by E A Price
He looked up to see Lauren diligently working, and he considered that in a matter of years it would be her turn, and for some reason, that thought made him and his tiger very uncomfortable.
Three
Five years later
Lauren grumbled and grunted as she dragged the enormous trash bag across her yard.
Carrick was prowling as his tiger. Something he did most nights. His dreams were plagued with memories of his time in the cage. Running and hunting until he was too exhausted to think was preferable.
He paused, his claws digging into the earth as he spied the young tigress. It was gone 3 am; no one else was up or about. She shouldn’t be either. It was too late – or too early – and too dark. Anyone could be lurking about. Nobody was, but there could have been someone. Though it was doubtful on pride land. Still, one of the pride members could have been around, and not all were as friendly as him. His tiger snorted at that. Almost a funny joke – jeez, he must be tired.
The female was mumbling, and he strained to hear her.
“Right, because no one but me can put the trash out. I should just leave it.” She sighed. “But it’s trash day, and I’d just get the blame when it didn’t get picked up.”
She struggled, her worn slipper catching on one of the many toys littering her yard. The tiger had a sudden urge to run to her, to help her. Not a usual impulse for him. Usually, he left his pride mates alone. But he didn’t want to see her struggle.
With a few more restrained curses, she managed to make it to the trashcans. She was wearing nothing but a long t-shirt – pink with a picture of a kitten. It was faded, and the edges frayed, but even the tiger could appreciate the way it clung to her abundant curves. Even in the darkness, he could make out the hard points of her nipples pressing against the material. A hint of her honey scent floated in his direction, and he stilled as unexpected arousal stabbed at him.
Silently, he waited until she was safely back in her house and padded away, trying to shake away the unforeseen desire. No, he couldn’t be attracted to her. She was just a young she-tiger – she was nothing special. What was her name? Laurel? Laura?
His tiger growled.
Lauren, he thought. It was definitely Lauren.
*
“Keep him quiet,” hissed Nita, turning her back on Lauren and entering the house.
Lauren made hushing noises as the cub wailed and balled his fists. Nita was attending a meeting at the alpha’s house. The female wasn’t exactly invited to the meeting – no females were permitted to attend pride meetings, but as she had mated the alpha’s eldest son and was pregnant with their fourth cub, the alpha would not deny her. Which meant Nita had dragged Lauren there to take care of her children.
Nita was not a particularly involved mother, even for a tigress, and Lauren spent a lot of time with the cubs. She thought they were adorable, if a little naughty. Although she feared they wouldn’t retain their adorableness for long. All of Nita’s cubs were males and males in that pride didn’t stay sweet for long. She’d already seen how it would be, the way the alpha, their grandfather spoke to them, telling them how important they were, how males were important and females were submissive. She feared they would be just like their grandfather – misogynistic.
She smiled sadly at the two little boys coloring quietly – for the moment. The youngest of the two stuck his tongue out in concentration as he scribbled mercilessly over the picture of a tiger. The baby curled into the crook of her arm and finally settled. She pressed a kiss to his head and turned to place him in the bassinet.
Lauren froze as she found Carrick just a few feet away, staring at her. She met his gaze by accident and quickly looked away in submission. Her tiger let out a small meow but didn’t seem worried by the male.
A soft rumble came from his chest. The cubs saw him and smiled before returning to their coloring. Lauren envied them their ease in Carrick’s presence. Even after all these years he was still… unsettling.
Most of the pride either feared him or were in awe of the huge male, naturally deferring to his dominance. The alpha just used him to keep other pride members in line, comfortable in the knowledge that in spite of their fear, none of them believed he would make a more suitable alpha.
Lauren wasn’t sure how she felt about him. Perhaps that was the unsettling part. She didn’t know anything about his past before he came to the pride. Huge surprise he wasn’t big on sharing. But she had seen the scars, had seen the violence in his eyes – whatever it was, she knew it couldn’t be good. Maybe she felt a little pity for him. Her tiger – usually so cowardly – didn’t seem to mind him at all.
He gazed at her impassively, and for a brief moment she wanted with all her heart to tell him that it was okay, whatever happened to him, she wanted to make it better. She kept quiet.
His eyes scanned her, and she wished she had some nicer clothes, not ill-fitting jeans and an old hand me down sweatshirt. For a moment, she expected him to say something, but he merely nodded and walked past her, his huge arm brushing lightly against hers as he moved to the door of the alpha’s house.
Never a small girl – being five-ten and curvy – she towered over human women but felt large even next to male tigers, yet Carrick was enormous compared to her. She couldn’t help but enjoy that, after years of taunts about her large size.
Lauren, don’t you think you should exercise more?
Lauren, it wouldn’t hurt to skip a meal or two.
It was perhaps nice to feel dainty. She mulled that over before she noticed little Joey toddling away.
Oh, fudge!
*
The Alpha was talking. He should probably be listening. His tiger huffed. He didn’t care.
Bored of the alpha’s posturing, Carrick’s eyes drifted to the window. The female, Lauren cooed over Nita’s baby, even kissing his forehead. Why? The cub wasn’t hers. Why would she show it affection?
