You're Kitten Me (2 page)

The story Zoe spun about DoPE, along with the shots of shifters acting like regular people and playing with their cubs, had public opinion on their side now, but it was close. DoPE’s approach was to bitch about their killed “representatives”—ugh, soldiers—as well as the one who’d been
forcibly
mated to a tiger. Not the other way around.

Lying bastards.

“I see your point, but—”

“And they need to witness further cooperation between us all.”

“Yeah, I get it, but—”

“Veronica,” he said her name with a soft but firm voice. “I need you safe. I can’t lead the wolves through this mess and worry about my baby girl at the same time. Do this. For me. Please.”

The please deflated her. That right there was why she found her furry ass on a private jet taking her from the majestic Great Lakes to the mountains of Wilden.

Back to
him
.

Braden smelled her first, the delicate scent blasting him in the face through his SUV’s air conditioner. He kept the thing set to recycle interior air instead of drawing it in from outside, but the aroma seemed to sneak in, and his tiger picked up the flavors. Sweet and hot, it called to his inner cat, and the animal perked up, suddenly interested in his surroundings.

The beast had been on strike and refused to come out ever since he’d put
her
on a plane headed for home. Now Veronica was back, and the feline wanted
out
. It wanted to chase and hunt the strawberry scent tinged with a hint of honeysuckle.
Delicious
.

Delicious, and he knew he was fucked. He’d been fine with sending her home. It was dangerous to be around tigers with DoPE on their ass and stirring up shit. Even now, Cadman and by extension, DoPE, proclaimed their own innocence and that all fault laid with the cats.

The agents sent to forcibly mate his alpha’s sister were a rogue group, and their actions were not endorsed by the agency. There was no way DoPE would
ever
do something so heinous as to claim
any
shifter without permission.

Cadman even insinuated the tigers attacked his officers without provocation.

So they were rogue, yet still agents who shouldn’t be held accountable for their actions? The fucker couldn’t decide how to get his ass out of trouble, and it showed. Unfortunately, the media hadn’t picked a side yet, and the public remained clueless of the facts. They simply knew there were four dead and one severely injured.

Which meant it had been time to kick Veronica out of Wilden. Somehow Braden had fought the beast and won. He’d even managed to pretend he didn’t want to pounce and hide her in his den when he sent her on her way.

It’d been hard as hell—and he wasn’t just talking about his dick. His tiger fought him tooth and claw with every step until it’d taken a harshly whispered, “Get your shit together, fucker,” from his alpha to wrangle the feline under control.

He flicked a look to Gannon in the backseat and then to Murphy at his side. He hadn’t been able to drag Hawke away from Ares’s sister Claire—the male was determined to protect her even if she wanted nothing to do with him.

Hawke was convinced he was her mate, but Braden had his doubts. Still, he could respect the young male’s dedication. Since he couldn’t force Hawke to accompany him, he wanted Daniel. The man’s growl and twitchy temper were more welcome than Gannon’s smooth teasing or Murphy’s light flirting. If either male laid a hand on Veronica, he’d…

He wasn’t sure how his tiger would react but it’d be bad.

But Ares wanted Daniel with Zoe for one reason and one alone. If someone came at the alpha fem, Daniel would kill first and never ask questions. If he was given a job—protect Zoe—he’d do it and wouldn’t give a damn about whom he took out in the process.

Daniel was a good guy… even if a little unhinged.

Zoe thought he was cute.

Weird.

“We getting out of the car anytime soon, Second?” Murphy interrupted his thoughts, and the mention of his title reminded him why they sat in an SUV on the airstrip. “I don’t see the plane, so I assume they pulled into the hangar.”

The presence of Veronica’s scent confirmed Murphy’s words and told Braden she’d already disembarked. This meant she was in the open while the three of them were supposed to guard her and get her back to the Wild in one piece.

“Yup.” Braden tugged on the door handle so it could swing open. “Gannon at my side, Murphy at our backs.”

They didn’t anticipate trouble, not really. Not with the camera crews chasing them everywhere. Even now, there were a few parked at the gates to the strip with cameras tracking ’em.

