Tiger Tail: Shifter Romance

by Sky Winters

  “I’m sorry,” Savannah said. “I was somewhere else.”

  “Are you okay?” Xander asked.

  “I’m…just a little shaken,” Savannah replied. “I mean, I’m pregnant, and I’m eighteen, and I haven’t even graduated high school yet.”

  “I know,” Xander said. He pulled her close, and wrapped his arms around her. Warmth crept in immediately, and Savannah felt a little better. “I know, This is a lot for me, too.”

  “Are you scared?” Savannah asked. She looked up at him.

  He hesitated for a moment. His grey eyes were distant and thoughtful, but when he looked into Savannah’s eyes, he was back in the present with her. “Yes.” He nodded. “I am, but I’m scared of different things.”

  “Like what?” Savannah asked.

  “I’m scared I won’t be able to keep my family safe,” Xander said quietly.

  “Which family?” Savannah asked. “The one you have with me, or the one you have with the pack?”

  Xander cupped Savannah’s face in both of his hands, and looked down at her with a burning intensity. “From this day until my last, you will always be the most important thing to me. You are my family first, and everything and everyone else will always be second.”

  Savannah nodded as she let those words seep into her being, comforting her the way nothing else could. She sensed Xander’s brightly burning aura, and its intensity. She also sensed his aura’s layered emotions--he was weary and scared; he was thinking three steps ahead, and he still worried that it wasn’t enough.

  “You’re thinking too much,” Savannah said quickly.

  Xander smiled distractedly. “You can feel it?”

  “Even if I couldn’t feel it, I can see it,” Savannah said. “I need you to be present Xander, I need to know you’re here with me.”

  “I am always with you,” Xander said firmly. “Always.”

  Savannah sighed. “It’s getting late,” she said. “I need to get home before my parents start worrying.”

  Xander nodded. He took her hand and they made their way through the forest.

  “Will they really let us be together now?” Savannah asked. It was a question that she'd wanted to ask for some time, now.

  “Of course,” Xander said with certainty. “They are bound by sacred laws. You are carrying my child, and that child is a shifter. One day he or she will succeed me. They will respect our union, and they will help me to keep you and the baby safe.”

  “You sound so sure,” Savannah said.

  Xander turned to her in surprise. “You’re not?”

  “It’s just…”

  “Yes?”

  “I felt so many different things in the clearing,” Savannah admitted. “I felt the tenor of every aura surrounding me, and I caught some emotions that weren’t always…respectful.”

  Xander sighed. “You have to understand, Savannah, the girls were raised with the belief that one day I would choose my partner from one of them. It is a hard thing to not be chosen, but not to be chosen in favor of someone so different is a bitter pill for them to swallow.”

  “I felt their jealousy,” Savannah said. Her hand fell instinctively to her flat belly. “I felt their anger, but it paled in comparison to how one person in particular felt.”

  Savannah looked hard at Xander’s face where she saw confirmation of her fears reflected in his eyes.

  “Marissa and I were very close as children,” Xander said slowly. “We were best friends, but as we grew older, she wanted something more, and I…didn’t.”

  “She’s in love with you,” Savannah said firmly.

  “She only thinks she’s in love with me,” Xander said dismissively.

  Savannah pulled her hand from Xander’s, and he turned to face her. “You’re not listening to me,” Savannah said. “I’m not guessing, and I’m not assuming. I know she's in love with you. I can feel it, and how it burns inside of her.”

  Xander looked down. “It doesn’t matter,” he said softly. “I don’t love her.”

  “You’re not scared of what she might do?” Savannah asked.

  Xander turned to her, fire burning in his eyes. “She is part of the pack,” he said. “I am the future alpha, and you are my chosen mate. She will not harm you or any part of you.”

  “Because she won’t, or because she can’t?” Savannah asked.

  “Does it matter?” Xander took Savannah’s hand and pulled her through the forest.

