Her Black Tiger (Alaskan Tigers Book 11) (7 page)

M
emories
of those day sprouted in Carran’s thoughts like weeds in a garden. No matter how he tried to pluck them, they continued to pop up. Losing Cas had almost broken him and even to this day he didn’t know how he’d managed to keep his tiger under control. All he’d wanted to do was give in to the beast and let the pain, grief, and regret pass him by. It was something he would always carry with him, but instead of letting it consume him, he let it fuel him to help others. When he found the Alaskan Tigers, it gave him a cause. Now that he was one of the Elder guards, he was finding a new reason to carry on.

If I could wrap my fingers around that promotion…

He longed to be part of the Queen of the Tigers’ Guards. While he had the backing of Felix, the Captain of Tabitha’s Guards, he needed Ty’s as well. He hoped this mission would prove he was ready to be a permanent addition, not just a temporary fill-in.

“How does he regain complete control?” Brooklynn questioned, not quite meeting his gaze. “You said Ambrose’s lion is still on the surface and that the control he has over his beast is still frayed.”

“That’s different for everyone and it also depends on how much the beast was let off the leash. For Ambrose, being around people like himself has helped. More than that, being reacquainted with his daughter will take him on the right path. He’ll fight it so that he can be with her.” He stood and he took a step closer to her before stopping. The desire to touch her ate at him, even for just a moment, but he resisted. He had to give her space to figure things out. “You’ve been through a lot and tomorrow…well, we don’t know what that will bring. Why don’t you get some sleep?”

“One more thing.” This time she closed the distance and came to stand right in front of him. Her chest pressed against the front of him and she rose up on her toes to press her lips to his cheek. “Thank you for coming after me.”

“Carran, phone—it’s Ty,” Taber hollered from down the hall.

Ignoring him for the moment, Carran told her, “No need to thank me.” This time, he didn’t stop himself from touching her. Slowly, he ran his hands up her arms until he got to her shoulders. It wasn’t enough for his beast and he wanted to lift her into his arms and kiss her until she wrapped her legs around his waist.

“Carran,” Taber called again.

“I’m coming,” he snapped, dropping his hands from her shoulders. “If you need anything, I’m right across the hall. Don’t leave.”

“I won’t.” When he raised an eyebrow at her, she added, “You have my word. Even if I wanted to, where would I go? The wolves are after me and who knows who else from my department. Right now, I’d rather live than run away.”

Leaving the room, the weight of her words hung in the air.
Run away.
She still saw them as people she needed to escape. His mate couldn’t wait to get as much distance between them as she could, while he wanted nothing more than to push her down on the bed and claim her. He had only known her for a few hours, yet she was already overtaking his thoughts and his body ached for her touch.

He needed to stay focused on the situation with the Donovick pack. Once he handled that, he could worry about convincing her that she was right where she needed to be, with him, and claim her as his mate.

“Mine.” He growled as he rounded the corner to the living room and almost walked into Taber.

“I thought bears were notorious for being the grumpy ones.” Taber held the phone out to him.

Carran had been around the Brown brothers long enough to know that they could live up to the grumpy bear comments, but they were a great addition to the Alaskan Tigers. Ignoring Taber, he brought the phone to his ear. “Ty?”

“After you didn’t answer your phone twice, I called Taber. This is urgent. The pack’s Alpha demands a meeting
now
. He’s unwilling to wait until morning as arranged.” His Alpha didn’t bother with greetings and got straight to the point.

“Fuck.” Carran moved farther away from the living room and into the kitchen.

“It might be for the best. From what Raja has gathered, the pack has some troublemakers. Donovick was one of them, but the Alpha, Randolf, is respected and keeps a tight rein on his wolves. They want to know what happened and he can’t give them the answers they seek.”

“Are you sure they want answers, or are they after blood for their two dead?” Carran leaned against the counter and caught sight of Red as he entered the kitchen.

“I’m going with you.” Red came up next to Carran. “I won’t have you paying for what I’ve done.”

“Red and Taber are to accompany you,” Ty added when he heard Red. “They want his side of the events.”

“Why Taber?”

“The wolves see him as an unbiased party because he’s not a tiger and didn’t kill either of the wolves.” Ty paused and in the background Carran could hear Tabitha’s voice, but he was unable to make out what she was saying. “Does she still have the tracker?”

“She doesn’t know it, but yes. How…forget it.”

The book.
He had no doubt that he owed it to the book. Handed down through generations of Tabitha’s family, that book had been leading them when it came to uniting the tigers, and it had saved their asses once already. Saved his mate, too.