Not expecting problems didn’t mean they weren’t prepared, though. They looked like a few casual guys sporting jeans and t-shirts, just heading to the pride’s airstrip to pick up a visitor. Beneath their clothes, they each had a gun secured in a holster at their lower backs and another at their ankles. That’d help in a long-range battle but if it became a close fight, well, they had claws and fangs. They’d keep Veronica safe as they moved from the hangar to the SUV and then to the Wild.

He shut the door behind him, and they moved toward the massive open hangar doors.

Braden heard her before he saw her, her laugh flying through the wind and hitting him like a two by four. His tiger roared, anxious to be at Veronica’s side. They couldn’t protect her if they weren’t with her, and they knew she was a target.

Yeah, he heard her, but the longer her joyous laugh continued, the quicker his tiger’s jealousy abated. Weird and unexpected. Joyous? Was that what he’d thought? No, it was anything but happy. Now that he listened and cataloged the sound, he quickly realized the chuckle wasn’t carefree. It was strained and brittle. Fake. Forced. There was no missing the jagged edge and the unease that filled the tone.

“She’s pretty damned happy for a woman who’s in danger,” Murphy’s murmur reached him.

His friend and subordinate didn’t hear the difference between the Veronica they were about to see and the one they’d dropped off not two days ago.

Braden did.

“Yeah,” he returned, not ready to share her true feelings. If she wanted others to know she was afraid and uncomfortable, she could tell them.

Their trio rounded the corner and he swallowed the snarl that leaped to his lips. There was Veronica, all sassy fire and sex, standing beside her suitcase and chatting up the pilot. She laughed again, and the human stepped forward, his eyes sliding over her curvy form. The gaze lingered on her breasts and then her hips before returning to her face, and Braden fought to restrain his beast. He didn’t want anyone else looking at her like they couldn’t wait to get her alone and bent over a couch. A growl rose, vibrating in the back of his throat, and he shoved it down. The pride couldn’t afford him threatening a non-shifter for getting too close to his…

To Veronica.

When the human moved closer, she stepped back, the smile still in place. He searched her expression, noting the tightness around her eyes and the white-knuckled grip she had on the handle of her suitcase.

It didn’t take long for Gannon to catch what Braden saw and concern tinged the male’s voice. “Second?”

The murmur caught Veronica’s notice, and she swung her attention to them. Her recognition was instant, the taut skin relaxing, and her smile widened into one that was real and no longer forced.

Then her eyes sparkled, those lips twisting into a teasing grin. “Pussies! You finally made it.”

He ignored her taunting and swung his attention to the human. The tiger snarled inside his mind, furious this male thought he could encroach on their territory.

Their territory?

Their-fucking-territory
, the cat assured him.

Masochistic beast. There was no way they’d get anywhere with Veronica without getting their ass handed to them—by her father. The man wasn’t keen on tigers, but he was working toward playing nicely. The Barringtons loved Zoe like a daughter, and Talia Barrington told her mate she wasn’t gonna stop now just because she suddenly grew fur.

Talia’s words didn’t mean the national couple wanted Veronica anywhere near
him
.

Braden didn’t stop his approach until he reached the duo. Instead of going to her side, he moved between Veronica and the human. He pushed the male aside with his chest, forcing him to stumble backward, and surprised eyes met his.

He didn’t give the man a chance to speak. “Don’t you have another flight on your schedule? I thought you were picking up the alpha’s cousins from south Florida.”

Ares thought flying in some other females—their cousins Claire’s age—would help his sister cope with what happened. The male was at wits’ end trying to support the young tigress. She stayed alone all the time, hardly speaking, and refusing to talk to their parents on the phone, let alone agree to have them visit.

“I-I-I…” the human stammered. “I filed a revised flight plan and spoke with their mother and told her—”

“You called a member of the national alpha’s family and
told
them they couldn’t visit Ares as promised? As scheduled?” His cat raged at the disrespect. How dare he—
how dare he.
His tiger saw it as a direct challenge to his alpha, and by extension a challenge to him.

Ares’s word was law, and Braden enforced each syllable.

