“Anna,” I offered grudgingly.
He closed his eyes again. “I’d say Anna’s already causing issues. You got a name?”
I gritted my teeth. “Matt. What do I call ya?” Dickhead came to mind.
“Talakai,” he stated.
When he offered nothin’ further, I plunked my gear down on the empty bed and began to unpack stuff into the dresser. I hadn’t brought much, other than myself and a change of clothes. Everything smelled of cattle, and a flash of homesickness swept through me.
My pack. Only it wasn’t my pack anymore. I paused to push both hands through my hair. It helped re-tuft a few strands, but it didn’t help restore my internal balance.
Strewth.I wasn’t usually this damned touchy. What was wrong with me?
“Darius is going to eat her alive.” The words, like everything else he’d said, were delivered completely devoid of emotion.
My gut twisted, and I spun to glare at him. “Who the hell is Darius?”
Talakai didn’t open his eyes. “He’s the alpha bastard who has been tagged as team leader. Arrived three days ago. Has his henchman beta with him.” He took a deep breath, making the scales over his rib cage gleam. “I’ve avoided him so far. Figure I have precisely two days of close contact before I try to kill him.”
I stared at the Dragonshifter, my heart hammering against my ribs. Dammit. ThealphaDire. And trouble. Exactly what we didn’t need on our team.
It also explained theeating her alivecomment. Although fortunately, the Dire wouldn’t be trying to kill her. Much as I appreciated Cara going to bat for Anna, if we had the alpha on our team, Amadeus was right to be worried. The Dire would be more than distracted by her.
Hell, I was more than distracted by her.
But any alpha worth his salt would want tomateher.
I growled, and Talakai’s eyes briefly flickered open. One corner of his lips twitched upward.
“Of course, that’s ifyoudon’t kill him first.” His eyes gleamed indigo and then closed again. “Hear you Dires are pretty desperate for females.”
I ground my teeth together. Something I only did when I was ready to erupt. “I am never desperate for females.”
One corner of his long mouth curved upward. “Not the right kind, I’ll bet.”
“Ya have no idea,” I growled.
He didn’t even bat an eye. “Nothing more dangerous than a Dire with a perpetual boner.”
I wanted to strangle him. “They’re losing their bloody minds out there. It’s epic.”
He didn’t open his eyes, merely shrugged. “The council is on it. Course, they will take a while to decide on protocols. Then set them up. Then act on them.” He took a deep breath. “Meanwhile, all we have keeping those horny young Dires in line is a bunch of regulations.”
I glared at him. But nothin’ he’d said was untrue.
His eyes opened, and they fastened on my face. “And now, a bunch are here. Dropping a beautiful unmated female into the middle of them is bound to be disastrous.”
My beast growled. The rumble was louder than I intended, and the Dragonshifter’s eyes sparked. My inner animal had definite ideas about Anna that, if I were honest, were less than honorable.
How could I keep those others away if I was part of the problem?
“Especially with an alpha in the mix,” Talakai added.
The remark, said so casually, ignited my beast. As I wrestled it into submission, the Dragon’s gleaming eyes regarded me steadily.
Alarm bells went off in my human brain, and a few things clicked. The shifter wasdeliberatelypoking at me, investigating my feelings toward Anna. And my reactions had, no doubt, provided him with a wealth of information.
I wanted to kill him. But I wasn’t suicidal.
