by E A Price
She shouldn’t worry. Carrick was a big boy – he could take care of himself.
Could he? murmured the tiger.
Yes, insisted Lauren. He would probably sneer if he knew she worried about him.
Lauren inhaled and tried to empty her mind. She needed to relax now before her siblings came home from school and she had to look after them.
For some reason, Nita had been particularly vicious the last couple of days, and she was downright pooped. She barely had a moment to herself, and unfortunately, that wasn’t about to change…
Her tiger yowled as her mother rushed into the room and started tapping her thigh. That soon devolved to slapping as Lauren tried for a few more seconds of rest.
“Ow! Mom!” She leaped into a sitting position, scowling at her mother as her beast yawned.
“Lauren, get up.”
“But Mom, I’m tired.” She slumped back in bed, watching as her mother maneuvered her beach ball sized stomach around the room, throwing clothes around as she went.
She growled on seeing Lauren lying down again. “Lauren, you fat lump, get up and make yourself presentable for once.”
“Mmmm.” She sat up and swung her legs off the bed. “What’s happening?”
Her mother’s eyes sparkled excitedly. “Someone is here to see you.”
Lauren found herself caught between wariness and confusion. Nobody came to visit her. “Oh?”
“Yes, so hurry up.”
She pulled a flowery dress out the closet and pursed her lips in distaste. Yes, that one had been from a garage sale. It sagged around the bust and pulled tight around the hips – it was a very odd shape.
Families far down the ranking tended to recycle clothes, but Lauren was a little larger than other females in the pride, so she bought all her clothes second hand. She was lucky to get what she could.
“Lauren! Stop dawdling. Brush your teeth, comb your hair.”
She cringed as her mom pulled out her faded panties and tested the elastic. Yep, they were some funky granny panties.
Her mom finally settled on her best dress. It was plain black, mid-calf and fairly form fitting. It wasn’t too bad, but it was the dress she wore to all her grandparents’ funerals.
Lauren did as she was told, and allowed her mom to pull the dress over her head. She sighed and made distasteful little tuts.
“At least you have nice, clear skin,” commented her mom.
“Ah, thanks?” She still hadn’t caught up to what the heck was going on, and her tiger was getting a little antsy.
Her mother clapped her hands together. “Now get moving before he changes his mind. We might not get this chance again.”
Lauren squinted at her. “He?”
“Yes, he - now, move!”
A couple of minutes later, Lauren breathlessly made her way downstairs, ushered by her gleeful mother.
She gasped on finding the hulking presence of Carrick sitting on their couch.
Her dad hovered around him, his face a picture of fury. “Lauren, Carrick has been waiting.”
She smoothed her hands down her dress and swallowed. “He has?” She looked at her dad and Carrick in bewilderment.
Carrick stood, towering over all of them and looked at her impassively through hooded eyes.
Her father’s eyes bulged and burned the yellow of his animal; her tiger had an urge to make a run for it. Her eyes flickered to the door. Carrick must have noticed, and he took a step forward, blocking her way.
“Carrick is here to mate-claim you,” declared her father with no small amount of relish. He looked almost as happy as if Carrick was there to mate-claim him.
“Claim me? But… why?”
Even her tiger was dumbfounded by this unexpected news. Since when was he interested in females? Since when was he interested in her?
“Lauren! roared her father, “how dare you, you ungrateful…”
Carrick silenced him with a look, and the male seemed to shrink, his scariness quickly evaporating.
“Perhaps you will take a walk with me, Lauren?” murmured Carrick. His voice was low and throaty, almost a purr.
“Of course she will,” gushed her mother.
Carrick didn’t take his eyes off Lauren. She looked at her father and mother both sporting hopeful and impatient expressions.
“Ummm, yes?”
He nodded and walked to the door, opening it for her. She followed, gulping.
He paused at the door. “It’s cold; you’ll want a sweater or something.”
Her mother passed one to her, practically pushing her out of the door. “Don’t screw this up,” she hissed.
“But…”
Nine
Lauren kept her head down. Carrick cast worried little glances at her, and even his rowdy tiger regarded her warily.
She hadn’t cried or burst out laughing when she found out he was making a claim on her. That was something.
His tiger certainly didn’t like the way she was ignoring him. But then, he was ignoring her, too. Not on purpose - he just liked the quiet; it soothed him. Sound, talking, all that jazz bothered him. Though, the idea of hearing her voice appealed to him.
If only he had something to talk about. She was eighteen, and he reckoned he was about thirty-eight. He hadn’t kept a good track of the time in the cage, but he thought that thirty-eight seemed about right, given how old he looked when he got out the cage.
He wasn’t old, exactly. Just old compared to her. Maybe he was no better than the beta… his tiger snarled. No, he was definitely better than that tiger.
What did eighteen-year-olds do? What did eighteen-year-olds talk about?
When he was eighteen he… nope, he had no idea. It was a completely blank slate. The only memory he had of before the cage was the one that came to him the other night, and that wasn’t great. It came to him nightly now, his tiger becoming more and more agitated each time it did.
