Chapter One
Protected by the Tiger Shifter
NOX
A few months ago, I turned into a stalker.
If that wasn’t bad enough, I was now a kidnapper.
Fuck me and my damned days filled with following someone. But it was worth it. Or was it? It was. I scrubbed a hand over my face and strode from the knocked-out man on the couch in my office to hopefully find some sane help.
There, I admitted I needed it.
I should have asked for help months ago when I’d started creeping about.
No. Fuck that. I never should have turned to stalking in the goddamn first place. But I couldn’t stop myself.
Not when he was my fated mate.
He was also the clumsiest, most oblivious man I’d ever fucking seen, which made me and the tiger worry nonstop.
I knocked on my brother’s door, and when I heard him call out, I opened it. “Can I speak with your mate?”
Rio sat up from Deacon’s chest with wide eyes. “Me?”
Deacon flung the blanket on Rio, not wanting me to see his naked body, and barked, “Yes. Give him time.”
I nodded, closing the door, and paced the hall while waiting.
Rio was the obvious choice to talk to since he was new and seemed more level-headed than Deacon, Riker, and me combined.
Besides, he wasn’t a cold-blooded killer like my brothers and I were.
Even though his childhood had been shit, due to his cartel father who we recently murdered, his upbringing had still been less chaotic than ours.
Working for our shifter government on missions that pretty much gave us permission to kill helped to cool our desires to hunt and slaughter.
Truth be told, for my brothers, the hunger for blood comes more from Deacon’s and Riker’s animals than their human side. I’d just never told them it was my human side that wanted to murder those who deserved it, more than the animal instincts I held inside.
The tiger in me was a fucking timid little pussy.
I ground my teeth together when it purred inside me, trying to calm me down.
That was why I never shifted in front of anyone. If I did, the tiger would rather play or rub up against someone for attention. It never protected me when I was younger like my brothers’ animals had.
The tiger had hid when there was trouble.
A tiger.
One of the meanest cats in the world wanted love and affection rather than to slaughter anyone who fucked us over.
The door opened.
Rio stared. “What’s—”
“Come with me,” I said quickly. Then I added tightly, almost reluctantly, “Please.”
Rio nodded and followed me back to my office. I opened the door and moved aside. When Rio entered, I peeked out of the corner of my eye to see astonishment color his features.
He snapped his mouth closed and asked, “Nox, did you kidnap my professor?”
Yes.
Yes, I had.
I threw out a hand. “He’s a danger to himself.”
Rio hummed and nodded. “Right. And is that why you kidnapped him?”
“I’m surprised he’s even alive. In the past months, he’s nearly died thirty times.” I glared down at my mate.
“O-kay,” Rio drew out. “But why kidnap him because of it?”
I locked my teeth together, staring at my fated one. I softened a little when he made a noise and rubbed his cheek on the cushion, which made his glasses crooked.
He was cute.
Tiny but cute.
What the fuck was I going to do with him?
Rio sucked in a breath. “He’s your mate.”
I dragged my gaze away from Kieran Higgins and looked to Rio, nodding once.
“Holy shit.” He covered his mouth with his hand, and behind it he said, “And you kidnapped him.”
“Can we focus on something else?” I snarled.
“No, Nox. We can’t.” Now he was the one pacing.
“Let me get this straight. You’ve been watching him awhile.
Well, you must’ve been because you said in the last few months he’s nearly died—” A growl rolled out of me.
Rio rolled his eyes. “Yes, okay, I won’t mention that D word again.
Then you decided to… take him to protect him from himself? ” He stopped pacing and looked at me.
Sighing, I nodded.
“Nox,” he groaned, as if in pain.
How was he in pain? He hadn’t watched my mate for the past few months while he nearly lost his life from tripping or being too absorbed in reading or his phone to realize he could have been run over, squashed, or murdered.
Anger and fear stabbed me in the chest.
“Can’t I keep him here, so he stays safe?” I asked.
Rio spluttered before he thinned his lips and drew his brows together.
