Kylan: Prince of Tigers – Paranormal Tiger Shifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  “Have a seat.” She sat down in the chair behind her, and since she didn’t tell Kylan to leave, he sat too. When she took his hand into her own, Kylan had a feeling she knew whatever the doctor was going to say was going to be earthshattering for her little family. “I’m not sure your father can cope in the world anymore, Ms. Rankin. You’ve done a remarkable job thus far, but hearing him talking and knowing what sort of medications he’s on, I think it would be better if he were someplace that would keep him on his meds and make sure he’s safe.”

  “Are you telling me he’s not safe with me?” Dr. Franklin told her he wasn’t. “I see. And you’ve figured this out by having a conversation with him and knowing what his medications are. Meds that he takes daily because I’m there to make sure he does. What sort of condition have you fabricated that makes you think my dad isn’t safe? What the fuck is your reasoning behind saying something like that to me?”

  Dr. Franklin looked to Kylan, and Kylan laughed. “If you think I’m going to step in and save your ass, you’re stupider than I thought when you came up with this hairbrained idea that that man in there isn’t safe. I’ve only known Emmie and her daughter for a short time, but I can tell you right now that no one on this earth is more devoted or able to care for him or keep him safe as the two of them. Was he hurt anywhere? Did he have some sort of bruising that can’t be explained?” Dr. Franklin said other than the bruising on his chest, no. “So, this safety thing, you’re just pulling it out of your ass. Even I understand you’re supposed to do a thorough observation on someone before you jump to the conclusion that he needs to be put away. That’s what you’re talking about, isn’t it? And don’t you dare fob me off or lie to me about it.”

  “I get a kickback on sending people like him that won’t be any trouble to the home once they’re highly medicated. They get the care they need when it’s necessary, and the family is free to have a little fun. It doesn’t hurt anyone.” Kylan asked him how many times he’d done this in his career. “Hundreds. It’s good for me. I’m able to afford all the luxuries I thought would come with being a doctor. How the hell was I supposed to figure out that I’d have to work twice as hard as anyone else and that I’d be puked on? I fucking hate when that happens.”

  Kylan looked at Emmie. “What do you want to do?” She looked at him as if she’d never seen him before. “I told you I was a black tiger and had magic. I only made him tell us the truth because I no more believed you weren’t taking good care of him than you did. I’m going to contact the police, then I’m going to contact my family. You tell me what it is you want, and I’ll get it for you.”

  “I want him evaluated. Properly.” He reached out to Allie, but Emmie touched her hand to his shoulder first. “Is there a way to find out which nursing home he’s getting the kickback from? The mother fucker is ruining lives, and I, for one, would like to make the nursing home pay too.”

  After telling his entire family what they’d encountered, Allie told him she was going to do some digging, as well as Piper and the others. Dad and Mom said they’d be there soon with Olivia and that they’d bring dinner.

  By the time his family all came in force, he not only knew the name of the nursing home but who it was the doctor was getting the money from. It was the management, not the staff, which saved them from having to fire the entire staff for what they were doing.

  Kylan was careful not to just take over on this. Emmie was with him every step of the way and had suggestions for everything they were doing. If he wasn’t impressed with her before, he certainly was now. Not only did she know the laws governing such moves as the one Franklin was doing, but she also knew the fines, as well as the sentencing Franklin would get when convicted. And he would be, Kylan would see to that.

  By the time several doctors had been called to come in and have a look at Collier, he was awake again and wanting his daughter. Emmie sat with him for over an hour while the doctors asked him questions, gave him an exam, and looked over the medication he’d been taking. It wasn’t until Dr. Franklin was taken to jail that Dr. Kirby came to talk to him and Emmie. His parents had asked if they could be there as well, as they wanted to help. They were sitting at a long table while Olivia sat with her new grandda.

  “It’s small wonder he’s been able to function at all, Ms. Rankin. Three of the medications he was taking were giving him heart palpitations. That is what caused him to nearly die at the Prince’s home. Also, I will tell you if not for the quick work that was done when he did stop breathing, we’d be talking about something entirely different. In addition to those three drugs, another one of them was making him hallucinate. Badly. With all that going on inside of his mind and body, it’s a salute to you and your daughter that you were able to keep him alive. You should be commended for your help with him.”

  “He’s my dad.” Dr. Kirby told her she was a good daughter. “What can we do now? I mean, the other idiot wanted to shove him into a nursing home.”

  “I see no reason, now that he’s taking a good regimen, that he can’t function at home or with you. I would like to keep him in here for a few days, just to make sure he has no side effects from the change in his medication.” She said to do whatever was needed to make him better. “Oh, he will be. You should notice a difference in his health right away. As for his liver, while it is in somewhat of a bad shape, he’s been sober long enough that it’s healing nicely as well. I would suggest you have him eat better foods. What I mean is, he should be eating more fruits and vegetables. He told me when I spoke to him that he’s more of a meat and potato man. I told him he needed to broaden his food intake.”

  “I will.” Kylan had no doubt that before they got back to his parents’ home, she’d have a list of food to get for him. “Will this medication change make him feel better about himself? He’s had some hard blows hit him, and I’d like for him to be less paranoid than he is now.”