The red rose before his eyes and he realized through the haze that a small, silky voice was reaching out to him.
He opened his eyes to see Lauren’s worried frown.
“Are you okay?”
He was clenching his fists, and his muscles were trembling. “Yes.” He paused before adding, “Talk to me.”
“What about?”
“Anything.”
She bit her lip. “So ah, seen any movies recently?”
He looked at her for a few moments. “No.”
“I just watched one on the Lifetime channel. It was about this woman who accidentally wished this mannequin to life so he could pretend to be her fiancé and she could get a promotion at work. It all turned out to be a dream she fell in love with her boss in the end.”
“Ah.” She looked at him expectantly, and he reached for something else to say. “Did you enjoy it?”
“Yes, the parts I saw – I was ironing at the time, so I was only half paying attention.”
“Ah. You help out your mother a lot.”
“No, well, yes. I mean it wasn’t her ironing.” She plucked a piece of fluff off her cardigan; her lips turned down. “You know how it is with the pride.”
“Oh.”
She looked up and gave him a slight smile. “Do you want to hear a joke?”
“Sure.”
“What did Cinderella say when her photos didn’t arrive?”
“Ah, what?”
“Someday my prints will come.”
“Oh.” His tiger blinked before rolling around on his belly. Daft beast.
“You see…”
“No, I get it. It was amusing.”
Her smile deepened and a look of amusement shone in her large eyes. “Yes, I can tell by your response you think so.”
A ghost of a smile touched his lips. Not because of the joke – that was terrible – but because of how he was minutely becoming more and more relaxed.
Lauren shrugged. “Lois told it to me. She thought it was absolutely hilarious, but then she is six.”
�
�Hmmm.”
She shivered and rolled her shoulders. Her dress was a little on the tight side. He felt a thrill of desire as her breasts pressed against the fabric, her cold hard nubs pressing out. With just a flick of his claws, he could reach out and tear through the flimsy fabric…. He wouldn’t, but he could, and that knowledge had his beast practically panting like a damn dog. His skin felt uncomfortably tight as he realized that within a matter of weeks, this female would be his.
Mine.
The attraction he had to Lauren was so different to anything he had ever felt – or at least, ever remembered feeling. Usually, he had a need for a female, but desire was different. Desiring a particular female was something he hadn’t felt in a long time, well, apart from the spikes he had received recently – all courtesy of Lauren.
Lauren looked up at him, innocently ignorant of the lewd thoughts creeping to the surface. She bit her lip as the shallow well of conversation quickly evaporated.
He felt a momentary pang of inadequacy. He should be able to talk to her, to interest her – to make her smile as he had seen that fool Clay do so. Why was that so difficult?
It was followed by a flash of powerlessness. Something he hadn’t felt since his time in the cage. The feeling that he wasn’t in control, that everything around him was out of reach. Rage assailed him and his chest trembled as his impatient beast demanded something, anything to take away the hollow rage.
Take her. His animal urged him to take the female before him, make her scream and claw his back, use her body to appease his own until he could no longer walk. He had a hand on her shoulder, her body stiffening at his touch before he could quell that urge. But he did. He got the beast back under control before he could really scare her.
“It’s getting late,” he said quickly.
“Oh, yes.”
“I’ll walk you home.”
He nearly careened her onto the porch before he muttered a goodbye and damned near ran into the woods, hurling his clothes from his body as he went.
A run as his tiger would make him better. He would run and run until he couldn’t feel anything. Until he couldn’t feel the rage or the almost burning need for the doe-eyed female haunting his every thought.
*
Lauren tried to sneak into her house, but she should have known there was no point. Nope, her parents were waiting with matching expressions on their faces that she had never seen before – pride. Yep, apparently her inadvertent skill in getting Carrick to make a mate-claim thrilled them, and actually made them think she was a worthwhile daughter.
“Lauren,” called her father as she tried to run upstairs without talking to them. No such luck.
Her father was almost vibrating with excitement. No little wonder. Her family was low down in the pride, and Carrick was fourth-ranked male without even trying, behind the alpha, beta, and the alpha’s oldest son.
Lauren often wondered why her parents ever mated. All they ever seemed to do was shout and scream, except when they were united in criticizing Lauren. Other than that they couldn’t seem to stand one another. Though their sex life certainly seemed full and loud – the noises that came out of her parents’ room could scar a young tigress for life.
But now they looked happier than she had ever seen them, and it was a little unnerving.
“Are you hungry, Lauren?” asked her mother, like it was a completely normal thing for her to say.
Not, you being fat is an embarrassment to me, Lauren.
Or, if you eat any more, you won’t be able to fit through the door, Lauren.
Or, no male will ever want you looking like that, Lauren.
Hah, shows what she knows. Carrick wanted her. Yes, he does she thought with a slight shiver as her tiger preened. But why? She really couldn’t wrap her head around it.
Lauren sank into a chair, waiting to see what the joke was – there had to be one.
