Tiger's Strength

by Kimberly A Rogers

  I stumbled back a step as the TDS’ statement hit me. Venetia and . . . Roderick. My eyes widened as everything, every interaction between Baran and his mother, slid into place. It also explained why he didn’t truly like Roderick, despite Roderick seeming to be a perfectly decent Tiger.

  When I pulled myself out of my own racing thoughts, I realized that Baran had moved. He sat on the edge of the mattress, elbows propped on his knees and head held in his hands. Knowing the TDS, he was likely regretting letting that skeleton out of the closet. It meant I had to handle him carefully.

  I perched on the edge of the mattress next to him, and then placed a hand on his shoulder. Tension still rolled off him in waves and the scent of shame mixed with stress hadn’t lessened, but he didn’t pull away so that was an improvement. Sliding my hand across his hot skin until I reached the nape of his neck, I started stroking his hair.

  After several minutes, he breathed a shaky sigh and lowered his hands slightly. “In my cubhood, I thought my parents were devoted to each other even though my father was always the more open of the two. Then . . . I was the one who discovered the affair. I was sixteen and had just come home from a training camp for military recruits. My best friend at the time wasn’t around to join me in our usual larks so I went back to our den early. I had heard a noise coming from my . . . from Venetia’s favorite room in the house. I went to check on her and found her in the embrace of a man who was most certainly not my father.”

  He paused for a long moment before continuing, “I went into a rage, certain she was being attacked, and I attacked him. I don’t even remember the attack, only that I had forced him to defend himself. When I came back to myself it was because both of my parents had grabbed me and forced a shift back to mortal form. As I lay between them, bleeding from my own wounds, my father watched Venetia with such sorrow that if I had any energy left I would have gladly attacked her. But he never accused. He only asked her why she didn’t come to him with the truth about the shift in her affections. As though she deserved such . . . consideration. When she attempted to defend herself by claiming I was never meant to find out, he countered that she never meant for him to find out . . .”

  Baran shook his head even though he still wouldn’t look at me. “Instead of acting with the full accordance of the edicts, he asked her if it would make her happy to leave. She told him that her heart had never been in their marriage. I saw the pain those words caused him, but he still didn’t lash out at her. What he told her has long haunted me. He said, ‘I will not keep you with me if you will not be happy because I love you too much to knowingly inflict unhappiness on you.’ And then he told her to go back to her kin. The last thing she ever said to my father was that it would be better for all if he kept me. Then, she went to fawn over her wounded lover and help him out of the room, leaving us behind.”

  “What did Roderick say?” I asked softly even as I kept combing through his hair.

  “He apologized to my father. As though that excused his actions.” Baran abruptly sat up, running a hand over his face before he added wearily, “Venetia’s departure broke my father’s heart. Her betrayal killed him, and all because she was not content to remain a commandant’s wife since she desired the prestige of moving through the higher social circles. I hated Venetia for years and even now I’ve never been able to completely forgive her for killing my father.” He got to his feet before murmuring, “And because of her, I swore to never do such a thing to my own mate should I ever marry.”

  ΘΘΘΘΘΘ

  Baran

  My entire body tensed as though expecting a blow before I made myself turn around to look at Raina. She still sat on the edge of the bare mattress and was watching me with . . . compassion. She jumped to her feet and wrapped her arms around me, not even caring for the fact that I didn’t return the gesture. If anything, her grip only tightened. “I am so sorry you had to go through that, Baran. It wasn’t fair to you.”

  When she still clung to me, I reluctantly returned her embrace. I kissed the top of her head and rested my cheek against her hair. “You shouldn’t have this reaction.”

  “No?”

  “No,” I responded firmly even as my hold on her tightened. “You should be . . . furious. Disgusted. Asking me to let you go.”

  Raina tsked, and I felt her flick a finger against my side before she resumed her hug. “And you should know by now that I’m not inclined to quit just because something’s hard.” She pulled back a little so she could look up at me. Her green tinged hazel eyes were completely filled with Therian gold. Her lips twitched up into a faint smile before she leaned up and kissed me. “You are still mine, TDS. Skeletons in the family closet and all.”

  I loosened my hold in order to cup her chin. “I’m sorry I allowed her to trick me.”

  Raina’s eyebrows rose. “I could smell how thick she sprayed my perfume. I wouldn’t have been able to smell her out if I hadn’t seen her in the room. And, more importantly I saw you. I heard you.” She reached up, wrapping her fingers around my wrist, as her gaze softened. “And, I know you.” She pressed her lips against my palm, then patted my wrist.

  As much as I didn’t want Raina to be angry or hurt by my mistake, somehow it still felt . . . wrong when she didn’t treat me differently. Especially, when she learned of my sordid family secret. As important as loyalty was to her, she should have been just as appalled as I had been if not worse. Yet, she never said a word even after hunting down fresh linens and helping me remake the bed. She hummed when she changed for bed . . . although she did decide to wear one of my dress shirts.

  I frowned at her as she settled in next to me, pressing close. “Why are you so accepting of this? You should be angry with me. Or at least having second thoughts about marrying into such a sorry family.”