  “It matters to me.”

  “I told you before, and I meant it,” Xander said. “I will keep you safe. From everyone.”

  Savannah tried to take a deep breath, but she felt something she didn’t have the luxury of trying to decipher. She and Xander moved quickly through the forest, until they came to the base of the track where he kept his motorcycle. He helped her onto it, and then they were breezing down the dark, lonely streets of Grey Mountain, toward Savannah’s isolated home.

  Xander stopped a few feet away from the house, and behind some trees so that no one in the house would be able to see them. He got off, and then helped Savannah down.

  “You know I won’t break right?” Savannah said. “I’m just pregnant.”

  Xander took a deep breath. “I can’t quite believe it.”

  “Neither can I,” Savannah said. “And who can blame us? It's not every day that a person finds out she's pregnant only a day after conception. How did Elvira know?”

  “Usually the elders possess certain heightened abilities,” Xander said. “She’s a healer of sorts, and she can usually sense if something has gone wrong, internally. That was how she was able to tell that you were pregnant so soon.”

  Savannah nodded. She unconsciously turned in the direction of the house.

  “Are you worried about how to tell your parents?” Xander asked.

  Savannah laughed. “Can I possibly get away with never telling them at all?” she asked.

  “After the first three or four months they might start to notice something,” Xander pointed out.

  Savannah sighed. “I can’t think about it right now,” she said. “I just need to get some sleep.”

  “Of course.” Xander nodded. “If you need anything, anything at all, call me.”

  “I will,” Savannah said. Xander reached for her and drew her close, and Savannah melted into him. They stood like that for a long time before Xander slowly tilted her head back enough so that he could kiss her, gently on the lips.

  “I don’t want to leave you,” he said.

  Savannah had sensed that, but she also sensed that he needed to leave, as he had much to settle with the pack, and his responsibilities were calling to him.

  “But you have to,” Savannah said, nodding. “The pack needs you.”

  Xander looked wearily off into the woods. Savannah noticed the crease of worry on his brow grow prominent. She reached up and grazed his cheek with the back of her hand. “Go. It's okay. I’ll be fine.”

  Xander took her hand, kissed the inside of her palm, and then flipped it over and kissed it again. “Everything's going to be all right,” he said. “I'll make sure of that.”

  “I know,” Savannah said, and she took a step back so Xander could ride off.

  She waited until the plumes of smoke from his motorcycle disappeared into the wind before she turned and went into the house. Inside, all of the lights were still on, and her parents were in the kitchen eating dinner.

  “There you are!” her mother said. “We were expecting you home an hour ago.”

  “I know,” Savannah said, sitting down opposite her parents. “I was with some friends, and I lost track of time.”

  “Friends, huh?” her father asked. She noticed her parents exchange a happy glance. “That’s great. You're really beginning to blossom in this town.”

  Savannah cringed at her father’s choice of words, but she smiled anyway, and accepted the plate her mother had passed to her.

  “We’re having pasta for dinner.”

  “Th
at sounds great,” Savannah said, despite the fact that she was not hungry at all. She served herself a small portion, and picked at it sparsely.

  “Not hungry?” her mother asked.

  “We had snacks,” Savannah said quickly. “Guess they filled me up.”

  “Did you have fun?” her mother asked.

  Savannah nodded. “Yeah. I did. It was great.”

  “You should introduce these new friends of yours to us,” Savannah’s father said. “You could invite them over, sometime.”

  “That’s not necessary,” Savannah said quickly. “They’re all…really busy.”

  “Busy?” her mother repeated.

  “We live quite far out,” Savannah said, grasping at straws.

  “I think I know what the problem is,” her dad said, giving her a sideways glance. “She’s scared we’re going to embarrass her.”

  Savannah rolled her eyes. “That’s really not it.”

  “I think your father’s right,” her mother said, pretending to be hurt.

