Read Online Mating Dance by Bianca D'Arc - Free Book Online Page B

I
will tell you this—Ashley Baker doesn’t know it yet, but she’s my
mate.”
    Tom saw the varied reactions of his closest
friends. To a man, they all looked happy for him, and several
undoubtedly would have jumped up to congratulate him if he wasn’t
on his way out the door. As it was, they were all smiling and most
nodded to him, acknowledging the claim.
    That was significant. He’d let them know
that Ashley was his. By acknowledging his claim, they were saying
that they wouldn’t interfere. In fact, these men—the closest he had
to brothers in the world—would probably do all they could to help
him along in his pursuit of the lady.
    “Understood,” John said, nodding. “And
congratulations.” He didn’t smile. The Alpha was probably more
concerned about what the women—and Tom—could have been hiding.
“I’ll be right behind you. Expect me in a few minutes. I’ll want an
explanation as to why you didn’t give me the full briefing before
we invited them into our midst,” John said with a bit of menace in
his tone as Brody and Tom headed for the door.
    Tom didn’t regret exercising his judgment on
what to tell John and everyone else when he’d been tasked to
investigate the Baker sisters’ backgrounds. But he knew he would
have to do some fast talking when John arrived. Tom wasn’t worried
about it, but he knew John could growl with the best of them, and
he wouldn’t let John’s intimidation tactics frighten the
ladies.
    Brody and Tom stormed the bakery a few
minutes later, much as they had once stormed enemy strongholds
together in far off lands. Only this was friendly territory, and
nothing more sinister than a few loaves of bread awaited them
inside.
    Brody’s deputy, Zak, was waiting for them in
the seating area. He came forward to meet them at the door when
Brody and Tom walked in. Tom kept going, leaving Zak to give Brody
the sitrep, while he went to check on the women. At this hour of
the day, it was the overlap period between the end of Nell’s shift
and the beginning of Tina’s.
    Nell was up front with Brody, having gone
straight to him as soon as he walked in. That left the youngest
sister, Tina, in back behind the counter.
    “Are you okay?” Tom asked, coming right
around the counter and checking things over to satisfy himself that
everything was secure in the back. “Where’s Ashley?”
    “I’m spitting mad, but okay. Ash is
upstairs, hiding,” she answered succinctly.
    Seeing that Tina was all right, Tom had to
get to Ashley. He pushed through to the stairs that led up to the
sisters’ apartment and took them two at a time. Ashley pulled open
the door at the top as he neared it, and when he cleared the
threshold, she launched herself into his arms.
    He held her, feeling her body tremble with
fear. He didn’t like the sensation, and he vowed again to protect
her from anything that could possibly harm her.
    “Ssh, honey. It’ll be all right.” He tried
to soothe her, but she was going from scared to angry and back
again. He could feel the fluctuations in her temper as he held her
securely in his arms.
    “How can you say that?” she demanded
angrily. “A reporter found me! The bastard was bothering my
sisters, asking about me, asking when I’d be working the counter.
Threatening that he’d stake out the place until he found me and got
his scoop.” She was crying nervous tears by the end of her angry
speech, but Tom held her, rocking her back and forth.
    “We can handle one little reporter,
sweetheart. The entire Clan is behind you. They won’t let anything
happen here. More than that, I won’t let anything happen.
I’ll tear the reporter apart with my bare hands before I let him
reveal your location to anyone.”
    But she wasn’t really listening. “I’ll have
to move again,” she whispered brokenly.
    Tom set her away from him and made her meet
his gaze. “Stop right there, Ashley. You’re not going anywhere.
You’re happy here in Grizzly Cove, aren’t