Prime Series Collection: (Broken Prime, Prime Desire, Mated Prime)

by Tiffany Allee

  Evie sipped the hot coffee, happy to have the liquid to clear her suddenly tense throat. “It’s a lot to take in. But I promise you, it’s not a world of nightmares. There’s good in it, too.” The temptation to tell her about her best friend, Daniella, was fierce. But the prime’s mate had only recently discovered that she was a weretiger, and it was her secret to share with her childhood best friend, not Evie’s.

  Annabel glanced at her, and her eyes widened. “You’re not—”

  “No.” Evie gave her what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “I’m as human as you are.”

  Annabel relaxed again. “I’m sorry for suggesting otherwise. I just have to admit, I’m not sure what to believe anymore.”

  “It’s understandable. But you should know, even though they’re…different—not exactly human—as human as us plain old humans anyway—doesn’t make them all bad.” She wasn’t sure she was explaining right, but how else to put it? She couldn’t reassure Annabel the vampires and weretigers and whatever else weren’t dangerous, because that would be an outright lie. Even Nicolas, under the right circumstances, could be very dangerous.

  “I’ll admit, seeing Nicolas like that…it threw me. He seems like such a nice guy.” She settled back into her chair, bringing her legs up to cross in front of her body.

  “Nicolas is a good man. The best man I’ve ever known. And I love him more than anything.” She hesitated. “But I won’t lie to you. It scared the hell out of me when he first changed in front of me.”

  Annabel cracked a smile. “I’ll bet. There’s gotta be a good story there.”

  “He saved my life. I got lost in a snowstorm in the mountains, thought I was done for. Luckily, weretigers hear very, very well. It was only later, after—” She cleared her throat, her face heating, and she ignored Annabel’s knowing smile. “Well, let’s just say it was quite a shock. But, it helped that he saved me before I knew what he was.” And had given her the most amazing orgasms of her life, but there were some things Annabel didn’t need to know.

  “I imagine that would help.” Annabel set down her coffee, and her hand was visibly shaking.

  Gently, Evie said, “You can take Corbin up on this offer, you know. There’s no reason for you to have to know about this world if it’s not something you want.”

  Annabel wrapped her arms around her middle, hugging herself. “It’s tempting. But I’d rather know the monsters are out there than count on ignorance to keep me safe.” She shot Evie a sidelong glance, then added, “No offense.”

  A short laugh escaped her. “None taken. They do seem a little monstrous, at first.” And she was pretty sure the vampires would seem scary after any given amount of time—even the deceptively human Corbin.

  “Nicolas is a good man—I can see that. It’s obvious, but still…” She shook her head. “Not sure I could live in that world.”

  “You’d be surprised what you are brave enough to do when you love someone.”

  “Maybe so. But it won’t be easy. For you, I mean.”

  Annabel’s echoing of Evie’s own thoughts struck a chord inside of her, but she had already decided how she was going to live her life. “Worthwhile things never are.”

  Chapter Eight

  The wind whipped up, bringing the smell of a car burning oil to Evie’s nose, and she cringed. How could a whole group of tigers live in such a crowded place full of powerful noises and smells for such a long time?

  She shook her head at the thought. It wasn’t something these shifters would have to worry about now. She picked up a box of one of the tiger’s belongings and carried it to the moving truck that Nicolas had rented to take some of their things back to Colorado.

  Most would be bringing their RV’s with them—their gypsy lifestyle coming in handy until more cabins could be built. But a couple of the homes were too old to transport so far. Those shifters would be given temporary housing, but Nicolas was intent to help them take as much of their stuff as they could.

  She dropped the box into the arms of one of the tigers—the teenager, Tyler.

  “Thanks,” he muttered, avoiding her gaze.

  She frowned, unsure how to respond. The tigers hadn’t exactly welcomed her with open arms this morning, but they hadn’t been hostile, either. It was…odd, considering how they’d reacted to her the last time they were here. “You’re welcome.”

