by Celia Kyle
Ares simply hissed in response, flexing his fingers until he knew they’d transformed to black tipped claws. His cat paced just beneath the surface, anxious to taste the woman who tried to usurp their mate. They couldn’t allow anything to happen to Zoe, so they would fight their mate’s battles for her. To the death if necessary.
“That’s assault,” the stranger accused as she climbed to her feet, swaying in place until she had to grip a nearby tree to keep from falling. “I’ll have you arrested.”
“Seriously?” Zoe’s surprised shout cut through the air. “I mean, fucking really?”
His mate strode forward and stood between him and his quarry. The tiger whined, unwilling to push Zoe around but still salivating over the idea of tasting the other female.
The woman pointed at Ares. “He—”
“He defended himself against your stupid ass.” Zoe didn’t allow the woman to speak, stomping forward until she squared off against the female. “You attacked him. Not the other way around. I mean, seriously? This seemed like a good idea to you?”
“I heard that the women—”
“I don’t care what you heard!” Zoe trembled, but her scent told him it was in anger, not fear. “Was there a press release issued? Did you read tiger laws before approaching one? Did Cadman from the Department of Paraphysical Entities make any sort of announcement?”
Ares mentally flipped through his to-do list and realized contacting Cadman—no one called him by his first name—and DoPE hadn’t been at the top. By all accounts the male was a great ally within the human government, but Ares was focused on protecting his pride.
“Nothing has been released yet,” the woman accused.
“So you thought you’d do whatever the hell you wanted? That the lack of information meant you could run around like a psychotic bitch and tackle men in the middle of the forest? Really?”
The woman’s dazed expression transformed into anger in an instant. “Listen, bitch, don’t get all high and mighty when you were standing here humping his leg.”
A new sound came from Zoe. One he never imagined he’d hear from his human mate.
A growl. Deep. Threatening. Powerful. Yes, that’s what it was. Power. Strength. One that rivaled his own and felt as familiar. Now he understood why his tigers had no choice but to follow her orders. It was as if they’d come from him directly. They seemed the same, and instead of his tiger being annoyed that another took over, it was proud.
Damned proud.
Zoe flexed her hands, fingers curled and uncurling as if her body expected something to happen with the motions. As if it knew claws should form yet remained hidden.
What had he done to her? She hadn’t been this way when they were together. She was sweet, sassy, and smart-mouthed with a smile that was always quick to appear.
“Bitch? I’m not a fucking wolf, you dumbass,” Zoe lifted her hand, fingers curled, and he realized that his mate was about to truly fight the other female.
Ares jumped forward and wrapped his arms around her, capturing her with his hold. He ignored his mate’s hiss and instead spoke to the human. “You have three seconds to leave before I let her go. If you don’t, it’s your funeral.”
He wouldn’t keep his mate from protecting her claim. He wasn’t sure how he’d imbued Zoe with tiger characteristics, but he wasn’t sad they’d manifested. It gave him hope that she’d feel the same mating draw he experienced.
“Just because you’re a shifter doesn’t mean—”
“One.”
“—you can assault people and—”
“Two.”
“—order them around like you’re some king.”
“I’m going to say three and then let go. You sure you don’t want to run?”
Zoe chose that moment to hiss and he glanced at her, noting the smattering of orange fur that decorated her cheeks.
With a squeak, the stranger spun and… slammed her face into the tree. The second she recovered, she stumbled around the obstacle and raced away, bouncing off trees as she ran.
“You’re going the wrong way!” he called out, realizing the woman was running up the mountain instead of down. Without looking in his direction, the female turned and kept on scurrying away.
The second she was out of sight, Zoe relaxed in his arms, releasing her tension with a sigh. Ares gave her a gentle squeeze and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. The animal was proud of his mate, of the way she jumped in to defend them against a woman. A male wasn’t allowed to challenge a female, that was one of their laws, but a mate was allowed to battle any who challenged her mating.