  Raina rolled her eyes. “I told you that your family skeletons don’t bother me. Everyone has them, TDS.”

  “Not like this.”

  “No, they have skeletons like Fringe friendly relatives or some such.” Raina pushed up on her elbow as she added, “As a matter of fact, the Kemp family has some skeletons that could easily top yours.”

  “Now that I find difficult to believe,” I grumbled. “Your father’s reputation is flawless.”

  “Except for being in a peace marriage,” she countered drily. A smile curved her lips as she continued brightly, “I’m sure Aita would be glad to hear you hold his reputation in such high regard. However, the Kemp family still has a rather nasty skeleton. My father’s cousin was married to the Beast of Gévaudan.”

  I stared at her for a long moment. The Beast of Gévaudun was one of the black marks against Therians, especially when he had killed indiscriminately and nearly exposed the survival of shifters in the Old World after the Great Purge. The Beast had been a Lupine and had escaped justice for years until one of the dragon princes had grown weary of waiting on the Therians or Elves to act. He had personally hunted down the Beast several years after the human king of France declared the Beast destroyed, a clever bit of glamour worked by one of the Fae to pull the humans’ attention away. “Your father’s cousin?”

  She nodded. “Technically, she’s an aunt since Aita’s parents raised her as their own daughter. Which some might argue made it worse.” Raina suddenly grinned at me. “Now, admit it. Being connected to a Lupine who went on an embarrassingly successful murder spree is soooo much worse than anything you’ve got in your family closet.”

  When I didn’t respond, she poked me in the cheek. “Come on, TDS,” she murmured in a sing-song voice, “you know it’s true. Just admit it. My family skeleton is the worst.”

  I caught her hand before she could poke me again. “Raina, it’s different.”

  “How?”

  I scowled and she smirked. “I win!”

  “It is not a competition,” I grumbled.

  Raina leaned over to kiss my jaw, then patted my chest. “It’s okay, Tigger. You’re not too contaminated by the Beast being tied to my f
amily tree or that my aunt decided to marry a Lupine.” She wrinkled her nose. “Although why she liked him enough to marry him is beyond me. Well, no, the story is that was her rebellion against status quo. Felidae can hardly rebel more than by marrying into the Lupine or Canidae clans, after all.”

  I caught her hand, pressing it flat against my sternum. “It is not a laughing matter,” I reminded her gruffly.

  “Of course not, Baran.” Her gaze was surprisingly serious even with the shadows softening her features. “But our family’s mistakes are not ours to carry. We make plenty of our own and don’t need to add that weight to the lot. We make our own honor and our own regrets. We do not need to pay for the sins of our families. You were little more than a child yourself when all this happened. Do not blame yourself for the mistakes made by adults. They are not your responsibility. If anyone has ever told you otherwise, then they are wrong.”

  The fierceness in her voice surprised me even as it . . . warmed me. I pulled her down next to me and rested my forehead against hers. Inhaling her scent did far more to soothe me than anything else had this night, reminding me that I could trust her. “I don’t like dwelling on Christmas because my father died Christmas morning of ’45.”

  Raina’s fingers moved through my hair even as her voice softened considerably as she whispered, “We don’t have to do many Christmas things if it will make it easier on you.”

  Despite her tendency to avoid rules and regulations, she was one of the kindest women I had ever met. I murmured, “It’s been . . . over seventy years now. Perhaps, I have been . . . too eager to avoid sentiment.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Something that we should mend together.”

  Raina gave a soft laugh as she wrapped her arms around my neck. But, she didn’t pull away from my kisses. “Sentiment can be fun.”

  “So I’m learning.”

  ΘΘΘΘΘΘ

  Chapter Eighteen

  Raina

  Baran was still sprawled across the bed, completely dead to the world, when I slipped out of our room early Thanksgiving morning. I was pretty sure the mix of stress and then unshouldering a pack of family skeletons were to blame. As much as it worried me to see him in such a state, I was grateful it had wrung him out enough to ensure he wasn’t going to be underfoot for what I was about to do. I was going to have enough issues without adding Baran into the line of fire.

  There was a fresh scent trail for me to follow as soon as I entered the main area of the lodge, and my Leopard stirred as I identified both Venetia and Celeste’s scents. I could almost feel her sharpening her claws to the point I had to glance down to make sure my hands hadn’t partially shifted. They hadn’t. Yet.

  I stepped into a room that smelled strongly of Venetia’s coldness. Celeste was with her, each of them sitting on a little settee with hot tea steaming in their cups. Venetia looked up sharply at my entrance, and her eyes narrowed as the cool smile vanished. “I believe you’ve gotten lost.” Her gaze flicked over my attire of a simple verdant green tunic and dark jeans before she added, “You are most certainly underdressed.”

  I ignored her in favor of focusing on the interloper who had done so much damage. I squared my shoulders as I met Celeste’s smirking gaze. “Get out,” I hissed.

  “What an impertinent mistoa!’ Venetia exclaimed as she lowered her tea cup completely. “I will not have you speak to my guest like that.”

