by Aubrey Rose
“He's burning up, James!” she said, drawing away her hand. “Gods...what if he's completely delirious and it isn't a message from the heavens?”
“Don't test me, tigress!” Sparks jerked beneath her, his eyes flipping open. “You have the truth, and you'll see it in time. You two should go.”
I crossed my arms. “I can't leave you like this when you're deathly sick, Shaman.”
The old man bolted up, throwing off his covers. Laura jumped. He clutched at my leg, looking up with hard, wild eyes.
“Touch me again, and pass me more salmon, boy.”
What the fuck?
Slowly, I reached out, if only to humor him. I was already wondering how we'd haul his scrawny ass to Denali for help, or else bring the village doctor here for treatment. Doctor Reed hated crawling out into the boonies.
His forehead was weirdly cool. I gestured to Laura, and she touched him again, pursing her lips.
“Strange. Could've sworn he was on fire a second ago...”
“I control myself, as much as the heavens allow, girl. The same burden both of you carry. Now, the salmon!” He looked at me and licked his lips.
The tremors and blazing heat on his flesh were gone. I reluctantly passed a packet of pink meat into his hands. He ripped it open with the same gusto as before, shoveling the meat into his face.
We stood around for another half hour, watching him eat, wondering where it all went. I also wanted to make damned sure he wasn't about to vomit it all up again.
“Go, boy. You're Denali's Alpha. Not mine. I've given you your answer.”
Had he? What he'd given us needed a damned interpreter. Except the interpreter was supposed to be him, and if he was getting a dead tone from the heavens, then Laura and I really were up against stiff odds.
I suppressed a low growl. Technically, he was right about this place falling outside my jurisdiction too. Seeing as there was no obvious danger, I took my girl by the arm and led her away.
At least we had just enough time to get back to my cabin before sundown. When I reached the edge of the path where everything became wilderness again, I shifted, and waited for her to do the same. The journey would be much easier in our animal forms.
My bear prickled and growled just a few steps into the forest. The flood's smell was still thick, but I sensed Hannah's scent too, angry and fearful after our last encounter.
Too fucking bad, I thought. This trip was useless. If what Spark said was true, we're gonna make our own destiny, tigers and bears be damned.
I'm loyal to my clan, but just as loyal to this curvy, captivating tigress.
As if to underscore the point, Laura brushed against me, her orange tail flicking from side to side. Even in her tiger form, I saw the love in her eyes.
We crossed the last of the flooded woodlands by dark.
I saw the black shadows creeping around us when the sun was nearly down. They moved like wolves, and that's what I thought they were at first.
But wolves would never attack a bear and a tiger. Certainly not when we were together, emitting the mixed scents of humans and predators these animals feared.
Growling, I tried to get Laura to stop so I could circle around to the side and scare away whatever the hell was closing in on us. If anything threatened her, I'd stomp it with a thousand pounds of grizzly fury.
My bear was fucking hungry for a fight.
He'd been on edge all day after the weird meeting with the Shaman. The consultation hadn't done much to reassure her, and that pissed us both off.
The bear fully took over, bowing up to protect his mate, throwing my human sense behind the mental curtain.
The first dark shape lunged. It plowed right into me, obviously aiming for Laura instead.
My roar echoed through the whole forest. I threw my paws on the beast and bit down hard, hearing an unmistakable growl from the animal when my teeth sank near its spine.
A raspy, fierce, and all too familiar roar.
Tigers!
Now, it was Laura's turn to roar. I heard her shrill scream behind me, alarmed at the intrusion of her own kind.
Two more big cats closed on her. My bear went completely ballistic, and I flattened them with another roar before my claws landed on their backs.
There were at least four, maybe five, and they started to fight back. I knocked one to the ground with a strong headbutt, only to feel another tiger sink his claws into my side.
Kicking with my back leg, I caught his face and walloped it as hard as I could. The big cat went flying.
