Taken for the Tiger

by Annabelle Winters

  “Bathroom, my ass,” Adam grunted, smiling at Bart as he placed a small box on the wooden tabletop, flipping it open to reveal a massive diamond ring. “I know what you were going for, and I refuse to replace my vault doors again.”

  “You stingy bastard!” Bart growled, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “Can’t escape those dragon’s hoarding instincts, can you? That rock’s the size of a peanut! Let me go down there and select one for our newest couple!”

  Tracy stared at the massive jewel, blinking in astonishment when she realized that it was a gift from Adam to Everett . . . a gift from an Alpha to the newest member of his crew, his family!

  “Um, that’s plenty big,” Tracy squealed, her voice coming out like a squeak. And it was big. Closer to a grapefruit than a peanut! She glanced over at Everett, wondering if he was going to make a wisecrack about her grammar. But she could see he was touched by Adam’s gesture. He’d never had a brother. Never run with a pack or had a tribe. This was new to him. New, and deeply meaningful.

  “You know,” said Ash sweetly, touching Adam’s hand and gesturing towards her chained-up brother Bart. “Bart’s selected every other ring for the women in our crew. It almost seems like tradition now. Let him do it, hon. Come on.”

  Adam closed his eyes and exhaled, and Tracy gasped when she saw wisps of smoke come out of his nostrils. Shit, that whole hoarding-instinct thing was real, wasn’t it?!

  “All right,” Adam said through gritted teeth. He nodded to Magda, who waved her hand and released Bart from the chains. “But let me open the vault for you this time. Just wait until I—Bart! Bart! My vaults! My vaults!”

  But the bear barreled its way down the stairs so fast it seemed astounding for a creature that large, and Tracy had to control her laughter when she saw Adam turn purple with rage, sparks bursting from his nose, mouth, and even his ears. He roared in anger as they all heard a tremendous crash in the bowels of the castle.

  “My vaults,” Adam whispered in resignation, shaking his head as the bear came bounding back up, a diamond the size of a cantaloupe in his paw.

  “All right, Tiger-boy,” Bart grunted, tossing the ring to Everett and winking at Adam. “Do your thing while I calm Dragon-butt down.”

  Bart went over to his smoke-emitting Alpha, pulling him into a bear-hug that would have crushed any normal man—and even any normal Shifter. Finally Adam cooled down and just smiled, and then everyone went silent as Everett stood from the table, turned Tracy’s chair around, went down on one knee, and asked the question that every other man in the room had done.

  “Always and forever,” Tracy said, just like every other woman in the room had once said to her mate. “Always and forever.”

  And everyone clapped as the universe took a snapshot of the moment, filing it away in Eternity’s wedding album, sighing as it remembered that this was what it was all about.

  All the drama.

  All the madness.

  Life and death.

  Darkness and Light.

  Love.

  Just love.

  Always.

  And forever.

  ∞

  FROM THE AUTHOR

  This series took a lot out of me, and I hope you enjoyed it. Do let me know!

  So sad to see these characters ride off into the sunset, but I can feel some more Shifters in our future! For now though, I'm going back to the real world (well, the Annabelle Winters version of the real world . . . ).

  I've got a super-hot contemporary series coming out: CURVY FOR HIM! Take a look!

  Love,

  Anna.

  mail@annabellewinters.com

  PS: And always, do consider my long, insanely hot series of full-length romances: CURVES FOR SHEIKHS.

  BY ANNABELLE WINTERS

  THE CURVES FOR SHEIKHS SERIES (USA)

  Curves for the Sheikh

  Flames for the Sheikh

  Hostage for the Sheikh

  Single for the Sheikh

  Stockings for the Sheikh

  Untouched for the Sheikh

  Surrogate for the Sheikh

  Stars for the Sheikh

  Shelter for the Sheikh

  Shared for the Sheikh

  Assassin for the Sheikh

  Privilege for the Sheikh

  Ransomed for the Sheikh

  Uncorked for the Sheikh

  Haunted for the Sheikh

  Grateful for the Sheikh

  Mistletoe for the Sheikh

  Fake for the Sheikh

  THE CURVES FOR SHIFTERS SERIES (USA)

  Curves for the Dragon

  Born for the Bear

  Witch for the Wolf

  Tamed for the Lion

  Taken for the Tiger

  THE CURVES FOR SHEIKHS SERIES (UK)

  Curves for the Sheikh (UK)

  Flames for the Sheikh (UK)

  Hostage for the Sheikh (UK)

  Single for the Sheikh (UK)

  Stockings for the Sheikh (UK)

  Untouched for the Sheikh (UK)

  Surrogate for the Sheikh (UK)

  Stars for the Sheikh (UK)

  Shelter for the Sheikh (UK)

  Shared for the Sheikh (UK)

  Assassin for the Sheikh (UK)

  Privilege for the Sheikh (UK)

  Ransomed for the Sheikh (UK)

  Uncorked for the Sheikh (UK)

  Haunted for the Sheikh (UK)

  Grateful for the Sheikh (UK)

  Mistletoe for the Sheikh (UK)

  Fake for the Sheikh (UK)

  THE CURVES FOR SHIFTERS SERIES (UK)

  Curves for the Dragon

  Born for the Bear

  Witch for the Wolf

  AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE (USA)

  AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE (UK)

  ANNA'S WEBSITE

  ANNA'S FACEBOOK

  ANNA'S GOODREADS

  ANNA'S NEW RELEASE LIST