by E A Price
“Starting to.”
“You’re thirty-six.”
Carrick stopped tearing up a particularly raunchy poster and looked at her. “What?”
“Your age – you’re thirty-six. Your birthday is April Second.”
“Oh.” He was actually younger than he expected, but that was still seventeen years older than his mate. “Guess I just look bad for my age.”
“Puh-lease. Isn’t this amazing, you have a mother and sisters – and your mother is thrilled you’re home.”
Lauren grinned, and his tiger tried not to grimace.
“Yeah, terrific.”
“Don’t be a grumpy butt.” For good measure, she pinched his butt cheeks, and his tiger growled, in a good way. “This is good news.”
Carrick sat down on his bed. “Hmmm. Just a lot to take in…”
“Of course,” Lauren fluttered to sit next to him.
“Everything’s changing so fast.”
“I know this is really hard for you.”
“I just need time to process everything…”
Lauren’s forehead furrowed. “Process? What’s your game? You never process your feelings.”
He reached around and pulled Lauren over his lap, so she was straddling him. “I guess I just need a little comfort…”
He cupped her breast, massaging the pillowy flesh and kissed her neck.
“Oh!” she whimpered. “Should we really? Your mom is…” He pulled her shirt up and freed a breast out of the bra, immediately engulfing as much as he could in his mouth. “You’re right," she whimpered, "it will be fine. Just try not to roar too much…”
Mine.
Twenty-Seven
Lauren threw some more bacon into the shopping cart. Georgie had a well-stocked fridge, but it wasn’t enough to feed an enormous tiger like Carrick. She managed to feed him his first breakfast, but there wasn’t enough for second breakfast – so they stepped out to get more food.
Honestly, she thought Carrick could do with the break. He wasn’t exactly pleased to be staying with his mother, and Lauren could see that Georgie’s constant questions were starting to piss him off. So when she suggested they go shopping, he jumped at the chance. Plus, he had to drive her, and she knew he wouldn’t want her going anywhere on her own. He didn’t particularly like her going anywhere on her own at home, never mind in Los Lobos.
“Your mom…”
“Georgie,” he corrected. He wasn’t quite there yet. He was remembering more and more now that the floodgates were open, but he was still the same old Carrick – reticent and easily annoyed, and he was a little unsure about using the term 'mom' again.
“Georgie,” she said, “mentioned that your… her daughters were coming by on Sunday for lunch. You’ll get to see them again. She said she was going to call them today and tell them about you.”
“Terrific.”
“Do I detect a hint of sarcasm?”
Carrick gave her a hard look, and she tossed some more bacon into the cart. He deserved it.
Lauren called Juliet earlier to fill her in on what was happening. She was interested to hear about the postcard Carrick apparently sent his mom after he disappeared, but Georgie didn’t keep it so they couldn’t look into it further. It reminded Lauren that while Carrick had once again found his family, they still didn’t know how he ended up in such a terrible place as the fight club. One step at a time.
Lauren covered her mouth as she yawned and Carrick smirked.
“Tired?”
He should know. Two nights running he barely let her get any sleep whatsoever. It was nice to see him looking happy, even if it was because he was being a smug bastard. Her tiger mewled. At least it reassured her that he wanted her. His desire for her was not waning, in spite of anything he might have remembered about Emily.
Lauren hip-checked him out the way and took control of the cart. “Go get some eggs, honey, and wipe that look off your face.”
The grin widened even more, and she scented his arousal stirring.
“Again? Really? Are you a machine?”
Carrick gave her a quick scent marking and strode away, chuckling. Lauren shook her head and flicked through her huge list. Perhaps when they were done, they could find somewhere to park and… satisfy their urges in the car. People have sex in cars, right? Her tiger’s tongue was almost hanging out at the thought of trying. They could go back to Georgie’s, but given the wink the older tigress gave her that morning, it was likely she heard everything they did last night. Well, Carrick wasn’t exactly quiet…
She tapped her foot, realizing Carrick still hadn’t returned and then went to find him. He was standing next to the eggs staring into space. Maybe he was remembering something else. His memories had been a mixed bag.
His dad sounded like a real hard ass, and honestly, his mom didn’t sound much better. Truth be told, they didn’t sound much better than her parents – and that was saying something. She liked Georgie well enough, but she couldn’t help but resent the fact that she didn’t do all she could to search for Carrick when he went missing. Maybe if she had, Carrick wouldn’t have suffered half as much as he did – and to Lauren that was unforgivable. If it had been her cub, Lauren would have moved heaven and earth. She felt a twinge of heat low down in her sex, and her tiger moaned. No, not now, she growled inwardly. The last thing they needed was her heat coming on at that moment.
“Carrick?”
Carrick’s gaze didn’t even flicker. His body trembled, and his fangs pushed out.
“Honey?”
“I know him,” he hissed.
Lauren followed his eyes to a man at the checkout. He wasn’t particularly tall but stick thin, with pale skin, a bushy mustache and thinning brown hair.
“An old friend?”
A growl ripped out of his mouth, making his chest vibrate. Maybe not.
