Mine.
She growled in his face, flashing her fangs.
He would submit to her.
In a lightning fast move, he had flipped her onto her back and was off her, back on his feet and a metre away. She rolled onto her paws, a growl rumbling through her chest, the need to force him into submission pounding through her together with anger that he had dared to disobey her.
She slowly circled him and he kept pace with her, maintaining the distance between them, those pure silver eyes not leaving hers, tracking her every move so she couldn’t get the jump on him again.
“You’re playing a dangerous game,” he husked, voice like honey, a smooth purr that had her shivering with delight.
She knew that.
But he didn’t know just how dangerous this game was.
For both of them.
Part of her was dimly aware that she needed to stop, that she needed to shift and leave, before the hungers he ignited in her became too strong for her to fight and she surrendered to them.
Fight.
She wanted to fight.
She hunkered down on her front paws and growled again, a need to battle the male growing within her, spreading tendrils through her until it had total control over her and all she could do was watch.
He smiled slowly. “If you want to do things this way, I’m game.”
He reached over his head, grabbed the back of his dark red t-shirt and pulled it over his head.
Maya swayed a little as the glorious sight of him hit her, stunned her and left her reeling, her mouth watering and that hunger flaring hotter, filling her with a need to run her tongue over all that flesh.
Scars littered his chest, faded and silvery, but it was the one on his right shoulder that arrested her eyes. It was thick, cutting across his muscle, and dark pink. Still healing. He had been in a battle recently. She shivered inside at that, her need growing as she imagined him fighting, as she realised he was a warrior.
A strong male.
“You look as if you need a good workout.” There was a flash of something wicked in his silver eyes as he said that, something that told her he wasn’t talking about fighting.
He was talking about the other thing.
Her heart quickened, blood thundering at just the thought.
He fingered the button of his black jeans and her eyes fell there, that heat growing fiercer as he slowly popped each one, teasing her. It burst into wildfire in her veins when he reached the last one and casually, shamelessly, shoved his jeans down his legs.
Gods.
She growled at the sight of him, unable to contain her reaction.
That smile widened, grew a little cocky.
She had seen countless males naked at the pride before and after they had shifted, more than just her brothers, but none of them had been like him.
He was glorious.
He would be hers.
She leaped at him.
Before she could reach him, he had shifted, stealing her breath away.
Beautiful lush pale silver fur with black broken rings covered his sleek form, his tail thick and bushy, and almost the length of his body, and his eyes gained a gold shimmer.
A snow leopard.
The sight of him caught her off guard.
Left her wide open.
He collided hard with her and tackled her, knocking the air from her as they landed with him on top. She growled and twisted, slapped him hard with her front left paw and then her right, battering his face. He snarled back at her and made a lunge for her throat, and she swiftly bucked up, pushing her paws against his neck and his shoulder. The right one.
He hissed and distanced himself, but only for a heartbeat.
He sprang at her again, and she was ready this time, rose onto her back feet and reached with both paws, managed to get them around his neck as his landed around her ribs. He snarled as she brought her head down, whisker close to sinking her fangs into his throat, and twisted downwards, breaking her hold.
Maya growled and followed it with a hiss as she swiped at him, her ears flattening against her head.
He leaped backwards, only a few feet, and eyed her, studying her closely.
She bared fangs at him.
He would submit to her.
Those golden-silver eyes shimmered with heat and amusement, an answer to her question. He would not.
She was damned if she was going to submit to him. He was male, but she was stronger, her heritage giving her an advantage over him.
The male leaped at her again, springing high into the air, and Maya hunkered down and kicked hard, propelling herself towards him with all the speed and strength she could muster. He grunted as they collided, but kept his wits, his fangs snapping close to her face as he tried to claim her neck.
Never.
She twisted in the air, using her weight against him, pushing him down into a vulnerable position, and growled as she landed on him. He hissed, flashing fangs, and kicked at her, catching her flank with his claws. She snarled and snapped her fangs at him, because if he wanted to play rough, she could do that, and he would regret it.
She brought her paw down hard, smashing it into his right shoulder.
He growled through clenched fangs, ploughed his back paws into her stomach and kicked hard, shoving her off him to land awkwardly on the floor. She was on her paws a second later, rising up onto her back ones to meet him as he rose onto his and tried to grab her.
She tried to stand taller, instinct driving her, awareness that he would win if she didn’t maintain the upper hand when they grappled. Her balance faltered, and she stumbled back a step and her front dropped. The male’s left paw landed on her shoulder and drove her down, and he landed on top of her back.
No.
On a feral growl, she kicked up, driving into him, forcing him off her. She ignored his warning growl, the one that demanded she submitted to him, and brought her right paw around and her claws out.
He hissed as they cut across his shoulder.
Red marred his beautiful silver and black fur.
She thought he would back down now that one of them had drawn blood.
It only made him fight harder.
