Tell him to leave.
The tiger’s rumbling voice sent shivers of awareness racing down her spine. She didn’t know whether to moan with need or scream with fright. When had she lost all control over her body, her sense? This was wrong, so wrong. Two strangers—one a man with a familiar face, the other a rare white tiger, a Tigerian—were in her home and yet she’d done naught to make them leave.
With her hands flat against the floor, she pushed herself to her elbows, needing to escape, needing to reach safety. Again the tiger chuffed. His muzzle pressed against the nape of her neck as though he were scenting her. His big paw pressed down upon her spine, pinning her in place. The rough texture of his tongue rasped her skin as he licked her. Lady Goddess, don’t let him eat me. Please?
When I eat you, mate, it won’t be to fill my stomach but to taste the sweet cream found between your thighs.
Laynee squeaked. How could she not? She did not know these men, this tiger crouched above her. They were strangers to her. Even if her spell worked and she called them to her, she didn’t know them. The fact that her netherparts quivered, and her heart raced with both fear and an uncertainty of what was to come, must be ignored. That was the right thing to do, the safe thing to do.
No, the safe thing to do, mate, is get rid of the other male before I kill him in your home.
She couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. This was too much. Deep down, she never believed the spell would work, that it would bring her one mate, never mind two. How was she ever going to cope? She didn’t have the strength or the courage to mate with them. The only thing she could do with any efficiency was work her sister’s tome shoppe and even then her sister always made sure to keep an eye on her.
Why had the Lady Goddess chosen her? It must be a mistake. That was the only explanation that made sense. Her shoulders sagged. She shook her head in defeat. “You’re wrong. I’m not your mate. I’m nobody. I’m just a plain sparrow amidst a sea of pure doves.” She knew she was neither brave, nor beautiful. She didn’t have the courage to mate with these males.
The sound of an indrawn breath, accompanied by the tiger’s withdrawal, was all the proof she needed that the men agreed with her. Defeated, she lowered her head, squeezing her eyes closed as she tried to stifle the tears she could feel welling in her eyes.
Laynee flinched when a ferocious growl echoed eerily throughout her home. What now?
“What did you say, Tigerian, to make our mate say such a thing? What did you do to her?”
Raising her head, she watched them circle each other. The white tiger would lunge toward Dare’s brother and he’d retreat. What should she do? Should she get between them, or try to get away?
Tell him to leave now if he wants to live.
By the Lady Goddess, why was she hearing the tiger’s voice in her mind? She’d only ever shared such a connection with one other, her twin sister. If she could hear him, could he hear her? She wouldn’t know until she tried. Swallowing past her fear, she focused her thoughts toward the tiger. Can you hear me?
Of course, I can hear you, mate.
Knowing that at any minute the two could come to blows, Laynee began to scoot back, away from the still circling pair. Once she was far enough away that neither could reach her easily, only then did she turn her gaze toward Dare’s brother. She needed to get him out of here, both of them out of here. She was not what they wanted—what they needed for a mate. “He wants you to leave.”
As fierce as the tiger looked, as big as he was and knowing what kind of damage he could do, she didn’t expect the man’s reaction. Rather than move a safe distance away, he laughed, closing the distance between him and the beast.
“Never. You are my mate and I won’t be made to walk away from you. Not by him.” His gaze flickered quickly to her before he once again focused on the enraged tiger. “And not by you either, natoya.”
Laynee gasped. How had he known what she’d been thinking? “You must leave, both of you. This is all a big misunderstanding. You don’t even know why or how you got here.”
The man snorted, dodged out of the way of the tiger’s swiping paw. “Of course I know why I’m here. My own brother mated your twin. How could I not know why I found myself in your home?”
The tiger reared back, standing on his two back legs, swiping the air where Dare’s brother had stood. Instead of facing the tiger as he had before, he now stood behind the ferocious beast, his legs apart, braced for battle. How had he moved so quickly? What powers did this man have?
The tiger once again chuffed his displeasure. It almost sounded like a snort. What is he talking about?
I… I…
Spit it out, mate? What does he speak of? Why is he here?
“I’m here because she is my mate and she called me to her.”
As though he’d only been waiting for the male to speak, in a move so blindingly fast she hadn’t even seen it, the tiger turned and swiped his clawed paw across the man’s chest and stomach. Four long furrows stretched across the width of his torso. Blood began to seep from the open wounds. Rivulets of his life’s essence ran down his torso, disappearing beneath his pants—the only clothes he wore. Even his feet were bare.
Unable to help herself, Laynee gasped as the blood began to flow more freely. At that rate he would bleed out and yet he didn’t slow, didn’t stumble. By the Lady Goddess what should she do? How could she stop them?
“Nice job, Tigerian.” She watched with wide eyes as he dipped his finger into his own blood and brought it to his mouth. Without dropping his gaze from the tiger, he licked the blood off his finger. She shook, unable to believe what she witnessed. But it wasn’t revulsion that cause her to shudder, but a desperate desire to be the one to be taking his essence into her body. By all that was holy, why was she reacting this way?