“I know him…” Carrick clutched her hand and followed the guy as he left the store, pulling Lauren with him.
“Do you want to say hi?” she panted, struggling to keep up.
He put her in the car and then ran around, jumping into the driver’s seat.
“Carrick?”
“I want to rip his fucking throat out.”
*
It was the fat man. He was sure of it. His tiger roared, pushing at Carrick to be free, but he was clinging to his last inch of control.
The guy was older, and he’d changed his appearance, but he couldn’t change his damn scent – he’d always smelled like a sweaty sewer and that hadn’t changed over time.
He was going to get hold of the man and rip him to pieces. He was going to make the man bleed, begging him for mercy – mercy he would never be shown. The man would pay for all the pain and suffering he put Carrick through, he would…
Lauren whined his beast.
He scented her worry; her sweet scent tinged with fear – fear for him. He couldn’t let her watch him do what he was about to do, but what else could he do? He couldn’t dump her at the side of the road, and he didn’t have time to drop her back at Georgie’s house. If he turned around, he would lose the guy…
“Lauren, I…”
“He turned left, hurry!”
“Lauren, I need…”
Fuck, he knew what he needed – the former fat man dead. But how could he do that in front of Lauren? She knew about his time in the fight club, but knowing and seeing what he was capable of were two different things. Would she look at him with the same sweet smile on her face after she watched him rip the guy limb from limb?
“Need him dead.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Lauren!” He gunned the engine and ran a red light, oblivious to the honks of irate drivers.
“I don’t know who this guy is, but clearly you do. So I’m guessing he had something to do with what happened to you. Therefore, you need answers from this guy, so let’s go get them.”
“He should die.”
“Let’s hear what he has to say, and
then… then we’ll see.”
Carrick shot a look of alarm at his mate, even as his tiger howled in agreement. He narrowly missed plowing into a truck and slammed on the brakes as he realized the former fat man was pulling into a driveway.
The male got out his car and strode into the house.
This was it. Finally. The man was already dead.
*
“Stay in the car.”
“Not likely.”
“Lauren!”
“I need to be there in case anyone tries to hurt you… or more likely you try to hurt someone else.”
“Just…” Carrick clenched his fists and closed his eyes. “Stay behind me.”
Lauren nodded quickly and did as she was told. Her tiger twittered, quelling the part of her that wanted to cower and run away. She was hardly good with confrontation. The thought of even raising her voice to her parents scared the hell out of her.
He banged on the door and waited. She shot down his idea about throwing a bench through the guy’s front window. Not that she thought Carrick couldn’t do it, she just thought it might be a bit of a bad idea.
Nobody answered, and Carrick let out a stream of obscenities, before banging non-stop and with increasing vigor, right up until the point where his fist went through the door.
Carrick was pulling the door apart and lumbering inside before she could draw a breath.
“Wait, maybe we should…”
He ignored her and started striding from room to room. “Stay with me,” he snapped at her, and she trotted behind him, diligently following her mate while trying to talk some sense into him.
“Perhaps we should have thought up a plan before we came in. Let’s go and…ugh!”
Her tiger yowled as she felt a prickle of pain on her ass cheek. Then the wooziness started. “Carrrrrr…” Her mouth slackened, and he spun, catching her in his arms as she toppled.
“Lauren!” he roared.
“Got to ssssssssleep…”
The last thing she remembered was Carrick’s house-shaking roar.
Twenty-Eight
Grrr. Lauren stuck her tongue out. How the heck was it furry?
“Blurg… mflup… blurg…”
She forced her heavy eyelids open and squinted into the darkness.
“Take it easy, baby,” Carrick rumbled, and she realized he was stroking her cheek.
She blinked up at him, trying to make out his face as her woozy tiger tried to shrug off the heavy, unexpected sleep. Her head was cradled in his lap, and he was staring down at her with fierce, worried eyes that shined in the darkness.
Slowly he helped her pull herself into a sitting position until she was leaning against a cold, stone wall. Carrick sprang to his feet and started pacing.
“What happened?”
Carrick growled, and fur started trying to push out of his skin. “They tranqed us.”
“Oh.” Remain calm she whispered to her tiger; everything will be fine. “So where are we?”
“Don’t know.”
“What do we do?”
“Don’t know.”
“Who is…”
“I don’t know!” he snapped. “I’m sorry, I just… I’m sorry I got you into this.”
Slowly, Lauren stood up; her head still swimming. She must have staggered slightly, because the next thing she knew, his arms were securely around her, holding her up. There was such remorse and fury in his expression that she just wanted to kiss him all over and make it better.
“Carrick, I…” She didn’t know what to say to make him feel better. He was darn stubborn. Telling him it was fine, telling him she chose to be by his side wouldn’t matter – he would still blame himself.
Instead, she said something that had been welling inside her for a while. “I love you.”
“What?!” he barked, gaping at her, more shocked than she had ever seen him.
Despite the situation, her tiger was thrilled. Yes, she loved him. It had snuck up on her and she was almost as surprised as him. But he was her mate, and she adored him, and she would follow him to the ends of the earth if need be.
