*****
Tiger knew that Dominic was probably monitoring their home, so he arranged for Noah Wylde, a fellow Ranger, to keep an eye on Jake for an hour every afternoon. Tiger then went to the local park where there were sure to be people around. If Dominic approached him, he would issue a challenge loud enough that there would be witnesses. He was pretty sure Dominic would be egotistical enough to see Tiger’s small stature as easy prey and accept his challenge.
After a few days of establishing a pattern of behavior and seeing that Tiger wasn’t accompanied by any other men who might be a danger, Dominic finally showed his ugly face. He closed in on Tiger and threw down a glove, shouting before Tiger could even open his mouth.
“I, Dominic Hawkins, challenge the killer of my brother, Chris Hawkins, to a duel with knives.”
Tiger opened his mouth to reply, but Laoch stepped out of the nearby bushes and shouted, “I accept.”
Tiger and Dominic were both stunned. Tiger shut his mouth, staring at Laoch.
“What are you talking about,” Dominic growled. “I challenged him, not you, elf!”
“No, you challenged your brother’s killer. He is not the one who killed your brother, I am. Christopher Hawkins was wanted for assaulting a military officer and a civilian child. When I attempted to apprehend him, he went for his gun. Hardly a fair fight, but I managed to prevail.” Laoch smirked at Dominic, arching a brow, which only served to enrage him.
“Fine, but I specified knives. I’m no match for those swords. A level playing field.”
“Done,” Laoch declared. He spun gracefully and moved over to Tiger, removing his waistcoat and scabbard and holding them out. “Do you mind holding these for me?” he inquired casually.
Tiger took them but whispered harshly to Laoch, “Are you crazy? He outweighs you by at least fifty pounds and has a longer reach!”
Laoch gave him an amused look. “Weren’t you preparing to accept his challenge? He outweighs you by far more and you’re smaller than me.”
Tiger just glared at him. He hated having his size thrown in his face.
“Besides, the challenge is rightfully mine. Now, do step back cousin and let the big boys play.” He pulled his long knife from its sheath and stepped towards Dominic.
*****
Remi had invited TJ over for dinner and they’d just gotten home and stepped through the door. Surprised to see Noah there TJ asked, “Hey Noah, where’s Tiger?”
Since Noah had no idea it was a secret, he told TJ what Tiger was up to.
Remi sputtered, “What? He’s trying to lure Dominic into the park alone? Has he lost his fucking mind?”
He and TJ scrambled for the front door and took off down the street on foot. When they got to the park, they spotted Laoch facing off with Dominic. Tiger stood off to the side, holding a sword and coat and looking a little shaken.
“Tiger! What the hell is going on?” They turned to watch the duel that was just getting started.
Laoch bowed elegantly to Dominic. Dominic charged like a bull and Laoch stepped easily out of his way, slicing his arm as he passed. Dominic made another charge and Laoch spun quickly, slicing the other arm as he again floundered past. Dominic circled Laoch, looking for an opening. He feinted, then swung his blade underhanded, trying to gut Laoch, but Laoch launched into the air and flipped over Dominic, landing on his feet behind him and kicking him in the ass.
Dominic stumbled forward, then spun and roared. He was pissing Dominic off and making a fool of him. Switching tactics, Dominic palmed a smaller blade he had hidden up his sleeve. He came at Laoch with the larger blade and Laoch blocked it, but Dominic sliced his arm open with the smaller blade. Laoch grunted and pushed Dominic back, then ripped his torn sleeve off, wrapping it quickly around his knife hand.
When Dominic charged again, Laoch flipped his knife to his other hand, blocking Dominic’s larger blade and grabbing the smaller blade in his wrapped palm. He threw himself backward, using the momentum of Dominic’s charge and his feet to flip Dominic over and onto his back, twisting and burying his blade in Dominic’s chest as the breath was knocked out of him.
Laoch leapt to his feet, flipped his long hair back over his shoulder, and strolled primly toward Tiger, holding his arm out to the side so the blood didn’t drip on his outfit. When he reached the group, TJ ripped his other sleeve off and tied it around Laoch’s wound. Laoch eyed TJ reproachfully, but TJ just shrugged and said, “Hey, it was ruined anyway.”
