I can’t help myself. “So, pretty boy, I’m going after your dick next. Be a good vampire and kindly remove your pants, so it will be easier for me to find.”
Some vampires just don’t learn.
He roars and runs toward me like a bull. I don’t wait for him to hit me. With an up and over leap to his other side, my elbow connects with his jaw again, and I thrust his bloody tongue back down his throat. He drops to his hands and knees, coughing while trying to dislodge it.
I look at Marcus and he gives me a nod. I grab Caleb by the throat and lift him one-handed from the ground. My other hand goes to the front of his pants and I squeeze. I look at Saloret. “Your call. Do you want your second minus his tongue and dick, or may I stop now?”
Saloret turns his back and walks away. For some, this would mean I could remove the dick. But, really, a tongue is one thing and a guy’s privates totally another. It’s not that I’m opposed to severing his dick; it’s just that this will mean I must touch the damned thing without his jeans blocking the flesh.
Sadly, I’ll pass.
I toss him down and spot his shirt lying outside the circle. I walk over, and calmly pick it up and begin wiping my hands. Caleb’s blood has made a huge mess.
I grab Letta’s hand from the two shifters who are holding her, and jerk her away from them. I thrust her at Marcus and take my shirt back from him so I can dress. Marcus is fighting a smile. Letta is looking at me as if I walk on water. We truly need to get the fuck out of this place before I lose my cool. The last thing I need is a female shifter fucking up my life, and now it appears that I own one. I turn and enter the house, find my way to the front door, and walk outside. I wait for Marcus at the rental car. I’m using the mental techniques that Amy taught me to calm down. I’m on two-thousand-and thirty-seven, when Marcus finally makes an appearance. Letta is carrying a small bag, and Marcus has a larger one slung over his shoulder. I open the car door and jump into the passenger seat while Marcus places Letta behind the driver’s seat.
How in the hell do I get myself into these predicaments?
Chapter Four
Esha
My mind drifts, though pain clouds my memories. My quest for a mate began at the age of sixteen, which is the beginning of a tiger’s quest. All I had to do was find him, not sleep with him or anything else right away. Even knowing my sister’s failure at finding a mate, there was something inside me that said I would find mine. That something lied.
Tigershifters, all women, are like other beastkind, in that we are born with the ability to shift to our animal form at about two weeks old. That’s where the similarities stop. A tigershifter must find a mate, or she will permanently be in tiger form, losing the human ability to know right from wrong. Man-eating tigers have been around throughout history and the most are descendants of one of the three tiger beastkind clans. Before the solution of death, granted by vampires, tigers claimed more than thirty-three-thousand lives in India between 1876 and 1912, when vampires finally came up with a resolution—death to tigers who hadn’t found their mates by the age of twenty-five.
Finding a mate stops the cycle and keeps us from becoming man-eaters. Human mates eventually die. However, once mated, a tiger won’t go through permanent transformation. Mother and Grandmother are the only remaining tigers of our clan. One of the other clans has five mated tigers and one has six. Only one in five women find mates, but my clan has had especially bad luck.
My sister Quatea and I were very close. My other sisters died after their separations, which happened before I was born. The vampires do us honor by killing us. The world has changed so much due to human technology, and it’s much harder to stay hidden. Death is the only answer. Beastkind and vampires live within the human world and our very existence relies on secrecy. The killing of thirty-three-thousand humans in thirty-six years almost led to our discovery. One of my blood sisters, dead for more than a hundred years now, was known as the Champowat tiger, and she alone killed four-hundred-and-thirty-six humans before a hunter ended her life in 1907. I was told from birth that I would find a mate or I would die before reaching the age of twenty-five; the knowledge was instilled in me by the other clans. My mother and grandmother insisted that I would find my mate. I chose to believe them, even knowing the odds were against me.
