He smiled and patted her hand gently. “Fate is a strange thing, but it’s best not to overthink it.”
She sighed and nodded, glancing at the councilors who stood together talking too quietly for her to hear. Overthinking things happened to be her default setting. Was there some way to uninstall it?
The door Alex had exited through opened slightly, and Tara’s heart skipped. But Alex didn’t come through. Instead, something silver and shiny bounced into the center of the room.
“Grenade!” Mathias yelled and tackled her out of the chair.
A deafening explosion rocked the room. Tara’s ears rang for a moment, and even though she felt a scream vibrate in her chest and tear it’s way through her throat, she couldn’t hear it. Her shoulder and side ached from where they had struck the marble floor, but the pain that stabbed her other side burned stronger. She looked down at wooden shards from the desk protruding from her leg and side. The ringing subsided, replaced by the sound of her own whimpers.
“Shit!” Mathias yelled. He stood, staring down at her. “Don’t move, tigress. I need to see if it’s safe to leave.”
Tara didn’t think she could move. The pain was intense. She counted at least five pieces of wood in her, ranging from the thickness of a pencil to a roll of quarters. She let her head fall back and closed her eyes.
Where was Alex?
“There you are,” Paul growled and grabbed Tara.
She screamed when he jerked her up by her hair. She couldn’t shift with the wood in her.
Paul smiled and flicked one of the pieces in her leg, making the pain rip through her whole body. She clenched her fists, but couldn’t stop the cry of pain from spilling out.
“How are you alive?” she hissed through clenched teeth.
“You’ll see soon,” he said. “First, it’s nap time.” He wrapped his hand around her throat and squeezed, cutting of her air.
She clawed at him, her hand changing into her tiger paw, and opened thick cuts down his arms.
He dropped her, yelling and cursing.
She tried to move away, but his boot connected with her face and she fell over.
“Bitch!” he snarled. He grabbed her hair, and drug her through the debris, past two dead councilors, and out into madness.
The entire gang was there, fighting the guards who protected the stronghold. The gang lobbed grenades, used automatic weapons, and were…winning.
“Stupid animals,” Paul snarled.
Tara jerked one of the wood shards from her leg, biting her lip to keep from yelling out. Tears stung the backs of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Paul continued to drag Tara by the hair and she hurried to get the next piece out. If she could get them all out, she could shift.
“Load her up! I’m going to find her tiger and kill him!” Sam called to Paul, carrying a handgun.
Alex!
* * *
An explosion nearby made the water in the queen’s glass shake.
The next instant, Alex felt pain down his side. It took his breath away for a moment, and his skin prickled like ice water had been thrown at him.
“Tara!” he growled and stood quickly.
The queen already had the door open and looked at Alex, her brows scrunching. “Follow me,” she ordered him.
His hands fisted, and his teeth clenched. He wanted to go to the council room to get Tara, but he couldn’t disobey the queen. He nodded and followed her down the path to a secret tunnel that led to the observation room. Monitors took up the whole wall, showing several camera angles throughout the complex.
What they saw on the monitors shocked him. How had these thugs done so much damage?
The queen sighed. “Stupid. They still think like humans.” She turned and pointed at the screen where Tara was being dragged by her hair towards a van. “Save your mate. I’ll take care of the intruders.”
He ran from the room, shredding his shirt and jacket before shifting into warrior form, half tiger and half man. He rounded the corner towards the courtyard where the battle was happening. The pop-pop of gunshots had him diving out of the way. He’d just caught a glimpse of Sam with a handgun before he ducked back behind the wall of the building, leaving the door wide open to the sunlight.
“She’ll never be yours!” Sam growled. “I’m going to put a bullet in your brain, then take her back.”
“You can’t handle her. Even if I weren’t alive, she’d just put your head in her mouth until you peed yourself again like the pussy ass bitch you are!” Alex snarled.
Sam roared and ran towards the door, his footsteps louder than a rhinoceros.
Idiot.
Alex waited until Sam entered the hallway, then grabbed his arm and snapped it like a twig.
Sam screamed in pain and dropped the pistol.
Alex then grabbed Sam around the neck. He struggled, but Alex was counting on the fact Sam hadn’t been a werewolf long and had no idea how to tap into the power he had.
Alex clamped his fangs into Sam’s throat and tore it out, then picked up the gun and shot Sam twice in the head and twice in the chest. Just in case. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth. He spat.
