Page 14 of Catch a Tiger

He might even try to force himself to believe this wasn’t who they were looking for, but Morgan’s description of their mate was accurate down to the very last detail.

Blue eyes like ancient ice. Tangled hair as black as the endless void, sucking light in from all around it. Skin so pale he could see the blue vein in her cheek going down her neck. Black claws at the tips of her fingers and canines in her mouth. Wolf fur instead of her own.

A mysterious rune on the back of her right hand.

Morgan could only see this woman’snow, and they’d had to run as fast as they could to get here in time, but if she’d told himthiswas what he’d find…

Samuel doubted he would have risked it.

This insane creature called to his monster, begging him to go join her, to play at torture and carnage once more. He’d been so good at it…his monster could teach her so many things – couldlearnfrom her. When was the last time they’d seen this kind of mastery?

Her movements were graceful, practiced. There was no hesitation despite the nauseating sight of a headless body trying to get free of the strange metal pinning it down.

Samuel tried not to remember how many bodies he’d done something similar to in a place just like this…covered in the aching cold of winter that always left him breathless and melancholy.

That wasn’t his home anymore and this was a different nightmare.

All those old memories pounding against the silver wall made the roses in his mind tremble and actually had his hands shaking.

When was the last time he’d felt this level of bone-deep horror?

“He should give it back, don’t you think?” the woman asked, like this was a normal way to have a conversation. She was covered in so much blood it was the only thing he could smell.

“Give what back, your sanity?” the creature demanded.

But Samuel could sense fear from him despite the attitude.

The woman holding that dismembered head by the hair didn’t seem the least bit fazed and he couldn’t help but study her instead of the goddamn nightmare staring him in the face.

Nothing on the wind told him what she was, but his eyes kept catching on the black claws at the tips of her fingers that looked like his, if a bit more delicate…almost frosted in color. The wolf furs she wore had intricate embroidery when he looked closer, telling him it was well cared for and handmade.

But it was the enchanted, white hunter boots covering her feet that made him pause. The fur pants she wore were tucked into those boots and for some reason, the only thing he could think about at that moment was how she’d gotten her hands on a pair ofwhiteones.

At least until he noticed the skin on her hands looked red and chapped, but her rosy cheeks were disturbingly attractive.

His tiger didn’t like how reckless she was to leave her hands bare in this weather even if she was some kind of shifter, but Samuel buried that voice down when Mylo twitched the moment she dropped her hand.

This woman glanced back at the body and the blade pinning it to the earth with a blank expression on her face. The sight of that metal alone had his heart pounding as he fought the urge to get his second and third as far from here as possible.

Considering the wings protruding from the body, it could only be one thing.

An angel blade.

That bloody rune on the forehead wasn’t glowing anymore, but whatever magic was stitched into the ground did. A circle with unfamiliar runes glowed red thanks to all that blood, and Samuel really didn’t like the way the magic felt as it pulsed in a rhythm that was both inherently familiar and yet more foreign than his mortal mind could grasp.

He’d finally forced himself to ask Morgan for their missing piece, and this was what he’d gotten.

Another psycho.

Fate wasn’t done fucking him raw, it seemed.

They were far enough away from her she wouldn’t notice them, especially when they were downwind.

Samuel decided then that they’d watch whatever this was. Regardless of what he decided to do, this was the kind of intel he made it his business to know. Once she was done, he would have to make a call.

Rune and Mylo were falling apart. If she really was their mate, then there wasn’t much they could do about it. He would have to take the risk because this was their last chance.

But fuck him, the way she moved set his teeth on edge. It was toofast, too deadly. It was also infinitely graceful as she set the head on a nearby stump with both hands, letting go slowly like it might just topple over.

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