Yes, a minute ago there was a tiger standing where Yuri now stood, the same Yuri Ash had recklessly run off with. Also, he had similar cuts to Lance all over his body. So, the fight Lance had talked about was between the two of them. As tigers… That explained the claw marks.
Ash stared. They weren’t thinking about it at first, but it was hard not to admire Yuri’s body when it was on full display like this. And it was hard not to remember that night. Ash couldn’t stop the flush of heat that went through their body. Sex with Yuri had been good. Ash had been wild. They had fed off Yuri’s energy. It was very different from sex with Lance.
The brothers didn’t look much alike at a glance. They didn’t act much alike either. What had they been fighting about to get cut up like that? Was it about Ash? Lance said he wasn’t mad, but what if…
Ash felt guilty. They forced their eyes away from Yuri and turned to Lance. “Are you a tiger ‘shifter’ too?”
“Yes. I didn’t want you to find out like this. Are you okay? You look pale.” He touched Ash’s cheek. His touch felt the same, warm and comforting. Ash didn’t flinch away and took his hand. They would go along with this. That was how they lived. They went with the flow, and this was Lance. The same Lance they had come here for. The same Lance they were taking a chance on.
“Show me,” Ash whispered.
Lance nodded after searching Ash’s eyes for a moment longer. Ash didn’t know what he was looking for, but they held his gaze. Then he stripped off his coat and his clothes and immediately dropped down to the snow. That same loud cracking noise filled the air as his skin rippled. His body morphed and Ash took a step back because he just kept getting bigger. Where a man was, a tiger began to emerge. The shape came first, then fur sprouted all over his body. He grew a long and powerful tail, big teeth, and sharp claws. He looked much like his brother in this form, but the base color of his fur was white, and his eyes maintained that ice blue.
He was huge. Ash almost took another step back, but they stood their ground. Lance was right next to them. They could reach out and touch his fur. It somehow made all of that muscle look soft and inviting. Lance didn’t move, but he watched and his tail twitched back and forth. Ash reached out for him, afraid, yes, but they needed to know if he felt like the Lance they knew. Ash touched his big head, between his rounded ears. Aside from the fur, the warmth they felt was the same.
Lance moved forward to rub his body against Ash. He was careful about how much strength he put behind it, but Ash almost fell over anyway. They would have if Lance hadn’t been there to catch them. Ash stayed slumped over his back, unable to get back up on their own feet. They could hardly feel their feet. This was the craziest and coolest moment of Ash’s life.
“I can’t believe this is real. This is real,” they said as they grabbed fistfuls of Lance’s fur and mashed their cheek against his powerful body. They were hugging a potentially dangerous tiger like he was one of those life-size stuffed animals. Lance nudged Ash’s hips with his head, and Ash found their feet.
Yuri folded his arms and grinned. The polar bear cub and wolf were no longer animals either. Ash missed their change, but they saw a little boy and another muscular, tattooed man in their place. Though they had changed so much, there were aspects of them that stayed the same. Their eyes, the way they carried themselves, it was all the same.
“Holy fuck,” Ash said. “This is what you meant when you said Eurio is different. And you are right. I have never seen anything like this in my life.”
“That’s one way to introduce everyone,” a deep voice sounded from behind. Ash got up and turned around, but they kept one hand in Lance’s fur. A big man and woman, and several others, came from around the corner. They must have come from the front of the Lodge. The man didn’t look pleased. He wore a slight scowl.
“Why don’t you come inside with everyone, Ash,” the man said. “We can talk where it’s warm.”
“Good idea, Gale,” Yuri said. “I’m freezing my ass off.”
Lance stepped forward, toward the newcomers, as if he intended to lead the way. Since Ash continued clinging to his fur and stumbled along beside him, it was true enough. It seemed Ash was going into the Lodge with a bunch of people who could turn into animals. Ash was surprisingly okay with that, and it was all because of Lance.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
ASH SAT BESIDE LANCE as Cedar grilled them on all sorts of things. She had all kinds of questions: where was Ash from, what was their history, what were they going to do with this new-found shifter knowledge? Lance wanted to tell Cedar to stop, but Ash was eager to engage.