“True. Would you mind disposing of that for me?” He fluttered his fingers in the direction of the body. Retrieving his sword and waistcoat from Tiger, they headed out of the park toward home, leaving TJ to watch the body until he could summon his guys to do a DB removal.
As they walked, they were quiet, until Tiger finally grabbed his elbow, stopping him in the street. He stepped in front of Laoch, staring into violet eyes and asked, “Are you really my cousin?”
Laoch looked back at him, smiling fondly. “Yes, Toro, Liam is my father and your mother’s brother.”
They started walking again. “Are you going to leave again?”
“No. I’ll be staying with you for now.”
Remi snapped his head around and gaped at Laoch. “Excuse me?”
“My father sent me to deliver the journal to Toro, but it’s incomplete. I need to help complete his education and train him to control his Fae gifts as they manifest.”
“Oh.” Remi wasn’t sure what he thought about having Laoch in the house, especially with Jake there. He’d have to talk it over with Tiger when they had some privacy.
When they entered the house, Noah was sitting at the breakfast bar. He jumped up, on alert until he spotted Tiger and relaxed. They introduced Laoch to Noah and filled him in on the events that took place at the park, then told Noah he could go ahead and take off.
“Okay guys. Jake is out in the pool. I think he’s trying to convince Midnight to jump in. Pleased to meet you Laoch.” He smiled shyly at Laoch, heading for the door.
“My pleasure as well Noah. Good day.” Laoch looked at him strangely, gazing after him as he walked away.
“Come sit down and let me take a look at that arm.” Tiger drew his attention away from Noah and had him sit at the breakfast bar. “I think it might need stitches.”
Laoch sat and gestured airily. “No. Just wrap it. I heal quickly and I don’t scar.”
While Remi retrieved the first aid kit from the bathroom, Tiger cleaned Laoch’s wound. TJ came through the front door as Tiger was finishing up with the bandage and handed Laoch his dagger. “Thought you might want this back. I sent Noah to take care of your mess.”
“Hey, ever hear of knocking before entering? I swear it’s like a damn shuttle terminal in here,” Remi groused.”
TJ ignored the barb and grabbed a beer out of the fridge. “Hey, we’re all family now, right?”
When he was done wrapping Laoch’s wound, Tiger showed him to the guest room next to his own. He sat on the edge of the bed while Laoch checked the room out. “It’s simple but it’ll do for now.” The room was actually quite luxurious by Tiger’s standards but apparently Laoch’s standard of living was on a whole other level.
“Can I ask you a question.” Tiger didn’t bother to wait for Laoch’s answer. “How long have you been here on Corvan? I mean, how long have you been tracking me?”
“Ah. You’re wondering why we didn’t take you in when your parents were killed?”
“Well, that’s partly it, but…. I mean…. things would’ve been so different if I’d known I had family out there and if I’d known more about being Fae.”
Laoch sat in the chair near Tiger, crossing his legs and resting his chin in his hand. He contemplated Tiger for several moments, gathering his thoughts. Tiger dropped his eyes and twisted his father’s signet ring distractedly.
“Toro means Tiger, yes? That’s what your friends call you? Would it be alright if I called you Tiger?”
Tiger looked up again. La
och was smiling gently at him. “Yes. I’d like that.” He blushed and dropped his eyes again.
Laoch sighed deeply. “We’ve always known about you, of course, but it was decided that it was best to stay away when your father was killed. You were being well cared for by your father’s comrades and to interfere while you were still so young would have brought the wrong kind of attention to you. Your parents escaped the courts in order to keep you safe. We were told to wait till you came of age before contacting you.”
“You were a beautiful child. So much like your mother. I checked on you from time to time, even though my father would have broken my sword had he known. I wasn’t there when you suffered at the hands of that bastard Harriott.”
Laoch looked away briefly, his grief evident. He gained control over his emotions and returned an impassive gaze to Tiger. “I’m sorry for that, but I did take care of his penance once I found out what he’d done.”
