Karis

by Grace Brennan

  He was surprised by how freeing it was, letting everyone in on what they were to each other. Some might not realize they were mates yet, and not just spending time with each other, but most of them did. And he had no doubt by nightfall, the whole village would know they were mated.

  “Everything about you screams that you’re still thinking I told you so at me.”

  She looked up at him with a wide grin, her sky-blue eyes twinkling happily. “Maybe because I am.”

  Chuckling, he squeezed her hand as he raised it to his lips for a kiss. “It’s deserved. You called it. Your parents didn’t care at all.”

  “What about you? Does the age difference still bother you?”

  He shook his head as he looked down at her, trying to pour all the love he felt for her into his eyes. Because he loved her so fucking much it hurt, so much it stole his breath.

  I’ll also once again say I told you so, his tiger said inside him.

  And I’ll never be more thankful you were right about something than I am in this, he replied.

  “It doesn’t bother me at all anymore. I thought it would for a long time, if not forever. But twelve years isn’t so much, not really, not in the grand scheme of things. We’re perfect for each other, and I love you more than I imagined it was possible to love someone. That’s what matters. Not a difference in ages.”

  Her eyes softened. “I love you, too. And I won’t tell you I told you so again. But I might be thinking it.”

  Laughing, he shook his head. “You just did.”

  “So I did,” she replied, winking at him.

  “So that’s why she was given second place ranking in the warriors. Who knew it was as easy as sleeping with the head warrior?”

  Stiffening, he turned to glare at Ben as he laughed to his friends. He started to take a step forward, but Arya tugged him back.

  “Don’t,” she said, raising her voice enough to make sure she was heard by the others. “He’s not worth it. Besides, he was there when I defeated Shiloh. He knows I earned it by being one of the best. He also knows it was our alpha who made me a warrior and named me second, not you. He’s just lashing out like a petulant child because he’s jealous and knows he got outranked by a woman, is all.”

  Ben’s cheeks turned red as laughter erupted in the street, and Karis grinned as he and Arya continued their walk. “You’re amazing, you know that?”

  “It’s good of you to notice,” she replied impishly. Going serious, her brow furrowed. “You know, if it weren’t for the fact that he doesn’t have the balls, and couldn’t hit the side of a barn with an arrow, he’d be my number one suspect.”

  “Yeah, I agree with you there. He hates that women’s roles have changed, and he hates me. Both reason enough to do the shit that was done. But you hit the nail on the head. No way is it him. But then, I didn’t think it would be that easy or obvious.”

  “I wish it was, though. I feel like we can’t really start our life together with this hanging over our heads. And that’s what I want, more than anything.”

  “Hey,” he said, squeezing her hand as they approached their house. “There’s no reason we have to let this hold us back. In fact, I demand we don’t. Neither one of us, or our lives, or our life together, is going to be ruled by this dickhead, Arya.”

  She nodded, determination settling on her features. “Okay. I’m definitely down with that.”

  Pausing in front of the porch, he cupped her cheek, caressing her silky soft skin. “Good.” Leaning in, he kissed her softly, not surprised at all when it turned more intense, his blood instantly boiling. God, he hoped that never changed. Regretfully pulling back, he pressed another kiss to her forehead. “You go on inside. I’m going to get the lawnmower out of the shed and cut the grass.”

  “All domesticated and stuff,” she replied breathlessly with a grin. “I think I’ll go try my hand at cooking something my mom gave me the recipe for last night.”

  He eyed her dubiously. “All right. Try not to burn the house down though, okay? I’m kind of partial to it.”

  She glared at him, but he could see the mirth she was trying to hide. “Shut up. It’s an easy recipe my mom swore I couldn’t burn.” Pausing, she chewed on her lip. “But maybe I’ll make sure there’s a fire extinguisher nearby. You have homeowner’s insurance, right?”

  Grinning, he turned her around and gave her a gentle push toward the porch stairs, unable to resist a quick smack on her ass. “Yell if you need me.”

