Page 24 of Catch a Tiger

A chuff told her he was amused, but it still didn’t make any sense why he was here at all.

“Kitty, kitty,” she purred, exposing her throat to him ever so slightly to see what he would do. “What are you doing in my dark forest?”

“Yours?” the alpha asked, irritation leaking from him.

“Mine.”

It was amusing how much that word bothered him.

Vix eyed the orange tiger on her left who was the size of a very large bear. He sat down like a large housecat would though, almost bigger than the white one, but not quite.

Three strange tigers in her forest…

What could they possibly want?

Curiosity flooded her veins like lightning and Vix wondered if they would play a game with her.

“I wonder…” she murmured, dropping her eyes and letting a small smile play on her lips. Would they believe she was moresubmissive than they were? Would theybelieveshe wasn’t afraid despite their strange approach?

It wasn’t like they could scent her to find out.

“You’re treading in my garden of death, Alpha.” Vix made little patterns in the snow with her claws. “Unless you want to join me in purgatory, I suggest you leave.”

The silence that followed was tense and she glanced over at the tiger on her right to see he looked very disinclined to do as she suggested. The sudden urge to touch him was overwhelming but something warned her not to, and Vix just barely managed to catch herself before she could.

Strange. That had been disappointment in his eyes.

“I can’t leave you here,” the alpha told her, drawing her attention back to him.

“Oh?” Vix flexed her claws as she stayed in a crouch so as not to alarm them, keeping her weight on the balls of her feet. “And why is that?”

“Because you’re mine.” He towered over her like a dark god and Vix wanted to taste his power all over again.

“Your what?”

“Mymate.” The way he said it…it sounded like he couldn’t think of anything worse than that and Vix couldn’t help but laugh.

“Your mate?” She stood as tall as her human height would allow, and despite the fact that he didn’t flinch or move away from her, she sensed his unease. “And how would you know that when I possess no scent for you to find me or the bond?”

That fucking raven landed on his shoulder then and she glared at it.

“A witch,” the alpha purred, reaching up to scratch under the raven’s chin.

Vix froze as memories she’d abandoned—memories that had nothing to do with her purpose, crashed through her.

“A witch,” she breathed, looking down at the back of her hand to the glyph she’d carved into it.

That’s right. She was a witch.

How could she have forgotten?

Vix stared up at the dark sky as she let that other word settle into her bones.

Mate.

Without a scent, she’d always thought she didn’t have a mate, but these tigers were here in her forest because theybelievedshe was theirs.

Except Vix was nothing but a wraith made of chaos and pain. A ghost—one that even hell wouldn’t claim.

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