Fucking Christ.
Logically, I knew I couldn’t keep him, but when I saw those men pull him into an alley, mug him, and then knock him out, I couldn’t leave my mate out in the world for something else to happen.
Fury clawed at my throat.
They were going to do things to him.
Bad, bad fucking things.
Things I couldn’t think about because I’d want to—
“You can’t keep him.”
My upper lip rose in a silent snarl.
“Don’t get angry at me. You obviously didn’t think this over. He’s your fated mate, Nox. Get to know him. Woo him. I’m sure you’ll win him over and then he’ll never want to leave your side.”
“I don’t fucking woo.”
“All right, can you at least be nice? Less snarly and grumpy?”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I scowled at my brother’s mate. Maybe he wasn’t the right choice to bring in here. At least Deacon and Riker would be on board with my idea of kidnapping and keeping him here.
Rio pinched the bridge of his nose. “Nox.” He sighed again. “What made you kidnap him today? What was the underlying cause, since it seems he’s accident prone anyway?”
“He had his nose stuck in a damn book once again and two men took him into a darkened alley. He didn’t even yell for assistance. Before I crossed the road to help, they’d stolen his wallet and knocked him out. I brought him back here.”
“Uh-huh.” He nodded. “And what happened to the muggers?”
I had a feeling he didn’t want me to say I killed them.
Still….
“I killed them.”
“Nox,” he snapped. “Did anyone see you? Are the bodies just lying in the alleyway with the professor’s wallet?”
I cocked a brow.
He ran a hand through his hair. “Right. Of course you would clean up after yourself, considering your job.”
“They were going to….” My blood boiled. I stretched my neck from side to side to try and cool myself down and stop myself from hunting for more blood. “They wanted to do other things to him when he was passed out.”
Rio paled as he nodded. “How do you know?”
I grinned. Rio took the slightest step away.
I rolled my eyes. I would never hurt him, but my smile could have come across as a little crazed from remembering the way they’d cried and begged.
“I tortured them for answers. It didn’t last anywhere near long enough, and I couldn’t make it too bloody, since I didn’t want to get any on me in case it got on him. ”
“Right. Yes. Of course.”
“Exactly. Now, what do I do about—”
We froze and stared at my mate when he moaned and shifted on the couch.
Please don’t wake. Please don’t wake, I mentally begged.
Rio waved his hand at me. I looked there to see him pointing at me and then my mate. I shook my head. I was not talking to him. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t risk the bond forming more. He had a chance at a better life. A life without the knowledge that monsters were real.
I shook my head.
Rio nodded.
I shook my head again and pointed at him then my mate.
He glared and mouthed, “No.”
Another moan from my mate, and he pulled an arm up to rub over his face, knocking his glasses to the side.
Shit, fuck.
Panic had me shifting from human to tiger in a matter of moments.
“Nox, no,” Rio barked low.
A groan from my mate, but before I ran to hide behind a desk, he slowly sat up.
“Fuck you, No—”
“Mr. Santiago?”
“Oh, ah, hey, Professor Higgins.”
Getting down on our belly, we peeked out from under the desk. Our mate blinked in a confused daze up at Rio.
“W-What… where am I?”
Rio clasped his hands behind his back. “Well, you see… what do you remember?”
We thought that was a good question. Maybe the bear’s mate wasn’t so bad after all.
Digging our claws into the carpet, I fought for dominance in this form, easily winning since all the tiger wanted to do was to scent mark our mate. But now I was at the forefront of the brain, it left me in control of this form.
“Um…” His brows dip. “I was walking home from college and—” He gasped. “—two men dragged me into an alley and took my wallet. They knocked me out. I have to call the police. Do you have a phone?”
“I… don’t?”
He was useless at lying.
My mate straightened, but then rubbed at his head and wincing. “You don’t have a phone?”
“No,” Rio drew out.
They both looked to the desk at the same time where a phone sat.
Fuck.
He couldn’t call the cops.
Besides, I had his wallet.
