Page 37 of Catch a Tiger

Not when she was naked and those skintight clothes had left so very little to the imagination.

Their mate had pink nipples instead of dark ones like Sammy.

Just thinking about those nipples and what he could do to make them hard…maybe get her to tremble for him if he played them just right, the thought eased the bloodlust like it was nothing.

It was unsettling how easily she could calm him down, just like her hands in his fur had nearly had him fuckingpurring. Rune didn’t purr. Ever.

He was pretty sure the only time he’d ever heard that sound from any of them was when Sammy doted on Morgan.

“You gonna be okay?” Rune slid their alpha a look, knowing just how much he was going to break down under that crazy girl’s chaos.

“I’ll manage.” Sammy ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “We need a game plan before I go up there and she fucks with my head.”

“She doesn’t have a scent,” Mylo pointed out as he typed something into the tablet. “How do you plan to confirm whether she’s our mate or not?”

Rune didn’t need a scent to know she was theirs. He could feel it in his chest, telling him exactly where she was. His tiger was so focused on the sound of her heart beating that he would never lose her as long as she stayed where he could hear her.

“If she’s not a raven and is some other kind of shifter, she should be able to scent it on us,” Sammy muttered, not looking pleased about that. “If she’s a raven then I guess we could spend some time with her and then go on a trip without her to see if the pain starts.”

That was inefficient, but Rune didn’t care because he was going to stay here with her. The alpha and his second could run off like idiots to feel the excruciating pain distance caused with an unclaimed mate bond.

“What if she tries to murder us in our sleep?” Mylo asked, smiling slightly like he almost hoped she would – like it would be socute,and Rune kind of wanted her to try.

“One of us will stay awake at all times, on a rotation,” Samuel decided. “We can contract Valentina to help. An assassin in the house doesn’t seem like such a bad idea anymore, does it, Rune?”

He snarled slightly, pissed Sammy was being so petty. “You’re missing the point, Alpha. She is hunting angels and can bring them to our doorstep where your precious cub is currently staying. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have an angel blade to kill one of those bastards. That’s not even the worst thing that could happen.”

Both Sammy and Mylo raised their eyebrows at him.

It was so annoying how they could be so clueless sometimes.

“She could decide to leave if she feels neglected,” Rune said softly, grinning when Sammy jumped to his feet at the subtle reminder she was still waiting for the alpha. “I doubt there’s anything we could do to stop her, especially without a scent to track her down.”

Sammy didn’t exactly run out of his office, but he definitely hustled.

“Her lack of scent doesn’t bother you?” Mylo asked, setting his tablet down to focus on Rune.

Clearly, it bothered the other tiger.

“If I’m her mate, she’ll claim me.” He shrugged and studied the snow-covered trees again and wondered what she might want after getting all cleaned up. “Scent isn’t everything if you know how to read the rest.”

And he’d been really,reallygood at that.

“Torturing someone is an art form.” Rune flashed Mylo a grin that promised pain if the second felt so inclined. “Scent can overwhelm everything else and distract you from the goal – thepurpose. I wish I could scent the mate bond only because you and Sammy keep doubting if she’s ours or not, but otherwise, I couldn’t care less. If there’s something I want to know, I’ll just ask her.”

“And if she won’t tell you?”

Rune felt his grin become feral and he decided he’d cook her the best steak in the world, rare. His mate would like that it was still bleeding when he set the plate before her with those perfect, browned edges.

Some caramelized onions from the greenhouse would go well with it.

“If she won’t tell me the answer…” he trailed off and then gave Mylo a mischievous wink. “Guess I’ll have to find a way tomake her give it to me, won’t I?” He had a feeling she’d like that game.

Mylo said nothing as Rune headed toward the kitchen, wondering what his psycho little mate would like to drink, other than angel blood.

Chapter 11

Vix

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