Other Works by this Author
The Tiger Series
The Tiger Within (Book 1)
Highland Tigress (Book 2)
Captive Tigress (Book 3)
Stripes (Anthology Containing Books 1-3)
Full length Novels
Christina’s Chance
Mystery Lover
A Beautifully Normal Life
In Love With The Wrong Cowboy
Reclaiming Life
Novellas
Samantha’s Choice
Redemption of a Soiled Dove
Taming a Montana Maverick
One Good Cowboy
Vengeance
Saving a Tiger’s Heart
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Amanda Anderson
Copyright © 2012 by Amanda Anderson
All rights reserved, except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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This book is a work of fiction and any similarities to persons living or dead is completely coincidental and not intended by the author.
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Prologue
“Shite!” Euan MacTern jerked back from the warm, willing woman in front of him as if he had been burned. His heart sped up and then he felt like it would stop.
“What is the matter with ye then?” Evan raised his head from the lass he was tasting and looked to his horrified brother.
The wench groaned when Evan’s lips left her breast, but he ignored her protest and looked to his brother who was kneeling between her plump thighs.
“It…it just… what has happened to me Evan? Look at me! I’m as limp as rag! I was ready to plunge into the wench and then this!”
Euan was staring at his very disinterested member in horror. Evan snickered.
“Well, lass it looks like ye’ll have to settle for just the one of us tonight. My brother seems to have lost interest in this sort of sport.”
“Like hell I have!” Euan insisted as the lass raised her dark head and stared with wide eyes at Euan’s useless manhood.
“Aye Euan are ye ill then? I’ve never seen ye like that. It seems you’re always ready for a little fun.” She started to sit up. “Would ye like for me to try to awaken ye then?” She said concerned. She had shared a bed with the brothers on numerous nights and this was the first time either of them was unable to satisfy her. She was one of the few human women in the keep and she enjoyed the tigers’ lusty appetites. She hoped that whatever ailed Euan was not contagious.
“Keep quiet Annie. I don’t know what is wrong with my brother, but ye can be sure ye’ll not be left wanting. I have plenty of time to see to yer needs.”
Evan buried his face in Annie’s ample bosom and sucked noisily on one rosy tip.
“Go on with ye then Euan. Let me take care of the lass. I’ll come talk to ye when I am through.” Evan’s muffled words came from between Annie’s breasts.
Euan was pale as he dressed, to the sound of his brother’s loud grunts, and made his way to his chamber. What could be wrong with him? Could he be ill? He had heard that men suffered this malady when his mate was born, but it didn’t feel right to him.
He had listened intently when the others spoke of the sensation that attacked them when a mate was conceived or born. Both were extremely joyous feelings of warmth and love. This felt cold and dark. Could his mate have been taken from him somehow without him having knowledge of her existence? He felt as if he were losing his very soul in the darkness that threatened his mind.
The sounds of merriment drifted to him from the Hall and he wanted to scream in rage.
Word had come to the keep that Liam’s sister was found and sure to be rescued after two years of imprisonment. The Laird along with his mate and second, along with a company of warriors, were on their way to Stewart castle to meet with Eva and her mate Darren when they arrived. Liam had asked Evan, Euan, and Balor to stay behind and keep his castle in order until he returned.
There had been no word to the success of the rescue, but Liam’s people were optimistic. The festivities had lasted for two weeks now and Euan had heard it said that they would last until the rescue was confirmed.
Euan had enjoyed the marry making along with the others, until tonight.
Now he just wanted them over. He wanted to resume a normal routine again.
He stopped when a sharp pain pierced his mind and threatened his very soul. The sudden pressure settled upon him and he could no longer take in enough air. He stumbled and fell and the world turned black.
1
Fifteen years later
Euan sat in front of his little hut and listened to the stream as it gurgled over the smooth stones on its bottom. He breathed in the fresh spring air and tried to clear his mind of all of the turmoil that seemed to over whelm him at times. He leaned his head against the tree at his back and let the brilliant morning sun warm his face. His now dark hair brushed his shoulders as the slight breeze floated through the air.
This little glade had been his home for many years now. He had moved away from McNeal Castle as soon as he heard of Eva’s safe return to her family and the birth of Liam’s daughter. The strange darkness that had taken him had kept him captive for days. He had awakened to a fearful Evan and tried to remember what had happened. The only memory he had of the night of his collapse was that of a darkness that was all-encompassing and inescapable.
His life had altered that day. His appearance had been forever stained dark. His hair was now a deep black with only a flicker of its former fiery hue. The fear and the pain of the darkness had stripped him of his joy and he had been unable to regain his usual carefree manner. The pressure of the darkness rode heavily on his mind until he was unable to function in society.