“No!” Tara screamed.
* * *
Tara had heard Alex and Sam snarling at each other and fighting, then four gunshots.
She screamed in fear, praying she was wrong. Praying the gunshots hadn’t been Sam killing Alex. The tears that had been stinging her eyes from the pain earlier, slipped through. Then she clenched her teeth. She needed to see what was happening for herself. Her heart raced and she finally yanked the last wood shard from her stomach and shifted into her warrior form.
Paul’s eyes widened and he staggered back from her. She towered over him, six and a half feet of tiger and human mixed into a terrifying beast.
She disemboweled him with one swipe of her massive claws and grabbed him by the back of the neck with her large jaws and shook him until she heard his spine snap. Tara dropped his lifeless body and roared loudly.
A huge dragon dropped down into the courtyard and spewed red hot fire at the remainder of the gang.
Tara leapt behind a pillar and waited until the heat died down before heading across the courtyard in the direction she sensed Alex. She didn’t feel his pain or his death. He had to be fine, but until she could lay her eyes on him, she couldn’t stop the anxiety from twisting her stomach into knots.
As she crossed the parking lot, the smell of cooking flesh assaulted her nostrils. All of the gang lay in pieces or burnt to a crisp, some still on fire. Tara leapt over them all and slid to a stop at the sight of a body and blood pooling around it in the hallway. It was too dark to tell who it was.
She shifted to her human form and walked closer, sweat drenching her body.
A huge shape stepped into her path and she gaped at Alex in warrior form. He stood well over seven feet tall in this form and was gorgeous.
“Alex,” she gasped and joyful tears slid down her cheeks. The knot in her stomach leapt into her throat. Relief and happiness weakened her knees.
He shifted and pulled her into his arms, just before she collapsed. “Tara,” he breathed and clutched her tightly.
She clutched him back, rubbing her face against his body, drawing in his scent and comfrot. “I thought—”
He nodded, the movement pulling at his skin. “Me too.”
She looked up at him and kissed him deeply. It was barely enough confirmation. She needed and wanted more. She couldn’t get close enough to him. “You’re not hurt?” she asked when they finally separated.
He shook his head. “You?”
“I was, but I shifted and they all healed,” she explained.
He kissed her again, both of them desperately wanting to confirm that they were okay. Every touch, every sensation rippling through their bodies heated their skin and sent their hearts racing. But they needed these feelings to replace the ones of loss that they’d felt. She knew he felt the same way that she did in
this. When their lips parted, Alex glanced over her shoulder and frowned. She pulled back and followed his train of vision.
The queen had shifted to her human form and helped a guard to his feet.
“We should help the wounded,” Tara said softly, pulling a little more away from him, but kept a hand on his skin. She still needed confirmation of his touch. She was loathe to let him go.
“Tigress!” Mathias yelled and ran to them, panting softly with his hands on his knees. He stood straight and smiled. “You’re okay. I’m so glad. I got blindsided and then chased a few of the scum that tried to flee.”
Alex slapped Mathias’s shoulder. “Glad to see you safe, friend.”
“You as well,” Mathias replied and patted Alex’s hand. “Man, I’m so out of shape.”
“That you are, councilor,” the queen teased him.
“I’ll fix that,” he promised her.
She kicked a gun that lay before her and snarled. “Guns. They brought guns to fight us. Morons.”
“Let’s help the wounded,” Alex said and slid his arm around Tara’s waist. “Then, we go home,” he whispered in Tara’s ear.
Tara relaxed on the table in the spa as the masseuse gave her a massage. She needed this after the crazy week she’d had. The scents of the oils they used against her skin filled her nostrils with calming, soothing lavender.
“You have so many knots,” the masseuse whispered, then dug her elbow into Tara’s back.
Tara purred. “Yeah, right there.”
The masseuse chuckled. “You feline shifters are always so fun.”
“Stop purring for everyone,” Alex teased her from the table he lay on a few feet away. A burly woman with a thick accent Tara couldn’t place walked on Alex’s back, digging in her heels when she found knots.
“Says the man purring like a lawnmower,” the burly masseuse teased him.
All three women laughed.
When their massages were done, they were led to an open air hot spring. Tall walls closed this portion of the spring off, giving them privacy.
Tara climbed into the hot water, then sat down and closed her eyes.