  “This medication will calm him a great deal. In doing so, he’ll be able to think things through better, so he’s not overwhelmed all the time. This will be something he’ll need to work on. Telling him to stop and think about what has him so excited might be a good way to remind him that he’s better. I will tell you, Ms. Rankin, that he’s worried so much about you and your daughter. I don’t want you to stop talking to him. In fact, just the opposite. Tell him what is going on, so he doesn’t think up things when he knows you’re stressed too. If you’re in a bad mood, tell him what happened, so his mind doesn’t make up things that are worse than they are.”

  Dad laughed. “I don’t think she will have any trouble keeping her daddy informed. She certainly didn’t us.” Dad patted Emmie on the hand and smiled at her. “You’ve done a good job, honey—a very good job. You should be proud of yourself. And I know there are a lot of people out there that are going to benefit from you taking a stand with that other fool. You did good.”

  Things were going on around the hospital that he was only just being made aware of. The doctor, of course, had been fired, along with some staff members. Collier was getting the best of care, it seemed, mostly due to Emmie not taking any shit. But his name held a lot of power as well.

  Mom told him it had been going on for some time, this putting people away so the government would pay the nursing home for caring for people like Emmie’s dad. All they did was dope them up and then ignore them until they had to help them.

  “I hate to think of someone’s loved ones being treated that way.” Emmie told his mom she wouldn’t have stood for it. “No, you wouldn’t have. I can see that about you. You would have been there daily, ensuring he was getting the care he should have been getting. Yes, that’s wonderful of you. But there are others out there that would just as soon put their family members away, so they don’t have to mess with them. It’s not a very good way to treat someone that brought you into this world.”

  Dr. Kirby told them that Emmie could go and see her dad when she was ready. B
ut he did make them aware that he was a little doped up, simply because the medication he’d been given before him getting his case was doing that. Emmie took Kylan’s hand into hers again, and they went to the room. Her dad did look a good deal better, simply because he was no longer fretting about things.

  When he smiled at him, Kylan took his hand when it was offered. “You saved my life, young man.” He said it was a family effort. “Might have been, but from where I’m lying, you did it. Olivia here tells me that you and Emmie are mates. You couldn’t do any better than my little girl.”

  “Dad, how are you feeling?” He told her what the doctor had said. That Dr. Kirby had been taking very good care of him. “They’re going to keep you for a few days, he said. To make sure you’re not going to have any more reactions to the medications he’s put you on.”

  “I did tell that other man I wasn’t sure I was taking the right drugs. He told me he was the doctor and I should just shut up. I’ve not been spoken to that way in a long time. But I didn’t talk anymore.” He looked at him. “Son, I’m ever so grateful for you being there for my girls. Knowing you’re going to be watching over them for me means I can get myself gathered up and better. I want to now. I know now that all those things that were going on with me, they weren’t my fault. You’ve no idea how much better that’s made me feel already.”

  “It’s my pleasure, sir. And when you’re out of here, you and the girls have a place to stay. Until Emmie and I have had a chance to talk things over, she’s going to be staying at the house I have. I’ll be bunking with my parents for a little while.” Collier just looked at his daughter, then smiled at him. “It’s all right. I’ve got a feeling my family is going to offer Emmie a job too.”

  “I didn’t say I’d take it.” He knew better than to talk to her about it now. She was tensed up again. “I’ll talk to them when I get back. I don’t know where we’re going to be staying, but you can count on me being here every day, Dad. I promise you that.”

  When they left the hospital, Olivia said she was hungry. Stopping at a fast-food restaurant wasn’t what he’d like for them to be doing on their first outing, but it wasn’t so bad. Olivia had a salad while he and Emmie had burgers and fries. It was going to take them both awhile to get used to him being there for them, Kylan thought. But he could wait. He had forever to wait for them.

  ~*~

  Olivia wasn’t sure what she was supposed to be feeling right now. Her heart was mixed up about all kinds of things. Was she supposed to like the Prince family? Because she did sort of like them. Was she okay with Kylan being her mom’s mate? She knew what the word meant, but not so much with her mom. Her mom, her grandda told her, was hard on men. When Kylan entered the kitchen with her, she asked him if he wanted breakfast.

  “I wouldn’t mind having whatever you’re having.” Olivia had also discovered the refrigerator was magical. Whatever she wanted, it was just simply there. Putting a glass in front of him, she wasn’t surprised when it filled itself with orange juice. “Are you all right living here with me here too?”

  “That would be my mom’s decision on where you live, I think. But I do love this house.” Olivia put on a few slices of bacon for Kylan, thinking about the weird things she’d noticed about this place. “You have a pool now. I mean, it might well have been something I dreamed up, but Mom likes to swim too. If you want it gone, I’d understand.”

  “I like to swim as well. If you want something, be sure to make it known to either Summer, my faerie, or Pudge. He’s your mom’s faerie, but he’ll help you as well. At least until we get you one of your own.” She turned and looked at him. “You didn’t think you’d be going without one, did you?”

