Page 42 of Catch a Tiger

“That’s not your true name though, is it?” The alpha started combing through her tangles again and he seemed a bit more relaxed. “Which means he doesn’t really own you.”

“He’s the only one who knows my true name, so I guess it doesn’t matter which one he uses. My body and soul belong to him as well as my memories. Then he left me here in purgatory to atone. I assume anyway. I don’t actually know why he didn’t want me anymore.”

The tugging suddenly became a thousand times more painful and Vix gritted her teeth when it felt like he was trying to rip her hair out by the roots, taking skin along with it.

I know this is painful, Gabriel whispered as the alpha yanked that comb through her stupid hair.I know it hurts, but it’s only going to get worse.

Vix didn’t know whether she should be comforted by those words or horrified.

“My name is Samuel,” the alpha told her, his deep voice erasing Gabriel’s. “It’s not my full name, so you don’t have to worry.”

“Samuel…” For some reason it didn’t seem to really fit with the alpha’s hidden darkness, but she thought it made sense in other ways. “The divine name, the divine voice…the wise leader and judge.”

She considered everything she knew about that name, finding it odd that a winter tiger would possess an angel’s name.

“‘Samuel possesses extreme success or none at all,’” she remembered. Had someone told her that or had she read it somewhere? “It’s an angel’s name, but you’re no angel.”

“No,” Samuel agreed. “The farthest thing from it actually.”

“Good.” Vix flicked water at the window and watched the drops slide down the glass, proving they weren’t outside or in a cave. “Angels don’t deserve their names anyways. Built to protect humanity…funny how they forget that.”

She would takealltheir names if she had to. They weren’t going to keep getting away with so much cruelty, not if she had anything to say about it. No, they could stay the fuck out of everyone’s business, or she could turn all their souls to ash.

An angel’s name…Samuel.

It was old and made her wonder. Vix couldn’t help but want to pry a little more information out of the alpha, not when his mysteries were so dark and shiny.

“Are you Jewish?” she asked, the muscles in her shoulders relaxing when the tugging softened once more. “Jewish angels are a bit nicer.”

“I don’t believe in a single god,” Samuel told her. “I’m not religious.”

“I didn’t ask if you were.” She smiled slightly as his irritation spiked when she flicked water at the window again. “Gods exist whether we want them to or not, but your humanity belongs somewhere.”

“It’s my English name.” The confession was gentle, quiet. “My father gave me a Samoan name, but I don’t use it.”

A secret name, just like her.

Vix liked that he had a secret name. It felt…cozy somehow. Like he kept it close to his heart where no one could touch it or ever try to take it.

“Don’t tell me what it is,” she whispered, feeling nervous about this, but the curiosity was killing her. “But…could you tell me what it means? I won’t take it, I just…want to know.”

Would it tell her anything? Would it give her an answer to the kind of person she might find under all this human nonsense he liked to pretend he cared about?

“It meansgod of war.” His breath skimmed over her shoulder, settling his words into her skin and Vix felt a jolt of lightning go through her as therightnessof it settled into her soul.

A god of war and winter…

Perfection.

“What should I call you?” her god of war asked.

For some reason Vix didn’t want him calling her by the name Kenji had given her, but she had no idea why.

“You’re not pack,” she muttered, hoping he’d understand. “I don’t know…”

His hands remained steady despite her sudden nerves, and Vix swallowed as she tried to decide what name to give him.

If she told him her secret name, would it feel wrong to hear him say it, or would it feel right? What if she gave him the nameKenji had given as a gift? But she wasn’t Samuel’s cub, and he wasn’t family.

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