“Did you kill that werewolf?” she asked.
“Maybe,” he admitted.
“Did you ask him anything about what being a shifter entails before you killed him?” She already knew the answer, but she asked anyway.
“No.”
“You fucking idiot,” she said with a sigh.
“What?” Sam asked.
“There are rules. Lots of rules. You probably broke one and now are here to get punished for it.”
She'd better not get taken down with them. She didn't have anything to do with their stupid shenanigans.
“What type of punishment?” Paul asked.
“Depends on how bad your indiscretion was. At the very least you might have to pay a fine. At the most extreme, they'll kill you.”
“They can't kill us,” Sam snarled.
She laughed, leaned against the cold wall, and shook her head. “This isn't the human world. You don't get human rights here. The shifters will kill any who threaten their security. If you did anything that could expose us to the humans, you're dead for sure.”
They didn't respond and she didn't want to give them anymore lessons. Laying on the bed, she stared up at the ceiling.
Where was Alex? Would he know what had happened to her? Would he think she just left him and was ignoring him?
She didn't know how long it had been since she was taken. It could have been hours or days.
“Any idea how long we've been here?” she called out.
“A couple days at least,” Paul answered.
Great. Either she would need to get Alex a gift, or she might need to find a new boyfriend.
Boyfriend? When had she started thinking of him as her boyfriend? They didn't even know each other.
She sighed and closed her eyes. There was too much going on. She just had to pray she could get out of this unscathed.
“Tara,” Alex whispered.
She sat up and stared in disbelief at him standing outside her cell.
“Alex? What are you doing here? How did you find me?” she asked.
“Come here,” he ordered her.
She obeyed, walking to the bars and gripping them. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to ask you something,” he whispered and reached through the bars to slip his hand around her waist. He slid his hand beneath her shirt so he could touch her skin.
“What?” she asked, arching into the bars, trying to get closer to him.
His nail cut into her lower back, deep enough to draw blood. She hissed and stared at him. He pulled his hand up to his mouth and licked her blood off his nail. “Will you be my mate?”
She gaped at him. His mate? She had just started considering him her boyfriend and suddenly he wanted to be mates.
“I don't understand. Where is this coming from?” she asked him nervously.
“I know you can feel the connection between us,” he whispered and kissed her lips softly, making her body thrum.
She thought it had just been her lust.
“I know this is soon,” Alex whispered, “but it may also be the only way to save you.”
“What do you mean? Save me from what?” she asked him.
“Alex!” a deep voice called. “It's time!”
“Coming!” Alex called back. He looked at her, his nostrils flared and eyes wide. “Just...think about it. I'll give you another chance to answer later. I know it's soon, but I don't want to lose you.”
Lose her? What was he talking about? She clenched her jaw as he moved out of her field of vision.
He left, before she could ask him what he meant.
That was weird.
* * *
Alex followed the guard to the council room and took his seat at one of the council member chairs that encircled the courtroom. Pale blue walls and light wood furnishings were supposed to engender feelings of neutrality, unlike the dark wood and burgundy in the boardroom he had left.
“Alex,” Mathias called in greeting. His high cheekbones and long lashes made him a bit on the pretty side, but Alex knew first hand that Mathias was one hell of a fighter.
“Mathias, my old friend,” he replied and stood to embrace the dragon shifter.
“Any idea what's going on?” Mathias asked.
Alex frowned. “I'm not a hundred percent certain,” he answered instead of revealing what he knew.
“You look stressed,” Mathias whispered and moved closer so no one else could hear their conversation. “What's going on?”
“I'd rather not talk about it right now,” Alex admitted and plopped down into his chair, running a hand through his hair. It was longer than usual. He needed a haircut.
“Anything I can do?” Mathias asked.
“I don't know yet. Possibly,” Alex said.
Mathias looked at him curiously. “Just let me know,” he said softly and took his seat two over from Alex.
More councilors entered and took their seats. Alex normally walked around and socialized with everyone, but he didn't have it in him. He could see a few whispering to each other and looking at him. Let them talk. He just needed to figure out a way to save Tara.
* * *
“Come on,” a guard said outside her cell.
She stood and walked to the door. After taking a deep breath, she nodded and he opened the door. They walked in silence down a long hallway in the bowels of the stronghold. “Are the others coming too?” she asked him.
The guard nodded. “We just didn't want you being in the hallway together. In case they tried to attack you.”
“Good plan,” she muttered, glad they had the foresight to do so.
After a few turns, they came to a pair of light tan wooden doors. He pushed one open and whispered, “Good luck.”
Unfortunately, she had a feeling that she would need luck.
All of the councilors were in attendance. Tara looked at each of them, but her entire body froze when she met Alex's eyes. Alex was a councilor!
“Tara,” one of the councilors said, “please stand over here.”
She turned away from Alex and went to the spot the councilor indicated. The doors opened and Sam and Paul were led in, their wrists and ankles chained together so they had to shuffle in. Sam locked eyes with her and snarled, his growl vibrating through the room.