He snarled and launched at her, and she rolled, letting him hit her front rather than her back. He pinned her down, his gold-silver gaze bright as he stared into her eyes, and then he snapped his fangs at her and pushed his weight down on her. She brought her back legs up, tried to kick him but he was at an angle to her, his lower half too far away from her for her to hit.
His head came down.
Maya hooked her right paw around his head and rolled left, pulling more of his weight on top of her.
In range of her back legs.
He broke her hold and leaped off her, and she kept rolling, hit all four paws and came into a crouch, breathing hard as she kept an eye on him. He circled her, breathing hard too, the cut on his shoulder dripping crimson down his leg.
The part of her that was still aware of the world, that one existed beyond this room, beyond him, whispered that this was dangerous, that she couldn’t do this, that she was promised to another.
She didn’t want to be promised to another.
She wanted the male who had been made for her.
She leaped at him, and he rose onto his back paws to meet her, welcomed her into his paws and grappled with her. She managed to get her fangs into his neck and satisfaction poured through her, the instinct to fight him and force him into submission fading as she held him in her teeth, not breaking the skin.
Her guard dropped again.
The world whirled past her and suddenly he was behind her, had her pinned to the floor in a hold.
His teeth against the scruff of her neck.
Maya stilled, went lax in his grip, fear rushing through her to douse the fire, leaving her cold.
But he was gentle as he held her in his fangs, didn’t make a move to bite her or hurt her.
The door in front of her opened.
Talon walked in. “Grey said you wanted to speak with me about something.”
He lifted his head and stopped dead.
Stared at her.
And then his face darkened, a tempest raging in his glowing gold eyes.
And he roared.
CHAPTER 5
For the second time in less than an hour, August had a tiger leaping at him.
Only this time, it was four hundred pounds of very angry male tiger.
He quickly released the female, fear he would hurt her by accident bolting through him, and had just pushed away from her when the male hit him.
Hard.
He wasn’t strong enough to fight the male, weighed barely the same as the female in his snow leopard form, and was far smaller than both tigers.
He was going to have to rely on speed rather than strength in this fight.
But he wasn’t going to back down.
He tried to gain some space, but the male was on him before he could move an inch, his teeth clamping down hard on the back of his neck. The male growled and shook his head, rattling August’s brain around in his skull and sending fiery pain shooting down his spine and over his shoulders.
Fuck.
He tried to hold his snow leopard form but the pain drove him to shift back. He grunted as he part shifted, managed to claw it back at the last second and revert back to his snow leopard form.
Just as the tiger tossed his head to the left and sent him flying through the air.
August grunted and hissed as he hit the wall of the gym and landed on a treadmill, the centre console hitting him in the stomach.
Talon snarled and came at him, huge paws raking through the air where August had been, and was now gone. The tiger hit the console instead, a frustrated growl rumbling from between his fangs as he stood on his back paws looking at it.
August kept low, sneaking around the side of the machine, his long tail twitching as he stalked the male. Stupid tiger.
Talon huffed, blowing his cheeks out, and August grinned inside.
Until Talon’s golden eyes snapped down to him and he realised the tiger had been aware of him the entire time, had been feigning confusion to draw him out into the open.
Son of a bitch.
A huge paw slammed right into his face, driving him nose first into the rubber belt of the machine. Pain splintered over his skull as Talon pushed his weight down on it. Fuck.
Someone growled.
The female.
He looked towards her, his instincts flaring again, a desire to fight and win, to show her that he was strong and able, could handle a tiger twice his weight and size.
Talon growled at him, as if he had heard his thoughts, a warning that it wasn’t going to happen.
That victory would go to him.
Not a fucking chance.
August pushed his paws into the floor and tried to wriggle backwards, out from under Talon’s paw. Claws pressed into his head, dug into his skin, snaring him. He hissed and stilled.
The female growled again.
Stalked towards them.
Either it was his imagination or there was a flicker of blue around her pupils.
It was gone when he blinked.
So was Talon’s paw.
The male turned towards her and chuffed, making a low coughing sound in his throat. She bared her fangs at him.
August eased back, trying to distance himself from the male while he was occupied.
Talon pounced on him.
“Enough!” Kyter’s voice cracked through the room like a whip.
Talon landed on August’s head.
Before the male could attack him, he was gone and Kyter stood before him instead, his gold eyes on fire with the fury August could scent on him.
Loose grey sweats rode low on his hips, his sandy hair sleep mussed.
Talon’s roar must have woken him.
The big tiger growled and Kyter swung to face him, bared short fangs and stared him down.
“You want to find a new fucking place to work?” Kyter said, his tone measured, calm but filled with a threat, one that Talon obviously felt the male would carry out because he backed off and shifted.
August followed him, gritting his teeth as his body transformed, bones adjusting beneath his skin as his fur disappeared. He knelt on the black rubber floor, hands planted against it, and blew out his breath and sucked down another, fighting to steady his pulse as it raced. When he tried to straighten, every muscle ached in protest, fire burning through his legs and across his shoulder. Damn.