  Maybe…just maybe, they were learning to accept her?

  When he didn’t say anything else, she headed back to one of the stacks of boxes waiting to be carried to the truck. But a woman waited at the pile, arms crossed and a most unwelcome look on her face.

  Her stomach dropped, and with it, her hopes of acceptance.

  “Can I help you with something, Dara?” she asked, barely keeping her tone polite. The woman had never been anything close to polite to her in return, but she was Nicolas’s aunt, and in Evie’s mind, that meant she had to try. To a certain point, anyway.

  “We need to talk,” Dara said, then without waiting to see if Evie followed, she turned and walked away.

  Evie suppressed a sigh and seriously considered ignoring the woman and loading up another box. But she couldn’t put her off forever, and getting this confrontation over with now might mean she didn’t have to worry about it sneaking up on her in the future. Maybe.

  Dara led her a short distance away— probably just far enough that the other tigers couldn’t easily overhear them—before she halted and turned back to face Evie. Her expression was anything but warm.

  “I do not care for humans. They’re weak. Prey.” Her eyes flashed green. “A royal mating with a human is a waste of a bloodline.”

  Anger rushed through her. “Nicolas is mine. And that will never change,” she snarled.

  Dara’s lip twitched. “Things would be easier if you were a tiger.”

  “Too bad. Life isn’t easy.”

  “Truer words…” A smirk touched her lips. “We heard about your meet with the master. Your protectiveness of us was…unexpected. As was his approval of you.”

  What the heck did tigers care about a vampire’s approval? And how had they heard anything about the confrontation already? The freaking other world grapevine was worse than a high school, the way rumors traveled. “Was it really that surprising?”

  “You are a human.” She grimaced. “I’m not doing a good job of this.”

  Evie almost gave her an easy out but couldn’t quite bring herself to do so. “No, you’re not. What are you trying to say, Dara?”

  The woman’s eyes narrowed, but there was humor in her gaze. “My apologies for how I treated you.”

  Despite herself, Evie grinned. The words were so difficult for Dara to say that it was almost grating to listen to her force them out. “Was that really so hard?”

  She snorted. “Who’d have thought it? A human with a little tiger in her, after all.”

  Chapter Nine

  The fresh Colorado air, free of the heat that had weighed Nicolas down in Chicago, filled his lungs. Above his head, rain pattered on the metal roof that extended over the deck. Early summer in the mountains meant rain every afternoon, but the morning would bring back the sun.

  Even after a week since their return to the mountains, he was still shaking off the sounds and smells of the city.

  He sensed movement behind him and lifted his arm. Evie snuggled up against him and he hugged her close.

  “The cubs are settled for the night,” she said.

  They’d arrived the week before and had gone immediately to work getting all of the Chicago tigers settled in their new home—as well as they could until more permanent homes were built for them. Erick had greeted them with reservation and a seriousness that was suitable to new tigers in his territory, and yet, Nicolas had found himself bristling at his brother’s attitude.

  “You okay?” Evie asked, looking up at him.

  “They aren’t mine.”

  Amazing as always, his mate didn’t ask him to explain. “You brought th
em here. Took responsibility for them from the master of Chicago. It’s no wonder you’d feel like they were yours to look after.”

  “How I feel isn’t relevant.”

  She snorted. “It is to me.”

  In answer, he pressed a kiss against her forehead.

  A long moment passed while they watched the rain together. His mate broke the silence. “I know we were going to head home tomorrow, but I’d like to stay. At least a little longer until everyone settles in.”

  He didn’t let his reaction show, but surprise ran through him. After everything that had happened the last couple of weeks, he’d thought his mate would be eager to put as much distance between herself and the rest of his clan as she could. “Are you certain?”

  She turned in his arms, facing him, and gripped his collar. “As long as I have you, I’m happy.” Her serious expression faded, and she grinned up at him mischievously. “Besides, I’ve been told I have a little tiger in me, too.”