He knew that it had grieved Evan when he left the confines of the keep, but he simply could not remain within the walls any longer. He felt an urgency that he did not understand and he could not discern from where it came. Often he felt as if his very soul cried out to him from just beyond the next rise, that if he could only find what he sought that the darkness would leave him, but he was never able to find it. He had searched until he had given up. Now, he spent his days in solitude beside the little stream near Liam’s keep and yet far enough away for him to remain alone for the most part. He hunted for his food and washed in the stream. He kept his life simple in order to remain sane.
He allowed visitors from time to time. His brother came often as well as his other friends, but he no longer shared the camaraderie he once had with them. He had even lost the closeness he had once shared with the brother whom he had shared a womb with. It grieved him, but he was unable to maintain the bond with so much darkness encasing his mind. He was afraid it would taint the others and bring misery upon them as well. He did not understand his affliction and therefore was unwilling to expose others to it.
He could feel no joy in anything. No creature or gift could break through his dreary pain. He had even been unable to go into the keep to see the new bairns that were born to his people and he felt shame in knowing he cared not at all for them. He felt disconnected from them as if he was no longer a part of his own race.
Euan took a long breath and tried to let it out slowly. There were days
when he wanted to lay down and never open his eyes again.
He was jolted from his bleak thoughts when and arrow struck the ground next to one booted foot. He stared at it for a moment before he jumped to his feet and unsheathed his enormous sword. Rage poured into his blood and made his voice fierce when he spoke.
“Who are ye and what do ye want?” He said in a loud voice.
He heard nothing but a tinkling laughter that made his heart almost burst with joy. He had felt nothing for so long that he did not recognize the emotion for a moment. He was utterly lost for words and he only stood like a stone as a lilting voice drifted to him on the breeze.
“I am your destiny and your hope, but you no longer seek me.”
Euan fell to his knees as tears oozed from his dark brown eyes.
“I sought ye for so long and ye have evaded me. Why did ye not want to come to me? Why was I made to suffer so?”
He buried his face in his hands and the voice came to him again, this time it was thick with regret.
“To us the time has passed quickly. I did not realize you had suffered so great in that time. I had to grow and wait for the right time to come. I beg you to forgive me.”
The voice was close now, but Euan was afraid to look up and find that it had only been in his mind. He kept his head bent and his eyes closed tightly.
“Do you not wish to look upon me? I have wanted you to see me for so long. I am here with you now. My father has released me and I have come to you. I am of age to be what you require me to be. Won’t you even look at me?”
“I cannot. If I look to find that ye are not truly there I will lose my grasp on my mind and be daft till the end of time.”
Euan felt a small hand graze his shoulder and he shivered with the force of his desire that suddenly returned to him. He felt warm breath on his face as she leaned down to whisper in his ear.
“I am here and I will not leave you again until the sun has gone dark for all time.”
His eyes jerked up and he looked into the radiant face of his future.
His breath stilled in his chest as he beheld the beauty of the creature that stood before him. She was not a tiger, but not a human either. She held a strength and purity that shown as she smiled timidly down at him.
“Is there nothing you have to say to me great warrior and keeper of my heart?”
“What is your name?”
Her blue eyes widened for a moment and then she decided to tell him all he wanted to know. Only then would he be able to accept her or deny her as he saw fit.
“Krisione is my name.”
“What are ye? I don’t ken of yer kind.”
“I am one of the fair folk.”
Krisi stood stiffly as Euan pursed his lips in thought.
“What happened to ye fifteen years ago?” He said in a low voice as his dark eyes bore into hers.
She gasped and stepped back. “I was tainted with darkness.” She pulled up the hem of her tunic to reveal a dark scar just under her ribs on her right side. “How could you know?”
Euan let his eyes roam over the glorious figure before him. Her hair glistened like spun silver and her face was as flawless as an angel’s. She wore soft breeches made of an unfamiliar material and a long pale green tunic. Her soft doe boots reached her knees and she had a beautifully carved bow slung over her shoulder. She was thin, but muscular and Euan knew she was a warrior as well as he knew he was one himself. He knew he could speak to her in a frank manner and decided to be honest in the matter she had put before him.
“I know because I have suffered from that taint for fifteen years. It has all but driven me mad!” He stood to his full height, towering over Krisione. “The only time I have not suffered is in your presence and ye have denied me! Why should I accept ye now when I am beginning to deal with it on my own?”
Tears streamed from Krisi’s glowing blue eyes.
“I do not know. I will accept what you wish, but know that I have no place without you. I have been given into your keeping because I am to be your life mate. It is the will of God and I must do as you bid me. I have no will that is not your own. I am at your mercy. I beg you to be kind in your judgment.”
Krisi lowered her head and stared at the ground as Euan pondered her words.