“That was glorious,” he murmured into her hair.
Zoe shook her head. “I can’t believe that just happened.”
“I imagine more will happen before the night is through.” He shrugged, not because he didn’t care, but because it was inevitable.
“And all because of that article,” she whispered.
“Yes.” He wanted to correct her. All because of your article.
Quiet wrapped around them for a moment, his heartbeat returning to normal. He sensed that Zoe’s did as well.
“I didn’t write it, you know. The article.”
Ares didn’t want to have this argument in the middle of the forest when his tigers needed him at the den. Instead of responding, he led her up the mountain. “Come on, we don’t have much time.”
Chapter Six
The women were psychotic. Like, seriously. One hundred percent serious with not even a hint of a laugh.
That chick near the inn hadn’t been the only one they encountered as they dashed toward the den. Nope, there’d been two more. Two more women who turned bright, covetous eyes on Ares and a glare on Zoe.
Two more women she’d hissed and roared at, and by the time they stumbled across the third, Zoe was in her animalistic element. She stopped caring about her weird behavior and focused on the bitch standing at the base of a tree and yelling at a tiger clinging to one of the branches.
“Here, kitty, kitty…” The female propped her hands on her hips, staring at the treed tiger.
“Ares,” she whispered, her heart breaking for the trembling tiger. Even if it was hundreds of pounds of fur and fang, it’d been hunted. There was no missing the awkward tufts of fur and the few missing patches. Since the human was uninjured, she knew the shifter hadn’t tried to protect itself.
“I can’t challenge her, Zoe. A male can’t attack a female, but a female…”
“I’m human. There are laws—”
“Be honest, Zoe.” His firm hands forced her to turn and face him. “You feel different. You’re hissing. You’re growling.” He ran a finger down her nose. “You have a little fur right here.”
She swallowed hard, hating that she had to face the truth when she’d really rather not. They could talk about it in fifty years or so. “I’m not a—”
“Honesty.”
Damn him. She opened her mouth to argue more, but the scrape of a shoe on bark had her swinging around to stare at the human woman.
The human woman attempting to climb the tree.
“Hey, you!” Zoe tore from Ares’s grip. “Back the hell off.”
The woman turned to face her, eyes blazing with frustration and anger. “You back off. I found this one first. It’s mine.”
God save her from fanatical fur chasers. “That’s a person. Not an it. A living, breathing person, and you’re going to leave them alone.”
“Who do you think you are? Who are you to tell me to leave?”
“I’m—” Fuck, who was she? What was she?
“Mine,” Ares growled and came alongside her. “And since this is my land, I want you off it. You can go peacefully, or Zoe will show you the error of your ways.”
Oh, correcting errors sounded fun.
“Zoe? You look like the one who wrote that article about—”
She was so tired of that story and the misinformation it contained. Something inside her snapped, frust
ration finally transforming into outright anger. She grasped the woman by the shirt. She fisted the fabric until it was taut and stretched around the female. Then she used that hold as a handle to force her as she desired.
Zoe desired her to be shoved face first against the tree. So that’s what she did, pushing her into the trunk, and then releasing her long enough to spin her around. By the time she was done, Miss Bitch had bark digging into her face with Zoe at her back.
“I didn’t write anything. That information was stolen from me. The world doesn’t have the truth yet, but crazies like you just had to come pouring out of the woodwork, didn’t you? What, couldn’t find a man, so you decided to steal one before DoPE told you that you couldn’t? Or are you just a fur lover who will take whatever shifter they can find. This is the perfect setup, huh? Sneak in between the big reveal and the acceptance of tiger law?” She hissed in the woman’s ear. “I should kill you for even trying.”
The need for blood reared its head, and that thing inside her agreed that getting rid of the woman intent on claiming one of her tigers by force was a very good thing.
The woman whimpered. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry that you chased a tiger up a tree? Or that you’re crazy? Or that you’re a conniving bitch?” Zoe shook her. “Choose.”