  He hugged her close, swallowing down a surge of love that threatened to bleed out. How in the hell had he gotten so lucky?

  It didn’t hurt that the tigers seemed to have taken a shine to his mate. He’d noticed their changing attitude the day after they’d met with the master of Chicago, and they’d become increasingly respectful of her during the trip back. A week into settling in at Colorado, and they’d become…not quite affectionate, but damn close.

  The rain eventually rolled away, and a restless day faded into a sleepless night. The next morning when Nicolas awoke, the sun shone, startlingly bright through the guest cabin’s windows. When the scent of coffee reached Evie, she joined him on the deck for a morning chat. Then they dressed and headed for the main house.

  Their destination was the dining hall, where the tigers gathered for community meals. Not all families visited the community area on a daily basis and took meals there, but enough did that the building was always buzzing with activity. And it was where unmated tigers without families gathered. It was a place to find a hot meal that you didn’t have to cook yourself after a long day of work.

  Nicolas took a deep breath of the fresh air. Chicago had been interesting, but he couldn’t get out of there fast enough. He still struggled with the idea of an entire pack of tigers—albeit a small one—surviving there for so long. They had been worn down the last decade—and the thought of it brought a growl to his throat. The tigers had lived a hard life, but they were good people. And that was becoming more obvious every day as their wariness of strangers faded. They deserved the best possible chances.

  Gravel crunched under his feet as they approached the main house, when another sound drew his attention. He halted, listening.

  “What’s up?” Evie asked.

  “Something—” he turned off the path and headed south down a lesser-worn trail. He moved quickly, but not so fast that Evie couldn’t follow. The sounds touching his ears were violent, and he wouldn’t risk letting her out of his sight.

  They emerged in a clearing not far away. Two of the teen boys from Chicago were shouting at each other. Both were covered in dirt and bruises. The fight had obviously been going on for a couple of minutes, at least. On the other side of the clearing, Erick strode toward them.

  “Stop fighting. Now.” The prime didn’t raise his voice much louder than his normal tone, but he drew the attention of everyone in the clearing. Everyone but the boys he was trying to break up. Instead of stopping, the younger, slightly smaller one—Tyler—used the momentary distraction to get a shot in at the other boy’s face. The other boy cursed and lunged, taking Tyler down with a tackle that would be suitable for any football game.

  Erick headed for them, no doubt ready to break up the fight by force. Without thinking, Nicolas shouted, “Stop.”

  They stopped.

  Erick halted, expression fierce.

  The few other people in the clearing—including a group of teenage girls on the other end who looked suspiciously guilty—stared.

  Erick’s hard expression turned to Nicolas. But when he spoke, it was to the boys. “You will run off your hormones, down to the main road and back. Then you will report back to me.”

  He didn’t bother to make sure his orders were followed because the boys knew better than to argue now that they weren’t in the midst of their fight. They started to run.

  Erick gestured with his chin at Nicolas. Then he turned, once again expecting his order to be followed, even one unspoken. Nicolas hesitated, something inside of him rebelling at the idea of so easily giving in to his brother’s command. A small hand touched his elbow and he looked down to see Evie’s concerned expression. Together, they followed the prime.

  Erick didn’t go far. He led them through the main house. Back to an office Nicolas knew Erick made use of whenever he could restrict himself to such a small space. The room was full of handmade wooden fixtures.

  “This is the third time something like this has happened. And they refused to acknowledge my authority without violence to back it up. Yet, when you speak, they listen.”

  “They aren’t ignoring your orders rebelliously. I think they’re doing their best, and they shouldn’t be punished simply because they don’t instinctively follow you yet.” Nicolas’s hands clenched at his sides. Probably wasn’t healthy to argue for the Chicago shifters, but he’d been the one to save them, the one to bring them to their new home. He was responsible for them, and the weight of that responsibility wasn’t something he could shrug off, even if he’d wanted to. “Internalizing your authority will take time.”