  Savannah laughed. “I am definitely not embarrassed about you guys. It's just that…these are new friends. They're the only friends I’ve ever really had and I need to figure this out for myself.”

  “Okay,” her father said. “Whatever you need, sweet pea.”

  “Oh, guess what?” her mother said.

  “What?” Savannah asked.

  “Your eighteenth birthday gift is finally here.”

  Savannah’s dad pulled something from his jeans pocket and tossed it at her. “Happy belated birthday.”

  Savannah grabbed it before it tumbled to the ground, and stared down at the shiny keychain. “Car keys?” she asked.

  Her parents nodded in unison.

  “You won’t have to walk to and from school anymore,” her mother said. “You’ve got your own set of wheels, now.”

  “Thanks, guys,” Savannah said. “This will make things a whole lot easier.”

  “We figured you really needed a car in this town,” her father said. “The town’s too spread out for you to just walk from one place to the next, and once you graduate and we have to leave Grey Mountain, you can sell the car, and put the money toward…whatever you want.”

  “Whatever I want?” Savannah repeated.

  “Traveling, college tuition, a different car…” her mother suggested, “whatever you like.”

  “Oh,” Savannah said. “That sounds great, but I might just keep the car.”

  Her parents exchanged a glance. “What if you decide to leave the country?” her father said.

  Savannah hesitated. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, about my future, and I’ve actually been considering the idea of staying here, in Grey Mountain.”

  “You want to stay in Grey Mountain?” her mother asked, shocked.

  Savannah laughed nervously. “I know it’s out of the blue–”

  “You didn’t even want to move out here in the first place,” her father reminded her.

  Savannah nodded. “I know, but now I don’t know—this town has kind of grown on me; I think I could be happy here.”

  “Are you actually saying you’d want to stay here--permanently?” her mother asked.

  “Possibly,” Savannah said. “I don’t know for sure, yet.”

  “What on earth can you do in this town, Savannah?” her mother asked, sounding concerned.

  “I don’t know,” Savannah said. “I’ll just have to figure it out as I go.”

  Her parents exchanged worried glances, and Savannah felt as if she might burst. Her emotions had been going crazy lately. She sensed it was most likely because of her pregnancy.

  “Savannah,” her mother started.

  “Yes?”

  “Is this because of a boy?”

  Savannah didn’t answer right away. She wasn’t even sure of the answer herself. “I’m doing this for myself,” she said at last. “This is what I want.”

  When Savannah finally went up to her room that night, she was exhausted, both physically and mentally. Her mind felt fluid, as though it were floating in about a thousand different directions with no means to control it. Savannah moved to her window and pried it open.

  A gust of oaky wind hit her face, and Savannah closed her eyes against its insistent pull. For the first time that day she was alone, and she was at last able to hear herself think. She reflected on the day's events, as about a hundred different images whirled through her mind.

  She remembered the walk to the clearing with Xander, and standing before the elders to plead their case. In the end, her pregnancy had rendered the elders’ verdict moot, and she and Xander had gotten the blessing they required to be together, so Savannah couldn't understand why she'd been feeling the way she was feeling.

  It was as though her body was sending her warnings she couldn’t ignore or avoid. It was as though every instinct she had was telling her that something was going to happen, that a storm was brewing just beyond the horizon, waiting to break.

  Chapter Two

  Savannah spent the whole night tossing and turning. At a time when she should feel happy, all she felt was scared. It wasn’t just the uncertainty of being eighteen and pregnant--it was more than that. It was the sense of foreboding that told her she should not grow comfortable because her world was about to spin off its axis.

  Savannah woke the next morning still feeling tired. She sensed the presence of something foreign inside her, but she still couldn’t quite resolve that feeling with the presence of a baby. Savannah dressed and went outside, thankful that it was a Saturday. She stared up at the ranging hills that stood before her, and edged her way up until the house was far behind her, and the air started to feel a little thinner.