She whimpered instead of saying a word which infuriated Zoe even more.
Snapping the chick’s neck seemed like a great idea.
“Alpha?” A low, masculine voice came from the darkness. Zoe didn’t recognize him, but she trusted Ares to deal with whatever else happened around them. She didn’t want to risk taking her attention from her prisoner.
“Here,” Ares called out to the newcomer, and then Zoe got a glimpse at the male.
Now she understood why she hadn’t recognized the voice. It was Noah, but a perverted half-form that altered his face. There was no doubt some of the tiger filled his words, distorting the tone.
Ares’s brows lowered. “I thought you were staying at the inn with Emma.”
He sounded as if he was having a happy little chat while Zoe resisted the urge to snap the bitch’s neck.
“We were, but Emma was worried about her shaky control while she carried.” His voice wobbled and another look revealed Noah trembled, eyes closed and hands clenched. Ares wasn’t sure Noah could hold his shape. The male continued, “You know she has trouble shifting, and she didn’t want to get stuck without you to help her through it. The doctors say that shifting while she’s pregnant is okay, but she wanted to be near you.” The poor guy—the poor woman. “Someone tackled me, and I made Emma run. I told her to find you,” he rasped and pointed at the woman Zoe had pinned. “She chased my mate up the tree.”
Zoe’s anger rose anew.
At herself and those pictures.
At her editor and his immorality.
At the women crowding the forest.
At the knowledge that the tiger cowering in the tree was actually a pregnant tigress searching for safety and care.
That thing, that part of her that’d craved violence, rose hotter and harder until her skin didn’t itch, it burned. Her bones ached, and her fingers throbbed with pain.
Had Ares somehow made her a tiger shifter? Was that even possible? Reports from Cadman and DoPE said conversion wasn’t possible, and yet…
The woman trembled and Zoe growled low, not hiding the threat in the sound. Did Zoe know Emma and Noah well? No. Not at all. But that didn’t change the fact she felt a connection between herself and the couple. One that demanded she protect them any way she could.
“I want to chase you up a tree,” she whispered to the stranger.
In truth, she wanted a chase. She wanted to chase this female. She wanted to chase them all.
“And that’s where I cut in.” Ares’s voice slashed through the growing tension. “Zoe, you need to let her go now.”
“So I can chase her?” That sounded like a great idea.
“Will you kill her when you’re done?”
Her first reaction was a resounding no. And yet something else whispered to her. Yes.
“Uh, maybe?”
“Not good enough.” He chuckled. “Noah, you’re gonna stay in your skin until we get rid of this human, and then we’re going to the den. All right?”
Zoe assumed Noah nodded his agreement because then Ares was there, his hands on hers, encouraging her to release the stranger. It didn’t take Ares long to peel her fingers from the woman’s body.
The stranger stumbled away, scrambling and falling to the dirt. “You are all crazy,” she rasped.
“No,” Ares corrected softly. “We’re shifters. We’re tigers. We like to play with our food and then snap its neck.” The wind rustled the trees, branches dancing aside to let the moonlight in and it reflected off his eyes, making them glow a yellow green. “Do you want to play?”
When the woman disappeared into the bushes, Zoe assumed the answer was no.
Dammit.
“Zoe, take care of Noah,” Ares probably tried to temper his tone and make it not sound like an order, but… it still sounded like an order.
Rolling her eyes, she padded to the other man, standing near yet not having a clue what to do. “Noah? What can I do for you?” He turned golden eyes on her, a whimper escaping his human lips, and she found herself stroking his arm, sliding her palm down his forearm and finally capturing one of his malformed hands. “Hey, it’s okay. Ares is getting Emma. It’s going to be all right. You have to calm down for her, though. She’s already got enough stress, huh?”
He stared at her, orbs still remaining bright, but some of the fur receded. Well, that was a step in the right direction.