“I never knew my parents. I grew up in the foster care system,” Ash said. “I don’t have a family unless you call the people who follow me on social media family. I kind of do. The internet can offer an amazing support group among all the chaos.”
“Did you take a picture?” Cedar asked, gesturing to Ash’s cell phone.
“No. Lance stopped me. And I won’t try to take any more. I’ll break my phone if it’ll make you feel better.” Ash held out their hand and almost turned it over to drop their phone on the ground. They even had their foot raised, boot ready to smash it. Lance grabbed their hand, closing Ash’s fingers around their phone before they could follow through.
“That is not necessary,” Lance said quickly. He was moved that Ash would go to such lengths, though. Their heart rate was steady, so it wouldn’t have been done out of fear.
“Whatever it takes,” Ash said. “I want to stay a while. Please, let me stay.” Ash studied Lance, and Lance wondered if it was because they were trying to see the tiger in the human part of him. “But it’s so weird. I always just kind of babied animals, you know? I wonder what they really have going through their heads. Hope I never offended any shifters.”
Weston chuckled. “You are a strange one, Ash.”
Austin pushed his glasses up his nose and said, “You’re taking this remarkably well.”
Ash snuggled closer to Lance and took his hand. He squeezed in response. “It’s because it feels like nothing’s really changed. This is still Lance, the same guy I met a few months ago and… fell in love with.”
“Months ago,” Gale echoed. He studied Lance with a hard gaze. “Months ago?” he repeated.
“I’m good at hiding things?” Lance offered.
“No shit,” Mateo said.
“Do you promise to keep us a secret, Ash?” Cedar asked.
“Cross my heart and hope to die.”
Cedar nodded. “All right.”
“I always have my head in the clouds. That’s what people say anyway, so even if I did say something, I promise you have nothing to fear from me. No one’s going to believe my fairytales.”
“You don’t have to keep trying to sell your sincerity,” Lance said. “Cedar already knows. She’s been making this go on longer than necessary because she’s paranoid.”
“I’m not paranoid,” Cedar defended. “You are. I’m just doing my job.”
“She knows I’m sincere?” Ash asked.
“Yes,” Cedar replied. “Shifters are good judges of character. We’re also pretty good at picking out lies.”
“Okay, because if you’re not convinced,” Ash held out their hands, wrists up, “I’ll even be a prisoner. Just don’t send me back out into the wild. I want to stay.”
“Where did you find this person?” Weston asked.
“Fairbanks,” Lance and Ash replied in unison.
Ash continued, “But I’ve traveled a lot, and I’ve seen a lot of things, though never anything like this.”
Ash wasn’t the kind of person Lance would describe as excitable. It wasn’t that they didn’t get excited, but they had a levelness about everything they did. They took things in stride, but they were positively energized at the moment. Lights danced in their green eyes.
“No prisoners,” Gale said. “You are good to go, Ash. We believe what you’ve said, and you’re welcome to stay here in Eurio. The Lenkov
s would be happy to have you, I’m sure.”
“Since I passed interrogation, does that mean I get to ask a few questions?” Ash asked.
“Not yet. Sorry. Some things are better left said on a need-to-know basis. Plus, it’s getting late.”
Ash didn’t push, and Weston dismissed everyone.
Yuri hadn’t said a word the whole time they were in the Lodge. There were spare clothes kept inside, so he wasn’t forced to stay in his tiger form or sit naked in his human form. He was cozied up in his coat once he got it on. Then he had started dozing off. At Weston’s dismissal, he was suddenly awake and the first one to leave.
Lance watched him go, but he didn’t chase after him. He took Ash’s hand and walked out with them in their own time. But, before they could escape, Mateo grabbed Lance’s arm.
“‘Have you met me?’” he mocked. “‘I’ve never been in love.’ Bullshit.”
Lance tore away from him. “It’s complicated. I didn’t mean to hide it. It’s just… it’s complicated.”
Ash smiled. “I’m glad I finally got to meet one of Lance’s closest friends.”