  Savannah took her hearing aid out, rendering the world instantly quiet. It was only in the absence of all sound that Savannah realized how much noise there actually was around her. The sound of the leaves rustling in the wind, and the animals and birds had disappeared, the sound of crunching leaves beneath her feet, and the steady whistle of the wind was gone, too. In the absence of sound, Savannah felt her senses begin to expand to make up for the dearth of sound.

  A flash of light passed before her eyes, and Savannah sensed a vision, just beyond the periphery of her sight. She almost felt as if she might have some control over it, and tried to reach for it, but a wave of scent hit her hard, and she opened her eyes. She recognized the scent as possibly her favorite thing in the world.

  “Xander,” Savannah whispered, though she was unable to hear even her own voice.

  Xander appeared before her eyes, his face cast into high relief bathed in the golden spotlight of the sun. He was so beautiful that he took Savannah’s breath away. His pale grey eyes held hues of silver, and his dark hair held hints of gold. She saw his mouth form the shape of her name, and she inched her hearing aid back in.

  “What are you doing out here so early?” Xander asked.

  “I couldn’t sleep,” Savannah admitted. “I thought a walk might help.”

  “You look…worried,” Xander said, staring carefully at Savannah’s face.

  “I had nightmares last night,” she said. “I don’t remember what about, but they left me with this…feeling.”

  “What feeling?” Xander asked.

  “The feeling that something is about to happen,” Savannah said. “Something bad.”

  “I don’t want you worrying needlessly,” Xander said as he reached out and took Savannah’s hand. “Stressing yourself out can only serve to harm both you and the baby. You need to stay calm.”

  “I can’t help how I feel, Xander,” Savannah said. She sighed. “I don’t want to feel this way…it’s just…beyond my control.”

  Xander’s eyes appeared troubled as he looked down at Savannah. “Is there anything I can do?”

  Savannah smiled. “You being here is enough.”

  Xander hugged her a little tighter and then kissed her forehead. “Why don’t we sit down?” he suggested. They found a co
sy little spot beneath the shade of the forest trees, and rested against its trunk.

  “Are you going to tell me?” Savannah asked.

  “Tell you what?”

  “What you’re not telling me,” Savannah said. “I can sense it--”

  Xander raised his eyebrows. “Those senses of yours are no joke.”

  Savannah smiled. “It’s only because of the connection between us,” she clarified. “It’s going to be hard for you to keep a secret from me.”

  Xander smiled. “Believe it or not, I don’t want to keep secrets from you, but I don’t want to upset you, either.”

  “I know.” Savannah nodded. “But tell me anyway.”

  Xander sighed. “Apparently…the news has traveled.”

  “News of my pregnancy?” Savannah asked.

  Xander nodded. “Dominic knows that the fact our child is a shifter has legitimized our relationship, and I can marry you and take on my role as alpha which means--”

  “He can’t take over like he wanted to,” Savannah said, finishing for him.

  “Exactly,” Xander nodded.

  “Does that mean he’s going to go back home?” Savannah asked.

  “I don’t think he’s the type to give up so easily,” Xander said. “He’s still in town, and…I think he may be up to something.”

  “I knew it!” Savannah said. “I knew my senses were right.”

  “He’s not going to get near you,” Xander said fiercely. “I’ll make sure of that.”

  “What if…what if he tries to harm the baby?” Savannah said, feeling terrible fear grip at her.

  “We’re going to find him, Savannah,” Xander said heatedly. “We’re going to find him, and we’re going to get him out of town.”

  “How?”

  “When the pack comes together as one we're impossible to defeat,” Xander said with certainty. “It is the lone wolf who has something to fear, and we are not alone--but Dominic is.”

  Savannah nodded slowly. “I told my parents I wanted to stay in Grey Mountain last night,” she admitted.

  He smiled at her softly. “Were they surprised?”

  “Very.” Savannah nodded. “They think I’m staying because of a boy.”