“Good.” She smiled widely. “That’s good. Let’s wait for Ares, and then we’ll go to the den, huh?”
She returned his nod, and they waited while Ares coaxed a frightened Emma from the tree, helping her when it looked like the feline was staying put and then catching her when she was ready to jump to the ground.
Then they were on the move once more, striding through the forest, avoiding anyone and everyone. Ares must have been listening for them, keeping their small group away from any others in the area. She wasn’t sure how long they walked, continuing to put one foot in front of the other, Ares leading while Emma was hot on his heels with Zoe and Noah taking up the rear. Noah still clutched her hand, claw-tipped fingers digging into her flesh, but she didn’t shake him off. He seemed to need whatever strength she possessed, and she was happy to help him.
She’d half-caused this mess.
Finally the den came into view, the trees parting to reveal the massive, sprawling, two-story home. The rustic exterior hid a modern interior, the place blending with the mountainous location while inside was all high-tech electronics.
Their small group tromped up the back steps and Noah didn’t release her until they entered the house. The moment they crossed the threshold, though, he lost it. Any hint of human vanished and the ripples of his change washed over him. She’d seen Veronica transition many times over the years, the rapid snap and crack of bones, the way skin stretched and contracted, the way a face distorted until it resembled the inner animal.
This was like that, but on a much larger scale. Wolves were basically a one-to-one exchange. Large men made large wolves, their weights essentially the same. Sometimes the wolf was a little bigger than its human counterpart, but it wasn’t a huge difference.
That was not the case with tigers. In five seconds, Noah gained a couple hundred pounds, growing and stretching until she faced a massive orange and black feline whose head came even with her chest.
Then he did the unexpected—he purred. Purred and purred and instead of running to his mate’s side, he rubbed his snout against her belly. He acted like a house cat looking for snuggles, and she sank her fingers into his fur, petting him. Which was weird, but seemed… right? She wasn’t sure. The day was filled with firsts, and she decided she’d go along for the ride.
Another tiger joined Noah, Emma’s lithe form sidling up to her, and Zoe reached for the tigress, the female’s purrs adding to her mate’s. Then another tiger came forward. And another. They rubbed on her, some longer than others, Noah and Emma taking up station nearby so one of them constantly remained in contact. It was then she realized the den was filled with weretigers of all sizes, some small and obviously children—cubs—while the others were full-grown.
And they all waited in random lines to come forward. The occasional hiss was joined by a rumble and quickly silenced by a chuff from Ares. It was one of those chuffs that drew her attention. She liked the touch of the pride, their purring rumbles and being able to sink her fingers into their fur.
“Why?” That was her only question.
“They’re welcoming you.”
“I don’t understand. I…” She didn’t do anything to cause all this drama but they didn’t know that. No one but Ronnie knew.
“They belong to me. You belong to me. You’re my mate and they’re welcoming their new alpha fem.”
Mate. She knew that word and damn sure knew what it meant when applied to wolves, lions, and bears. Oh, shit, did that mean the same thing to tigers?
“You can’t be serious. You’re gonna mate that human piece of… piece of…”
Two things happened: 1) Zoe recognized that voice as belonging to Darcy, Ares’s PR person—probably, the pride’s, too—and 2) every single tiger in the room turned their heads and hissed at the young woman.
Okay, then.
Chapter Seven
The pride—everyone in the pride—would learn that Zoe was now a permanent part of their lives. He’d tell them once he ensured their safety.
Ares glared at the woman. “That’s enough, Darcy.”
Wide blue eyes, filled with surprise, met his. “But—”
“Enough. Any discussion you want to have can happen tomorrow. Tonight is about keeping our pride safe.”
Darcy crossed her arms. “We’re in danger because of her.”
Zoe winced, and even Ares’s cat jerked inside his mind. He sensed Zoe’s pain and understood her regret. Based on the few times she’d managed to reveal something about the article, he grew more certain there was something he didn’t know, something he was missing.