Her Black Tiger (Alaskan Tigers Book 11) (6 page)

“That’s not going to happen.” He wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her against his body while rubbing his hand along her lower back. “Everything is being taken care of. No one is going to jail, especially not you. Trust me.”

She let him hold her because she wanted to trust him and it seemed easier to do that in his embrace. The moment the touch disappeared she knew the doubt would return. She didn’t what that fear to come rushing back. As much as she wanted his touch, she had to know the one thing that had been bothering her since he came into her life.

She pulled back from him and with his hand resting on her back, she met his gaze. “You want me to trust you, then tell me the truth. I’ve never felt something like this tingling and it only happens when you touch me. I’ve asked you about it, but you’ve avoided the question. Tell me the truth or stay away from me.”

His hand dropped and he stepped back, leaving her empty. She wasn’t sure how to explain what had happened, but it was as if when the contact ended, he stole a piece of her. Part of her wanted to push forward and force him to tell her, while the other part of her want to reach out and touch him. The division within her was like a tug of war, and as the inner battle continued, a wall was erected between them that grew with each breath.

“Just go.” It came out just above a whisper, but from the tightening of his shoulders she had no doubt he heard her.

“You’re mine.”

The edge to his voice sent a prickle of goosebumps along her arms. Who the hell did he think he was? He made her sound like some kind of property. “I don’t think—”

He turned back toward her, silencing her with a single look. “You wanted to hear this.”

Instead of arguing, she sat back down and waited for him to go on. As if unable to look at her while he spoke, he turned back to the window, allowing the silence to stretch.

“From the moment of birth, shifters are destined to find the one who completes them, and on rare occasions it’s more than one. That person is our mate. They complete each other and make each other better.” He pressed his shoulder against the window frame. “You’re my mate.”

Her heart continued to beat against her chest, fast and furious, but time stalled. She was lost in his words and they tumbled over and over in her thoughts, but none of it was making sense. Her gaze scanned over him as she tried to decide if he was insane or not.

“That’s the reason for the…” She wasn’t sure how to describe what happened between them when they touched.

“Yes, the current you feel running through you when we touch is the beginning. It’s how we are able to recognize our mate and it will grow until I’ve made you mine.”

“I’m not some dog you can just claim and expect me to follow along behind you.” Her apprehension was shoved aside and anger took its place. All her life, she worked to be someone and she’d be damned if some man would come into her life and try to possess her. She’d watched her mother go from a strong woman with thick skin and a backbone to someone she no longer recognized. For years after her father was killed in the line of duty, her mother singlehandedly raised her alone while working two jobs to support them. That was until her stepfather swept in and changed everything. He controlled every aspect of her mother’s life, from the clothes she wore, to what she ate, to the people she spoke to. As her mother broke before her eyes, Brooklynn vowed she would never let that happen to her. “Get out…go.”

“Brooklynn…” He stepped away from the wall, but he didn’t come any closer. “That’s not what I want or what I would expect from you. There is no denying you’re my mate. You feel it, too. It’s why you’re drawn to me, and don’t deny it. Try as you might, you can’t hide it. I can see it in the way you look at me. You long for our next touch, just as I do. You’re mine and that means I’m yours. I’d no more expect you to stop being everything you are and follow me around like a puppy dog, than you would expect that from me. We’re both strong-willed people dedicated to what’s important to us.”

“What’s important to you?” Her emotions were jumbled enough that she wasn’t sure if she wanted him to leave or if she wanted him to stay and tell her about his life. She was willing to accept shifters existed because she’d witnessed Ambrose shift before her eyes, but she wasn’t sure if she was willing to accept this idea of mated couples and everything else that went with this whole new world.

“You, Brooklynn. With each moment that we’re together, you grow more important to me.” As if he knew she’d argue against it, he only stopped for a quick second before continuing. “My clan and the future of my kind. It’s why I do all of this.”

“Clan?” she asked, not sure what to think.

“In the wild, tigers are solitary creatures, but when they’re in a group of tigers it’s referred to as a streak. We prefer the term clan because we’re different than our pure animal relatives. Tiger shifters need the bond they have with their fellow clan members and an Alpha to keep everyone in line. Otherwise, a lone shifter could give in to their animal and go rogue.”

A roar echoed throughout the house, shaking fear back into her. She shot upright, sending the chair back to slam against the wall and grabbed the bedside lamp. In the jerk movement, the plug was pulled from the outlet, sending the room into total darkness. The lamp made a poor excuse for a weapon, but she’d be ready for whatever came through that door.
Not again…

I
n the unnerving silence
, a floorboard creaked and Brooklynn sidestepped the chair to step backward.
They’re coming for me…
With her back against the wall, nothing could sneak up on her, but if she wanted to survive again she needed to get out of there. The room was so dark she couldn’t see anything, but she knew Carran was there. Fears welled within her, stealing her voice when she wanted to call out to him. Did he shift as well? Was it contagious, and if one shifted, would others around them do the same? Something brushed against her. It wasn’t the touch of a hand or body, but hair, and in her mind that screamed only one thing—animal. She didn’t have time to think it might be Carran, and she swung with everything she had toward where she suspected them to be.