  Summer sat on the table in front of the plate she’d put on there for Kylan. While she didn’t talk much, Pudge seemed to never shut up. But she loved the little guy. Turning over the bacon, she asked Kylan what they were going to do now.

  “I’m not sure what you mean. You tell me, and I’ll see if I can answer you. However, if you’re asking me to do something for you, I won’t do that without your mom knowing about it.” She said she knew that. “Good. What did you need?”

  “There is a pretty park like place at the back of this house.” She turned around, then sat in the chair across from him to explain. “I’ve been homeschooled since I was a little girl. I don’t fit in well with other children, the same as my mom didn’t when she was younger. Too smart.”

  “That’s wonderful. What do you want at the back of the house, Olivia? I’m game for just about anything you’d need. I’m assuming this has something to do with your education.” She nodded. “All right. Summer here can help you with whatever you need. However, it would be nice if I knew what that might be.”

  “I want a place to work from. Not an office or anything like that, but I’d like to take my online classes in a smallish building. Pudge told me he can fix it up for me so I can have Internet as well as a safe place. I used to have an area at home on the back porch that I used as my own space. But grandda would visit me, and I’d be distracted. Not that I don’t love him—I very much do—but I need a quiet place to work. If you don’t mind.” Kylan asked her if she studied better when she had her own space. “I do. Looking out over the yard isn’t a distraction for me. It’s hearing the household—phones ringing, pans banging around—that does that. I just need a small place I can call my own. For studying.”

  “My lady, I can fix that up for you.” Summer looked at Kylan, then back at her. “But if you’d not mind, I’d like to introduce you to your faerie. I know you are a brilliant young woman, so we have paired you with an older faerie so you can learn from his wisdom. Cart is very nice, but he is very magical as well.”

  “I’m not sure what I can learn from him that won’t be on the computer for me, but I’ll love having him around.” Summer told her what she meant. “Oh. That’s better. Yes, I’d love to learn from him about magic and the way things are done around here. I nearly screamed when I got down a glass, and it filled on its own.”

  “You’ll notice a great many things now you’re in this house that you might not have seen where you lived before. I would also like to remind you that when you are in the yard, or even at one of my brothers’, there might be tigers around. I understand you’ve seen them in zoos, but you should be aware that my brother Fisher and his wife Allie are much larger even than Bryant. They work for Aurora.”

  “She came to talk to me yesterday while I was at your brother’s house.” She filled his plate with eggs, bacon, and fried potatoes. Hers was the same, but with much smaller portions and no bacon. “She told me I have magic too. But because of my only being fourteen, she’s not given me any more than she thought I can handle. I don’t know what I can handle, to be honest with you, Kylan, but it’s fun being able to have whatever I want to wear.”

  “I bet it is. I especially like it when I’m out and about and don’t have any extra clothing when I’ve had to shift. It’s very hard on clothing when I have to do it quickly.” She nodded at him and played with her food. “Whatever is bothering you, Olivia, if you don’t want to talk to me about it, I’m sure there are any number of people around that will listen.”

  She wanted to just blurt it out, to tell him what she was worried about, but she wasn’t sure whether he’d think she was being selfish. Looking up at the tall man, she was both relieved and sad when her mom joined them. Olivia gave Mom her plate of food and got up to make herself one.

  “Olivia, have you figured out what you want to do around here yet?” Kylan didn’t ask what they were talking about but ate his breakfast. “Also, I want you to give a little thought to what we spoke about last night. About the pack school that Sara was telling us about.”

  “I want to homeschool.” She did too. Other children didn’t like her. Olivia knew it was because she was so awkward around children her own age, but being in a classroom setting might just be
too much for her. “I was just asking Kylan if I could have my own space at the back of the yard. Where I can go and not be bothered.”

  “Before we get too much further into the homeschooling, did my mom mention that the pack has a gifted program? There are only ten kids in the class, but they’re brilliant like you are. Well ahead in the way of education too. You can go there anytime you wish to check it out. Either way you want to finish your education is going to be fine with me.” Mom asked Kylan what sort of classes they had. “I think it depends on what the student wants to learn. I know there is a kid named Patrick that goes there. He takes a lot of online college courses while he learns the things for his passion at the school. They have other people come in too, depending on what your interests are, to help guide you in the things you will need to know. Patrick is studying marine biology. His idea is that he wishes to work with an oceanic company that knows how to save sea creatures before they’re all gone.”

  “Mom, can I go? Just to check that out?” Mom told her she could so long as she went with her. “Okay. That way, if you have any questions about fees or anything, you can know it right away. Thanks, Kylan.”

  He nodded his answer to her and went back to his breakfast. Olivia didn’t usually get excited about much. She’d never been a kid that was jumping in and out of things without careful thought to it. Her mom had taught her that. Wasting time jumping around would make it so that you didn’t know what you were into. She liked her mother’s approach to things. Well, most of the time.

  As she was cleaning up her breakfast, Kylan told her he’d do the dishes since she’d cooked. Olivia had come to the conclusion that Kylan wasn’t putting on an act for them, but he was genuinely a nice guy. But then, like a lot of things she’d learned, time would tell.