  “Will do.” Glancing over her shoulder, she smirked. “Try not to throw your back out when you push the lawnmower, old man.”

  Shaking his head, he chuckled to himself as he watched her unlock the door and let herself in. Walking slowly to the shed in the backyard, he was lost in thoughts about how far he’d come in the past week. If she called him old man back when they started this, he would have immediately been wracked with guilt over finding her attractive. Berated himself again for being a dirty old man. Made it his mission to never see her again, even if it meant leaving the tribe and moving somewhere new.

  And here he was, able to laugh about it when she teased him. Able to joke about it himself. And all because of Arya.

  She was amazing, and working fucking miracles with him.

  He unlocked the shed and grabbed the gas can, topping off the lawnmower’s tank. He’d just pushed it outside when the hair on his neck stood up. His tiger went nuts inside him, and Karis knew in his gut that whoever was fucking with him and Arya was watching him. The time had come to end this, but he had to act casual. Give nothing away and catch the son of a bitch by surprise so he could take him down for good.

  No! Give me the body. Shift NOW, his tiger roared inside him.

  Fuck, something was wrong. Turning his head at the sound of grass rustling, he saw the tiger running full out toward him, and even through his swift movements, Karis could see the crazed look in its eyes.

  With a curse, he gave his animal his body, but it was too late. The tiger was crashing into him with a bone breaking thud.

  Something’s wrong.

  Arya frowned at her usually calm tiger’s panic. That was so unlike her cat. Unease washed over her, mounting by the moment. She listened hard, but she could hear nothing except silence in the house.

  Still holding the knife she’d been slicing vegetables with, she moved to the backdoor and pushed the curtain aside. She watched as Karis pushed the lawnmower out of the shed, but then he froze just outside the door, his body subtly tensing. Her tiger was shredding her chest now, and she opened the back door as quietly as she could to peek out.

  Breath catching in a gasp, she froze when she saw the orange tiger charging her mate. She started to call out a warning to Karis, but he suddenly shifted. Shifts happened in the blink of an eye, with a blinding flash of pain as their bones broke and reformed. It was literally over in an instant, but the other tiger was so crazy, unbelievably fast, he knocked into Karis before he was fully shifted.

  Blood icing in her veins, she stepped out onto the porch, prepared to shift and help. But Karis noticed her and shook his head at her as he managed to shove the tiger off of him. Immediately refocusing on the fight, he went straight for the other tiger’s neck, but the orange cat dodged at the last moment, avoiding Karis’ bite.

  She would normally ignore his warning and dive in head first, but she hesitated, despite her panic and her tiger shredding her chest. She didn’t think Karis told her no out of a desire to protect her. He knew how skilled she was, knew she could help him. So despite knowing he’d want to save her from a fight, she instinctively sensed that wasn’t the case right now. He had another reason for wanting her to stay back.

  Frowning harder, she watched closely. The other tiger wasn’t a skilled fighter, that much was clear. He kept leaving his throat exposed, open for attack, but he had a frenzy to him that was making it easy to get swipes and bites in on Karis, and hard for Karis to get an opening to attack. And then she caught a glimpse of his eyes. The
y were glassy and crazed, completely insane. Whoever this was, he wasn’t at all right in the head. And it seemed to be fueling him, turning him into an unstoppable war machine.

  All her reasoning happened within seconds, but even one moment was one too many. She wanted to give in to her tiger’s urgings and shift to help, but the strange cat was just crazed enough that it was like he had a superpower. It honestly looked like he could take both her and Karis on with little effort, regardless of the fact that they were the best fighters in the tribe.

  Her fingers tightened around the knife in her hand she hadn’t realized she still held, and an idea occurred to her. She was almost just as good with knives as she was with archery. She’d thrown at moving targets before, but nothing like this. They were moving far too quickly for her to be able to aim well, and she had to be extremely careful, or she’d hit the wrong tiger.