“You will refrain from any sort of violence, or we will hog tie you,” a councilor a couple seats from Alex said.
She wanted to look at Alex, but was scared to. What was going on?
“Normally we don't hold a dual trial, but since you are connected, we decided to do so,” the councilor who had instructed Tara where to stand said.
“I'm not with them anymore,” Tara informed him.
“Quiet, Tara,” he ordered her softly. She was surprised that his statement was said with tenderness instead of irritation.
She clamped her mouth shut.
“Tara, you are accused of exposing our secret to humans. How do you plead?” the councilor on her right asked.
“Exposing the secret to what humans?” she asked him.
He gestured at Sam and Paul.
Her face paled.
Oh.
“Guilty,” she whispered and dropped her head forward.
Several councilors began murmuring.
“Please explain yourself,” Alex said.
She glanced up at him. What was he doing? Why did he want her to tell them?
“I don't know how they found out what I am,” Tara said, looking away from Alex. “They tried to blackmail me into doing things for them with my abilities as a shifter. When I tried to leave the gang, they fought me. Yes, I shifted in front of them, but it was only to save myself.”
“You shifted in front of us before that,” Sam said smugly.
She turned and glared at him. “No, I didn't.”
“We followed you home one night and watched you shift once you got inside your house,” Paul explained.
The councilors murmured again.
“I h
ad one-way glass on all of my windows. There's no way you could have seen me,” she countered angrily.
“We replaced one of your windows,” Sam said with a chuckle.
Her rage was instant and she leapt towards them, but a guard grabbed her and held her back. “Stop,” he ordered her.
She stilled. “Sorry,” she whispered. She looked up at the councilors. “Sorry.”
“So, the only time you willingly shifted in front of them was after they told you that they already knew and your life was in danger?” Alex asked.
She nodded.
“She still exposed humans to our kind,” another councilor countered.
“Didn't you have an ambush you could have called?” one on her right asked.
She shook her head. “I don't have an ambush.”
The councilor who seemed to be running the evening turned to Sam and Paul. “You two are charged with murdering a human in a way that led humans to almost discover us. As well as, murdering your creator. How do you plead?”
“Guilty,” Sam and Paul said smugly.
“That wimpy little wolf didn't deserve to live anyway,” Sam scoffed.
“Councilors, how do you find Sam and Paul?” the councilor asked.
They all voted guilty.
“Your sentence is death,” the councilor said. “Guard, take them away.”
“What? That's it? We mess up once and you're just going to kill us!” Sam demanded.
“That's how we've managed to stay hidden from the humans for hundreds of years. We collect those who don't cherish our secret and discard of them,” Alex said.
Once they were gone, all eyes turned towards Tara again.
“Councilors, how do you find the defendant?” the first councilor asked.
One by one, they said either guilty or innocent. In the end, the vote was five to six, finding her guilty.
“You exposed our kind to humans. There is one punishment for that, death,” the councilor said softly.
Tara felt tears sliding down her eyes and gulped.
“That sentence cannot be carried out,” Alex said and stood.
All eyes zeroed in on him.
“Why not?” one of the councilors asked with narrowed eyes.
Alex tossed her something and she barely caught it. It was a small vial with red liquid in it. His blood by the smell and sight.
“It's your choice,” he whispered.
Become his mate or die. Honestly it wasn't much of a choice. She didn't want to die. And, she liked the idea of being his mate. She quickly swallowed the liquid and he smiled. The bond that had already begun to develop snapped into place and connected the both of them until they died.
“She's my mate,” Alex said to the councilors. “If you kill her, then you risk killing me as well.”
“You can't do that!” one of the councilors screamed.
“Just because she was stolen from him before they finished their mating, doesn't mean they weren't mates,” the councilor two over from Alex argued.
Alex looked at him and she could see his relief in the way his shoulders sagged.
“They only just created the bond. If we kill her now, it won't matter,” a councilor to the left said.
Alex snarled and said, “Try it, Lucius, and I'll tear your throat out.”
The councilors erupted into arguments while Tara stood completely still in the center.
“Enough!” a female voice boomed from the doorway.
Tara turned, gasped, and dropped into a bow. The queen! Queen Lana of the Shapeshifters. Though Tara had only gotten a glimpse of her porcelain skin and silver hair, even the hem of her sumptuous skirt gave testament to her royalty.
“Your Majesty!” several gasped.
Queen Lana walked to Tara and said, “You've caused quite a stir within my councilors.”
“It was not my intention, Your Majesty,” she whispered fearfully.
The queen was a dragon shifter with magic power rivaling even witches. She'd taken out an entire fleet of boats a couple hundred years ago all on her own. Queen Lana had saved a coven of witches who were being attacked by humans during the witch hunts. She’d wiped out an entire village of humans with a single attack.
“Alex, a word please?” Queen Lana requested.
She heard Alex hop over the table and walk towards them. “Yes, Your Majesty?”
“Why have you chosen this tigress as your mate?” the queen asked.