Her father pushed a can of soda at her. “Here, we sent your brother out to the store for this while you were out. Pineapple soda – it’s your favorite, right?”
“Ummm, yes.” She was amazed to realize he knew.
“Disgusting, overpriced stuff,” complained her mother.
Her father gave her a glare, and she quickly changed her tune. “But you deserve it, honey. I also got you some of those little zebra cakes you used to like. I hid them in the cupboard under the sink – they’re just for you.”
“Oh, ah, thanks.”
What. The. Hell. They were acting kind and considerate, and it was freaking her out.
“How did it go?” asked her father eagerly.
“Ummm, fine, we just walked.” They barely talked. She was a mass of nerves, and he was his usual grumpy self.
“That Nita turned up, trying to get you to do her laundry,” sneered her mother. “I told her my daughter was too busy with Carrick, and she didn’t like that.”
“He’ll make a fine mate,” declared her father.
“Yes, you were very lucky, what did you do to attract him?” asked her mother, suspiciously.
Lauren blushed. As far as catching a man went, she had no clue.
“Leave her be, woman, I can smell the innocence on her. He didn’t try anything did he?”
“No!” She thought of the way he had touched her shoulder; she had thought she smelled the stirrings of his arousal, but she couldn’t be sure. Her senses had never been impressive, and she couldn’t imagine that he would want her that way. Why exactly would he when he could have had someone like Nita?
Her mother nodded. “Just remember if he loses interest and finds someone better, your virginity is the only thing that will get you a new mate. When are you seeing him again?”
Yes, it was ingrained in her from a young age that sex outside mating was a huge no-no for female tigers.
“You should have him take you out,” said her father.
“Have him buy you some new clothes, that dress really is ratty.”
“I couldn’t ask him to do that!”
“He’ll be your mate, Lauren, make sure he treats you right from the start.” Her mother darted a disapproving look at her own mate.
Lauren opened her mouth to announce that she hadn’t actually accepted the claim, but her mother cut her off.
“You should go and get some rest; you look puffy. You want to look nice for Carrick.” She gave her daughter a critical look. “As nice as you can, anyway.”
Lauren shuffled out, feeling even more confused. It had been a confusing sort of day. She realized she had forgotten her can of soda and was about to get it when she heard her mother and father talking.
“He’s made a fine choice of our Lauren,” declared her father, almost sounding like a doting parent.
“She may not be the prettiest creature or the smartest and she’s too fat to be attractive, but she’s a hard worker. Doesn’t complain – Carrick must see that.”
“He could do a lot worse than her.”
“Oh yes, she’ll make a fine mate – I’m sure she’ll be like his housekeeper. She’s lucky that looks aren’t important to him.”
Lauren’s cheeks burned with embarrassed rage, and she fled to her room. She looked at herself in the mirror and saw the wildness of her tiger staring back at her; the timid beast was almost urging her to roar.
She shook her head. She didn’t know why she was upset; it was no worse than anything she’d heard her whole life.
The girl no boy could be interested in.
She’d thought she’d found a boy when she was sixteen, a human called Jason. She’d been smitten. Unlike the tigers of her pride, he wasn’t mean to her. He didn’t laugh at her or call her chubby, but he also didn’t care for her. He was just a nice guy; he made it clear that she wasn’t his type - he paraded skinny humans all over town. Jason let her down easy and told her he found her crush cute, but he wasn’t interested. What was the point? It wasn’t like he could be with her anyway – she was doomed to mate a tiger.
Yes, it was inevit
able. Instead of moping, she just threw herself into her life in the pride. After she graduated, she’d hoped to be able to go to community college at least. But being an unmated female meant that she wasn’t eligible for any pride earnings, and her parents weren’t about to pay for it. Plus, she was called upon to work hard for both her family and any other pride member who asked.
She supposed she had a crush on Clay, but then most of the unmated and even some mated tigresses did. But now Carrick…
She bit her lip as she looked at herself in the mirror. What did Carrick see in her?
He wasn’t what anyone would call a dreamboat, but he was the best fighter in the pride, the strongest, the scariest, and very high in the rankings. He didn’t seem like the type to demand anything, but she doubted the alpha would deny him. She couldn’t deny that she had started to see him in a different light, but she was putting that down to her upcoming heats. Yep, that was something to look forward to at age nineteen – burning sexual heats when she’d be ready to conceive. Double yay.
Were her parents right? Did he just want her for some kind of housekeeper? If so why not just have her come over and cook and clean for him. The alpha wouldn’t let her say no if Carrick wanted that. She wondered if it was about… sex. She knew the mechanics of… sex. But obviously, she had no experience. Possibly the most eye-opening experience was cleaning the beta’s basement and his little sex dungeon. Although she told herself that what she saw in there was a little fantastical, not to mention worrying. Surely all those ropes would be just downright uncomfortable?
But if Carrick just wanted a female for that, wouldn’t he have mated Nita? Beautiful, petite Nita.