“Make sure she keeps it.”

Tabitha’s words were clear and struck fear into Carran’s soul. “I’m not leaving her—”

A button clicked, putting him on speaker phone and Tabitha’s voice came through. “You’re not taking her to meet the wolves. We don’t know what the meeting will hold and you’re not going to take her into a situation where all of you could be killed. The situation is delicate, but she’s unfamiliar with our ways.”

“You’re worried she might increase the tension.” Carran shook his head. “That’s not a good enough reason to leave my mate behind so she can be kidnapped again.”

“Fine, then it’s not a logical suggestion…it’s an order.” Ty growled. “She’ll stay with Tad and the others—six of the best and Ambrose. I think they can keep her safe.”

Only so he wouldn’t alert Brooklynn, Carran suppressed a growl of his own. A direct order from his Alpha didn’t leave any room for him to go against it. He’d have to leave her with the others.
If anything happens to her…
He didn’t want to think of the possibilities, but he knew that if anything happened to her while he was gone, either him or whomever caused it wouldn’t make it back to Alaska. One of them would be dead.

“It’s a precaution, Carran, that’s all,” Tabitha added.

“Like it was when you gave the tracker to me.” He slammed his hand on the counter, making the glasses rattle in the drying rack. “I should have known the moment it was handed to me that something would happen to take her away from me.”

“I knew it was a possibility, but that’s all,” Tabitha defended.

“You’re upset about this, but she will be safe, and you can check on her,” Ty said. “Now you have forty minutes before the meeting. Don’t go in there hotheaded and pissed off.” He clicked off before Carran had an opportunity to argue.

“She’ll be safe.” Tad leaned against the archway separating the living room and kitchen. “You have my word.”

“And if something happens to you while protecting Brooklynn, what will Courtney and Milo say about that?” They all knew the risks when they went out on a mission, but as more of them found their mates, Carran understood the possibilities on a new level. He witnessed what losing a mate had done to his father, and now with Ambrose. If it happened to one of them it would make them weak as a whole, giving their enemies an opportunity to attack.

“Finding her has made you focus on the dangers of our lives.” Red shook his head. “If that’s mating, I want nothing to do with it.”

“Boy, you don’t know what you’re missing.” Tad glanced over at his brother. “There is nothing better, is there, Taber?”

“Not in this life and I’m stuck with my twin as part of the deal. There are days I want to kick his ass, but Kallie brought us closer than we’ve ever been.” Taber’s smile stretched across his face as he spoke about his mates. “Go to Brooklynn. Let her know what’s happening and I’d say mark your claim, but you don’t have the time. We’ll get through this and Theodore can fly all of our asses out of here in the morning.”

“I’ll give you fifteen minutes and then I’ll come back. It would be best if you introduced us before you left. Ambrose is the only one she’s actually met and he’s tied up with Kyra.” Tad pulled out one of the kitchen chairs and sat. “You’re wasting time. Go to her.”

Carran nodded. He needed to do this and hopefully when he made it back, he’d be able to tell Brooklynn that she no longer had to worry.
Mate, I’ll keep you safe. You have my word.

S
urrounded by the darkness
, Brooklynn stretched out on the in bed with her heart slamming against her chest. She strained to hear any movement in the house. Carran’s words had her at ease but now she was apprehensive. Even if he was able to fix the trouble she seemed to be in with the local wolf pack, she wasn’t sure she could stay in the city. Once he left, there was no certainty that the wolves would stick to the agreement, and how could she trust the people she had to work with daily? A cop who couldn’t trust that their partner had their back was useless.

“Dad, I wanted to follow in your footsteps.” She fingered the Saint Michael pendant on her necklace. It had been her father’s and now she wore it. Her finger rubbed across the jagged edge, a wound left on the pendant from where the first bullet tore through him. Four bullets had stolen her father from her.

At eleven, she worked hard all summer doing odd jobs around the neighborhood to earn enough money to buy her father that pendant. It was in honor of his fifteenth year on the force. He never saw his sixteenth. The day of the funeral, her father’s partner took her aside and gave her the pendant. It was cleaned, leaving no traces of the blood that had spilled on it, but nothing could hide the ragged edges left by the bullet. She slipped it around her neck and with that she was given part of her father back.

From that day on, she wore the necklace. Her mother tried to forbid it, and her sister Abagail found the idea of wearing the necklace morbid, but Brooklynn never let that stop her. A criminal had taken her father, but she’d hold on to this last piece of him with her dying breath. She had always been a daddy’s girl and Abagail was just like her mother. They were different as night and day.