  “They’ve been here nearly as long as they were with you. And if anything, their rebellion is getting worse.”

  “You can’t expect them to adjust to an ironfisted prime in a week,” Evie said, outrage leaking into her voice.

  “Whether they realize it or you acknowledge it, they have bonded with you.” He glanced at Evie. “With you both.”

  Nicolas stilled. Bonding was something that happened naturally over time within clans, within any group of shifters. The bonds that held tigers together weren’t as tight as those of pack-oriented animals like werewolves, but they could still form. It was what held the pack together, or the clan together, during rough times. It was the reason a royal—a tiger able to fully shift—was so necessary to lead a clan. The power involved in making a full shift was the same type of magic that seemed to be necessary to bond a group of tigers tightly. But bonds tended to form over time—long periods of time.

  “That’s unlikely,” Nicolas finally said. “They’ve known me less than two weeks.”

  “And yet—” Erick gestured, some of his frustration leaking through.

  He chose his words carefully. “If what you’re saying is true, it wasn’t intentional.”

  Evie brushed up against him, and he gave her a reassuring look. Questions danced in her eyes, but she didn’t push him. No doubt she would later when they were alone.

  “I’m not asking if it’s your fault. I’m asking what you’re going to do about it,” Erick said, voice gruff.

  Nicolas looked up then stilled, holding his brother’s gaze. He’d never been on such shaky ground before. Erick could take this as a defiance of his authority. As if sensing his mood, Evie grew still and quiet next to him.

  “Is that a challenge, brother?” Nicolas asked. If Erick perceived Nicolas’s bond with the new tigers as a threat to his leadership, he was well within his rights to challenge him to a fight.

  A fight to the death.

  His brother cocked a brow. “Do you wish to lead the clan?”

  “No.” And that was the God’s honest truth. The clan as a whole was large—over a hundred tigers. The thoughts of having to lead that many cranky, tough-to-wrangle cats hurt his head.

  “Good. I’ve no wish to pass you leadership. However, these new tigers—few though they may be—are a problem.”

  “Maybe being a prime isn’t your brother’s destiny alone,” Evie murmured.

  Erick’s eyes locked
on Nicolas’s mate, and Nicolas stifled a growl.

  “What was that?” Erick demanded.

  She didn’t wilt under the prime’s gaze, but Nicolas could hear her heart rate jump. “Something the vampire master of Chicago said. I think he sensed Nicolas has the necessary qualities.”

  Silence reigned for a long, awkward moment as Erick considered her words. “What are you suggesting?”

  Nicolas was curious himself. And his mate shot him a nervous glance before she spoke. “Perhaps the Chicago tigers should settle up by us. The northernmost part of your territory. We could…watch them for you.”

  The way she worded her suggestion would have been funny if the situation hadn’t been so serious.

  “That would be highly unorthodox,” Erick said, then turned to Nicolas. “You would, in essence, be their prime. We would have to work together, you and I.”

  This time, the inappropriate laugh escaped him, short and biting. “Stranger things have happened.”

  A hint of a smile touched the prime’s lips. “True. You would be in favor of this?”

  Nicolas straightened, pulled Evie close, and answered truthfully. “I would be honored.”

  Epilogue

  Annabel peered out her front window, trying in vain to calm her thundering heart. A man lingered in the shadows, too far from the streetlights for her to make out any of his features.

  And yet…

  Something about the way he leaned, relaxed and utterly unconcerned. Something about the way his gaze lingered on her building. Something ethereal, told her who it was.

  As if he could hear her thoughts, he stepped into the light. Even at a distance, she could see the slightest smirk touching his lips.

  Corbin.

  Want to be the first to know about Tiffany’s new releases? Join her newsletter! Updates will be delivered right to your inbox. No spam!

  Claiming Their Royal Mate - Sneak Peek