Perhaps it took greater courage to keep walking forwards, to go through with the promise they had made, stepping into the unknown for the sake of her pride and her brothers.
Courage that she had.
She took Grey’s hand from her shoulder, squeezed it, and then walked past him, continuing towards the village.
Her steps faltered again.
Was she making a terrible mistake?
She turned to Grey.
Her eyes widened.
“Brother.” She reached for him, but he moved in the blink of an eye, pivoting away from her and seizing her wrist, tugging her close to his back.
The three tigers growled and snapped their fangs at him as they eased out of the undergrowth, moving to surround her and Grey.
Instinct roared to the fore, the need to fight blazing to life inside her to burn away her control, and she bared her fangs at the tiger nearest her as he prowled closer.
Grey growled and let the bags drop from his shoulders.
Clothed as he was in a thick jumper and jacket, and his jeans and boots, performing a shift before the males attacked him would be impossible.
She didn’t stand a much better chance in her thick leggings and dress, and the knee-length coat she wore over the top.
Both of them were strong in their human form, their hellcat genes meaning they could match the strength of the tigers, but they would be vulnerable. Three on two were bad odds, and the tigers’ claws and fangs would give them the edge.
Grey moved closer to her and whispered, “Run when I say.”
“No.” She couldn’t leave him.
Wouldn’t.
He was strong, agile, an experienced fighter, but even he had his limits. Three on one were impossible odds for him. He looked over his shoulder at her, something shining in his blue eyes that tore a cry from her throat and had her shaking her head.
She wasn’t going to let him sacrifice himself so she could survive.
She stepped past him before he could stop her, intending to launch herself at the tiger in the middle of the group.
A male voice thick with a Russian accent stopped her cold.
“You intend to attack my bride?”
A chill went through her.
Pyotr.
The three tigers lowered their heads and backed away, disappearing one by one into the scrub. Footsteps sounded behind her and she felt Grey tense, but she couldn’t convince her body to move as her nerves raged out of control, fear of seeing her intended mate for the first time freezing her feet to the forest floor.
The male said something in Russian.
Cold slithered down her spine.
She was his beloved.
He would never be hers.
She would never love him.
Because she was in love with another.
Her fated male.
Maya turned on her heel to face Pyotr, felt nothing as she looked into his golden eyes and his broad mouth curled into a warm smile.
He was handsome, with tousled short hair that matched the colour of his eyes, and a tall broad frame, but he did nothing for her.
Her heart called for another male, one with red hair and pure silver eyes, one who had awakened her soul and brought her to life.
She forced herself to bow her head to him though, to show him the courtesy and respect he would expect from her. That was all he would ever have from her—only as much as was necessary and expected.
“Maya,” Pyotr said, his tone light, almost playful. “You do not need to be so meek around me.”
If that was meant as an invitation to be wicked, to be wild, she was going to have to turn him down. She had no intention of being anything like that with him. Soon, it would be his right to claim her as his mate, but all he would touch was her body. He would never touch her soul. He would never reach her heart.
“Come, come.” He beckoned her, and she went to him, didn’t stop him when he placed his arm around her shoulders and led her towards the village in the distance. “It is lucky I came upon you when I did, no? My warriors are a little… agitated… they crave a fight I cannot give them now.”
Her blood chilled another five degrees as she caught the meaning in his words.
He had stirred his males up with a need to fight in preparation for sending them to her pride if she didn’t show, and she had disappointed them by appearing as promised.
How long would he have given her before he had sent his males to attack her kin?
She looked up at his profile, trying to see the male Talon had painted him to be. Was he really a vicious bastard? As cruel as the rumours said?
He turned a dazzling smile on her.
“Do you like what you see?” His smile widened, his golden eyes gaining a spark she didn’t like as his pupils dilated and she sensed he wanted to look her over, wanted to take in her body and see what the pact with her pride had gotten him.
She didn’t nod.
She averted her eyes, because if she had kept looking at him, he would have seen the loathing in her, the disgust and the desire to leave him.
“You will warm to me soon enough.” He patted her shoulder.
Grey growled quietly from behind her.
Pyotr looked back at him. “You are welcome to stay until the ceremony is complete.”
She could just picture the look Grey would give him in response to that. Her brother wasn’t very good at hiding his feelings. He had a habit of showing it all on his face.
Pyotr’s smile held as he shifted his golden gaze down to her again. “Your brother is not very talkative.”
She managed a small smile and tried to sound light and cheerful. “It has been a long journey and I’m afraid both of us are not in good spirits.”
“Ah.” He nodded. “Of course. It is a long trek to the pride. I am sorry we do not have a road to our pride, as you do near yours. Relocating to that small reserve in South Wales must have been difficult for you all.”
Her blood chilled further.
How did he know where her pride were?
Byron had sent word to him about sending her before the pride had left the old village at Tèarmann in Scotland, before her brother had even decided upon where their next home would be located.