“Brooklynn?” Carran’s soft voice called to her from the doorway. “Are you still awake?”

“Everything okay?” She scooted up in bed and focused on the doorway.

“I wanted to talk to you for a moment.” He came farther into the room.

“First, I have a question.” She shifted and turned on the bedside lamp. “Earlier, how did you know where I was?”

“This.” He grabbed her jacket from the top of the dresser and reached into her pocket to pull out a small black square. “It’s a tracker.”

“What?” She stared at it, wide eyed and full of disbelieve. “You’ve got to be kidding. You tagged me!”

“It’s a long story, one I don’t have time to tell you now, but yes.” He tossed the jacket on the foot of the bed and came around to stand next to her. “I slipped it into your pocket at Reaper’s. You were in danger and I wanted to ensure you were safe.”

“That’s illegal.”

“When I get back, you can arrest me if you’d like.” He took her hand into his and sat down beside her. “Until then, I need you to keep this with you. If I’m not back by the time you get up, cut a couple stiches in the waistband of your jeans and slip it in there. That way you won’t lose it.”

“No.” Even as she said it, he pressed it into her hand and closed her fingers around it. “Carran? What’s going on?”

“I have leave for a bit.”

“Why? Where are you going?”

“I’m going to meet with the wolves.” His thumb caressed over her knuckles. “I shouldn’t be gone long.”

“I should go with you.” She shoved the covers down so she could climb out of bed and get dressed. “I can tell them what happened. Maybe I can make them see…” She didn’t know what she’d make them see or even what she’d say. This was a side of Donovick that he kept from her. Would his wife be there? Did she even know that he was a shifter?

“You’re going to stay here where you’re safe. Tad is going to be in charge of your safety while I’m gone. Five others from my team are staying with you and Ambrose will be here. You’ll be safe.”

“Why now?” She glanced over at the wall clock. “It’s nearly three in the morning. An urgent meeting in the middle of the night, after you said arrangements had been made for in the morning? This can’t be good. You can’t go alone. Take your backup. I’ll stay here.”

“Red and Taber will be with me.” He gave her hand another squeeze. “Just promise me you’ll keep that on you.”

“You think they’ll come back while you’re gone.” Her gun was in the holster next to the lamp and this time she wasn’t going to have a problem using it. She’d hesitated in grabbing her gun last time, because it was Donovick, but not this time.

“No, but even so, Tad and the others will be ready. I…” He let go of her hand and stood. “Scoot over.”

“You’re not seriously trying to crawl into bed with me now, are you?”

“Fuck.” He dragged his hand through his hair, pulling the strands away from his face and let out a deep sigh. “I know you don’t understand, but I crave your touch. I just want to hold you in my arms, that’s all. I’ll stay above the blanket.”

She pulled the pillow out from under the blanket on the other side of her and slid over. He thought she didn’t understand, and maybe she didn’t completely, but she understood what he meant about craving her touch because she yearned for his, too. This longing for him concerned her. She was strong and independent and this felt unnerving. Worse yet, his life was across the country. Eventually, he’d leave.

Staying on top of the blanket, he sat down next to her, his back against the headboard, and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, drawing her close. Her worries popped like balloons, once again reminding her of the effect his touch had on her. It dulled the fears within her, while at the same time heightening other senses and made her want him even more.

“Maybe we should go to the police,” she said. “If we go to the station, maybe you can sense who’s part of the pack and I don’t know…” Going to the police was out of the question and she knew it. They were too deep into this. She didn’t know what happened to Donovick and Dixon’s bodies, but she knew they’d cleaned the scene. They’d all end up in jail.

“That’s your natural instinct, but you need to let me handle this. Doing it your way will only make things worse.”

“How?” She settled into his embrace, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Connor heads ups the nerd crew back in Alaska, and he found information connecting the Chief of Police to the Donovick pack. Anything you take to them will work its way to him. The shifter secret is something we’ve all got to work to hide, but even if it wasn’t, he doesn’t want anyone to know that this happened under his command.” His finger teased along the curve of her shoulder, playing lightly along it. “You’ll be labeled as a troublemaker and you career would be over.”

“It already is.” A halfhearted laugh escaped before she could stop it. “Even if this gets resolved, I can’t go back to the department and they’re not going to give me a reference. I don’t know what’s next, but my days in this city are numbered. I think that’s the toughest blow from all of this. That and my partner’s betrayal.”

“There are always places looking for good officers. You’ll land on your feet when this is over and you’ll be stronger for it.”

