Bonded Beyond Trickery (Trick or Treat Monsters)

CHAPTER 7

WHITAKER

It’s amazing what you can learn about your mate in the span of a few hours. It wasn’t just the things we chatted about as I gave her a tour of the pack, either. I learned just as much about Tilly from the way she reacted to everything and the looks on her face as she took it all in.

I’m not sure if it’s just the mate bond, but there’s something so light and right about being around Tilly. She’s easy to smile and saw the best in every part of the pack I showed her. I was more than impressed with the way she threw herself into being in my, our, pack.

Even though people stared at her, curious about who she is and why I was giving her a tour of the pack, she had a smile for everyone. While it made my heart sink, more than few she- wolves in my pack gave her dirty looks and sneered at her.

While my wolf was urging me to put the she-wolves in their place, I held back.

“You’re punishing our mate,” my wolf grumbles, pointing out what I know but wasn’t ready to admit to myself.

“Maybe,” I grit out, hating to admit that my wolf called me out on my bullshit.

“If you’re starting over and really giving her a chance, don’t do anything that’ll come back to bite us on the ass later.” My wolf punctuates his words with a snap of his jaws that has me internally wincing.

“When do you think I can join training?” Tilly’s innocent question has me focusing on her and my wolf sitting up in my mind and taking notice.

I’ve met a lot of Alpha’s daughters throughout the years, both as Alpha and before I took over the pack, and there are far too many of them who rest on the laurels of the power of their family. They shop, care more about themselves than anything else, and the last thing they do is train.

“You train?” I know I sound snarky, judgmental, and full of disbelief, but I can’t help it.

Tilly rolls her eyes before shrugging one shoulder while kind of folding in on herself. There’s nothing but understanding in her voice, “I get it. You’ve met a lot of pampered princesses who think that the positions of their fathers or brothers make them better than everyone else in the pack.”

I let out a low groan because she’s absolutely right and the way she isn’t bothered by my surprise and assumptions tells me that she’s had the actions and behaviors of others reflect on her. Even though they’re off base.

I let out a grunt of agreement and rub the back of my neck. “Sorry. It’s just,” I shrug one shoulder, unsure of what to say, “but if you’ve met other Alpha’s daughters then you probably understand where I’m coming from.”

“Yeah,” she breathes, “I have.” She glances at me, the tips of her lips pulling down in a small frown; I hate it. “Any time I’ve been around most of them, I’m the outcast. While I like dressing up and wearing make-up sometimes, I don’t care about designer labels or wearing the most expensive thing in the room. That’s not the way you care for a pack. What good does it do for me to flaunt my position and some idea of wealth when it’s not even mine?”

I come to a screeching halt, amazement filling me. We’re closer to the packhouse than the training grounds, which is where we just came from. I saw the gleam in her eye as she took in the end of the training session.

“You thought our mate was checking out the other males. You were jealous,” my wolf taunts me even though I’m frozen in stunned silence.

He’s not fucking wrong either. I was jealous and I wanted to tear through all the warriors as my mate watched on. It was irrational, possessive as hell, and dangerous. I barely held onto my control before leading Tilly away from the area.

It didn’t even cross my mind that she was interested in training.

Tilly keeps walking for a few feet before realizing that I’m not at her side anymore. She whirls around, the wispy tendrils of hair that have fallen from the messy bun on top of her head taking flight around her face. Her steps are tentative as she walks back to where I seem to be stuck in place. Her blue eyes assess me critically before her lips press into a thin line, but I can see the way she’s trying to hide her amusement. It’s there, dancing in her eyes.

My voice is rough when I finally find my voice, “You want to train here?” She nods, the movement tentative, but not without bravery. “When was the last time you trained?”

A beautiful smile spreads across my mate’s face, and it takes my breath away for a moment. “Yesterday.” She crosses her arms across her chest, showing me a little sass that I have a feeling she’s been suppressing because of our situation. “It wasn’t easy to train while I was in college. I kept up with it as much as I could and stayed in shape in the athletic center, but I couldn’t exactly spar with humans. I was a little rusty when I came back to Golden Summit because of that, but it didn’t take long to get my form back.”

“Spar?” Is that my voice? It’s far too high and thready to be my voice.

Tilly arches one eyebrow, the challenge easy to read on her features. “Yes,” her words are slow and measured, “spar. The only person who I can’t beat is Crew.”

My heart skips a beat while starting to pound and I’m pretty sure I’m having a heart attack. Which isn’t really possible because, well, wolf shifter. I’m not sure if what she’s just said is the hottest thing I’ve ever heard or the most terrifying.

I squeak out, “You take on warriors?”