“Me too,” Mateo said.
Austin came forward and caught Mateo’s hand. “Welcome to the crazy life of shifters, Ash. I hope you stick around. It would be nice to add another human to this family.” Austin turned to Lance, but he couldn’t quite meet his gaze. “I’m sorry for misjudging you.”
“I think you’ve judged me just fine,” Lance remarked. It wasn’t like he had changed any now that Ash was in the picture. He was still him.
“I plan on sticking around,” Ash said. Then they grabbed Lance’s waist and stood on their tiptoes. Lance leaned down for a quick kiss like Ash so obviously wanted. He wasn’t lying about enjoying some kisses, so he was just as eager. These kisses were the absolute best because they were shared with Ash, though. Ash cut the kiss short, taking to heart what he had said in the SUV. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Ash was being careful with him now.
“Did you ask Ash to the dance?” Austin said.
“Yeah, did you?” Mateo joined. “Austin brings it up every day.”
“Hey, one of us has to bring the romance into this relationship.”
“Yep.”
“There’s going to be a dance?” Ash asked.
“Yeah, for Valentine’s,” Lance said. “And I was going to ask. Just hadn’t found the right time, but whatever. Guess I’m asking now. Will you be my date to Eurio’s Valentine’s Day dance, Ash?”
“I will. You know I love dancing.”
“Yeah, I do. And you’re good at it.”
“You’re not half bad yourself.”
“See you both at the dance, then,” Austin said and turned to his mate. “Take me home, handsome.”
Mateo grinned, and then he swept Austin off his feet and into his arms. Austin let out a short shriek. “Warn me before you do that!”
“You told me to take you home.” Mateo rubbed his nose against his mate’s, playfully disheveling his green-rimmed glasses. Austin smiled softly.
“Let’s go, Ash,” Lance said. “These two are gross.”
“You’re not any better,” Mateo said.
Lance shook his head and gave Mateo a small shove. Mateo looked back at him and grinned, eyes flashing yellow, and then he went on his way with his mate securely in his arms.
By the time Lance and Ash were back on course, Yuri was way ahead of them. He was nothing but a dot in the dark. Lance was sure Ash couldn’t see him since they were limited by their human sight, but they were content to walk alongside Lance, trusting him to lead the way. Not even Lance could pick out Yuri’s features this far away, but he knew how his brother walked; his long, confident gait was seared into Lance’s mind.
In some ways, Lance knew Yuri like the back of his hand. In other ways, he was a mystery.
Lance wondered what was going through Yuri’s head right now.
Yuri clicked the next link for another one of those video montages of people doing stupid things and getting themselves hurt. He found it entertaining, but not after watching several of them. Not to mention the internet was basically slow as hell out here, compared to Fairbanks anyway. However, paying attention to Lance and Ash was worse.
Since Lance and Yuri had totaled their couch, Gale had pulled out an old bean bag from the Lodge storage for them. Lance and Ash were sitting on it, cuddling and being gross. Yuri never complained about Austin and Mateo out loud like Lance did, but he wasn’t a fan of all this mushy stuff.
“Do you remember how we met?” Ash asked.
“Definitely,” Lance said. “You ran into me when you got your drink after a show and spilled it all over my shirt.”
“Yeah, that was funny. I’m glad I did. If I hadn’t, we probably never would’ve talked.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Ash sat snugly on Lance’s lap, and they stared into each other’s eyes as they reminisced about all the little things they had done together, all these things Yuri had no idea Lance was doing in Fairbanks. Lance never left when Yuri was bad off, but he had left plenty when Yuri was doing well enough to hang around with Mateo or cause trouble elsewhere in Eurio. Yuri could have gone with Lance. It wasn’t like Lance tried to hide it, but Fairbanks wasn’t as fun for him when PWD was a thing in his life. And not just that. He got tired of making Lance deal with his shit whenever he’d have a seizure out there. Lance would have to get him back to Eurio on his own somehow because it always came in waves.
“Every time I went to Fairbanks, I hoped I’d see you there,” Lance said.