“How am I supposed to trust my next partner? In the back of my mind I’ll always wonder if they’re a shifter. If they aren’t, I might put them at risk if the wolves end up coming after me again in the future.” There were too many variables in her life now. Too much risk. What about her family? Were they targets because of her new knowledge?

“If you let me claim you as my mate, you’ll know a shifter on sight and you’ll know if they’re a danger to you. They’ll know what you are, too.”

“What I am?” She tipped her head to look up at him. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“To other shifters, you’ll smell like me. They’ll know you’re my mate.” He pressed his finger under her chin and shook his head. “Don’t. It’s not meant as property, it’s protection. It means you have a mate and a clan behind you. If they mess with you, they’re taking on a bigger battle than they’re prepared for. Let’s just say my clan is making a name for themselves. Everyone knows about us.”

“Which means the enemies are multiplying quickly.”

“I won’t deny we have enemies, but it’s all worth it, and we’ll come out of it better than before.”

Tonight made it seem like nothing was worth it, but she stifled a yawn and didn’t argue. “Your life is in Alaska and you obviously have a commitment to your clan. Even if I was okay with being your mate…it’s not going to work.”

“Why? You’ve said it yourself that your days here are numbered. Why not start over?” He cupped the side of her face, bringing it to angle so she was looking up at him. “Just think about it. Okay? We’re about to have company.”

“Who?” The question barely left her lips when Carran’s gaze shifted from her to the door.

“Me.” A deep voice answered.

Carran pulled her closer, his other arm coming around to take her hand into his. “Thaddeus Brown. He’s going to be your protection detail while I’m gone. Whatever he says, you listen to.”

“Call me Tad.” He gave her a slight nod and added, “We’re not going to have any problems, but if you need anything, I’ve switched rooms with Theodore so I’m next door. I’ll know if anything happens.”

“He’s trying to say that if someone were to gain entry to the house, you don’t have to call out for him and alert the intruder. He’ll know and he’ll come.” He glared over at Tad, his lip curled into a snarl. “Anything happens—”

“It’s going to be fine.” She opened her hand to reveal the tracker she still held. “I’ll have this. No matter what happens, I know you’ll find me.”

“Damn right.”

“Two minutes, Carran,” Tad interrupted. “I’ll give you two time alone. Brooklynn, if you need anything, let me know.”

“Thank you,” she called to him as he strolled out of the room, and then she turned back to Carran. “Are you going to parade the rest of your men in one at a time?”

“No, time is limited. I should have done it earlier, but you wanted to be alone, and then I wanted you to myself. They’re around the house if you want to meet them. Tad will introduce them. They’re good men and I’m leaving you in the best hands I can.”

“It’s going to be fine.” She smirked as she reassured him, when minutes before he was the one doing the comforting. “I don’t understand everything that’s happening, but I trust you. I’ll stay here and listen to your guys, but I want you to promise me that you’ll be safe.”

“You have my word. I just found you. I’m not going to do something stupid now.” He pressed his lips to her forehead. “Try to rest. I’ll be back soon.” He slipped his arm from around her and got off the bed.

“Carran.” She rose up onto her knees and crawled to the edge of the bed. “One last thing.” She grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled him toward her. When he neared, she pressed her lips to his and the sizzle that had been running through her whenever they touched exploded into a burning heat. A soft moan escaped her throat as she slipped her other hand under his shirt and slid it up his chest. Using the situation to meet his own desires, he slid his tongue into her mouth, exploring it as if it would be the last time. Their kiss was full of urgency and desire, making her want him more. His arms came around her, pressing her against his chest.

“Carran.” Red’s voice traveled toward them and with one last kiss, Carran pulled back.

“I’ve got to go.”

“I know.” Sadness coated her words and she slid her hand out from under his shirt. “Come back to me.”

“There is nowhere else I’d rather be.”

Without another word, he walked out of the bedroom leaving her alone again. She hadn’t even known him a day, but watching him leave felt worse than her last breakup. That relationship had lasted two years and she’d never felt the things she felt with Carran.

He claimed she was his mate, the woman he was destined to spend his life with, and when she’d first heard it, that word had scared her. The very idea made her want to run in the opposite direction. Now, something felt right about being with him. In his embrace, she had this overwhelming sense of belonging, and a reassurance that everything would be fine. Maybe he was right that they were meant to be together. Was she ready for that? There were too many uncertainties in her life and no easy answers. When it came to Carran, there was more that she needed to know before an answer would come. She just wasn’t sure if she was ready for the answers he’d give her.