Hands slid along her cheeks, cupped her head, and tilted it. Alex kissed her deeply, then released her and sat beside her.
He’d been doing that a lot, kissing her like they’d been apart and just reunited, despite the fact they hadn’t separated since the left the stronghold.
“Alex,” she whispered.
“Yes?” he asked.
She opened her eyes, turned her head, and smiled at him. “Thank you, for saving me. It could have cost you your life.”
He linked their fingers together. “You’re welcome.”
He could have died. As her mate, they could have forced him to trade his life for hers or fight in a blood rite.
“The queen likes you,” Tara whispered, turning to look at the rocks that were placed deeper in the pool, to imitate a Japanese hot spring.
“She and I have known each other a long time. She knows I could never be king.”
Tara turned back to him. “Why not?” She thought he would make an excellent king.
“The politics involved are too intricate. She suckered me into being a councilor as it is.” He met Tara’s eyes and smiled. “Plus, I’ve got you now. Nothing can compare to you.”
She smiled and slid closer to him. “Sweet talker.”
“Truth speaker.”
“The movers should have delivered my stuff by now,” Tara whispered. She’d agreed to move in with him yesterday and he immediately called people to move her things.
He nodded in agreement, and then pulled her closer to him so she sat upon his lap in the hot spring. She snuggled in.
It all happened so fast, but it seemed right, too.
They drove to their house, hands linked, and Tara felt completely relaxed.
“That spa weekend was exactly what we needed after all that,” she said.
Alex nodded as he opened her door. They walked around the side of the house to the garden. She loved his garden. He had roses, fruit trees, weeping willows, and a pond. It was a small piece of paradise for Tara. The sun warmed their skin, and a cool breeze played in the leaves of the trees nearby, hushing their gentle song.
The two of them sat on a concrete bench and watched the koi fish swimming in the small pond. They held hands, and just enjoyed being together. Tara had begun to feel incomplete unless she was physically touching her mate. Was this what having a soulmate was like? It was better than a childhood dream.
Alex slipped off the bench and knelt on one knee in front of her, holding an open ring box towards her. “Tara, will you marry me?”
“We’re mates,” she reminded him, her heart pounding in her chest.
“Yes, but we’re also part human and this is your choice. Being mates was our fate. Being husband and wife is up to you,” he explained with a smile that told her he was at least a little nervous.
Her heart fluttered. The ring was gorgeous, probably worth more than she made in a year.
His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat as he swallowed and said, “You are strong, beautiful, and call me on my shit. You balance me out and help me express my emotions. With you as my wife, I would have everything I ever wanted in the world. I ask you, will you please become my wife?”
She nodded her head, a huge smile splitting her face. “Yes.”
He put the ring on and kissed her passionately. “I love you, Tara.”
She rubbed her face against his. “I love you too, Alex.”
Her heart was full and despite her rough start, she wouldn’t change anything.
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Also by Catherine Banks
The Artemis Lupine Series
Song of the Moon (Artemis Lupine, Book One)
Kiss of a Star (Artemis Lupine, Book Two)
Healed by Fire (Artemis Lupine, Book Three)
Taming Darkness (Artemis Lupine, Book Four)
The Artemis Lupine Boxed Set (Books One-Four)
* * *
The Pirate Princess
Pirate Princess (Pirate Princess, Book One)
Princess Triumvirate (Pirate Princess, Book Two)
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Little Death Bringer
Mercenary (Little Death Bringer, Book One)
Protector (Little Death Bringer, Book Two)
* * *
Her Royal Harem
Royally Entangled (Her Royal Harem, Book One)
Royally Exposed (Her Royal Harem, Book Two)
Royally Elected (Her Royal Harem, Book Three)
* * *
True Faces (Ciara Steele Novella Series, Book One)
Barbaric Tendencies (Ciara Steele Novella Series, Book Two)
* * *
Demonic Contract (Dragon Kissed Trilogy, Book One)
* * *
Anja’s Secret (Anja of Plisnar, Book One)
* * *
Daughter of Lions
Centaur’s Prize
Dragon’s Blood
The Last Werewolf
Bitten, Beaten, & Loved
Lady Serra and the Draconian
Last Ama Princess
Alys of Asgard
Sybil Deceived
Tiger Tears
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Tiger Tears: A Zodiac Shifters Paranormal Romance: Taurus Page 6