He clutched it and grimaced as his hand slipped on the blood.
The little kitty had definitely left a mark on him.
He looked at her, and frowned.
She hadn’t shifted back.
Kyter’s eyes came to land on him.
August grabbed the console of the treadmill, pulled himself onto his feet and lifted his gaze towards Kyter. Fuck. Cavanaugh stood in the doorway beyond the jaguar, Talon’s brother beside him.
The look in his cousin’s grey eyes warned that Kyter wasn’t going to be the only one dealing out a little telling off where he was concerned.
“You want to explain what the fuck is happening here?” Kyter snapped, his words a thick growl.
“That’s my fucking line,” Talon barked and Kyter shot him a glare. August dished one out to the bastard too. Talon glared right back at him. “What the fuck was just happening?”
“We were blowing off steam.” It sounded reasonable and it was partly true.
He glanced at her.
She still sat near the corner, her head bent. Ice washed through him. Had he hurt her after all? He had tried to be gentle.
Talon growled at him. His brother echoed it.
“Look. I found her in the room fighting barrels and I figured maybe she wanted to fight someone for real. I can take it.” He risked another glance at her. “She’s such a little thing, she wasn’t exactly going to hurt me.”
That seemed like a stupid move for his mouth to make when both brothers glared daggers at him.
“Maya,” Talon growled.
She shrank back, and August wanted to rip the arsehole a new one for frightening her.
“Leave her alone.” August stepped closer to her, catching the shifter’s attention again. “I started the fight, so blame me if you want. Leave her out of it.”
“That isn’t going to happen. Grey.” Talon looked from him to his silver-haired brother. The male nodded and moved, heading towards Maya. Talon’s amber gaze dropped to her. “Have you changed your mind?”
Grey flanked her, approaching her slowly, stripping off his t-shirt as he neared her. She didn’t lash out at him, didn’t look at him either. She kept her head bent, even when she shifted back and Grey helped her put his t-shirt on to cover her nudity.
August didn’t even get a damn glimpse of her curves.
Maya drew down a slow breath, pushed her long tangled black hair from her face, and carefully rose onto her feet, coming to face Talon.
She tipped her chin up, her gaze steady and unwavering. “I have not.”
Changed her mind about what?
Talon’s amber gaze darkened, the black slashes of his eyebrows dropping low. “You don’t have to do it.”
Her soft voice was calm and even, strong and determined, as she said, “I do. My plans haven’t changed. This male was right and I just needed a fight. I feel fine now.”
That stung a little.
That was all he was to her?
Someone to fight?
A convenient male in the right place and the right time for her to work off some aggression?
Like hell he was.
He turned towards her.
Cavanaugh collared him, his grip firm on the back of August’s neck, and marched him towards the exit.
“I need a moment with my family alone,” Talon said, his expression so cold he made August’s homeland look positively tropical in comparison.
Kyter held the door open for him and Cavanaugh.
Just as it was about to close behind him, August glanced back into the room.
At her.
She lifted her chin and ice ran through his veins and down his spine as she spoke.
“I leave for the Altay pride as planned tomorrow night and nothing you do can change my mind, Brother.”
CHAPTER 6
“What really happened?” Talon rounded on her the moment the door had closed.
Maya’s eyes leaped to it, and then down to the pile of clothes on the floor. Clothes the snow leopard had left behind. His scent surrounded her, teased her senses in the most delicious way, together with the memory of the feel of his fangs against the nape of her neck. She shook that memory away, not strong enough to withstand its tempting whispers right now.
Her brother took a step towards her, but she refused to look at him, couldn’t while she was trying to figure out the answer to that question herself, denying the one that kept coming to her. There had to be a different reason, something not so crazy.
Not so painful.
“Sherry said you became aggressive and tried to attack her in the bar when you first arrived.” Talon’s words ran over her like an icy torrent, sucking the heat from her blood and leaving her cold. She had foolishly hoped Sherry wouldn’t mention it to her brother, that she would have put it down to them both being a tigress because she was new to their world and didn’t know any better. Her brother moved another step closer, narrowing the gap between them. “It isn’t like you, Maya… so I need to know what’s happening between you and that snow leopard.”
Gods. She wasn’t really sure of that herself.
She had caught the emotions that had flashed across his handsome face when she had told Talon that she had merely needed to fight, and that she was fine now. She hadn’t meant to hurt him with her words. Or had she? Had she wanted to drive him away?
To protect him.
Or to protect herself?
“Tell him,” Grey whispered at her side, and she lifted her eyes to meet his.
The gentle look of affection in them warmed her, chasing some of the chill away, and eased her heart. He was right. She needed to tell Talon what had happened, if only so she could relieve some of the weight on her chest and breathe again. She was closest to Grey, but she was close to Talon too, had sought comfort from him before, and he was knowledgeable in the way of both tigers and hellcats, far more so than Grey. When Talon had first learned of their mixed blood, he had researched hellcats, had learned all he could about them.
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