teaching her how to fight. They both knew things would change when she turned twenty and would no longer be able to touch an unmated male, but they pushed on until the last moment possible.

On her birthday, she’d locked herself in the tiny cabin she had built and didn’t come out for a week. When she did, Calla looked different. Her short blonde hair was the same, and so were her beautiful features. Her big, icy blue depths held a mix between fear and determination. She wore more makeup now that she was working with the humans, and while he liked her natural look, he had to admit the bright red lipstick and smokey eye shadow make his cock hard.

Her full lips had tightened to a thin line even though she held her head higher after getting accepted into the human’s college. Word had gotten around that she’d begun taking classes to get her law degree, and with the blessing of the alpha, she began a job as a secretary at a law firm in Memphis.

He didn’t know why she refused to train in her time off, and he’d expressed his frustrations to her on the subject several times over the years. With Malaki’s temper, she chose the law degree and firm, because being away from training kept her brother at peace.

With Malaki and Calla having been rescued by the pride, her brother had become almost obsessive in his concern for what she did or who she was with, and didn’t that just piss Taze off to no end? She’d once told him that Malaki had calmed after she’d stepped away from training, and with her not around Taze as much, her brother wasn’t a problem.

Taze wanted to know why she didn’t choose herself and the pride. He wanted to know why she gave up on something she was extremely good at to pursue a law degree.

And he wanted to know why, above all else, she chose to change her path in life. He understood her desire to become a lawyer, but there was something else, and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Calla narrowed her eyes on her brother as he made a move to cross the room where Taze was standing, but Savage reached out to stop him by placing his large hand on Malaki’s chest. She, and every Guardian and Protector in the room, caught the same scent when Taze erupted.

God, she was mortified. Heat built in her cheeks and with her ivory white skin, she probably looked like a damn tomato. How could he do that? In the alpha’s office of all places!

“If you are done with me, alpha, I’d like to request leave,” she said under her breath. All of the shifters in the room heard her request and stepped aside on Talon’s nod.

The moment she walked out the door, she took off for her tiny home, wanting to bury herself under it until everything blew over. Ever since she’d turned twenty, Taze had been scenting more and more like a mate. It’d been two years since she’d stopped training with him, and while he’d kept his distance for most of that time, he would occasionally insert his opinion into her life.

It was hard enough seeing Taze from time to time at the pride, but when he got all protective, his scent would thicken. She’d been able to resist it, mostly. Tonight, in the alpha’s office, he finally let go, and now the whole pride would know they were mates.

She wasn’t ready for a mate.

She didn’t think she would ever be ready.

Calla didn’t know how soon Talon would be releasing the Guardians and Protectors from his office, but she needed to get off the land before Taze or her brother came looking for her. She hated confrontation, and Malaki would be the first one to enter her home, raging because of the scent Taze was giving off in that office. So much for hiding the one thing she’d known for some time now.

Of course, she knew Taze was possibly her mate. She’d lied to herself for the past few years about