“Let’s see how much you like being clawed.” Before she could even comprehend what the male was about, she watched as his hand shifted from that of a human male to that of an animal. Fingers changed to claws and before she could warn the cat of the man’s intentions, he’d already swiped at the tiger, raking its belly.
The tiger roared in outrage. She could see the furrows through the tigers white fur, see the stark red of its blood mar the purity of its white coat. The two males had to be in pain and instead of running to them, stopping them from their battle, she could only watch.
How much more proof did they need that she was a coward, that she wasn’t worthy of them, either of them? Lost in her own misery, she didn’t realize that they were once again battling, not until she watched the tiger knock the male into her end table, shattering the precious Illuma-glass that covered it. Both tumbled to the floor amidst the shattered glass. Neither stayed on the ground, each doing their best to pin the other as they rolled across her floor, knocking her furniture down, breaking the more delicate pieces in their desperate attempt to kill each other.
When she was sure that neither would notice her disappearance, she darted toward her bedroom door. As soon as she reached the relative safety of her bedchamber, she slammed the door closed, jamming the locking-bolt home. She rested her head against the only barrier separating her from her mates, and let out the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.
Even with the door muffling most of the noise, she could hear the fight. Shattering glass and breaking wood echoed through her small cottage. Unable to control her quivering body, she turned, pressing her back against her door.
Her gaze darted around the room looking for anything she might have to defend herself if she needed it. Before she could step away from the door, the cottage grew silent. She turned her ear to the door, doing her best to hear what was happening on the other side of her barrier. What were they up to now? Or had one finally killed the other?
* * * *
“You have to listen to me. I know what is happening.” Sayre faced down the huge cat, his breath coming in gasps as he gulped much needed air into his lungs.
The tiger lu
nged at him, swiping his big paw over a low glass-topped table, clearing it of its contents with a single swipe. As do I, Savari. I realize now that it is your people who call themselves the Banarts. Did you think yourselves too clever to not be found out? The tiger snarled his voice gravelly and his breath came in short pants. Yours are the only people in the galaxy who can shift shape on a whim. Tell me, is this your real form, or only one you took on to capture the woman?
“You don’t understand. I am not Banart. They are our common enemy. I only know what is happening because the same thing just happened to my twin. We are mated to this woman. Both of us. Not just you, not just me, both of us.” Sayre stretched, releasing the tension building up in his already healing muscles. New skin tightened over his chest as the deep gouges left by the cat repaired themselves and he absently rubbed at the restored flesh. Healing—no matter the form he was in—never failed to itch.
The large cat paced in front of him, agitated. I would not share my precious mate with one of my own kind, let alone share her with Banart scum such as you.
Sayre kept the furniture between them. He couldn’t afford to hurt the tiger, regardless of the other man’s feelings. He knew exactly what was at stake even if the other male did not.
“Then you doom all of our people to death, Tigerian,” Sayre said, the fight leaving him. They obviously weren’t going to settle this in battle. They needed to find a way to get along. “If we can’t find a way to share this woman between us, the battle against the Banart will be over before it has truly begun.” He ran his hands through his hair. “This is not only about us. It is not about our wants and needs. It is about the needs of our people. All of our people.”
The tiger sat back on his haunches and pierced him with his blue eyed gaze, not relaxing his scrutiny one bit. Continue.
The big cat yawned giving the appearance of one who was bored, one who may make a mistake, but Sayre wasn’t fooled. He knew the tiger sat waiting to pounce if he sensed a lie in his words. One thing he knew about the creature standing before him was that a Tigerian could sense fear and falsehoods before one of his species could even realize the lie was out. Complete truth was his only ally in this.
“I do not like the idea that I must share her any more than you do but we are both the woman’s mates. We have only four days to get to Savar for this to be a true union between us or none of us will ever bear offspring of our own.”
The tiger coughed. I have heard of the rare triad bonding of the Savar but why only four days?
“Because the three moons of Carrillia’s zenith precedes that of Savar by only four days. We must mate in the Hallowed Glenn before the next full moons rise or all of us will be rendered sterile. It is the way of our people. The magic of the Lady Goddess makes us so. It ties us and our mates to the same laws of nature. As our triad mate, it binds you with the same laws.”
Why should this affect me in any way?” The tiger stood and began to pace again. “Why should I believe any of this?
Sayre took a deep breath and let it out on a sigh. They were doomed to a barren existence if he couldn’t get this cat to believe him. He could kill the tiger in a heartbeat, but that wouldn’t help him. Now that all three of them were brought together, if they didn’t all three mate under the moons of Savar in four day’s time they would never be truly bonded.
“Because you know the power of your people better than I do. What do your instincts tell you?”
My base instincts tell me to take my mate and run, he growled then sat down again. The air shimmered around him as he changed forms to that of a man.
Sayre almost breathed a sigh of relief when the Tigerian changed to his human form. He’d never seen one of their kind as a man before. They tended to keep their cat form when in situations where they felt their lives were at risk. The Tigerian showed a semblance of trust changing to his weaker self in front of a virtual stranger.