I searched for nine years. A month ago, I came home to die. It didn’t take my pending birthday to know my time was at an end. Over the past few months, shifting from tiger back to human became more and more difficult. My tiger became harder to control, too. I failed in my search for a mate and now it’s time to meet death head-on, like my sister Quatea did. Some females chose to run and hide, and their deaths were not quick. Just their heads were returned to their clan, which made proper burial impossible. I would never do that to Mother and Grandmother.
When these two women who mean the world to me walked from my room after singing “Song of Endless Journeys”, they knew they would never see me alive again. I walked away from my sister, too. After the door closes, the grieving begins on the other side. What happens inside this room now is forbidden to family, and is between only a tigress and her vampire executioner.
So, I wait.
The air in the room shifts, and I open my eyes.
The brown eyes peering down at me are surrounded in charcoal.
Strange.
Strong, my tiger rumbles in my mind. Her claws rake my insides.
I have no doubt this is the man who has come to grant me death. His vampire scent gives him away and his eyes tell the story. He knows death intimately. I am unafraid, and actually relieved that the waiting is over. I lift my arm and he takes my hand within his long fingers. He brings my wrist to his mouth and I expect the prick of fangs. He lifts my wrist higher and sniffs. His eyes go lighter in color, and the sight sends a nervous twinge through my body. His nose tickles as it glides across my skin.
Killer, rumbles through my head this time. Of course, my tiger would be attracted to a killer.
“Who are you?” he growls.
I find this very peculiar, but I have no idea what actually happens after the separation. This might be quite normal.
“I am Esha,” I tell the strange vampire.
“Are you in pain?”
It’s very odd that I must think about this. When he touched me a minute ago, my tiger made her presence well-known, but I now realize the pain has receded. The fog in my brain is also clearing. This must be a gift from the Goddess. “No, the pain is gone,” I offer with honesty.
His eyes travel slowly over me before returning to mine. “I have been sent to kill you. My friend Marcus was planning to attend you himself, but I requested the honor.”
If I had a choice of who would cause my death, it would be this man. I like the sound of his voice. He’s young, or at least appears somewhere around my age, and he’s handsome.
Death. My tiger purrs. Her yearnings for human flesh have grown more savage each day. I’ve been holding her back, which has been difficult. And now, suddenly, she stops fighting me.
His eyes, though amber, are soft and kind. “Are you at peace with what will happen next?”
I smile. “Yes, and I wish peace to be with you also.”
He gazes at me for a long time and then closes his eyes for several minutes. When they open, his grip tightens on my hand and he brings my wrist to his mouth. His lips part and I see his elongated fangs. He stops before they enter my skin. He backs away slightly, still holding my hand.
“I was told of the protocol for your death, but I find myself unable to abide by those rules.” Panic seizes me. He must see it in my eyes, because he speaks again before I can beg. “I wish to place the bite of death at your throat and not your wrist. We are sharing the intimacy of death and, though your wrist smells lovely, I want a closer bond as you pass to the next life. The decision is yours.”
He’s perfect, and the Goddess is granting me her grace by sending this vampire to end my life. My hand is shaking slightly
when I lean up to move my hair aside.
“Allow me, please,” he says as his fingers slide through my hair, and he gently moves the strands behind my ear.
I have one question that I must know before death. “What is your name?”
He smiles at me for the first time. “‘V’, my sweet princess. Those who meet death at my hands know me as ‘V’.”
“It’s an honorable name,” I tell him.
His low laughter fills the room. “My given name is Rondy, and it’s not a fearful vampire name.”
“I do not fear you, V. I thank you for this honor.”
The smile falls from his lips and he leans into me. His hands go to either side of my head and I inhale his scent. It’s amazingly sensual and fills me as I prepare to meet death. I jump slightly when his teeth prick my skin. I’m expecting a languid feeling to come over me, but that is not what happens. The jolt that travels through my body also rocks the foundation of Grandmother’s home. V jerks back, his eyes completely amber and so bright they burn with an unknown flame.
“What the fuck?” he demands.
My tiger gives a satisfied purr. “Mate.”