“Yes, I only found out about that recently,” Tiger replied flatly. “I assume you also offered Chris Hawkins the same penance.” It wasn’t a question, so Laoch said nothing. “You said you’d been around since I was a child, but you look like you’re my age. I know I look younger than my true age and my mother didn’t look a day over thirty when she died, but she was over three-hundred.” He hesitated. “How old…. “
“I am one hundred and ninety-two Old Earth years of age, which is the calendar the Fae courts observe. Your mother was three hundred and twenty-seven. Even though we look the same age, you are but a babe to me. You will never look a day older than you do today. Barring accident or violent injury, pureblood Fae are eternal.”
“Unfortunately, we fight a lot of wars, which leads to a high attrition rate. You are not a pureblood, but you will live a very long time and so will your mate. His lifespan will adjust to yours. Who wants to live forever anyway? It’s highly overrated.” He made a face and waved a hand indifferently.
“Make no mistake Tiger, you are Fae. Your body has most of the physical attributes of our people, except for your height and hair color. You have the allure of the Fae. Compared to humans, your senses are sharper, you heal faster, you’re stronger, you’ve paired with a mate and you will gain Fae abilities gradually over time. Fate makes sure that you don’t get hit with all of them at once, so you have time to learn to control them one at a time.”
“How many you gain depends on how long you live. However, the purity of your Fae blood will determine the strength of your abilities. You may gain many abilities over time, but they will probably never be as strong as a full-blooded Fae.
Tiger was shocked by all that Laoch had disclosed, including the fact that Laoch knew he’d mated with Remi. “You know about Remi? How?”
“Of course, I know. All Fae recognize mated pairs, even without seeing the marks. Even if they’re not together, we can still sense that they’re paired with someone.” He left out the fact that he’d also been present at that moment.
Something else occurred to Tiger. “You were there. Lucius said you’d been helping him with his Fae research.”
“Yes. I’ve been trying to help him find a cure for the virus. I didn’t know about you being bitten until you started working with him. Frankly it was a shock to see you there. The last time I’d seen you was during your shopping trip in Aurora.”
Tiger gasped. “That was you! I thought I saw someone stalking us from the alleyways, but I assumed it was Chris!”
Laoch smiled. “Yes, so anyway, I made sure Lucius and Tae had as much information as I could feed them regarding fated mates in hopes that it would benefit you. I really didn’t know whether or not it would work.”
“It did. Thank goodness Remi chased after me. You all saved me. Thank you.”
Laoch merely nodded in acknowledgement. “If I may… it’s an intimate thing to ask among Fae but… may I see…. it?”
Tiger hesitated. What if it didn’t live up to the standards of a pureblood’s mark? He was proud of it, but would it look inferior to Laoch? Didn’t he owe it to Laoch though, since he wouldn’t even have the mark without Laoch’s help? He nodded and unbuttoned his shirt, pulling it aside to reveal his tattoo.
“Exquisite,” Laoch murmured. His fingers hovered over the tattoo but didn’t touch it. “Somehow I knew it would look something like this. Do you understand the significance of the tiger?”
“Is it because of my name?”
“No, not at all. Your father wanted to name you Nikko, which means Sunshine, but your mother said she sensed that your spirit animal would be a tiger, so she insisted on giving you your father’s name. He said he didn’t want people calling you “Junior”, but he could never win an argument against your mother.” Laoch chuckled.
“Were they fated mates?” Tiger wanted to know anything and everything he could learn about his parents.
“No, but they were very much in love. Grandfather didn’t want Enya to marry a human, but she said she wouldn’t marry anyone else.”
Tiger smiled at that. From what little he remembered of his mother she had a bright, bubbly personality with an infectious laugh, always teasing his father until he would scoop her up in his arms and pepper her with kisses. “Um… so you were saying about the significance of the tiger?”
“The creature imbedded in a mate mark always reflects that person’s spirit animal. Mates have identical marks because they both have the same spirit animal. Their marks will differ from others who also have similar animals however, so no other pair will have marks that look identical to theirs. They may all have tigers, but the tigers’ images will vary from pair to pair. One might be in profile, another Siberian versus Bengal. I even saw a couple who had a tiger cub.”