Which was in my clothes on the floor where I’d shifted.
Jesus Christ.
My mate stood, but Rio got in his way, yelling, “Wait—”
“I don’t have time for this—” he broke off on a cry and jolted back where he then tripped and fell onto the couch again. “Mr. Santiago,” he screamed. “Tiger! There’s a tiger!”
Shit, my control had slipped, and I’d let the tiger sit up. It placed its paws on the desk to jump on top of it but quickly dropped back onto the floor on the other side.
No, I mentally command.
Yet, I wouldn’t mind knowing the answer to what the tiger wanted to find out. That if our mate wanted to pat it, feel its fur in a long, loving stroke.
“Mr. Santiago!” He looked frantically at the only other human in the room.
“It’s, ah, okay?” Rio tried.
“It does not look okay, Mr. Santiago. Is this your pet—”
A snarl erupted out of me. We were no one’s pet… except maybe his.
No. I wouldn’t allow that.
Pushing back into control, I went down to my belly and let the purr the tiger wanted to share out. Our mate slowly looked back to us.
I crept closer and noticed how our mate stilled.
“Aww, isn’t he adorable,” Rio cooed. If he wasn’t trying to help our mate relax, I would have ripped his head off. “He’s trying to look less intimidating to calm you.”
“Before he eats me?”
“No,” Rio said quickly. “He, ah, wants pats.”
I wanted to turn and growl, maybe even attack Rio for even suggesting it, but I couldn’t look away from my mate when the tension rolled off him as he relaxed his shoulders.
“Really?” he asked hopefully.
Fuck my life, was I really going to let him pat me?
Shit. Yes, I was.
I got us to our feet and sniffed at our mate. His sweet, delicious scent had us closing our eyes, and we purred louder while we rubbed our head against his knees.
A laugh escaped him. “This is amazing.”
“I know,” Rio replied.
He better not tell my brothers about this.
My mate’s hands shook as he reached out slowly. We pushed our head up and under his palms and we purred some more when his fingers threaded through our fur to then run over our head.
“I can’t believe this,” my mate said in awe.
Pleasure had us licking and tasting our mate’s skin on his arms. The tiger liked hearing the praise from our mate. And hell, I didn’t mind knowing he thought the tiger was likeable.
His arms wrapped around our neck and hugged us close.
We tipped back and licked over his face, drawing out a laugh.
He stilled and placed his attention on Rio. Thankfully, he went back to rubbing our body while he asked, “Are you even allowed a pet tiger?”
A grumbled growl rolled out.
Again, we were no one’s pet.
Except his… maybe.
Fuck. I was kidding myself if I tried to deny my attraction to our mate.
We wanted him.
No, I wanted him.
But he deserved a world of ignorance. Without the fear of the monsters in the world.
There’re monsters in humans as well.
Kieran nearly lost his life because of them.
“Ah, yes?” Rio lied pitifully. “He’s an exception.”
“Wow, I wish I could get one.”
Growling again, we placed our front paws on the couch. My mate leaned away, shock evident with his gaping mouth.
We touched our nose to his and continued growling.
He was to never get another tiger. They wouldn’t be like us, and knowing his luck, he would get eaten by it.
“Mr. Santiago?” my mate called, worry tightening his tone.
“It’s okay. He just doesn’t want you to mention other tigers.”
There was a pause, and I wondered how Rio was going to explain this away.
“Oh, okay.” My mate beamed up at us and cupped our cheeks. Jesus, he would get killed by any other tiger. “I won’t. You’re all I need.”
Hearing those words was like a slap in the face to wake me the fuck up, but they also lit my gut alight with fireflies.
I was all he needed.
No, we were all he needed.
He’d said that.
Back to purring, we rubbed our face against his. Over his head, his chest, his waist.
There was a deep desire taking over to have all of him smelling like us. Then once he did, maybe the stab of possessiveness would fade.
Hopefully.
Although currently, I was still considering keeping him here in one way or another, and I wasn’t opposed to tying him to my bed.