His dominance whipped around him like an invisible cloak. It was a living, breathing part of him that stretched toward the male and demanded obedience. He might be second-in-command to the national tiger alpha, but in his heart, he was all alpha, subordinate to Ares and
only
Ares. He was power personified, strength realized, and feral instinct in the flesh.

“You purposefully delayed a reunion between the national alpha and his family?” Braden took a deep breath, the suffocating wave of dominance spreading farther.

“No one was here, and I-I-I was going to take Ronnie—”

Braden growled, the tiger pushing past his leash and shoving the sound from his lips. Ronnie? To this human? Never. “Miss Barrington.”

“I thought I’d take M-m-miss—”

This time it was a snarl, his lips twisting as he bared his fangs at the male. He thought he’d take Veronica somewhere? That Braden would allow such a thing?

Never.

No human—no male—would ever take his female and…

Dammit. She wasn’t his.

She is
, the cat assured him. Again. Fucking cat. Couldn’t it leave well enough alone? He wasn’t mate material, and he sure as hell couldn’t mate a wolf.

The beast assured him they could.

Fucker.

A soft, delicate hand rested between his shoulder blades, the palm gentle as she stroked him. Veronica. Her scent intensified, the sweetness slipping into his nose, and he didn’t sense one ounce of unease or fear from her. Not like what he got from Gannon and Murphy. The males weren’t fans of Braden’s actions.

If anything, Braden caught a hint of happiness from Veronica. At his arrival? His presence? Or merely because he’d interfered on her behalf?

“You are not taking Miss Barrington anywhere,” he assured the pilot. “In fact, you are no longer employed by the national tiger pride. Employee Resources,” —tigers refused to call it
human
resources— “will provide you with your final payment tomorrow.”

“What?” The pilot stepped closer. “You can’t—”

Gannon was first to move, Murphy taking his place at Braden’s side as the large tiger pushed the human back. “He can and did. Be happy you’re only being fired. If Alpha were here, you’d be bleeding on the street… or worse.”

They all knew that wasn’t true. Braden was more likely to snap than Ares. It was part of the reason he didn’t have his own pride. He tended to have two settings—calm and furious. When it came to disrespect, there was only one option, and it sure as hell wasn’t calm.

The pilot opened his mouth, as if to argue, and Braden growled low, the sound rushing forward once more. No amount of petting kept him quiet. Veronica’s touch was only able to do so much.

If they were mated, though… Well, he was sure a mate could soothe him fully.

Mate?

The tiger huffed at him as though he were an idiot.

Braden wasn’t dumb, just slow sometimes. Fuck. Mate. He understood the level of his anger now.

“Gannon, get him the fuck out of here. Murphy, call Ares and tell him what’s going on, and remind him the bears are in north Florida. We all want to play well with others, so they’ll probably let us borrow a plane and a pilot for a little while. Once that’s done, both of you meet me at the SUV.” He half-turned and grabbed Veronica’s hand before she could retreat. The feeling of skin on skin was so much better than her palm on cloth. It had an immediate effect on the cat, stroking its fur with invisible fingers as a wave of calm slipped over him.

Mate
, it reminded him. As if he’d forget. He sensed the connection that could form between them.
Could
, but he wasn’t sure it would.

Wolves mated during sex, by partners getting each other to let go and howl with pleasure. He’d have to fight to get her to howl, but he knew how to please a woman. He didn’t think that would be a problem. It just might take time.

For tigers, though… Tigers shared a bite like many other shifters, but the true mating act came from tugging each other’s tails. It sounded so dumb when said out loud, but the truth was anything but frivolous.

It wasn’t about fucking. It was about cunning and strength. Tail tugging meant the two tigers fought and were evenly matched. It was a delicate balance between submission and dominance. If one was more powerful than the other… at best, it ended with one tiger giving up after moments and turning its back on a perspective mate. The animal uncaring for the couple’s human feelings. A tiger couldn’t mate a much weaker feline.

At worst, the ceremony ended in death.

Regardless, the couple had one shot. One. It either happened when they faced off or it didn’t, and there were no do-overs. Ever.

How the hell would the huge tiger handle a little wolf mate trying to tug its tail?