Laura joined in, snarling and sinking her teeth into a tiger's tail. The male howled with fury and pain. Two more tigers scampered out behind me, but they didn't pounce like I expected, fleeing into the woods instead.
I looked up, ready to give chase. My heart sank when I saw more dark shapes closing in, this time shadows moving on two legs.
At least half a dozen men – tigers who hadn't shifted by their smell – threw something high into the air. It landed on Laura near perfectly and tightened around her. She shrieked and clawed, and so did I, snorting pure rage when I realized it was a net.
She thrashed wildly in it, trying to cut her way out. The rope was too strong. More tigers lunged at me, snapping their jaws. I swiped them away with my claws.
Barely had time to step on the very edge of the net. The bastards in the woods were pulling on it, reeling her in like a fish.
Fuck no, you don't!
I sat on the net's edge, throwing my bulk on it. There was a sound like thick rubber coming apart, and Laura's sleek orange and black body blurred by a second later.
She was free. And now it was time to make the fucks who'd tried to drag her away like a fresh salmon pay.
James the thoughtful, civilized leader went to sleep. James the twelve hundred pound grizzly bear went crashing into the woods like a train, pursuing the men and big cats running for their lives.
I caught the edge of a man's camouflaged leg and sank my teeth in deep. He screamed, slamming the butt of a rifle on my head.
Kill him? No.
Much as I had the urge to, these assholes were equipped with guns and they hadn't used them on either me or Laura. This wasn't a seek and destroy mission by Tiger Bay. This was an attempt to repo my bride.
More men circled me, slamming metal so hard into my skull I saw stars. But I didn't let up. I shook his lean body as his pleas turned into a tiger's yelp and he began to shift. Tiger claws and human fists raked my back.
His wounded skin turned to thick fur. I held on. The pack of humans and tigers beating on my big body were scattered a second later when something crashed next to me.
Laura.
Growling with surprise, the man ripped his injured leg from my mouth, flopping on the dirt in a strange half-shifted state. He looked at me with tiger's eyes, begging for mercy.
Laura and I spat more warning growls, slowly stepping backward into the woods. The other tigers shifted into men and stood over their injured comrade, eyeing us carefully as they moved to stop his bleeding.
Go home, cats. And don't ever think about trying something this fucking stupid on my turf again.
Everything here belongs to me, including Laura.
My bear began to calm, his craving for blood satisfied. I didn't take my eyes off the group until they faded among the dense trees, making sure Laura was right at my side.
When we were finally clear to continue our journey home, my golden eyes flashed to hers. Her tail twitched in frustration and she licked her lips, whiskers showing the same mad horror burning up my brain.
Something about this wasn't right. I thought back to the way she stood firm during the encounters with Hannah and the Shaman, even when they leveled terrible accusations about betrayal and discord in the spirit world.
I refused to believe she was going to betray me. But each time I looked at her bright tigress eyes, there was a glimmer of fear, and she always turned away, staring at the ground or off into the distance inst
ead.
My bear whined in my head, pawing at the ground. Laura was hiding something from me, and I couldn't ignore it.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
We were man and woman again. I grabbed the fresh towels I always kept by the door and threw her one to help wipe away the dirt and debris from the woods.
She nodded, wrapping it around her nudity, still turning away from me.
Damn it, why won't you look at me?
I stepped up behind her and grabbed her shoulder. Laura spun, letting out a surprised yip that sounded more like a tiger than a human female.
“We both know the men in the woods came from Tiger Bay to take you home. What I want to know is why. There's something else going on here, isn't there, Laura?”
“They knew I was getting too close to you. Daddy's had his scouts keeping an eye on me since the wedding. Probably wanted to drag me home before I messed up everything.” She made a face like she bit her tongue, closing off her words.
I let a long, low growl, really two in one. The first was for having tigers creeping into Denali under my nose. The second was for her leaving parts out.
“What else?” I said coldly. “What do you mean 'everything?'”
“Please...don't make me stay it...”
