Page 102 of Catch a Tiger

Samuel didn’t know why Mylo wanted this information, but he had a feeling that he’d find out why she carved names in her back just like he did if he understood a little more…could he even learn how to read those glyphs? They weren’t too different from the language of faerie?—

“She’s stuck,” Mylo said, interrupting his thoughts. “She can’t shift and it’s an excruciating pain to bear. If I can find out what those glyphs are for, then perhaps we can remove whatever is binding her to this form.”

So Mylo had chosen that, not her scent. Samuel took a deep breath and tucked that away to examine later when he was less…volatile.

“You would know, wouldn’t you?” Kenji sighed and started walking toward the house. “Admirable reason, but you’d needto be able to photograph those glyphs and you can’t. It’s impossible. I’ve never been able to draw them either. Every time I try, the bones in my hand break.”

Samuel and Mylo fell into step on either side of Kenji, both of them biting back the obvious question of howshemanaged to draw them without issue.

“What’s your reason, Alpha?”

“She has names on her back.” Samuel ignored Mylo’s frosty glare and ripped the bloody shirt off that would only worry Morgan. “I want to understand why angels are just as obsessed with names as the fae. Maybe then I’ll understand why she remembers his name, but not hers.”

“Because he claimed her.” Kenji stopped and studied him. “That’s something you three are going to have to come to terms with. He claimed her, and she never really forgot him, just like she’s never forgotten me. I claimed that lost soul asmine– my hatchling, my partner, and an active member of my collective. Don’t worry though, she paid off her contract before she left for Vancouver, but she only took a leave of absence.”

The raven snickered as he climbed the stairs up to the porch and Samuel wondered what he could possibly find so amusing.

“Did she forget to tell you?” Kenji shook his head and set his hand on the doorknob. “She’s bad at remembering things, you’ll have to get used to that.”

The door was ripped open by the woman made of chaos and pain, but her smile was blinding when she looked up at Kenji. “I am terrible at remembering things. What did I forget this time?”

“Oh, just that you’re still an active assassin for the Tombstone Collective.” Kenji tugged on a lock of her hair. “Your hair looks very pretty today, Vixen.”

“Thank you. The alpha gave it to me as a gift.” Vix grabbed the raven’s arm and pulled him into the house. “I didn’t cut it off,just like you told me not to. Aren’t you proud? I managed to find a solution you wouldn’t hate.”

“Super proud.” Samuel heard Kenji chuckle as she dragged him farther into the house.

“Did you know he does Rune’s hair too? Look how pretty it is. It’sred. Like blood.”

Samuel stood there in the blinding light of the morning sun and listened to the woman who was so many things and never pretended otherwise. It was a bit inspiring, even if he hated how messy it was.

Disorganized and forgetful.

As an alpha, he couldn’t afford to be that way, and there was always a trade-off, wasn’t there? He kept his pieces separate and suffered, or he gave in and lost the life he’d built after earning his freedom with so much blood it felt like it soaked into everything he touched.

“Are you going to deal with Morgan?” Mylo asked, turning to study him like he could see every fracture in his silver. “I’d prefer not to be responsible for her punishment, if I’m honest. I might just kill her if she pisses me off again.”

Samuel sighed, not even mad. Mylo was just stating a fact. “I’ll deal with her. Then I’ll ask her to leave. It isn’t safe for her here, and she’s being even more difficult than usual. I’ll make sure to discuss her punishment with you after I’m done talking to her.”

“I’d rather you didn’t.” Mylo took his time going up the stairs, ruffling his hair again, almost like he was nervous. “I’ll never forgive her for today, Alpha. So just deal with it. I’ll handle the other two.”

Mylo didn’t turn right, toward the sound of Vix’s voice, but left where they had a massive mudroom. He’d get cleaned up and change there just like he always did after a tussle. Samuel wondered what clothes he’d choose this time.

Staring down at the shirt stained with the blood both Vix and Mylo had drawn, Samuel decided he needed to reach out to old contacts whether he wanted to or not. If this vixen had been skilled enough to make it to the second regiment…he sighed and headed inside.

There was no way she’d been abandoned.

Either she's committed an unforgivable crime or she’d escaped, but Samuel knew there could be a third option.

He tossed his shirt and pants in the pile for incineration and headed for one of the shower stalls.

It was always possible she’d been set free.

Samuel wondered what the price of that freedom had been as he let the hot water run down his back. How much had she bled for it? How much had shetakenfor it?

Wiping his face, he wondered if the price for that freedom was her scent, her fur, her memories…everything.

It almost made him hope she’d committed an unforgivable crime, because if she freely gave those things in exchange, Samuel wouldn’t be able to get them back for her. But if they’d been stolen…

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