Game With the Beta

Chapter 2

Onyx

“No.” Naturally it wasn’t good to keep things from your Alphas, but part of Onyx’s role as Beta was to protect them—even from themselves. As Tasha pointed out, Trey was going to have a hard time keeping Taryn, who was heavily pregnant, from getting involved. “It’ll be better to have the meeting before telling them. That way, Taryn can’t demand to go and Trey won’t have to sedate her.” Talon and the four enforcers nodded, satisfied with the plan.

“Has Raven come down for breakfast yet?” Tasha was referring to one of the pack’s other two new additions. Onyx and Raven had been in the same pack until he was fourteen, when he left with Trey and several others, but he hadn’t seen her until recently.

As usual when Raven was mentioned, Trick smirked devilishly at Onyx, making the claw marks on his cheek darken. “Nope, not yet,” Trick answered, though his gaze hadn’t moved from Onyx. “Who would’ve thought a slip of a girl could spook the normally unflappable you? It’s so much fun to watch.”

“She does not spook me.”

“Yes she does, she always has.”

Okay, that was true. When they were kids, Raven had followed Onyx around like a lost little kitten, trailed after him like he was the answer to all her problems. The guys had all thought it was hilarious that this short, plump little girl who was four years younger was crushing on him. She’d even played practical jokes on his girlfriends, and no amount of Trick’s teasing back then had made her stop. Apparently, she was immune to Trick’s nature. But Onyx wasn’t, and because of Raven he’d been subjected to daily doses of it.

Onyx had expected that her crush would have died by now. Apparently not. She hadn’t flirted shamelessly with him or harassed him, but she had made her interest in him clear with bright smiles, subtle touches, and heated looks. Onyx, however, had no intention of responding to her interest—

Something that he had made perfectly clear to Trick last night.

It wasn’t that Onyx wasn’t attracted to her. Although she didn’t have the kind of face that made a guy halt in his tracks, within minutes of her company that guy would be wondering why he hadn’t noticed how stunning she was. And her mouth…Onyx often found himself wanting to bite it. Her honeysuckle-and-caramel scent that his wolf had always found…intriguing…now had the distinctive tang of a mature female, and it incited his wolf.

Before Raven, his wolf had never been attracted to submissive females. For that matter, neither had Onyx. He liked feisty females whose strength matched his own, and he absolutely loved seeing them submit to him. Not that Onyx had any wish to see women bound, kneeling, and calling him Milord—although that one time in Barcelona had been kind of fun. No, he liked women who would challenge him, because it made their eventual surrender that much more gratifying, and it meant that his dominance over them was real. They weren’t submitting because it was in their nature, they were submitting because he was in total control.

It wasn’t that either he or his wolf had no respect for submissive wolves; they were as important to a pack as dominant wolves, in that without them, there would be no balance. A pack of purely dominant shifters would never work. Being a submissive wolf didn’t mean they were passive, weak, soft-spoken, or quiet. Raven sure as hell wasn’t any of those things—in fact, she was quite the opposite. A submissive wolf could actually be mentally stronger than a dominant wolf. However, they would never be physically stronger than one. As such, submissives never issued challenges on anyone of a higher rank. Most avoided confrontations at all cost and had an extremely difficult time saying no to anyone. Raven had never suffered such problems because of her strength of character.

Despite such strength, he didn’t believe that she—or any other submissive wolf, for that matter—

Would be able to handle the full force of his personality.

But even if Raven hadn’t been a submissive wolf, Onyx wouldn’t have responded to those heated stares. He would never have even so much as a one-night stand with a female from his own pack. He didn’t want his true mate feeling uncomfortable when he finally found her and brought her home. Onyx had seen how awkward it had been for Taryn to be around Selma, and he didn’t want to put his own mate through that. Taryn hadn’t been heartbroken when Selma decided to leave the pack.

Onyx didn’t want a relationship anyway. Not just because his time was already in demand, but because past experience had shown him that a relationship between shifters was a dangerous thing. It could make things very difficult when one suddenly discovered a true mate. Onyx had no intention of repeating that experience.

“You could learn a thing or two from Raven,” said Trick. “She knows how to have fun.” Onyx snickered. “She’s also incredibly stubborn and a little crazy.” Feisty he liked, but crazy? Not so much.

Tasha held up her index finger. “She prefers ‘spirited.’”

“She definitely knows how to have fun,” chuckled Cole. He turned to Onyx. “The other night, I found her and Tasha drinking like there was no tomorrow while laughing at a bad porn film.” Michael nearly choked on his coffee.

Tasha sighed dreamily, smiling. “Ah, good times.”

“Were they touching themselves, too? Or better still, touching each other?” Michael looked as though he was genuinely trying to picture it.

“No,” replied Cole, “but they were playing ‘catch’ with an unused butt plug. The one you got Raven for her birthday simply because you’re odd like that.” Michael shrugged. “At least she’s using it somehow.”

Knowing Cole as well as he did, Onyx easily guessed, “You joined in, didn’t you?” A smile crept onto Cole’s face. “Yeah, okay, I did. It was fun.” Trick c****d his head as if listening to a distant noise. “Ah, I think that’s her coming now.” It was. There was no mistaking the source of that husky laugh. That was another thing about her that got the attention of both man and wolf. She had a voice that could liquefy rock. Didn’t matter though, Onyx told himself. Didn’t matter how much of an appealing package she was. Didn’t matter how much his wolf wanted her. Didn’t matter how bitable her mouth was or how tantalizing man and wolf found her scent. Onyx was not interested in having any type of relationship, no matter how casual, with Raven Farrow.

Inhaling deeply, he braced himself for that beaming smile she always sent his way—a smile that he would never admit made his c**k twitch. Michael shuffled over, ensuring that there was an empty seat beside Onyx, just as he did every morning. Traitor.

Arm in arm with her brother, Gabe—the other new addition to the pack—she entered the kitchen…and his jaw almost hit the floor. His wolf was pacing predatorily, made alert the moment he heard her laugh. In an outfit that emphasized delicious curves that Onyx would never have guessed were hiding under the baggy clothes she usually wore, Raven strode inside and greeted Grace before heading to the table.

Then she did something that she had never done before, something that had his wolf growling in irritation. She gave Onyx the same brief, polite smile she gave to everyone else…and walked right on past him and sat between Cole and Tasha.

Motherfucker.