My fingers dug deeper into her shoulder. My bear growled with confusion. Fuck, the things she brought to a boil inside me, betrayal and fear and lust, all at once!
“What are they planning? If there's some threat to my clan, then you'll be a good wife, a good mate, and spill it. No more hesitations, Laura. I want the fucking truth, and I want it now.”
“It's our wedding! You're right, it's more than just a marriage...it's a weapon.” She gasped for breath. “My father wasn't just handing me off to honor the old agreements between our clans. He wanted me to get close to you, feed-back Denali's readiness and organization, and then give him a signal to attack.”
My bear stood on both legs, angrily nuzzling the mental wall that held him back. Damn it, now I really wished I'd done more damage to those tigers.
“I'm so sorry, James! I used to think bears were just savage brutes like everybody else back home. I didn't care about my father's plans to run you off your land and take over Denali.” Laura threw her hands around me, rubbing her plush curves against my torso.
“It's different now,” she quickly added. “You've changed. I've changed. I can't let him to do this to your clan. Knew his crappy scheme was a bust the first time we kissed. I thought I could smooth things over before you found out...”
I tore myself away from her. Gods, who thought I'd ever want to put space between my body and hers?
“Smooth things over? Have you lost your beautiful head, baby? This is war!” I roared, forcibly relaxing my muscles. Had to relieve the tension before I shifted and tore the whole cabin apart.
“If you'll just let me talk to my father I can call this off. He's not an unreasonable man. Please don't do anything rash.” Her words weren't very convincing, and Laura knew it.
Hell, they'd almost taken her away from me because they knew she'd been compromised. The tigers weren't stupid. They were very attuned, cunning creatures who represented a real threat to my whole clan.
Her father, Shane Hisch, was also a ruthless sonofabitch. He crawled up the food chain in Tiger Bay and held his place there spilling real blood, including his own people's.
“We're done waiting for him to come around, Laura. You screwed up once.”
She winced. It hurt me to see her like that, and I almost regretted the words. Lowering her head, she nodded slowly. There was no denying what I said was the absolute fucking truth, no matter how much it hurt.
“This is in my hands now,” I continued, stepping close to her again. “I don't care how much we're meant to be together. I can't let tigers ransack Denali and savage my clan. I'll talk to Shane alone. I'm gonna pay your old man a visit and do things on my terms.”
Fear flickered in Laura's eyes. “At least let me come with! Please, James, he'll listen to me. He'll hurt you if you go alone!”
Growling, I shook my head, wrapping her in a stern embrace. Like I said, everything was going to go my way now. With the stakes this high, there wasn't room for emotion, which is what I'd be feeling a thousand times over if Laura was at my side in Tiger Bay.
I didn't need my damned heart for knocking sense into the tigers. I needed my bear's warrior instinct and a taste for blood.
“No. You're staying here. Shane may be a ruthless, greedy bastard, but he isn't stupid. As long as you're here in Denali, they won't lay a single claw on me.” I was certain.
“You don't know him like I do,” she whispered, shaking her head. “He's been so reckless the last couple years. Ever since mama died, he's been consumed with war, seeing threats everywhere. He purged one of his closest generals right in front of me at my sweet sixteen party.”
She closed her eyes, obviously remembering a painful memory. I suppressed another growl. I didn't trust male tigers as far as I could catch them by the tail and throw them, but it dealing with a truly unhinged man wasn't gonna be easy.
“He tossed Cutter in prison, ambushed him with his own guards. Told the town he'd moved away for retirement. I know he was executed a little while later. Daddy thought he was plotting a coup, but it was completely insane. Even his own soldiers thought it was over the top. I heard what they said...”
Laura looked up. Her big, watery eyes held whole oceans.
They tugged at my heart and disturbed my bear – exactly what I was afraid of if she was anywhere near me when I needed to get down to serious business.
“I'll make him listen, Laura. Nobody takes me for a fool. You're staying here.” I squeezed her tight, wishing to the gods I didn't have to let go. “I'll go at dawn. Be back as soon as I can.”
