Page 60 of Courting the Tiger King

She followed the pull in her chest that she knew would lead her to Wren, stalking through the corridors of the palace without looking at the court gaping around her.

The bond was stronger in this form, pulsing lightly as a tangible thread between them, whereas in her human form it was more like a gentle pull that was subtle enough she could have missed it if she hadn’t been looking for it. But after the ceremony, their bond would be full fledged, linking them together so their hearts would beat as one. Two halves united. The bond was different for everyone, or so she’d heard, withmost able to sense emotions of their bonded and others were supposedly able to speak mind-to-mind.

She didn’t much mind what form their bond took, as long as it satisfied Wren’s curse.

After three turns in a row, Neah knew where she must be headed—the great hall where she’d first found Wren when she’d arrived at court. Passersby grew few and far between the deeper she descended into the palace’s maze, until the thread between them grew taut and she rounded the end of the corridor to find Wren waiting. He looked up, as if sensing she was there, but was unable to see her until the crowd of people exiting the hall parted for her and she emerged from their centre still on four paws.

He grinned, eyes lighting up in the way that made her heart beat faster, and Skye and Gabriel shared identical looks of affectionate exasperation.

“Really? You two can’t go an hour without running off to fu—” Neah nipped at the hand Gabe was waving around and he yelped, not having seen her approach. “Didn’t anyone tell you that biting isn’t nice? Bad kitty,” he said and hissed, the words reminding her of Sonnet and making her huff out a laugh.

She looked to Wren and he frowned as he read whatever emotion was showing in her eyes. Without warning, the shift rippled over her and Wren growled as it left her naked in the middle of the room.

He whipped off his shirt, tugging it roughly over his head before dropping it down over hers, the tight set of his jaw telling her he was struggling as much as she was with this turn of events. She was barely clothed, and Wren’s bare chest was just out of reach, the hard ridges of corded muscle making her swallow.

Skye and Gabriel had turned their backs to offer her some privacy and she called for them to turn now that she wascovered, only to be taken aback by the snarl of warning Wren let loose when his friends set eyes on her.

“Wren,” she chided and he sucked in a ragged breath.

“Sorry, sorry.” His voice was strained. “Ah, maybe you could move back a bit?” Gabe and Skye obeyed, retreating a few steps, and then smirking when Wren called out, “Yeah… A bit more?”

Once they were nearly all the way across the room, Wren relaxed and Neah bit her lip to hold in her laugh. The territorial instincts when a bond is first accepted were notoriously powerful and, frankly, she was surprised she hadn’t had any jealous fits yet.

Feeling more settled with the distance of the other males, Wren took a few deep breaths before looking at her. “Are you okay?”

She shook her head and regretted it when it clearly made Wren’s instincts kick into overdrive again. He was there in a flash, running his hands over every inch of her skin to check for injuries until she shoved him away. “I’m fine, physically. Sorry,” she said and then, after seeing the hurt on his face, added, “You were touching me and you don’t have a shirt on and, well, I didn’t come here forthat.”

His hurt instantly faded and was replaced by a cocky swagger that made her roll her eyes. Worse, Gabe and Skye were laughing at them as Gabe relayed what was being said to Skye, thanks to his shifter hearing.

“Your uncle was lurking outside of Zennon’s door. He knew who she was, and he knew what I used to be.”

That stopped the laughter and Wren frowned. “That’s… odd?”

It was, but ‘odd’ didn’t seem like a strong enough word. But this was Wren’s uncle, she couldn’t just say that to him because of avibeshe’d picked up. Just something about the whole encounter seemed off.

“I… questioned him,” she said, shooting a glare at Gabe when he laughed across the room. “He told me that your mother was the one who mentioned Zennon’s heritage.”

Wren’s brow furrowed. “I’ll talk to her. But you don’t honestly think…”

She shrugged. “I don’t know what to think, Wren.” Obviously she didn’twanthis family to be responsible for the attacks and the attempts to weaken the king, but it had to be someone with motive and access. What better motive than to steal the crown? And what better access than already being a royal? It could explain why the attacks had all been indirect too, not wanting to risk the crown by openly committing treason.

As if the same thoughts had just occurred to Wren, he nodded. “I’ll talk to her,” he repeated, tone more certain. “I’m sure there’s an explanation.”

“I’m sure there is,” she said softly, reaching for his hand and squeezing it. She only hoped that explanation had nothing to do with overthrowing a king.

CHAPTER THIRTY

NEAH

“Here.” Sonnet passed a silver-chained necklace to Zennon, who clasped it gingerly in her palms.

“What does it do?”

“There’s a protection spell in the stone. Anyone with ill intent will be unable to touch you—magically or otherwise. It’s not inexhaustible though, the idea is that it will give you time.”

To get away, to protect herself. Neah’s brows pinched together, wishing this wasn’t necessary. But word of Zennon’s heritage, and her connection to Neah, had begun to trickle out to the court. It was only a matter of time until her sister became a target, this time because ofher.

Sonnet wore her own version of the necklace too, as the officiant for their ceremony she was equally as important as Zennon. Though, at least if anyone came after the witch she had her magic to protect herself.

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