“I do,” she nods, her chin going up in defiance. “I realize that I’m a woman, but I saw other females out there training. Are you surprised because I’m an Alpha’s daughter or because I’m a female?”

“Neither,” I choke out. “I just can’t decide if you training and sparing is the hottest thing I’ve ever heard or the most horrifying.”

Tilly smirks and lets her arms drop to her sides. “I’ll make you a deal,” she offers. I give her a jerky nod, my cock throbbing and desperate to be buried inside of my mate. Fuck, the bond is wild. “How about we set up a time to spar and then we can talk again about training.”

“Fuck,” I grit out through my teeth and reach down to adjust my painfully hard length in my jeans.

Tilly’s eyes flit down to the obvious bulge in my jeans before her eyes snap up to meet mine. A blush steals across her cheeks and makes her look so damn innocent. As much as I didn’t want to think about it, I resigned myself to the fact that she probably didn’t wait for me since she was around humans for years. They wouldn’t have been able to satisfy her the way I’ll be able to, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up.

The way she won’t meet my eyes now has me rethinking my assumptions about her. Again.

“Mate hasn’t allowed another to touch her,” my wolf sounds satisfied as fuck.

“How do you know?”

“I just know,” he insists before huffing and looking through my eyes to take in the stunning glory that is our mate.

Tilly, ignoring my dick which is trying to punch a hole through my pants to get to her, meets my gaze and waits me out. Right. Her offer.

“Deal,” I grunt and am granted with a wickedly sinful grin from my mate.

I nod toward the packhouse, and we fall into step with each other. “Breakfast is still being served. Are you hungry?” I watch her out of the side of my eye, unable to help myself.

“I’m starving,” she admits, her cheeks turning the most luscious pink. “I couldn’t really eat anything before. I was too nervous.”

I make a humming sound, not liking that she hasn’t eaten, but understanding all too well. A comfortable silence descends between us as we make our way through the backdoor of the packhouse which opens straight into the large dining room.

Eyes turn our way immediately which I’m not at all surprised about. What does shock me a little is the way Tilly ducks her head for a moment before taking a deep breath and raising her chin. Even though she looks regal as fuck, there’s nothing haughty about my mate. Her shoulders are relaxed, and she has a soft smile on her lips.

Fuck. She just keeps on surprising me.

She’s witty. She’s easy going and full of so much light. There’s nothing pretentious about her. She trains. She doesn’t look down on anyone. And she’s smart, so fucking smart. It was obvious with the questions she asked me as I gave her a tour of my, our, pack.

When I reach out and touch the small of her back, she looks up at me and her eyes damn near sparkle. I lead her toward the table where all the ranked members of the pack sit for meals. It’s empty right now, which is perfect as far as I’m concerned.

The moment we sit down, two plates filled with food are placed in front of us. The smile Tilly gives the Omega serving her is filled with gratitude and kindness. Damn it, this woman just keeps stealing bits of my heart for herself without even trying.

It’s only once the server is back in the kitchen that Tilly looks at me and scrunches her nose slightly. With a pointed look at the buffet set up for the rest of the pack, she tips her voice low, “Why is someone serving us when the buffet is right over there?”

I blink at my mate a few times before opening my mouth and then snapping it closed almost immediately. “I, uh,” and here I am, an Alpha reduced to stuttering while searching for an answer, “I’m really not sure. It’s the way it’s always been.”

“You can tell me that it’s none of my business if you want, and I’m not trying to sweep in here and change everything, but I’m perfectly capable of getting my own meal just like every other member of the pack. I’m sure everyone who is part of the leadership of Silver Howler is as well,” there’s nothing sharp about her words, but they still hit me center mass.

“More than capable,” I admit.

Tilly grins at me before we tuck into our meal. The little noises of appreciation she makes does nothing to help how hard I am for my mate. It’s been bad enough being so close to her and surrounded by her scent. Then there have been the little touches as I gave her a tour.

While it’s pretty common for mates, especially for Alphas, to not waste any time claiming the other half of them, getting to know Tilly has eased some of the frantic need inside of me. It’s still there, burning coals just waiting for more fuel, but I’m not blinded by it.

The entire time we’re eating, the pack members who are seated around the room watch us with curious expressions. If it bothers Tilly, she doesn’t let on. I’m not sure if I expected her to buckle under the weight of their interest, but I should have known better.

“Our mate will continue to surprise you,” my wolf chuffs. “Stop punishing her for the past and look toward our future.”

“I’m not punishing her,” I growl back, my hackles rising at the suggestion that I am.

“It’s why you didn’t immediately and formally announce who she is,” there’s the threat of violence in my wolf’s words.

Huh. Could he be right?