  Maybe she’d get lucky with a kill shot, but that didn’t seem likely. The best she could hope for was to hit him somewhere, anywhere really, and slow him down, giving her a chance to shift. As long as he slowed down and was distracted just a hair, she and Karis could get him contained.

  Taking aim, she focused on the orange tiger. The animal as a whole, not any specific spot. Taking a deep breath, she waited on him to pause for just a second, and as soon as he did, she didn’t hesitate, releasing her breath as she flicked her wrist, throwing the knife.

  It sank with an audible thud into the tiger’s shoulder, and he roared, turning his crazed eyes to her. She started to shift, but paused when Karis immediately leapt, sinking his claws deep into the other cat’s hide and fitting his massive jaws around his neck. She could tell it was taking all his restraint to not close his powerful jaws and crush the orange cat’s throat, but he only used enough pressure to subdue the tiger.

  “Thank God,” she whispered, her shoulders slumping as her tension released. Taking a breath and ordering herself to get it together, she pulled her phone out of her pocket as she descended the stairs, ignoring Karis’ warning growl and walking a few steps closer. She wanted to be close by, just in case.

  “Kian? It’s Arya. The tiger who’s been causing so much trouble showed up. Karis has him pinned down in our backyard right now, but we could use you and some warriors. This tiger is literally insane, and he might manage to break free.”

  “We’ll be right there.”

  Ending the call, she glanced at Karis to find him glaring at her. “Oh, stop. It wasn’t an insult to your skill. He really is insane, and you can never predict what a crazy, cornered animal is going to do.”

  Running quickly back into the kitchen, she grabbed another knife and went back out. Bracing herself for the possibility of shifting at a moment’s notice, she settled onto the porch steps to wait for the cavalry to arrive.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Once Kian, Zane, Jameson and several other warriors arrived, Karis waited impatiently as everyone got in position. As soon as they were, he cautiously let go of the other tiger’s neck and shifted back. Ignoring the others, he went straight to Arya and took her in his arms, holding her tightly as he rocked them back and forth.

  His heart stopped when he glanced up and saw her in the doorway, looking like she was going to jump in the battle. He knew she could fight, that she was a badass warrior. But the other tiger had seemed unstoppable, and he’d worried that inexplicable as it was, the orange cat would be able to take out both of them.

  But he should have known she’d come up with a plan. She was smart as hell, and she thought quickly on her feet. Throwing that knife might have been a risk, with the way he and the other tiger were all over the place as they fought, but it was a genius idea and her aim had been true. He wasn’t sure he could have subdued the other cat without her.

  Fuck, she was amazing, and he was proud as hell of her. And they truly made the perfect team.

  Pulling back, he kissed her softly. “Thank you. I couldn’t have done that without you.”

  Flushing, she smiled warmly at him. “You did all the work. I just threw a knife.”

  Add humble to her list of attributes.

  “What the fuck happened?” Kian asked, coming up beside them.

  Karis turned, keeping his arm around Arya, and quickly filled him in. “I’m not sure I could have beaten him if it weren’t for Arya throwing that knife.”

  She nudged him with her elbow. “Oh, hush. You had him.”

  That was a lie, and he could tell by Kian’s lips quirking that he heard it, too. “All right, enough with the mutual admiration society. Who is he? I feel like I’m familiar with his scent, but something’s off, so I can’t nail his identity down.”

  Frowning, Karis glared at the cat lying on the ground, bleeding heavily from the knife wound in his shoulder. “I got the same thing. I don’t know.”

  “He’s crazy,” Arya spoke up, acting like that would explain everything. When they looked at her in confusion, she sighed. “When a shifter is truly crazy, it changes their scent. It doesn’t happen in human form, and you can only tell in animal form when something sets them off and they slip into it. My dad has experience with some insane shifters. He said they smelled slightly bitter, and it changed their natural scent enough to mask who they were.”

  Karis nodded. “That’s it. He smelled bitter. I couldn’t place it, but that’s exactly it.”

  Kian walked back to the prone tiger. “Change back. Now.”