Chapter Five
Esha
V is half leaning over me, his eyes challenging. The bedroom door swings open and hits the back wall. “No!” Grandmother shouts. “This cannot be.”
V turns around and places his hand out. “Do not come closer, woman,” he tells Grandmother.
She looks between us several times, and then her haunted eyes stay on me. “No, Esha, you cannot allow this. It is unnatural, and it only delays your death. You know what is required. This, Grandmother glares at V, abomination cannot provide what you need.”
Mother walks around Grandmother, and regardless of a vampire blocking her way, she pushes toward me. V stops her with a solid hand against her chest. He grabs her throat when Mother begins fighting. I sit up from the bed, which causes my head to swim. I gaze at V and find his eyes glued to mine. He has no idea what is happening, but I know why he is not allowing her to pass. “She would never harm me. Please release her.” He’s feeling the power of the mate bond and will not permit harm to befall me.
He doesn’t loosen his grip. “They left you to die. How can you say that?” he asks. He doesn’t appear angry; he just doesn’t completely understand the separation.
I’m sad because Grandmother’s words are partially true. With a vampire for mate, my death is only delayed. The vampire who has controlled us for centuries is an abomination. However, as I stare into V’s eyes, I see something else entirely. My tiger also recognizes him for the true person he is—a deadly killer, yet a man worthy of being my mate. The problem here is that only mating and then bearing a child can fulfill a tiger’s destiny, and a vampire cannot father children.
Even knowing this, I cannot fight the Goddess’ will. If she wishes to give me a few months more to walk with the living, I will not fight my fate. “It is our way, V. Please allow my mother to pass.”
He releases my weeping mother and she throws herself into my arms. I rub her back and try to soothe her. The Goddess might have granted me a stay of execution, but she has only prolonged the pain for Mother and Grandmother.
V watches. I can feel his impatience. “Do you understand what has happened?” I ask him.
“Fuck,” he mutters as he runs his fingers through his hair, which makes the waves stick up at odd angles. “I’m not sure, but I know I can’t kill you.”
“This cannot happen!” Grandmother shouts as she walks closer to me. Her anger is fully on V now. “You do not have the ability to produce a child, and she will die.”
V takes a threatening step in Grandmother’s direction. “What the hell does producing a child have to do with anything? I was sent here to kill her and now you’re talking about babies, you crazy woman?”
Grandmother tries her death stare on V. It doesn’t affect me, but always leaves Mother shaking. He’s completely unaffected and gives her his amber-eyed tit-for-tat glare.
“Please, we must talk about this calmly,” Mother interjects between sobs.
V moves his amber eyes back to me. “You say they will not kill you, but I don’t trust them.”
“We would not harm her, but Torbic will send someone who will,” Grandmother snaps. She’s always been one to know when she can’t win a fight. Seeing the finality in my eyes makes her reevaluate our current danger.
***
Rondy the Mated
So that is why, an hour later, I have Mother, Grandmother, and Esha in a decrepit cab heading back to the hotel. Mother and Grandmother refuse to give me their actual names, and treat me like an idiot for asking. They have luggage, or more like carpet bags, filled with unmentionable items. Esha remains quiet, but she keeps a few fingers on my pant leg. She stayed glued to my side the entire time her mother and grandmother were packing.
It took me a bit to process the turn of events, but I’ve gathered I now have a mate. The deed is done, and it doesn’t matter that I planned a few hundred years or more of bachelorhood. I couldn’t kill Esha if someone held a sharp sword to my throat and threatened decapitation. The nuances of only prolonging Esha’s life and being unable to father children are beyond me at the moment. I need Marcus to help me decipher the strange tigershifter rules.