“It’s me.” Carran grabbed hold of her wrist, stopping her from assaulting him with the lamp before she could do any damage. “It’s okay, Brooklynn.”

“How is it okay?” Her voice barely above a whisper, she tried to determine whether whoever had roared was coming for her. “Donovick’s pack—”

“No, beautiful, you’re safe, I promise. It’s not them. It’s Ambrose, and he hasn’t shifted.” With his free hand, he touched hers. “Give me this.”

“What the hell is going on back there?” A deep voice called out from the other end of the hall, near the living room.

“We’re fine, Taber.” He teased his finger along the back of her hand. “Let me plug this back in and you can see everything is fine.”

“Why…” Tired of this constant fear and needing light, she let go of the lamp. “What will the neighbors think? What if they call the police?”

“Stop worrying, we have the situation under control. The neighbors on both sides of this safe house are shifters. Even if they heard anything, no one is going to call the police.” Light filled the room and he stood. “You’re pale and your heart is still racing. Sit down on the bed.”

“What? Why the bed?” He didn’t answer her. Instead, he lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bed. The moment his arms wrapped around her, the tension within her seemed to ease. It only confused her more. His words from earlier echoed within her thoughts.
You feel it, too…
She hadn’t been sure whether she understood what he meant. Now, the knowledge burned within her and she almost wished she was naïve again. “Why do you constantly avoid my questions? Do you know how annoying it is?”

“It would only bring you more anxiety. The truth will not offer security or bring peace of mind to what you’re going through right now, and I can’t have you running away.” He sat down on the bed, keeping her in his arms. “Here’s one of your questions answered. The bed…because it’s easier for me to hold you. I told you before, the current that you feel when we touch was the beginning. My touch helps ease the turmoil going on within you. It also can make pain more bearable. That’s why I continued to touch you when we found you. That and…”

“And what?”

“I was terrified we wouldn’t make it to you in time.” He pushed her hair out of her face. “When we did, all I wanted to do was hold you in my arms. Instead, I come out to find you beating Ambrose and taking off.”

“I thought he was with Donovick. They’re the same, and Donovick let him go after he attacked me. How could I think anything else?”

“Ambrose wasn’t in the right state of mind. His actions were out of character for him.” Carran slid his hand down her arms, teasing along her bare skin with a feathery touch. “The man who saved you, that’s who he really is. He’d never hurt you and he was never working with Donovick. You say they are the same, but beyond the fact they’re both shifters, they’re completely different. Do you think I’m the same as Donovick?”

“What?” Her brows arched closer together as she looked at him in a mixture of surprise and confusion. “Of course not. Why would you ask that? I wouldn’t be here if I did.”

“Then what did you mean by they’re the same?”

Silently, she sat there for a moment and tried to make sense of her thoughts. The idea of Carran being like Donovick had never crossed her mind, even if they both were able to shift into an animal at will. Donovick had been her partner and someone she had considered a friend. She thought she knew him and in the end she knew nothing about him. She had just met Carran and knew nothing about him, but there was something between them that was unlike anything she had experienced with anyone before. It was almost like she knew him on a different level.

“So?” Carran watched her intently, waiting for her to answer.

“That’s what he said. When we stopped him, he was rambling about how they were the same and if they found out he’d be killed. At the time it didn’t make sense, but now…” She let her words trail off with a deep exhale. “He was so focused on Donovick, I took the opportunity to try to bring him down. I holstered my gun and pulled out the non-lethal electroshock weapon, hoping to take him to the ground while he spoke with my partner. It wouldn’t have been the first time one of us distracted a perp while the other took him down. But Donovick yelled for me to stop…”

“That’s when Ambrose realized what your plans were,” Carran supplied.

Her lungs burned from the lack of air and her chest tight as she fought not go back to that alleyway. “He shifted and lunged at me. Donovick did nothing…my partner…I could have been killed!”

“You weren’t.” Carran cupped the side of her cheek and guided her to look at him. “You’re safe. You have my word.”

“For now. But you wouldn’t have brought me here if I wasn’t still in danger. Donovick and Lieutenant Dixon are dead, but how many other enemies have I made? What about Donovick’s pack? Should I expect them to find me? How long before one of my new enemies kills me?” She twisted around to put her feet on the ground, but he kept his arms locked around her waist, keeping her where she was. “Law enforcement is always the enemy until someone needs us, but the new enemies are different. It’s not just that they are shifters, and of course I was no match against them, but this…this is personal. They aren’t after me because of the uniform I wear, but because of who I am. I’ve found myself on unfamiliar ground and I don’t know what to do about it.”