  The tiger glared but made no move to shift, and Zane scowled down at him. “Are you disobeying a direct order from your alpha? Change. Back.”

  The tiger looked at him with disdain and attempted to spit at Zane’s feet. Growling, he took a step forward, but Jameson caught his arm.

  Looking at Kian, he said, “You’re going to have to call Luke and get him over here. Sooner rather than later, preferably. We have an insane tiger provoking an equally crazy Zane right now.”

  There was a smattering of laughter from the group, and Zane glared at Jameson, but he couldn’t deny it. It was pretty much the truth, and Zane knew it as well as they did.

  Kian pulled his phone out with a curse. “Fuck, I don’t want to call him. The Enforcers are going to think I don’t have control of this damn tribe. I’m getting damned tired of needing them to help me.”

  Karis didn’t say anything, but in all reality, Kian’s control over the tribe was thin, tenuous at best, and he was barely holding on. The only reason people hadn’t rioted already was partially because of the Enforcers’ presence, and partially because enough people genuinely loved Kian. They’d have his back, and the rest of the tribe, the ones who’d mean him harm, knew that.

  Still, he was surprised no one had made an attempt on Kian yet, or Zane either, since he was second in line. But he thought it was only a matter of time before it happened, and then all hell would break loose.

  Squeezing Arya’s shoulders, he said, “I’m gonna run inside and get dressed. No reason for my dick to be on display the whole time.”

  Laughing, she kissed him quickly. “Exactly. And the longer it’s out, the more chances other women will see it. I don’t like that idea at all.”

  Chuckling, he went upstairs and quickly wiped some blood from his body where the tiger had sunk his claws in him. He pulled on a shirt, jeans and boots, and then jogged back outside. Luke and Noah were just walking up as he rejoined Arya next to the small group.

  “All right,” Luke said, sounding resigned. “Hit me with it.”

  This time it was Arya who explained, leaving nothing out. “He won’t shift back, and we don’t know who he is. His scent is slightly familiar, but it’s mixed with the bitterness of the truly insane, so we can’t tell.”

  “That’s part of it,” Noah said, staring at the tiger contemplatively before glancing at the rest of them. “My gift is being able to sense what other’s gifts are, and taking them on for my own use when I’m near them. This tiger’s gift is the ability to mask his scent. Or, more accurately, take another’s scent on. If he wa
s in his right mind right now, he could don someone else’s scent, and you’d never know it was him. Until he shifted back, of course.”

  Kian frowned at the prone cat. “So if he’s the same shifter who put the cameras in Arya’s house, and my gut says he is and all their troubles stem from him, then that’s why we couldn’t place a scent in her house. He likely took on Arya’s.”

  That made perfect sense, and Karis fought the urge to literally kick the shit out of the tiger with his steel toed boot. Stealing her scent felt like yet another violation of Arya’s life and privacy.

  “Tiger, change back,” Luke demanded, the power in his voice caressing Karis’ nerve endings. He had a strong urge to shift, and he shuddered as he fought it back, just like everyone else in the backyard. The last time Luke used his gift, he was able to say a specific name. This time, he had to use the more generic tiger, and everyone here was one, so they were all feeling the power of his gift.

  The tiger roared and tried to resist, but he was helpless against it. The roar turned into a masculine screech as the human form appeared, and Karis stared at him in shock.

  “Trevor? What the fuck?” he hissed.

  Arya was standing beside him with her mouth hanging open, the shock on her face matching everyone else’s in the yard. Trevor was young, happy, always eager to please. And he was one of the worst fighters they had, always leaving his throat unprotected. Thinking back to today’s fight, he remembered him doing the same thing.

  But today, he’d been fueled by an almost unstoppable, crazy rage. It turned him from one of their worst fighters to one even he as head warrior might not have beaten, if it hadn’t been for Arya throwing her knife.

  “Why did you do this?” Arya asked, her voice small in a way Karis had never heard it before. His tiger stirred uneasily in his chest at the sound, and he reached over, grasping her hand. Holding it tightly, he willed some of his strength into her.