Euan wanted to strike out and hurt this fair creature as much as she had hurt him. He felt the darkness pressing him to harm her and he knew that he must do all he could to fight against it.
“I cannot be with ye lass. I no longer ken how to be what you need. I am too broken and too weary. The darkness pushes against my will at all times. It fights against anything that might bring me a measure of joy. I am compelled to harm ye and I cannay fight it. Ye must leave me lass. Go to the keep where ye can be safe from me and my evil soul.”
Euan began to shake with the force of his needs. He wanted to hold this fragile looking creature and bury himself within her and he wanted to rip her head from her body at the same time. He could no longer force the darkness back and it was engulfing him as he collapsed at her feet. This was not like the other times he had felt her close by when serenity had covered him. Now it was all he could do not to attack her. The darkness feared her and her light. It knew that she was his reason for living and his strength and it wanted to consume him. Without her he would falter and fall. Without her the darkness would win his soul.
Krisi registered the change in Euan and fear gripped her heart. The darkness had been eating him for fifteen years. How would he ever survive this without going insane? She watched as his body shook with the force it took him to control his rage and she turned and fled from him.
The forest was pierced by the sound of his grief stricken roar and she only ran faster. If he lost control he would soon be hunting her and she needed to be far away before that happened.
2
Krisione made it to the walls of the great keep before she heard a roar behind her. She flung herself inside the gated and into the arms of the man she had thought to have left in the forest. She screamed and tried to escape his grasp, but he only held her more firmly.
“What is the matter? Who are you and what pursues ye?”
“You! Set me free! Please do not harm me. I am your mate!”
“Nay lass I have no mate.”
“Euan?”
“Nay. I’m Evan.” Evan studied the girl in his arms and recognition sparked in his mind. “Krisi?”
“Yes.”
“You have grown up since I saw ye last.”
Krisi smiled at the man who looked so much like her mate.
A mighty roar split the air and Krisi screamed again as she turned to see a huge male tiger gazing at her. His eyes shown with a darkness that frightened her and his coat was almost completely black.
“Euan?”
Evan asked in confusion.
“What are ye doin’ here?” He asked, his tone light and cheerful.
The tiger turned his head in the direction of the man’s voice and something flickered in the depths of his dark eyes. He seemed puzzled until his eyes fell once more upon the small figure clutched in the other man’s arms.
A menacing rumble shook the ground as Euan paced toward the couple.
Evan stood holding the Fairborn girl and wondering why his brother would seek to harm her. He had never known Euan to be aggressive in any manner and now it was as if he sought to devour this girl. He pushed the Krisi behind him and stepped into the path of his brother.
“Run.” He said as he started to change.
Krisi did as she was told and shivered in fear as she heard the clash of two large predators. She flung herself into the great hall and stood panting as tears coursed down her pale face. Cara McNeal turned with wide eyes as she beheld her young guest.
“Krisi! What is the matter? Did you find Euan?” She stopped when she heard a crash and the roars from outside. She clutched her throat and ran for the doors, but Krisi grabbed her wrist.
“No, you mustn’t go out. He is mad. E
uan has gone mad!”
“Oh God no.” Cara said as she shook off Krisi’s hold and bolted for the door. Cara’s young daughter followed close behind her mother and Krisi knew that if either lady was injured Euan would be killed.
“Please, she begged. Do not go out. It would mean his death if he harmed either of you.”
As she spoke she heard the great boom of Liam McNeal’s great voice. He had felt the fear of his loved ones and was coming to investigate.
“Cara! Where are ye lass and what has frightened ye so?”
Deaglan was on his heels and they both heard the sounds of battle from the bailey and quickly pulled their women to safety. Both men shifted forms and threw themselves into the fray.
The battle was quickly concluded and Euan was subdued. Liam looked sorrowful as he ordered his longtime friend and trusted warrior secured in a tower room until a decision could be made on his fate.
Evan stood naked, bloodied, and fighting for breath as his tears ran freely down his face. He watched as his brother was chained and forcibly lead away from the baily. He sank to his knees in the blood soaked dirt and let his grief take him.
No one dared to approach Evan as he wept softly for his brother. There was no one who could lessen his pain.
Liam shook his head at his wife as she started to make her way to the weeping warrior.
“Nay lass. Let him have his grief. Do not fear. He will not allow it to rule him. Let him alone now to cope with it in his own way.”
“He needs comfort Liam.”
“That he does lass, but that is not something ye can give him.”
Cara nodded grudgingly understanding that it would be too hard for her mate to watch her comfort another man, especially one with no mate. She smiled faintly at her daughter, Angelica as she passed.
“Mam, ye cannot expect that I will leave him there to suffer alone. It is cruel. Evan has ever been as family and I will go to him if you do not.”
Freeing a Tiger's Soul (Tiger Series) Page 1