Seeing Esha lying on her deathbed took my breath away. She was…is beautiful. She is dainty, and her eyes are as black as onyx. Her hair is the same. The delicate line of her cheeks and nose accent her graceful throat and shoulders. And, Goddess, her lips; they’re plump and look sweet enough to eat. Her scent filled me as soon as I flashed into the room. Bringing her wrist to my nose was maddening. Her blood smells delicious, and my senses are still filled with her. I was completely lost the minute I tasted her. I’m curious about her tiger, too. I feel the beast beneath her skin. ‘Savage’ is the only word to describe the longing I have to see her magnificence. I’ve had sex with shifters, in human form only. But it’s not sex I desire from her tiger; it’s the lethal promise of something more that spikes through my blood. I’m attracted to the beast as much as I am to the woman.
She’s mine. No one can stop it; if they try, I’ll kill them.
Before I went to end Esha’s life with an honorable death, Marcus explained beastkind tigers and why they are killed if unmated. He meant to kill the tigress himself, but I won the challenge and not him, so I put my foot down. It’s not that I actually wanted the job, but the task was mine by right of challenge. It required that I drink her blood until she passed. For the strangest reason, I had an undeniable urge to take an innocent life, and actually wondered if I was losing control.
Now I’m mated and stuck with her family. I also know damned good and well that the Goddess is laughing at me. Cecily will laugh, too. She’s a human who helped me as a child and now lives with The Moor and his clan. She’s older than dirt, but The Moor feeds from her and it prolongs her life. Not by enough, though, and I know her days are numbered. I see it in her eyes when I visit. Her body may no longer be spry, but her mind remains sharp. Yes, she will love this situation I’ve found myself in—a concubine, a mate, and a mother and grandmother to care for. The life of a vampire college student just grew incredibly complicated.
We arrive at the upper-class hotel where Marcus and I are staying. It has all the amenities. My new family and I receive more than our fair share of curiosity as the three women follow me to the elevator and then to the penthouse suite. I knock on the door, because my arms are laden with carpetbags. Esha is standing slightly behind me, holding onto the back of my shirt. What’s with that?
Marcus opens the door. I’ve never seen him shocked before, and I actually enjoy cracking the exterior badass he shields himself with all the time.
“May we come in, or do you plan to keep us in the hallway?” I snap.
He steps back and we enter the suite. The women stop just inside the door, barely giving Marcus room to close it behind them.
“I would ask wh
at the hell is going on, but I can smell it on you both. You seriously mated a tigershifter?” His shock has turned to humor.
For some reason, I want to knock the smirk right off his face.
“Grandmother,” I say as I point to Grandmother, who looks about thirty years old and is quite beautiful. “Mother,” I say pointing to Mother, who is almost the twin of Grandmother. Then I point to Esha. “And she’s my mate.” I look to the women. “Meet Marcus, the liege of the American Southwest clan.”
A sleepy-eyed Letta walks through the door of one of the bedrooms and I complete the introductions. “Ladies, this is Letta, my concubine.”
Yes, I could have been smoother, but I’m not feeling nice at the moment. Letta makes a low sound deep in her throat, and Esha reciprocates. Before I can stop them, they attack each other. The rest of us just watch. Marcus and I know better than to interfere with beastkind politics, unless the two decide to kill each other. They’ve kept their human forms, so I’m not too concerned. Esha lands a solid blow to Letta’s jaw and drops her to the floor. My mate lands on top of Letta and buries her human teeth into the wolfshifter’s throat. I’m just about to pull Esha off when Letta lifts her hands in supplication. Esha sits up on Letta’s chest and uses one hand at her throat to hold Letta’s head down. “He is my mate, and you are no longer his concubine. If you touch him, I will kill you and eat your entrails.”
Alrighty, then. If I knew it was this easy to get rid of a concubine, I’d have used this threat on Letta myself.
Esha rises and places her hand out for Letta. Like they weren’t just trying to kill each other, Esha helps Letta stand. My ex-concubine keeps her head down and doesn’t look anywhere near me. She walks over to Mother and Grandmother and stands beside them.
Alphas Unwrapped: 21 New Steamy Paranormal Tales of Shifters, Vampires, Werewolves, Dragons, Witches, Angels, Demons, Fey, and More Page 84
