Page 47 of Courting the Tiger King

Green marked the floor and she sniffed at it, satisfied that the puddle didn’t belong to her or hers, and when the guard Zennon had knocked down regained consciousness, his eyes widenedas he took Neah in. It was the guard she’d recognised, Dean, and when his muscles twitched, preparing to move, she didn’t hesitate.

Two paws hit his chest, knocking him down as her claws shredded the front of his uniform. If not for the small, human hand that touched her flank, Neah would have killed him.

As it was, she turned and cocked her head, sniffing deeply at the woman beside her who smelled like kin.

“Don’t kill him. We might need him. For information.”

The words felt like being underwater, muffled and warped, but she understood them and backed away from the fallen guard, the stench of his urine making her swat at her nose.

A crowd had gathered around them and Neah couldn’t parse who was friend or foe, a low growl beginning in the back of her throat and slowly growing louder as they continued to whisper and murmur amongst themselves. Brightness made her eyes narrow, the glow belonging to a woman who approached slowly, her hands up as if to signal she meant no harm. Neah snapped at her, not liking the way her magic stung the air around them like tiny wasps.

The girl who was kin was speaking to the witch, the words too fast for Neah to follow, but then her attention was diverted by the arrival of a man. Familiar, and yet not. His hair was peppered with lightness and he approached without hesitation or concern, dropping to his knees in the green puddle and beamed as if death didn’t surround them.

He smelled the same as the other girl, like kin, but when his skin faded away and a black panther took his place, she recoiled. Every instinct telling her to move closer to the girl, to protect. As if realising his mistake, the man reappeared in a shimmer of light.

“Go,” he said and Neah tensed. He couldn’t make her leave the girl. The kin.

“She is mine as she is yours,” he said quietly and Neah allowed one paw to slide back and away. “I’ll take care of her now. You’re needed elsewhere.”

She was? The words didn’t seem correct, and yet a small thread inside of her seemed to throb in response. As if telling her,yes, yes, go, run, find him.

Another paw moved away and then another, until Neah was moving, following the thread inside that pulled her closer. Her pace increased, her paws hitting the ground with a rhythmic thump that seemed too heavy, not quite right.

People dove out of her way or shrank back against the walls even as they exclaimed their surprise, but she didn’t pause. Couldn’t. Just followed the call that drew her in like a siren song.

A man, human, stood outside of the door she wanted. To his credit, he didn’t hesitate, just turned the handle and ushered her in as if this were a regular occurrence. She couldn’t say for sure yet whether that was true. Her surroundings were unfamiliar, but the scent of the male naked in the bed next door echoed inside of her, his soul filling in the crevices of her own, the thread drawing taut as she approached the end of the bed.

As if he sensed her, the man sat up, hair mussed and sheets pooling to his waist before a slow grin curled his mouth. “There you are.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

WREN

The soft closing of the door woke him, a strange swelling in his chest making him feel light headed as he lay perfectly still. Who would come here, into his chambers, uninvited? Was this a precursor to another attack, this time on him directly?

A rumble vibrated through the air, making his skin ripple in response. He dropped the act, sitting upright and squinting into the darkness until his eyes lit on two golden orbs that pierced the shadows surrounding his bed.

He inhaled, knowing what he would scent but needing to confirm it nonetheless. His eyes slipped closed as he luxuriated in it, inher, before he opened them once more and grinned at the tiger in his bedroom. “There you are.”

Neah growled and Wren shivered as the sound rolled over him. He needed to see her. All of her.

Matches sat on his bedside table and he struck one, the drag of the tip against the rough card too loud in the quiet of the room. He almost felt hunted, like she was watching him and waiting—though for what, he couldn’t be sure.

The light flared and he ushered it to the waiting set of pillar candles before waving the stick to extinguish the flame. Gold,soft light illuminated the room, flickering against the stone walls and Wren swallowed hard as he turned slowly and drank in the sight of Neah.

Exquisite. Her fur was thick, her stripes a stark black against the deep russet of her fur. She was larger than he’d expected, he could tell despite the fact that she was hunkered down close to the floor. It was more than likely that she’d come up to his chest if they were both standing, but if he were to transform he knew he’d stand only slightly taller than her.

Wren had been so focused on seeing her, finally in her shifted form, that he hadn’t noticed the smell at first.

“Caritas.”His eyes widened as he threw off the white sheets and darted to her side. “Why can I smell blood? Are you hurt?”

The plaintive whine she uttered in response had his heart beating wildly, unsure, as he scanned her for injuries and found only the blood he’d scented coating her paws and maw.

“It’s okay,” he said quietly, crouching down so he could look intently into her eyes. “Many of us lose control the first time. Everything is new, heightened. If you hurt someone, nobody will blame you.”

She blinked at him and he knew that was all the response he’d get until she was able to shift back. For some, it happened almost immediately and others it took days. Wren had spent a week as a tiger before he’d managed to regain his human form none the worse for wear, aside from a craving for particularly bloody steak.

“I can have a bath drawn, if you like?” He offered this even as he pondered the logistics of getting a tiger into the bathtub in front of the hearth. Neah said nothing in response, of course, and he sighed. Perhaps now was as good a time as any to have some of the more difficult conversations he’d been avoiding—especially when she couldn’t talk back or interrupt him. Hechuckled lightly at the thought and Neah flexed her claws against the hardwood floor.

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