Tiger buttoned up his shirt. He was pleased to see that his cousin thought his mark was beautiful. “Should I be able to sense pairs? I don’t think I’ve been around any other pairs, but most of the Fae I’ve met were participating in the tournaments I attended. I don’t know if you’re paired, but I don’t sense anything. Do you have a mark? I’d really like to see how it differs from mine,” he asked enthusiastically.
A look of pain crossed Laoch’s face, then cleared an instant later. If he hadn’t been looking directly into Laoch’s eyes at that moment he might have missed it.
“I’m sorry… you said it was an intimate thing. I shouldn’t have asked.” He was embarrassed and looked away.
“No. No need to apologize. It’s ugly but I’ll show you.” Laoch pulled his shirt aside and there on his chest was a dull faded phoenix surrounded by the same celtic design that Tiger bore.
Tiger’s eyes stung. The significance of the faded lifeless tattoo was not lost on him. “Oh, Laoch! I’m so sorry! How do you live with the pain? You must be devastated!” He reached out to touch Laoch’s hand, but he sat back out of reach, righting his clothes.
“I have a duty to uphold. I have sworn to train and educate you in the ways of the Fae. Once I have fulfilled my promise, I will end my time on this earthly plane and rejoin my other half.” He smiled sadly. “For now, I live for you and your mate. Guard him well Tiger. I would not wish this pain on you for all the wealth in the universe.”
He sucked in a lungful of air and pushed himself up out of his chair, hoisting Tiger up off the bed. “Enough of this depressing discourse. Come. Your mate should have dinner ready and I feel like taking a long soak in that tub afterwards. By the way, do you think Remi would loan me a change of clothes?”
Epilogue
Six weeks later.
Tony kept his promise and returned to fetch Tae to Aurora. Before they left Lucius’ compound, they were married by Max, who had gotten certified by the Corvan courts to perform weddings. Tiger stood up for Tae and TJ stood up for Tony. The couple exchanged rings and Tony also placed a tiny golden chain around Tae’s neck that had a gold replica of one of Tony’s dog tags, with ‘Tony & Tae Forever’ on the other side.
They spent their wedding night in the waterfall cave, which Tiger and the guys h
ad decorated with flowers and soft lights, and they even added a bed. They all returned to Aurora two days later, once they got over their hangovers.
While at the compound, Tiger had stolen a page from the pad that he’d seen Tae doodling on one day. It was the same day he first showed Tiger the waterfall, when they’d talked about mates. Over and over he’d doodled the same tribal pattern, like a schoolgirl doodling hearts in her notebook.
He showed it to Tony and the next day Tony took Tae to a local tattoo artist and had the man tattoo the design, which included the names ‘Tae’ and ‘Tony’ interwoven through the curling strands, on himself and Tae. Tae was so happy Tony had to keep peeling him away from every window and mirror he passed that day.
TJ had helped Tony submit paperwork to apply for military housing, which of course they didn’t have enough of at the fort, so they gave him an allowance to rent a house in Aurora. It wasn’t in Remi’s upscale neighborhood, but it was close enough that they could walk to Remi’s house in thirty minutes.
Jake was thrilled to have Tae drop by every day and Tae loved Jake and Midnight. He’d never seen a live domestic cat before and never tired of playing fetch cat with the spoiled beast.
Remi’s paperwork was approved for permanent residence at Fort Yamano as the Security Operations Commander in charge of all security related matters at all forts and bases within a three-hundred-mile radius of Fort Yamano. It was actually a promotion. His daily duties were handled out of his old office at the fort and Hans remained in place as his staff sergeant.
Remi was able to buy the house he and Jake had rented when he made the owner an offer he couldn’t refuse. Jake was ecstatic. He finally had a permanent home and friends and family.
Even though Tiger was now sleeping in Remi’s room, he kept his old bedroom, so he’d have a place to store his stuff as well as a place to cool off when he was pissed at Remi. Tiger loved Remi but he’d always had anger issues and he wasn’t used to being part of a couple.
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