“And I started showing up at the library and the bar, just waiting for you to get there,” Ash replied.
God, it was a sappy love story if Yuri ever heard one. But he was happy for his brother. For so long he had chained Lance down, and it seemed Ash had finally set him free.
The world was cruel.
Yuri clicked out of the videos he was watching and closed the web browser. Then he turned off the computer and pressed his hand to his aching head. He had been dealing with a dull headache for the majority of the day. He was thinking about turning in for the night. It was probably for the best. He could leave Ash and Lance to it.
When he looked back at his brother and the human he’d fallen in love with, still cuddling, he said, “How long can two people stare into each other’s eyes?”
That got the two of them to tear their gaze away from each other. Yuri called that a win. At least they’d hear him. “I’m going to bed. Have fun, kids, but not too much or I’ll get jealous that you left me with the boring part.”
“Sorry, Yuri,” Lance said quickly.
Yuri shrugged. He didn’t know why his brother was apologizing. Yuri was just teasing.
“You’ve been quiet. You don’t usually stare at videos for that long.”
Yuri decided to tell the truth. “I have a headache.”
Apparently, “headache” was a trigger because Lance frowned so deep that Yuri was afraid his face would melt off.
“It’s a headache caused by boredom,” Yuri amended, hoping it’d get his easily agitated brother to chill out. He was so high-strung.
“We can do something that includes all of us,” Ash said. “Truth or dare. Unless your headache is too bad, Yuri.”
Truth or dare? Yuri grinned. “I’m in.”
“Okay, Yuri,” Ash said. “Truth or dare.”
“Dare of course.”
“Mix together all of the beverages in the house and drink down a full glass of it.”
“That’s easy.” And nasty. Yuri got up and headed to the kitchen. Ash followed with Lance on their heels. They had to make sure that he followed through and didn’t cheat. Besides, watching a dare get executed was most of the fun.
Yuri opened the fridge and took a look at what was inside. Then he pulled out milk, some vegetable concoction that was supposed to be good for you (if you were a human maybe), a green tea, and a flat soda. Gross. They had more beverages
than usual, but Yuri would get it down quick.
He mixed equal portions of them into a glass; it was a lovely puke green color when it was finished. Then he plugged his nose and tipped his head back, drinking the whole thing in a few well-timed gulps. Getting it down was okay, but the aftertaste was revolting. Ash didn’t specify any rules against drinking water to clear his palate after the dare, so he did that next.
“Gross,” Ash said, grinning. “You did that like a champ. You didn’t even gag.”
“I’ll get you back for it, though,” Yuri said. But for now, he turned to Lance. Lance folded his arms and waited. “Truth or dare, bro?”
He did exactly what Yuri was counting on. “Truth.”
“Boring. What do you want out of this little threesome?”
Lance cleared his throat when Ash raised an eyebrow at him. “It’s not a threesome. I just want to find a way to make this work. I want to keep both of you. Truth or dare, Ash?”
Ash glanced at Yuri and said, “Truth.”
Good. Ash caught on quick. Lance probably wouldn’t break the rules of the game, so this was the perfect opportunity to get everything out in the open without any pussyfooting.
“Do you like Yuri?” Lance asked. “You know, the sex. Was it good and would you do it again? Because I don’t mind.”
“Rambling,” Yuri muttered and folded his arms. “Two questions are past the legal limit.”
“But they were pretty much the same question,” Lance defended. “And since when do we follow the rules? Rules are for bending or breaking, right?”
Ash scowled. “Lance, sex doesn’t break us, okay? I told you that already, and I mean it.”
That was exactly what Yuri wanted to hear. There was no stutter in the steady rhythm of Ash’s heartbeat.
Yuri clapped his brother on the shoulder. “And there you have it. You heard Ash, so stop worrying.” Then Yuri turned to Ash and pointed a finger at them. “You can stay. You pass. I’ll let you have my brother if that’s what you both want, just don’t break his heart or I’ll have to wreck some shit.”
Valentine's Day Tigers (The Holiday Shifter Mates Book 3) Page 12
