Page 39 of Catch a Tiger

For some reason, the lack of a shirt made him look…untamed. Such a small change, but Vix could see exactly how dangerous he was even if his posture and appearance told her she should trust him, that he was too pretty to be a threat.

His beauty only made her more wary, but in the same way she was wary of the other two. Whatever monsters they were hiding from her…Vix’s curiosity had always gotten her into trouble, but their dangerous parts made them even more interesting, more…

Delicious.

“You have magic carved into your skin,” he said, so quietly she almost thought she’d dreamed those words.

She sank deeper into the water so it lapped against her chin. “Yes.”

His tiger made his eyes flash gold, but she just smiled, knowing there were many things he wouldn’t like and this was the least of them.

“Why?”

Why had she carved those glyphs and runes into her skin? Vix wrinkled her nose as she tried to remember, but it felt like grabbing at mist and fog. “Seemed like a good idea.”

He tilted his head slightly as he absorbed that and then started untying his boots.

Suddenly, she felt nervous but not enough to ask why he was doing that.

Had her answer disappointed him?

Vix tugged on a chunk of her hair, pulling pieces apart as she tried to get a read on him, but he was more human than tiger right now – even more than before and it was nearly impossible for her to understand human motives.

“I stole things,” she whispered, pulling another section of hair apart so she had something to look at other than him. “Things I wasn’t supposed to keep.”

The alpha didn’t stop though. He pulled his boots off and set them aside before reaching for his wool socks.

It made her unreasonably anxious.

She licked her lips and glanced over when he pulled them off one at a time, so meticulous and precise as he placed them in his boots.

“I had to hide what I stole somewhere,” she tried to explain, running her fingers over the runes that went down her left arm. Some of them were lined up perfectly, and others were placed strategically over energy points. “I hid secrets in my skin so he couldn’t take those too.”

Secrets even she didn’t know.

Her body remembered what she couldn’t.

Vix rubbed her temples when a throbbing pain started behind her eyes.

“Do you know anything about memory magic?” she asked.

“A bit.”

She jolted when he reached over to unplug something, making the water disappear so fast she dug her claws into the rock so it didn’t suck her down with it. The alpha didn’t sayanything as he waited until it was all gone before plugging it up and turning the faucet back on.

Usually, the water she bathed in was just shy of frozen, but this water was a lot hotter than even Mylo had made it. Vix winced when it hit her skin and she forced herself to bear it.

“Ravens can alter memories,” the alpha told her, but not like he was saying it becauseshedidn’t know, more like he wanted to tell her whatheknew.

It was a nice change, and Vix watched as he picked up one of the glass bottles and poured some oil into the water that smelled like tropical fruit, apples, and bergamot mixed with cardamom and saffron. It was a complex scent and warm with a hint of spice. Despite that, it didn’t overwhelm her shifter senses.

“Some witches can alter memories as well.” The alpha beckoned her closer with an outstretched hand, his eyes on her face. They didn’t stray even once. “Why do you ask?”

“Memory magic scrambles the brain,” Vix explained, waving her fingers around her head like that would somehow help him see what only a raven could. “Or maybe the mind, not the brain? Anyways, if too much is taken, or the altered memories don’t sit right…”

She trailed off when she saw he was still waiting for her to take his hand. Vix walked toward him, the water up to her knees now. The scent clung to her skin too and she kind of liked that even if it didn’t have the smell of winter to tell everyone she’d been carved from ice.

When she got close enough, Vix hesitated.

---