“I love her,” he said simply.
Tara's entire body tensed. He...loved her?
“From what I've heard, you haven't been dating very long,” Queen Lana countered.
“No, we haven't, but that doesn't change how I feel,” Alex said adamantly.
“Soulmates?” the queen asked.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Alex whispered.
Soulmates? The instant Tara thought it, she felt it deep within her heart. Yes, they were soulmates. They were meant to be together. That's why it felt so right to be with him. That's why she felt so comfortable with him despite hardly knowing him.
Holy tiger cubs.
“Councilors, we cannot kill one soulmate. If we do, it means death to Councilor Alex. And, I know none of you wish that,” Queen Lana said.
“What of her sentence?” Lucius asked, slamming his palm on the lightwood table.
Queen Lana said, “She shifted to defend herself. We could argue whether she should have just killed those men or not, but I do not wish to do so. With Alex as her mate, I think it is safe to assume she will be kept under a watchful eye and nothing like this will happen again. Am I right, Alex?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Alex replied immediately.
“She exposed us,” Lucius argued. “She needs some type of-”
“Are you questioning me, Lucius?” the queen asked in a deadly soft tone.
“N-no, Your Majesty. I would never—” Lucius stammered.
“Then be quiet and sit down. Alex can come up with a punishment that he deems fitting on his own,” Queen Lana said and then snickered. “I'm sure you can find some way to punish your new mate.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Alex said.
Tara really wished she could see what was going on, but the queen hadn't allowed her to stand, so she stayed bowing.
“This session is over. Councilors, you are dismissed. Alex, I'd like a word in private,” the queen ordered everyone.
“Mathias, will you stay with my mate?” Alex asked.
“Stand up, little tigress,” the queen ordered her.
Tara stood and kept her eyes on the queen's stomach. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“Stay out of trouble until I return your mate to you,” she said, humor coloring her tone.
Tara nodded.
The councilors were talking to each other, but she ignored them.
“You had no idea that you and Alex were soulmates, did you?” Mathias asked her.
She didn't respond, unsure if she should. Alex seemed to be friends with him, since he asked him to guard her, but she still didn't know if she should say anything.
He chuckled. “I knew he was up to something, but this was not what I thought he was going to do.”
“I'm sorry for any trouble I caused,” she whispered.
He laughed. “Trouble? No, little tigress, this was pure entertainment.”
At least somebody had enjoyed themselves, because she sure hadn't found anything fun about the day.
* * *
Queen Lana had saved Alex's ass, no doubt about it. He followed the queen to her office. Her heels clicked down the marble floored walkway, and the scent of singed roses wafted in her wake despite not liking the separation from Tara, he didn't say anything about it. Her life being saved meant he needed to find some way to thank both the queen and Mathias. They both backed him up in spite of him not divulging his plans. The queen led him to her office and left the door open behind her for him to close. As soon as the latch clicked shut, Alex took a deep breath and gripped t
he back of one of the chairs in front of her desk.
“Why didn’t you tell her you are soulmates?” Queen Lana asked him as she sat in her deep red leather chair behind her desk, fingers steepled.
“She is skittish,” Alex explained, gripping the chair back harder. “We’ve only been dating a short while and I didn’t want to scare her away.”
“Yet, you told her now?”
He shrugged, keeping eye contact with the queen.
He honestly hadn’t known they were soulmates until he had tasted her blood. It had taken a lot not to just tell her then and break her out of that cell. Had he not been a councilor, he might have broken her out and made a run for it.
“You owe me a favor,” the queen said, a small smile playing at her lips.
He released the chair and stepped to the side of it and bowed. “Yes, Your Majesty. I appreciate your assistance.”
“Well, I couldn’t let my favorite councilor lose his new mate,” she said and smiled at him. “I am sad that you have a mate. I was hoping to convince you to become king.”
He chuckled, knowing she was only teasing him. “That is not a duty I would have excelled at.”
“I beg to differ, but it is a moot point. So, I expect you to be on your best behavior and teach your mate how to properly live in our world,” she said with a wave of her hand, gesturing for him to sit.
* * *
Tara sat in the council chair reserved for Alex, still reeling from the realization that she and Alex were soulmates. She wanted to deny it, but she knew it was true. Her finger wrapped around a lock of her hair, twirling it until it pulled at the roots while she stared at the doorway Alex had left through. She swallowed and tore her hand away, setting it in her lap. It had been years since she’d stopped that habit. Probably the last time she had done it, she was a young girl and daydreaming about the possibility of what she’d just discovered today. She had never thought she would have a soulmate. The happily-ever-after thing was reserved for fairy tale princesses, not shifters with violent, spotty pasts like hers.
“You look upset,” Mathias commented, studying her from his chair, two over from her. His eyes sparkled with curiosity.
“I just…soulmates…it’s not what I expected,” she admitted to him, pulling her hands from her lap and setting them on the top of the table.
Tiger Tears: A Zodiac Shifters Paranormal Romance: Taurus Page 5