His eyes flickered to Nita, who gazed at the alpha with calculated adoration. He doubted she gave any thought to her children at that moment.
Nita on giving up on ever getting Carrick’s attention settled on mating the alpha’s eldest son.
That was a surprise to Carrick – he had thought the young male – by no means weak – already had a female in mind. Yet, he had fallen to Nita’s charms and his father’s push for him to mate with her.
The male lounged on a chair – as far away from his mate as he could be – and idly listened to his father. If Carrick had cared, he would have found the relationship between father, son and his mate interesting. But he didn’t.
He looked out the window and caught a glimpse of a smile spreading across Lauren’s face as she looked at the two youngsters attacking their coloring.
His tiger chuffed, and Carrick tightened. Sweet girl, he thought grudgingly.
In general, he didn’t have any cordial feelings towards his pride mates. He was there because he had to be, he had no choice. The SEA would not be comfortable with him wandering the world on his own. But he supposed surviving in the pride was as good as surviving anywhere.
For the mere work of an enforcer – namely intimidating anyone the alpha didn’t like – he had his own house and money, and any supply of females to cook and clean for him – not that he wanted that. He shooed them away every chance he got.
Although now and then he knew, under the order of the alpha, Lauren did his washing and ironing. That didn’t seem to bother him as much as the other females being there. She took pains to be in his house when he wasn’t there. Since the last time he caught her there, he guessed she didn’t want to face him. But he knew she was there; he caught her scent, wisps of honey and cinnamon delicately fragrant in his house.
He would never admit it, but his tiger liked the scent, and she was efficient and careful when doing the washing. Yes, she was a sweet girl; he almost wished he was there when she came over.
Not a girl, now a woman, hissed the tiger. She was nearly nineteen.
N
o, she was still a girl compared to him.
Although, as a male, he couldn’t help but notice her soft curves and the way her silken golden hair tumbled down her back like a waterfall... His tiger grinned, and if he could, he would punch himself.
Other than her little sister, she was the only blonde in the pride. Some pride members were white, some were black, but hair and eyes always tended to be black and brown. Lauren had golden, shiny hair with enormous sky-blue eyes.
Carrick shook his head. When the fuck had he started thinking her eyes were sky-blue?
In general, he didn’t notice any female pride members. With the exception of Nita, they were pretty interchangeable. They were loud, chatty and boisterous, talking about inane things while not saying anything of any relevance. Yet, for all their personality, they still bowed under the ruling males of the pride.
A part of him might have been a little piteous, and maybe disgusted by them. They were strong creatures, yet they allowed themselves to be ruled by such idiot males. The females seemed content to allow the males the run of the pride as long as they had a mate, a home, and cubs – perhaps they had this ingrained into them from a young age. It wasn’t a surprise maybe, the need to produce offspring is always strong in shifters, harking back to hundreds of years ago when they lived in the wild, and the infant mortality rate was high.
If he ran the pride… He stopped that thought immediately.
He didn’t run the pride.
He didn’t care about them.
He didn’t care about any of them.
He lived there because he had to, not because he wanted to. They were nothing to him, none of the males, none of the females.
He stiffened trying to hold back a laugh as Lauren took off after one of the escaping cubs. The look of horror on her face was funny and even had his beast amused.
How long had it been since he found anything funny? Apart from Lauren owning a pet rock and calling it Percy. Yes, that was funny, too.
His eyes lingered on her retreating form just a little too long. The tiger rumbled in appreciation and Carrick growled at him to back off.
Perhaps it had been too long since he was with a woman.
Pride females were off limits – they were only for mating, but most pride males slaked their lust with humans in the nearby town – mostly groupies passing through, eager for a chance to be with a shifter. Carrick didn’t bother with them, if he wanted a simpering female, he would take a pride mate. No, the only memories he had of sex were with the female fighters in the cage – those as angry and sexually charged as him.
When he needed to slake his needs he took off for a couple of days to the nearest city and found a brothel. He found a shifter female willing and able to take his rough treatment and give as good as she got, without the disgusting need to cuddle or even know his name. He came back, his wallet a little lighter and sporting new scratch marks and he was set for at least a few months.
His tiger savored the sight of Lauren’s curvy rear bouncing as she ran, just a little too much. She was a girl and a pride member; she was off limits.
His beast almost purred. But that didn’t stop a tiger from having a few x-rated dreams.
*
Lauren settled the baby and took after the scampering cub, her yells of stop and come back only inciting him to run faster and giggle loudly. As she panted and puffed after him, she considered that perhaps a little more exercise would have helped. Especially as he seemed to be getting away.
She was grateful when a pride mate scooped the little terror into his arms.
“Hey, now, where you going, little man?” chuckled Clay.
Joey squealed excitedly as Lauren caught up.
“Thank you, he got away from me,” she gasped.
Clay gave her an easy smile. “No problem.”
He gave Joey a stern look. “You be good for Lauren.”
The cub nodded back seriously before blowing a raspberry.
“An alpha in the making,” laughed Clay.
He passed him back to her, and Joey immediately wriggled, and Lauren put him down, following him as he ran back to the porch to take up his coloring again next to his brother.