She masked her shock, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing it. He was making a statement, making it clear that he knew where Byron and her pride were, and that his warriors were ready to go there. All he had to do was say the word.
He was threatening her.
Grey growled again, and she wanted to echo him.
They entered the boundary of the village, a gathering of small single storey cabins that all faced each other in a wide circle, with a larger one directly in front of her. Pyotr’s cabin. Her skin crawled at the thought of living there.
The three tigers who had threatened her and Grey slunk out of the undergrowth on either side of her and she frowned at the one on her left as he shifted back, transforming into a huge male with jet black hair and near-black eyes.
They had been stalking her and Grey, keeping watch over their alpha, ready to attack if either her or her brother attempted to hurt him.
The other two shifted back and the three walked off together, naked and unabashed, strolling through the village towards the centre where a huge fire blazed.
Shock danced through her as she looked there.
Other males walked around naked, chatting and laughing, sharing a drink. There were two more off by one of the cabins too, sharpening knives on a whetstone.
What kind of pride was this?
The most modest it got was a male who was wearing an apron while he crouched in front of the fire, cooking something.
She looked at Pyotr.
He casually shrugged. “My warriors prefer the freedom to shift.”
From where she was standing, it looked more like his warriors enjoyed walking around naked in front of the females who moved around the small village.
Females who were few
in number.
She counted only three.
Were there more in the buildings?
At least the three she could see were clothed, although they all wore the same drab grey dress with a white pinafore tied over it.
“Come. I will show you to your temporary quarters.” He beckoned one of the females, and the brunette obediently came to him, her head bowed the whole time. “Take the male to his cabin.”
“I’ll stay with Maya,” Grey said, but Pyotr ignored him and led her away as the female tugged on Grey’s arm, trying to pull him in the other direction.
The males watched Maya as she walked through the village, their eyes drilling into her. She kept her eyes off them, not interested in seeing them naked and getting the feeling that some of them wanted her to look at them. Several of them stood as she approached, their hands settling on their hips, trying to draw her focus there.
Pyotr growled at one, and the blond cast him a black look before he moved away, returning to speaking with another male.
Why had Pyotr felt the need to challenge the male and warn him away?
He was alpha, a position the male should have respected, and as far as she knew the entire pride were aware she was here to become his bride.
She looked back at the male, curiosity sparking to life inside her, but Pyotr moved, blocking her view with his chest, and growled at her.
He pushed her forwards, and she stumbled over some wooden steps and almost hit the door of the cabin.
“I am sorry,” he muttered, that smile back on his face when she risked a glance at him, and gently righted her. He raked his eyes over her, concern warming them. “You are not hurt?”
She shook her head.
He opened the door and ushered her forwards into the small cabin that consisted of a single room that had a bed in the right corner and a pair of comfortable looking armchairs nestled around a fireplace to the left.
Maya stepped inside.
Pyotr followed her.
The door shut behind him.
She turned to say that it was a charming place.
His hand closed around her throat.
Her back slammed against the wooden wall.
His growled words chilled her to the bone.
“You are mine now.”
CHAPTER 13
Maya swallowed hard, her throat aching under Pyotr’s fierce grip as he leaned towards her. She pressed back against the wall, her heart thundering and blood racing as fear sank icy claws into her heart and squeezed it.
“You are mine and I will not share you with anyone,” he growled and pressed closer, gripped her throat harder.
She stared at him through wide eyes, reeling as his reaction to the male suddenly made a sickening sort of sense.
The females in his pride slept with more than one male, were shared between them all.
Her stomach turned, bile rising up her throat.
Pyotr moved closer still, pressing the length of his body against hers and pinning her to the wall with it. His grip on her throat loosened and he smoothed his palm over her cheek, the anger that had been in his golden eyes melting into a soft look, one that had her hackles rising and warning bells jangling in her head.
He canted his head and gazed at her, and she could almost fool herself into believing he was the male he had been outside, gentle and tender, caring.
But he wasn’t.
He was far from those things.
Talon had been right about him.
Pyotr brushed his knuckles across her cheek, his gaze drifting to follow his hand, and he became absorbed in touching her, his air distant and lost.
She risked a glance at the door, the need to escape and find Grey pushing her to act.
His hand closed around her throat again and he growled low, a warning that rang through her and had her freezing against the wall, afraid he would go through with it and hurt her if she dared to move.
He rubbed his thumb along her jaw and over her chin, forcing her head up, so her eyes met his.
“I have been waiting so long for you,” he murmured softly, warmth back in his eyes. A shadow shifted across them a moment later, chilling her. “My own female… my female to own.”
Her stomach twisted again.
Gods, she needed to get away from him.
He lowered his hand to her chest and she tensed, going rigid as he slowly stroked his palm over her breasts, his eyes tracking his hand, darkness mounting in them as he touched her.
