Page 8 of Tucker's Strike

I don’t know how he does it, but the very stance makes him seem bigger and far more powerful than he already is.

“Or what? You’re going to torture me until I give you answers? Sorry, bucko, that isn’t going to happen. What I can do is give you a can of Spam and send you on your way.” Why did I say that?

“Spam?” He looks surprised and maybe even a little confused by my remark. “Why the fuck would I want you to give me that shit?”

“Supposedly, it has the same texture as human flesh.” I shrug. “You know it could curb the appetite for wanting to find the next victim you decide to hunt down when you shift.”

Tucker jerks back like I’d caught him by surprise. Though only for a second. The next, he’s throwing his head back and laughing.

“I don’t see what’s so funny,” I mutter out, huffing and taking on the same stance as him, hands on hips, glaring at him.

It takes him another moment or two to stop laughing and brings his gaze to mine, the gold in his eyes gone, replaced with a beautiful hazel color. I didn’t even think hazel could be pretty, but his eyes proved me wrong.

Instead of looking at his eyes, I should have been paying attention, putting even more distance between the two of us. I should’ve just turned and run because, in the next second, I find Tucker back in my space, edging me back against the counter once again. His arms cage me in, and he leans in, getting nose-to-nose with me.

“If I want to take a bite out of someone, it would be when I have my mouth between those pretty legs of yours. And when I do that, little Fae, that’s when I’ll torture you. But it wouldn’t be to harm you in any way. I’d torture you with so much pleasure you would be begging me to take it further.” Tucker inhales, and as he does so, he sighs. Freaking sighs. He runs his nose alongmy cheek until he whispers in my ear, “Trust me, little Fae, when I’m done with you, you’ll never be the same again.”

“Why do you say that?” I more or less breathe. My voice seeming gone, trailing on the air in a barely there whisper.

“Because you’ll never want me to stop. You’ll be begging me to take you at every turn. To keep you next to me. Which I’ll tell you now, little Fae, you don’t have to plead for.”

Tucker jerks away, and I’m left there leaning against the counter once again, reeling by his effect on me.

“Now, mate, tell me who the fuck your father is? Callum, Rohan, Jair, Walker, or Trace?”

It’s my turn to be shocked as he names my dad and each of my uncles.“How do you know their names?”

“Because they’re tiger shifter royalty, little Fae, everyone in the shifter world knew of the Wildthorn family. And the family was allies to mine. That is before they were all killed by blood witches.”

I stare up at him in total disbelief. I knew the story of blood witches killing the female my uncle Jair was to marry long ago. She and her family were decimated by evil. I didn’t know there was anyone who survived. They didn’t tell me that part.

There’s a lot my dad and uncle didn’t tell me.

The one thing I wish they had was why I was in such danger and why I was constantly running for my life.

“So which one, little Fae?” Tucker’s gruff tone draws me out of my thoughts before I can allow them to go any further.

“My dad’s name is Callum,” I answer. He already knows who they all are, I might as well let the cat out of the bag. “Before you ask, I know he’s a shifter, and I’m not. My mom was his mate, she was already pregnant with me before they met. And she died when I was born.”

“That explains that. But now I want to know why they’re not protecting you. If your mom was Callum’s mate, then he’s got to know you’re a Fae,” he says, surprising me.

“Excuse me?” Is that why he keeps calling me little Fae?

“Your dad had to have known you were a fairy, Lake. You can’t deny it, you’re half Fae. The scent is all over you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I admit, releasing a ragged breath. “I’m not a fairy.”

Tucker keeps his gaze laser-focused on me, head cocked slightly. “You don’t know, do you.” I shake my head to answer him, and he mutters a curse. “They kept that from you. Didn’t tell you, why?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Fairies aren’t real . . .”

Tucker laughs darkly and shakes his head. “You believe in shifters. Seen it with your own eyes. You know about us. I’m sure they told you about blood witches, but you don’t think fairies are real.”

“Well . . .”

Maybe they are, but I’m not one. I’m normal. I’m just a human. My mom was human.

“Trust me, little Fae, you are what you deny. A Fae. There’s no shielding your scent from me.” Tucker’s nostrils flare, and he’s looking more than just a little pissed. “You not knowing the truth of what you are is dangerous. They had to know that.”

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