Clay followed behind. “Babysitting duty, huh?”
“Oh, yes,” she said awkwardly.
Clay chuckled, and Lauren picked at her worn shirt. He wandered over to the boys and teased them, making them growl in return.
Her interactions with males of the pride were limited. Most showed her disdain. Until she was nineteen and of a matable age she was no use to them, and given the looks she got, most still wouldn’t have a use for her.
But Clay, a few years older than her, treated everyone with an easy charm that endeared him to males and made the females swoon. More than one female was hoping that he would claim her as a mate.
He was better than the alternatives. Everybody liked Clay.
“Bet these three are handfuls,” said Clay, wandering over to her.
She smiled politely, fearing that criticizing Nita’s cubs would only bring pain later.
“Can’t be as bad as my brothers, we used to take hide and seek to extremes when we were kids. One time I hid in the trunk of a visiting uncle – made it all the way to Detroit before anyone noticed I was gone and one time…”
He paused and looked over Lauren’s shoulder.
She spun to find Carrick, framed in the doorway watching them both with hooded eyes. She blushed without thinking, and her tiger let out a yowl of embarrassment. It was silly, she wasn’t doing anything wrong, yet she felt as if she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. A regular occurrence growing up and not one she ever stopped doing in spite of the times her father broke one of her fingers as punishment.
But, Clay seemed just as uncomfortable as her. Was it her imagination or did he stiffen and his smile falter on seeing the huge male?
Clay called out a friendly enough hello and Carrick grunted at him in return.
Hmmm, maybe she should amend her earlier statement. Everyone liked Clay - except Carrick. Clay's natural charm didn’t seem to work on the large male, but then, what did?
Yet, the angry look Carrick threw Clay seemed to come from nowhere, and certainly had Clay squirming, and unable to meet the other male’s eyes.
Clay shrugged, “I better go, my uncle will be wondering where I am.”
“Are you working at the garage?” asked Lauren politely, ignoring Carrick’s snort of impatience. He had closed the door and was leaning against a post. Apparently, he didn’t seem interested in leaving.
Clay’s uncle managed a garage – one of the many pride-owned businesses.
Clay smiled, a dim version compared to his earlier smile. “Yep, he’s teaching me how to fix cars – let me know if you ever need my services.”
“Oh, I don’t even know how to drive.”
No, her parents wouldn’t waste time or money on something like that.
Lauren, it wouldn’t hurt for you to walk – it might help you lose weight.
Clay shrugged. “If you want, I can teach you.”
“Really?” she asked in bubbling excitement.
“Sure, let me know if you’re interested.” He winked. “See you guys around.”
He cast a wary eye over Carrick before sauntering away.
A smile tugged at her mouth. She didn’t know what she liked more – the idea of learning how to drive and gaining a tiny sliver of freedom or spending more time with Clay. Who knows, maybe when the time came he would want her as a mate…
Her tiger mewled at her to be wary. Clay was friendly and flirty with all the females, and she had heard he kept more than one human girlfriend in town. Is that really what she wanted? A male who wouldn’t be true to her? But then, could she possibly hope for anything more than that?
She blushed as she felt Carrick’s eyes boring into her.
“You shouldn’t go anywhere alone with him,” he snapped.
She and her tiger blanched at the domi
nance he put into his tone. But she had no reason to cower – she wasn’t doing anything wrong. “He’s a member of the pride,” she argued.
Her response only served to make him look angrier, and the angrier he got, the larger he looked, and the more his huge muscles seemed to grow. “He’s an unmated male; you shouldn’t be alone with him.”
“So are you, and apart from the cubs we’re alone right now,” she said with only a little tremor in her voice.
He blinked at her, almost as surprised by her words as she was.
Before she could stammer out an apology, he rolled his shoulders, acres of muscles rippled and Lauren wondered when she had started noticing things like that, and why was she noticing Carrick’s body of all people? Though, her tiger certainly didn’t see a problem with Carrick – the muscles looked damn good to her beast.
“He’s a hound dog,” Carrick said in an almost calm voice.
“Shouldn’t that be hound cat?” she asked innocently.
“You know what I mean!” he rumbled in exasperation.
Lauren didn’t know why, but a wave of stubbornness pushed to the forefront of her usually submissive nature. “No, I don’t think I do.”
“He’ll use you for fun, and toss you aside when he’s done with you,” he said harshly. “A male like him will be looking to mate high up in the rankings. He won’t want someone like you.”
It was true, and she knew it the moment he said it. She just wished he hadn’t. Deep down, she knew Carrick wasn’t actually trying to hurt her – but he did. “No, he wouldn’t want someone like me. Can’t imagine why anyone would. If you don’t mind, I’m a little busy, so could you just leave me alone.”
She turned and fussed with the blankets around the baby. Her tiger quavered like a kitten, and she snuck a glance at him, wondering what his reaction would be.
His eyes clouded, but he didn’t look either angry or repentant – not that she would expect the latter. Dominant males would never admit to any wrongdoing. He grunted and leaped off the porch, walking away in long, leisurely strides, not caring as to how she might feel.