“I have been dreaming of this moment… of having you.” He lifted his golden eyes to hers. “I have made a place for you in my cabin. I will keep you there, all for me.”
She wanted to shake her head at that, the thought of becoming his captive sending her pulse rocketing faster, that fear squeezing her heart tighter. No. She didn’t want to spend the rest of her life locked in a cage, a slave to this male, letting him do gods only knew what to her because he thought he owned her.
She wasn’t an object.
The females of his pride might do whatever the males wanted, but she wasn’t one of them, had been raised to be strong, to be something more than a whore, a breeding bitch for males.
She slapped his hand away.
Pyotr growled and shoved her back against the wall, using his strength to keep her pinned there, and she fought him as he dragged her skirt up and palmed her crotch.
“This is all for me,” he snarled. “Get that into your head. You are mine now. Your brother gave you to me… and I will do as I please with you.”
“No.” She swung wildly with her left hand and he grunted as it connected, smacking hard into his cheek and knocking his head back.
She had been stupid to go along with this, for fooling herself into thinking it would work out fine and Talon had been wrong about Pyotr.
This wasn’t where she wanted to be. She wanted to be with August, needed him with her and ached for him so fiercely, her heart crying out for him as she slapped at Pyotr, driving him away from her.
“Bitch.” Pyotr caught her right fist when she tried to punch him and twisted her arm, ripping a cry from her lips as white-hot pain lanced her bones. He shoved her back against the wall. “Someone needs to teach you to respect the males of your species.”
He pulled at her skirts and she kicked at him, frantically struggling to break free before he could do something terrible to her, something that would break her.
There was a knock at the door.
A familiar scent teased her senses, gave her comfort and strength.
Grey.
Pyotr glared at the door, collected himself and stepped back. He looked back at her as she righted herself and straightened her clothes with trembling fingers.
“You dare disobey me… and your family will pay.”
Maya lifted her head to look at him.
He struck her hard across her cheek and she slammed into the wall near the door and collapsed to her knees, pain spider-webbing over her skull, her ears ringing, and the taste of blood blooming on her tongue.
The next thing she knew, gentle hands had her, gathered her into strong arms that tore down her strength and had her clinging to their owner as hot tears spilled down her cheeks. She buried her face in Grey’s neck, unable to stop the sobs as they wracked her, and her heart and mind mocked her with the fact she had been stupid, an idiot to think coming here had been the right thing to do.
She had been a fool to believe that she would have a good life here, one where she was part of the pride, helped everyone who needed it and lived as part of their family, doing the duties of an alpha’s mate.
She was going to end up shut in Pyotr’s cabin, used whenever he wanted, treated as a slave. She would never see the light of day again.
Gods, it terrified her.
She squeezed her eyes shut, pressed closer to Grey and battled the fear rushing through her and the terrible things it whispered to her, evoking images that left her cold and trembling.
As the pain in her cheek faded
, and those voices quietened, her strength slowly returned, Grey’s gentle words of comfort and the shield of his arms around her restoring her balance and clearing her mind.
No.
Coming here had been her only choice. If she hadn’t shown up, Pyotr would have dispatched his warriors to her pride, and she had the sickening feeling that they would have returned with Byron as their captive, so their alpha could make an example of her brother.
She had the feeling that if she disobeyed Pyotr now that he would do the same, only he would be making an example of Byron in front of her, showing her what happened when she didn’t do as he wanted.
And if Byron’s death wasn’t enough to break her, Talon’s or Grey’s would follow.
Only she wasn’t going to give him a chance to hurt her brothers.
“I’m going to kill him,” she whispered against Grey’s neck and he stilled.
“Not a good idea.”
She didn’t want to hear that. She pushed back, her senses stretching around her, beyond the walls of the cabin, monitoring everyone who moved around the village.
Two males stood outside the door, both of them from the group of three tigers that had come upon her and Grey in the forest.
A female was with them.
“I’m going to do it,” Grey said, voice darker than she had ever heard it. He stood and she grabbed his wrist, stopping him. He looked down at her, his blue eyes glittering with frost. “I’m going to kill him for hurting you.”
She shook her head and looked at the door. “There are too many of them.”
Pyotr had an entire pride of warriors at his back.
If Grey tried to attack him, those warriors would be quick to defend their alpha, and she would lose her brother. Grey would become the first of her brothers that Pyotr killed in front of her, and she feared his death would be all it would take to break her. She couldn’t lose him.
He turned stormy eyes on the door, his jaw tensing as his lips flattened in a hard line and his silvery eyebrows drew low.
She could feel his fury, his need to fight and punish the one who had struck her, and that it was hard for him to deny that need.
“Please, Grey,” she whispered and he glanced at her, sighed as his shoulders sagged and he turned away from the door, coming to crouch in front of her. “He’ll pay… but we need a plan… we need to do this together.”
Tamed by a Tiger Page 10