“You’re right, I didn’t. I came to tell you that, well …” She paused and lifted her chin. “I’ve decided to leave the pride. Again. I’ve already packed my things and booked a flight for later today. I don’t feel that I could be happy here.”
The words “Bon Voyage” were on the tip of his tongue. While he wouldn’t wish the dangers of a lone shifter lifestyle on anyone—not even her—he couldn’t say he was disappointed that she planned to leave. Particularly because Havana would feel more comfortable if the woman wasn’t around. Plus, he’d never fully trust Ashlynn to be loyal to him, his mate, or the pride. His cat would be glad to see the back of her.
“I don’t have to warn you that being a loner isn’t easy and comes with a lot of risks—you’ve already lived that lifestyle once,” said Tate. “If you’re fine with taking those risks and this is what you want, fair enough.”
She looked at him, her face lined with sadness. “You really don’t care if I go, do you? Understandable, I guess. I wasn’t lying when I said I’ve accepted that you’ve moved on. Still, it’s hard to know that someone I love—someone who was once open to mating with me—doesn’t care one iota about me now.” She worried her lower lip. “I really did hugely mess up, didn’t I?”
Several times, but Tate saw no point in discussing it.
“I hope one day you’ll stop hating me.”
“I don’t hate you, nor am I holding a grudge. If you hadn’t messed up the way you did, I probably wouldn’t be mated to Havana right now.”
She winced but then nodded. “Right. Good. Still, I’m sorry for everything, Tate. I’d like to apologize to Havana before I leave.”
“I doubt she’ll think it’s necessary.”
“You mean she won’t care if I’m sorry. I’d still like to apologize.”
He was about to repeat that it wasn’t necessary, but then his mate came up behind him and said, “I’ll hear her out.”
Hell, Tate hadn’t even heard Havana descend the stairs, let alone sense her creep close. The woman would keep him on his toes for sure. Although he didn’t like his mate being so close to this woman he didn’t trust, he stepped aside. As Havana sidled up to him, he slid his arm around her waist to cup her hip.
Straightening her shoulders, Ashlynn cleared her throat and forced a smile for Havana. “I’d congratulate you on your mating, but you’d know it to be false, and there’s no sense in insulting your intelligence or mine. Still, I hope you appreciate how lucky you are to have found your mate and claimed him. That doesn’t always work out as it should. Anyway … I came to tell Tate that I’m leaving the pride today. Which I’m sure will come as a relief to you. Before I go, though, I wanted to …” A slyness slid over Ashlynn’s face. “Challenge you. I wanted to challenge you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Outrage tore through Tate. He growled, and his furious cat sliced out his claws. The enforcers on the porch cursed and shot Ashlynn looks of disgust. Havana? Well she just sighed and scratched the side of her head.
Flexing his fingers, Tate glared at Ashlynn. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Don’t think I came here under false pretenses,” said Ashlynn. “I meant the things I said to you, Tate. I truly did. But I’m not leaving here without paying her back for what she did to me at the Tavern.”
“It was you who started that shit.” Snarling, Tate made a move toward her. But then his mate’s arm shot out in front of him, acting as a barrier.
“Where do you want to do this?” Havana asked her, sounding as bored as she looked.
Ashlynn shrugged one shoulder. “We might as well do it on the lawn.”
“Works for me,” said Havana.
Ashlynn turned and stepped off the porch.
When Havana went to follow, Tate curled his hand around her arm. “Baby—”
“No, Tate, don’t ask me to ignore her challenge,” said Havana.
“I do not want that bitch touching you again.”
Her expression solemn, Havana rested her hand on his chest. “I know it goes against the grain for you to stand back while someone tries to hurt me, but I can’t turn down this challenge without looking weak. An Alpha can’t afford to appear weak. You know that. And, well, I’ll be honest with you—I’m going to enjoy this.”
Bailey and Aspen came out of nowhere and appeared at the base of the porch steps—he hadn’t even sensed them leave the house. He distantly noted that the mamba was holding the mug of coffee he’d earlier poured for Havana.
“I can take her,” Havana assured him.
“Oh, I don’t doubt that. But it makes me no less pissed, because I don’t want her laying her hands on you. I warned her to leave you be.”
“But I don’t think you believed she really would. I certainly didn’t.”
“The bitch won’t fight fair,” he cautioned.
Havana smiled. “And what in the world made you think I would? As Bailey would say, fairness is for losers.”
“It totally is,” Bailey chimed in.
Able to feel his anger through their bond, Havana pressed a quick, comforting kiss to his mouth. She’d have been irritated if she thought Tate felt that she needed him to fight her battles. But it wasn’t that at all. He simply didn’t want anything remotely negative touching her. Which was sweet for sure. But she’d really have to work on that with him, because she liked a good fight here and there.
“On a side note, I’m gonna want pancakes after this, by the way.” With that, Havana turned and strode off the porch. Her inner devil stretched, looking forward to what would come next. So was Havana. Each spike of adrenaline that pumped through her body seemed to ramp up her eagerness.
Bailey held out a mug. “Thought you might want some of this first.”
“Thanks.” Havana sipped at her coffee, casual as you please—making Ashlynn wait, communicating that she wasn’t whatsoever anxious about the challenge.
Just then, Luke and Farrell turned into the cul-de-sac. Spotting Havana and the other three females on the lawn, both men frowned and then jogged over to Tate. Good. They’d hopefully keep him from leaping into the fray.
Havana handed the cup back to Bailey and then turned to face Ashlynn, who stood tall and silent with her feet planted and her hands balled up into tight fists. “Kind of pathetic of you to turn up here early, hoping I’d be sleepy enough that it’d give you an edge in the fight,” said Havana. “Aspen predicted you’d do that. Bailey thought you’d turn up later tonight, hoping to ruin my evening with Tate. Me? I thought you’d come at a time when there were more of your pride mates around. You do like to have an audience, after all.”
Ashlynn frowned. “Don’t act like you saw this coming.”
Havana chuckled. “Apparently you don’t realize how predictable you are. Come on, you were never going to pledge your loyalty to me or spend years of your life answering to me. It was inevitable that you’d choose to leave the pride instead, and I was pretty sure you’d be tempted to try to kick my ass before you left. Not just because I hurt you at the Tavern, but because you’ve got a lot of anger to burn off.”