She closed her eyes again, whimpering a little in my arms, refusing to return the embrace. I brought one hand to her chin and held it up gently.
“What about us?” she whispered.
“Nothing's changed. I can forgive you for making a mistake. No getting around the rest of it, doing what I need to do in your old town. I won't leave you here alone for long, baby. I'll be back in a day or two before anybody realizes I'm gone.”
“It's too much.” She forced down a sniffle. “First the Shaman telling us there's no future, and now this. I just want to be with you. I want all this other crap to go away and stop interfering with our lives!”
She stomped her foot. Her growl blended into mine.
“Old Spark didn't know,” I said. “But I do. You're my mate, prophecies or prejudice or treaties be damned. And the sooner you let me handle this, the sooner we can get on with the rest of our lives. Nothing's gonna keep us apart.”
I caressed her cheek, smoothing away the tension. She flushed, folding into my touch, slowly brushing her skin against mine as I traced her soft face.
My cock stirred from its slumber, along with the bear. The afternoon's scuffle and the need to punch sense into Tiger Bay had gotten the beast inside me more stirred up than ever. If he couldn't blow off the tension with screaming enemies beneath his claws and teeth, then at least I could feed our desires and reassure Laura the best way I knew how...
My body jerked into hers. I knocked her backside gently against the stone wall, finding her lips with my mouth. They parted instantly and I swallowed her moan, bristling with fire as our tongues twined.
Fuck, she was always so warm, so wet, so voluptuous...
I grunted, hooking my hips against hers, rubbing my length between her legs. Nothing between us but the towels, and not for long.
I tore away Laura's and then unhooked the one around my waist. Her nipples were hard and sensitive, so fucking ready to be teased and tasted. My bear was pleased, and so was I.
Holding her against the wall, I pushed my naked erection up to her folds, stopping there as my face went to work. She twisted, moaning when my stubble and teeth raked the junction between her neck
and shoulder.
Down, down, down, I went, worshiping her sweet body, caressing every curve.
How the hell did she still smell so sweet after tramping through the forest all day and getting ambushed by her old kin?
I didn't know, but I devoured her scent, inhaling deep as I sank. My cock pulsed against her, hard and eager. Wasn't time for that yet.
Not before I lashed her nipple with my tongue, holding my teeth around it. The sweet bud blossomed in my mouth like a thick berry, ripe with sheer desire.
I grabbed Laura's wrists and pinned her to the wall as I sucked. My tiger tease ground her hips against my shaft, a dizzying distraction, but I didn't skip a single beat.
Sucking, thrumming, needling her nipple in my mouth, I went at it hard. Then I moved to the other one, where her electric gasps started all over again, the need to smash her curves against my hard body.
Love this fucking body. These curves belong to me.
Growling, I moved down lower, sinking to one knee and kissing up her thighs. A brighter sex flush glistened on her face and around the breasts I'd warmed up. Cherry red, and so fucking inviting I would've thrown her down and taken her there if I didn't need to taste her first.
That's right. I needed it. Every part of the man and bear inside me screamed to burn her sweetness into my brain.
I sensed Laura pushing against me, struggling to get free. She was nervous, self-conscious.
What the fuck? Can't she see the way I'm going insane for her?
I stopped just above her sex and beamed the hardest gaze I could up at her. She leaned back against the wall, trembling when I hooked my rough hands around her thighs.
“Hold still, baby. Let go. Open up for me so I can leave you with something to remember me by while I'm gone.”
Her breasts rose and fall in heavy waves. There was no more resistance as I moved my head between her legs, growling as my tongue touched her folds.
“Oh! J-James!” Her hips shifted into me.
I turned her words into hissing, quaking mush. My tongue split her open, finding its way deep inside her. Holding her thighs down, I conquered her body with my heat, lapping at her wetness like it was the sweetest thing I'd ever had in my mouth.