  “She doesn’t deserve to be your guest,” I snapped. My lips quivered as a snarl fought to escape. “Tell her what you’ve been doing, Celeste. It wasn’t enough that you have ignored the fact that Baran is married. It wasn’t enough for you to kiss him like he was yours to kiss. Last night you went too far. Tell her how you tried to seduce my husband after he had already told you no. Repeatedly.”

  Celeste dared to sneer at me as she countered, “He only said no the once because we knew you were eavesdropping on him.”

  “Lies,” I snapped. “I’ve met some brazen women, but you take the cake! Do you have any self-respect at all?” A scoff escaped me before I shook my head. “No, it’s obvious you don’t because what self-respecting woman is going to stoop to chasing a married man? And then when Baran rejected you, you actually tried to seduce him by using my perfume to cover your scent and fool him into thinking you were me. You are a desperate and sad example of a woman. If you had not done so much damage last night, I could almost pity you because clearly you have no concept of love for another person and certainly not for yourself.”

  The Tigress had climbed to her feet as I talked, then she sniffed and sank back down onto the settee. Still the tea cup rattled in the saucer when she picked it up. “I acted only as I was instructed to do by Venetia.”

  Venetia’s sharp inhale was the only warning before her frosty voice intruded once more. Only this time I wasn’t the one on the receiving end of her icy disapproval. “That is not true. I told you that you needed to show Baran what he had given up with this foolish decision to agree to a peace marriage. I never told you to attempt seduction. I wanted you to make him reconsider his choices in life. Attempting to seduce Baran could only end in failure.”

  It took every inch of willpower I possessed not to make a snide remark about how Venetia herself had guaranteed such a thing. Celeste glared at the older Tigress. “I did what you told me to do. How this mutt of a Leopard managed to sink her claws into him when he can feel nothing is beyond me. She is the one who is the blight on your family’s proud heritage. Not me!”

  “Enough!” Veneita set her tea cup aside, rose to her feet, and held her clasped hands in front of her stomach as she looked down her nose at Celeste. “That is quite enough. Celeste, it seems I misjudged your ability to use sense in this matter. It is daylight, and the Vampyre scout is likely far from here by now so you may leave safely.”

  Celeste no longer pretended at composure. I ducked as she hurled her tea cup at me. As the china shattered against the wall, she leapt to her feet and stormed out the door. She paused only once to hiss a vulgar name at me before sweeping out of the room and closing the door with a hard slam.

  As soon as the echo faded, I looked up to find Venetia glaring daggers at me. It seemed our conversation wasn’t over. I raised my chin in stubborn defiance. Good. There was still plenty I wanted to say to my mother-in-law.

  ΘΘΘΘΘΘ

  Madoc looked up from his inspection of one of the snow mobiles at the sound of a slamming door. Bristling anger struck him in the face like a prickly porcupine before he saw Celeste storming down the snowy path, her carry bag in one hand. He frowned at the sight, then quickly smoothed it away as he called her name. When she stopped to look back at him, he smiled. “Celeste, where are you going?” His gaze dropped to her bag before he shoved his hands in his jacket pockets and jogged over to her. “I thought you were to stay through tomorrow at the earliest.”

  “I have had enough hospitality. I am going home.”

  “I can bring the truck around and give you a ride into town,” he offered.

  She shook her head. Her eyes cut toward the lodge once more and a frown pulled at her pretty mouth. “No. I will walk.”

  Madoc stuck to her side as she resumed walking. The thoughts of the Vampyre, and the possibility it could still be in the woods plagued him. His father’s warning from the afternoon before echoed through his mind. ‘We Tigers are strong, but a recently fed Vampyre can be more than a single Tiger can handle no matter his training.’ And Celeste . . . She was hardly a fighter.

  He drew a breath and then lightly touched her elbow. “I wish you would let me drive you. It will be faster.”

  “No.”

  “All right, I know when I’m beaten,” he replied glibly.

  Yet, he still kept pace with her. They walked down the winding drive before Celeste stopped on the edge of the road. She turned and studied him. “Are you offering to help me to spite Baran?”

  “No. I can be a gentleman on occasion.” Madoc winked at her. “Does this mean that you�
�ll let me give you a ride?”

  Celeste smiled, then she managed to surprise him as she grasped him by his jacket and pressed a kiss against his lips. For one brief moment, he let himself enjoy the kiss. But, sense reared its ugly head and he remembered who was kissing him . . . Not some pretty female he had met while dancing or who would be happy with a couple dates before parting amicably. This was the purebred pedigreed Tigress his mother had handpicked for Baran . . . who had been tossed over for a little half-breed Leopardess.

  Madoc shoved Celeste back. “No.”

  The tiger ghosted across her delicate features before she scoffed. “You are just like your brother. Neither of you know how good I could be to you.”

  He frowned at her words, but a truck pulled to a stop before he could demand an answer. Charlie and Simon hung out either widow, their gazes fixed on Celeste as she smoothed her hands over her silver sweater dress. She hadn’t cared enough to put on a coat and now it was clearly working to her advantage since neither Tiger could tear his attention away from her.

  Madoc watched as Celeste smiled at them, but she instinctively approached Simon over his cousin. “Hello boys. I don’t suppose you could give me a ride out of these woods, could you? I need to get back to civilization.”