Long white hair fell over his shoulders, the black tips brushing his chest and upper arms. Sayre supposed he was a good-looking male in his right. At least he wouldn’t be stuck raising the ugly cubs of a Hienial triad mate. Given the nature of those beasts, however, he saw them in an alliance with the unfeeling Banarts before anyone else.
“Shall we go find our mate and apologize for destroying her home? I’m sure our male posturing and aggressive behavior has not ingratiated us to her in the least.” Sayre offered his hand to the Tigerian. “I am Sayre, brother to Dare Raden of the Savari.”
Taking his proffered hand in a warrior’s grip, the tiger bowed his head over their clasped arms. “Fane, Fane Gavaire, head of the house of Gavaire of Tigeria.”
Sayre blinked. “Not the Fane of Gavaire.”
“The one and the same.” He smiled wryly. “It seems being faced with the scent of a true mate brings out the worst in even the purest of royal families of Tigeria. If only it hadn’t been so long since my people have had the privilege of finding their one true mate.” He thrust his fingers through his hair and walked through the broken glass to sit on a chair at the bar. “Go get the female. I fear what I may do if she chooses to struggle. The beast in me may rise once more.”
Sayre inhaled deeply, scenting the animal just below the surface of the other man. “You change quickly. I’ve never seen one of your kind during transformation before, is it normal to change from one form to another so fast?”
Fane shrugged. “It is my ability. I have always been this way. Even when I was nothing more than a young cub, I was able to shift fast.” His gaze met Sayre’s telling him without words that he spoke of Tigerian secret. “Even as a cub, Savari. Our people normally cannot change as cubs, not until well past puberty can they do so.”
Sayre bowed. “Then I find myself in rare company indeed. Not only are you Tigerian royalty but one of the rare Shinsai. What else can you do?”
Fane shook his head. “Better to leave the rest until we know each other a bit better. I feel I’ve told you too much already. Go get the woman. She listens to us even now and yet, it’s doing nothing to dispel her fears. Only the touch and scents of her mates will do that.”
Sayre turned toward the door his mate had disappeared through just moments before, knowing the Tigerian was correct. He flexed his fingers as he remembered hearing the solid sound of her jamming the lock into place. It wouldn’t do to face his mate with his hands balled into nervous fists. It could give her the wrong impression.
He wiped his damp palms on his pants and raised his hand to knock on the door. Swallowing past the thick lump lodged in his throat, he wondered when his confidence with women had deserted him. Perhaps it was because he knew she was finally The One. All of his previous encounters had only led him to this moment, to this woman, to his mate.
“We know you are still there. We have stopped our fighting and we wish only to speak with you. Will you come out and meet your mates?”
He cocked his head to the side. Was that a whimper? Could they really have frightened her so thoroughly that she may never come to them on her own? He closed his eyes and wished they could have been brought together under better circumstances. Still he knew it had taken great courage for the Tigerian to believe him and give up his stronger form. He could do no less in facing their mate.
It didn’t take a healer to see the wounds inflicted by obvious torture on the other man’s flesh. He may heal fast, but he didn’t heal as fast as a Savari and no one knew the signs of torture as well as his people. He shuddered with the memory of his last encounter with the Hienial people. They took great pleasure in causing their prisoners extreme pain before leaving them to die.
He’d been lucky that Dare had suggested that as second in the line of succession, he should have a tracking device inserted. Beneath his hair, the device was undetectable by scans due to the nature of Savari electrical impulses in the brain. Without that device, he would have died on the planet his captors left him on, surrounded by nothing but rock and dirt.
Sayre pushed the memories of torture a
side, needing a clear mind to deal with the fears of Jaynee’s twin sister. The corner of his mouth quirked up in a half smile. Twins. They were certain to have at least one set between them now. How fortuitous that his mate should be the twin of his brother’s mate. He knew at least a little about her.
He knew her name was Laynee and she was very, very, reserved. She lived the life of an introvert, almost completely shut away from the real world. Jaynee talked about her, worried about her constantly. Jaynee feared the woman would lose herself in her books without her sister here to prod her into experiencing life.
Resting his head against the cool wood, he reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. They would be lucky if they could convince the woman to appear from behind this door, let alone emerge from the protection of her wall of diffidence.
Fane and he may have shown great courage to overcome their differences, even to have overcome their individual capture and torture by their enemies. Still, he knew it would take even greater courage for their female to face them both alone.
“Please come out, Laynee. We aren’t fighting anymore and we wish to speak with you.”
“How do you know my name?” Muffled by the door, the trembling voice sought out his heart and squeezed.
“Your sister is my twin brother’s mate. You look exactly as she, as I am identical to Dare. It’s something we have in common, you and I.”
“Oh.” She spoke so softly he barely heard it through the thick wood. “You only want to talk?”
Sayre and Fane both inhaled sharply at the sound of her voice so filled with hesitance and fear. When they first appeared, she’d practically materialized from the dark before them. She’d been a brave woman, ready to face intruders in her home, to face her future with her mates. Their fighting caused her to take refuge inside her protective shell. She closed herself off to them. She stood hiding behind the wall of her room.
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