Page 97 of Catch a Tiger

Samuel

He’d come too far to lose everything, but the look in Mylo’s eyes was a very clear warning that it might not matter.

All this suffering may not be enough and he was going to lose them.

That silver wall he’d built in his mind was cracking under the pressure, creating new pathways his monster used to try to claw through, driving him mad with so many conflicting emotions and instincts that Samuel kept finding himself frozen in place.

Like now.

Winter wind whipped around him, whispering Vixen’s words into his mind like poison.

You don’t know anything.

He really didn’t, did he?

His monster purred and Samuel considered the way she’d moved, dancing with an assassin like it was nothing. That woman had even dodged him and he’d been taught how to fight in a place she knew nothing about, but it hadn’t seemed to matter.

What else could she do?

The forest towered over them, the trees like dark sentinels keeping his orderly world separate from the chaos he buried down over and over and over…

It almost felt like they were watching him,laughingat him.

You think you can command me?Vix taunted.

Samuel closed his eyes and tilted his head to the side until his neck popped, relieving some of the tension in his body, but not nearly enough.

The violence on the air was familiar, and his monster cackled when he wondered if Mylo would finally,trulychallenge him.

“Do I need to step in?” Mylo demanded, his claws glinting in the morning sun. “Because I can.”

He opened his eyes and held the other tiger’s gaze.

Sharp alpha magic didn’t slice through his own, at least not yet, but it was ready and waiting.

“Tell me what you expect me to do,” Samuel growled, his voice just shy of human. His monster was leaking through the cracks, and he couldn’t hold him back anymore. “If I can’t do it, I’ll let you manage them.”

Mylo clenched his jaw, but his scent remained sterile, which was another warning Samuel couldn’t ignore. Whatever his second was feeling, he refused to tell him which was athreat.

He smiled slightly, unable to help himself. This whole thing was too fucking amusing.

To save Rune, Samuel would have to give up everything. The price had to be paid somehow.

And it was his job to take responsibility, wasn’t it?

“Do you have any idea what just happened?” Mylo asked, his voice deceptively calm. “Because I don’t think you do.”

Too many conflicting instincts roared at him and Samuel took a deep breath. “Then why don’t you explain for us lesser mortals.”

“Vix didn’t break any of your stupid rules,” Mylo told him, taking a step to the side, angling his body so he could react if Samuel decided to attack. What a clever tiger. “You didn’t clarify she couldn’t kill a threat, did you?”

“I clearly stated she couldn’t kill anyone in my house.” But Samuel knew that had been a little short-sighted. He’d trusted the others to follow the rules as well, and clearly that trust had been nothing more than an illusion. “Despite that, her reasoning was sound, and I’ll adjust.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Mylo actually bared his teeth, and that told Samuel just how fucking furious his second was even if he couldn’t smell it. “You chose your cub over your mate, putting her in an impossible position. So, she left.”

Samuel couldn’t stop himself from flashing his own teeth. He knew all this already. “Tell me something I don’t know, Mylo.”

“Did you see it?” Mylo taunted, that psychotic grin spreading across his face so fast it was like he’d carved it with an invisible blade. “Did you see the moment she saw your weakness and looked tome?”

---