“I don’t know where we are or what’s about to happen, but I do. I love you, Carrick. So much.”
He was still a deer caught in the headlights. Maybe he couldn’t remember anyone ever telling him they loved him. That thought delighted her – that she was his first. Probably shouldn’t have, but it did.
“Lovely sentiment,” crooned a reedy voice.
Her tiger wrinkled her nose at the disgusting scent of the male. She’d never encountered a human who smelled quite so bad. Carrick’s chest heaved, and he clutched her so hard she thought her eyeballs were going to pop out.
The male from the grocery store turned on a light and strolled up to the edge of the cage. It looked like they were in some kind of basement - the kind only seen in horror movies.
“This your new girl, Booker?” asked the male. He gave Lauren a long appraising look that made her want to take seven showers in a row. “Not as pretty as Emily, but I prefer girls with a few curves on them.”
“Stay the fuck away from her!” bellowed Carrick, his voice more animal than man.
The male chuckled. “Same old Booker. Though I think you might have chosen a better girl this time. Is it true? Do you not remember anything?”
“I remember enough.”
“But you don’t really know who I am, do you? Or why we put you in the fight club to begin with?”
Carrick grunted, and Lauren could feel his heart beating erratically.
The man took that as a yes. “Do you even remember this place? Clearly, you don’t. This is where we first brought you after you fucked around with Emily. Two months we spent training you, whipping you into shape for the fights. Spent your nights in the cell crying over losing Emily. Happy days. You look closely, and you’ll probably still see your blood stains on the floor. We had a lot of shifters in here, but none I remember as well as you. Took twice as long, and twice as many drugs to break your will as any we ever had. But it was worth it. Best fighter we ever had.
“Heard you were back in town, and asking questions. After the SEA shut down our fights, we didn’t know what happened to you. Course we hoped you’d just died from your injuries, and when the SEA weren’t beating down our doors, we guessed that was true. Amnesia – now that was a stroke of luck. Pity it wasn’t permanent. You and your blonde could have been happy, spewing out cubs – shame you came back really.”
“What do you want with us?” cried Lauren, sick to tears of listening to him speak. Even her timid tiger was all for mauling him to get him to shut up.
He twinkled at her, and she could almost hear Carrick's bones and muscles starting to shift into his animal.
“I was thinking about setting up the clubs again, and I already know Booker here can fight. He might be older, but I’ll bet he can show those young bucks a thing or two. What do you say, sweetie? Does he perform as well as the young studs?”
Carrick roared and tightened around her. Lauren feared she was in serious danger of breaking a few ribs.
“I won’t fight,” he bit out.
“Either you fight or you die.”
“Fuck you.”
The man smiled, and Lauren shivered. Humans should not be this scary.
“If you won’t fight, blondie here will. How long do you think she’ll survive in the ring against a bear shifter?”
Carrick pushed her away, and in seconds his tiger emerged. The huge beast hauled himself against the cell bars. The male looked momentarily panicked and stepped back. The bars shook, but they held and his smug expression, though somewhat dimmed, returned.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. You’ll fight. See, that’s your problem. Always thinking with your dick. A girl got you in trouble last time, and a girl will get you in trouble again.”
The tiger threw himself against the bars again and again, until the man finally ran up the stairs, slamming the door behind him. The enormous be
ast gave Lauren such a forlorn look that she couldn’t help the sympathetic tear that slipped down her cheek.
He let out a whine, and her tiger echoed the sound. Lauren dropped to the ground and hugged him.
“We’ll be fine,” she whispered into his neck. “I’m getting your fur wet,” she giggled as her tears seeped into his fur.
The tiger rubbed his nose against her cheek and whined. She scratched his head, pausing as they heard some banging overhead. There were some shouts and even a few roars.
“What do you think’s going on?”
He nosed her back, pushing her behind his bulk, ready to protect her. A yowl simmered through him that turned into a grunt as he spotted Juliet effortlessly strolling down the stairs in five-inch heels.
“Most people come to Los Lobos for the beaches,” she drawled, eyeing them in amusement.
Lauren slumped against the wall as her tiger sighed. Darn vampire.
Twenty-Nine
Carrick scowled at Lauren, and she shook her head again. They had just been through an ordeal, was it too much to expect for his mate to sit on his lap? She seemed to think it was a bad idea, given that he was only wearing a towel. He… disagreed.
While his tiger grumbled, he sighed and contented himself with clutching her closer than if they were competing in a three-legged race.
Juliet was babbling, telling them how the SEA found them. Carrick gave Lauren a squeeze, and she smiled bashfully at her forward thinking. His beautiful mate texted Juliet when they arrived at the former fat man’s house, or Eugene as he was actually called. He had no idea, but he wished he’d been smart enough to think ahead and do that himself.
Juliet and about twelve armed and clawed SEA agents arrived just as Eugene and his men were throwing him and his mate into the back of a van. They weren’t overly subtle about what they were doing – lugging around Carrick’s six-foot-ten body in broad daylight was hardly the least conspicuous thing in the world.
The SEA followed the van and after some reconnaissance – far too much in Carrick’s opinion – they burst in and saved him and his mate.