“I’m going to take care of this and you will be safe. No one will come after you. For me to do this, you have to trust me.”

“This isn’t like at the barn. You can’t just kill them and this will all go away.” She pulled out of his embrace and stood. The moment she did, the weight of the situation settled around her again.

“That’s not the plan. Arrangements have already been made. I’m meeting with the Alpha of the pack in the morning. Now come here.”

She forced herself to take a step back and avert her gaze to anything but him. “I can’t. Your embrace is like a veil covering my eyes, making the situation seem better than it is. I need to think clearly.”
No matter the cost.
She took in the room again, focusing on the swirl within the wallpaper, following each one with her gaze, around and around. “Why did Ambrose roar?”

“From the loss of his mate, the control he has over his beast is still frayed. The control he has over his lion has grown since we found him, but it’s not restored completely yet. Because his animal is still close to the surface, the emotions of seeing his daughter again became vocal. He’s lost so much and thought he’d lose her, too. He’s overwhelmed with the bliss of being able to hold his little girl again. When my backup arrived, Kyra was with them. She was in the SUV with Galen while the others were with us at the barn. We waited until we were back here at the safe house before we reunited them, just in case Ambrose had any issues.”

Unable to keep her attention trained away from him, she turned back to take him in. How close was his animal to the surface? If one could lose control like Ambrose had, how could they be trusted? Sitting there on the bed, his long hair flowing over his shoulders, gray stripes throughout, he appeared at ease. Was he as close to losing it as Ambrose had? She watched as the corners of his lips arched up into a grin until his eyes seemed to twinkle with amusement.

“What?” she asked.

“You don’t have to worry about us losing control. Rogues are rare. The loss of a mate is one thing that could turn even the strongest shifter. You couldn’t cause as much pain to someone if you ripped out their heart. Mates are interconnected on multiple levels and losing one kills something within you.”

“How do you know this?”

“My father went through it.”

The words were whisper soft, but the pain was evident, making her want to go to him. There was more to the story, but something told her the topic was closed.

Before she could say anything, he spoke. “The emotions of a shifters can be felt by others within a clan. Ambrose left his lion pride when he mated and now that she’s died, the clan has rejected him, making him a lone shifter. Right now he doesn’t have the energy to block those he’s around, and because of this, we are able to feel it.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Come here.” He held his hand out to her. “Take my hand and I’ll show you.”

Not knowing what to expect, she crossed the space to stand in front of him and looked down at his hand as if it was a snake that might attack. “How will this work?”

“We’re mates, and once that bond is cemented, my emotions will be accessible to you. Through that bond I can open you to those around us or my clan, which could keep you safe if we were ever in a difficult situation. Now it will allow you to get a hint of what’s happening with Ambrose. You don’t trust him, but this might make you feel more comfortable with him.”

“Or it could have the opposite effect.” She wasn’t really sure she wanted to know anything, but she slipped her hand into his. At first, all she felt was the soothing current that arose every time they touched. “Nothing’s happ…” The words caught in her throat as a flood of emotions rushed into her. It was as if she was standing on the beach, and wave after wave slammed into her until she wanted to stumble back out of the surf.

Grief that tightened her chest came first and nearly knocked her over with the force behind it. The tightness eased as the rest came, until she could almost see him holding his daughter and the gratefulness radiated toward her. That little girl meant everything to him and he’d left her behind out of fear he’d hurt her. The connection gave her an insight that she’d have missed by just looking at him. He was a good man and Carran was right; Ambrose wouldn’t have attacked her if he was thinking straight. Focusing on that, she dug deeper, holding Carran’s hand tighter as if that would make the connection stronger. Something was there…something red.

Carran pulled his hand out of hers. “That’s enough.”

“What…” She stumbled back a step and let her hand fall to her side. “What was that?”

“Nothing.” He rubbed his hands down the thighs of his jeans but wouldn’t make eye contact with her.

“Don’t tell me it was nothing. It was…” She didn’t know how to describe what she’d seen and felt. It was like a living hell.

“That’s just it, Brooklynn.” He looked back at her, sadness gleaming in his eyes. “It’s nothing. The void of everything that ever mattered to you. Once the beast takes over, it’s said your world turns red. You’re full of rage, your thoughts are so jumbled that you can’t make sense of them, and everyone seems to be coming after you. That’s what you saw. If I didn’t end the connection, you’d have felt his paranoia, his fury, and his need to inflict his misery onto everyone else.”

“Have you…ever…” Uncertain whether she wanted to know, she stumbled over her words before falling silent.

“Been close to going rogue?” Instead of giving her a chance to answer, he continued, “No. There was a time when I thought I’d go mad with guilt and regret, but I kept a tight hold on my tiger.”