The Tiger Within (6 page)

Henry sighed and changed quickly. He used his mind to control the Young Lord’s actions. Although his face showed horror his body could not fight the command in his mind. He walked quietly into the jaws of the beast he sought to usurp.

Chapter Ten

Henry leapt back up on Amelia’s balcony. She was still sleeping. He sat beside her bed on his haunches and watched her sleep. His tail twitched as he watched her.

Amelia slowly came awake with a feeling of being watched. She opened her eyes and the connected with Henry’s, but it was not Henry who sat beside her bed. It was his tiger.

“Hello, my Laird. May I be so bold as to inquire of your where abouts?”

“No.” He spoke to her mind.

“Well, It does seem that if you are so completely concerned with my safety that you would not leave me sleeping with the balcony door open and no one to protect me. Anyway, I am quite rested now. I think I will go down to supper.” It was odd talking to this creature and understanding his responses, and if she’d been less angry she would have been amazed by it. In her anger however, it seemed completely normal.

She was right. He had been so concerned by the other man’s smell that he had not been thinking clearly. “You were safe.” He tilted his head. “Are you not curious about me? You have not seen me for many years. I fear the memories have left you. This is what you are too, you understand.”

“I fear there are few memories left. Feelings mostly.” She smiled, “are you saying that I am to become a tiger?” She lifted a single silver-blonde eyebrow and cocked her head to the side and looked at him skeptically.

Amelia was intrigued. She went to her knees in front of him and he placed his enormous head in her lap and lay down. She stroked his fur and explored him. She touched him everywhere she could reach and then placed his head on the floor and explored him further. She rubbed her hands down his belly and across his flanks. She even opened his mouth and touched his teeth. He couldn’t resist running his tongue along her fingers. He was grateful she found no evidence of his earlier activities or her young suitor. She laughed. She was so entranced with him that she never thought of him as a man, only a magnificent beast, until he once again spoke to her mind.

“I am only so strong, my love. Your stroking hands are searing my resolve not to have you until we are married. I want to feel your hands on my flesh.”

“And I am refusing. And stop growling at me. I am thoroughly unimpressed.” Then she actually had the nerve to smack his nose, like a common house cat.

“Watch your fingers, my love, or you may lose them.”

She
laughed
at him. Him. He had just killed a man for flirting with her. Men cowered at his feet, but the woman he would mate did not fear him.

“I’m sure my fingers are quite safe. I fear all of the cream in the house will need to be locked away though,” she said as she looked thoughtfully at him.

“You know how much I love sweet cream. I didn’t get nearly enough this morning.” He growled again and began to change. She screeched and ran to the door only to be caught by two incredibly strong and incredibly bare arms.

“I am no kitten. I am a man and a predator. You cannot run from this Amelia. This is what you are. You must learn to accept it.”

“No! I cannot! I accept the man and the animal, but I do not wish to see the transformation. It frightens me. Please, do not force me to watch you.”

“You were very high spirited a moment ago with the animal, and now you are quivering in the face of the man. I must admit I am not sure how I feel about any of it”

“I will admit that the animal frightens me less than the man.”

He turned her in his arms. “Why are you frightened of me? I love you. I would give my life for you. You are my mate, made for me by God, as He made me for only you.”

“Is that the truth? There will be no other once we are together?” She had always heard rumors that once a man married he would seek a mistress. Her parents were the exception to this rule.

“There has been no other for some time now and never will again.”

She was astonished. “You can’t possibly mean...”

“I saw you at your father’s country estate, the day you were born. I held you in my arms and I knew that you were meant for me, your heart called out to mine in your first moments of life. Your father refused to allow me to be near you. I had to come to you in secret and only as the animal. He suspected of course, but he was powerless to stop me.” As he spoke he stroked his hands down her back. “Then three years ago your scent began to change. Being only fifteen, you were too young to deal with the stresses of the change its self. He asked me to stay away form you. I did not, but I no longer allowed you to see me. The fact that your mother is not of our kind makes it difficult to know what to expect from you. Your father had hoped that you were human and would not have to suffer the life of our kind. Your hair and eyes are different from any I have ever seen. Your scent was dormant until you reached your sixteenth year, another anomaly in you, and has grown in its intensity since. It is now very strong due to the proximity of your mate. Being that I am your mate I find it most alluring. This is why you must listen to me now. I need you to know everything. I cannot allow your ignorance to go on any longer.”

“As you wish, My Laird,” she said and strode to her sitting area near the balcony. It wasn’t until she sat and looked in his direction that she realized he wore no clothes. She blushed crimson and averted her eyes.

Chapter Eleven

He strode to her and kneeled at her feet. “Please, Amelia, do not turn away from me. You must accustom yourself to the male form. Not only mine, but the men of the estate as well. We cannot always carry our garments with us, so there are times when it is easier to leave them at home. When we arrive at my,” he trailed off and then continued, “estate you will see many men and boys without clothing. There are few women, but they too will be seen from time to time. They will not see the need to hide themselves since your scent is of our kind.”

“No girls? Are there no girl children?” Her mind was filled with questions.

“Yes there are girl children. There are four that live on the estate. It is law that all female children of our kind must live inside the walls of the estate. They must be carefully guarded. They are always clothed and guarded discreetly, but carefully.”

She felt apprehension well in her. “Why?”

“That is what you must know that I am most uneager to explain.” He sighed and tried to gather his thoughts. “A female of our kind can only be awakened by her true mate. It usually begins around the age of sixteen. At that time the relationship between mates is not sexual. They simply begin to be aware of the need for the other. Over time the female’s scent becomes distinctly female. The males are drawn to her, even those who are not her mate. It is a pleasant aroma, but not so desirous that it cannot be denied. Her mate however, will find it increasingly more difficult to resist her. I began your awakening at the crush of the other evening. It began with our nearness and continues with my touch during our dance and increased again when I placed my scent upon your neck.” He took a deep breath and continued. “I awakened you further that night when I came to you here, in my other form. I tore your night dress from your body and I touched you. I encouraged you to touch me and allow me to rub against your bare flesh. You rubbed your body against mine and I scented your neck again.” He paused for her reaction.

She narrowed her eyes and focused her accusing stare upon him. “Why can I not remember any of this?”

“I forced your mind to block the memories. May I go on?” At her nod he continued, “After the female is awakened by her mate and her sexual maturity is complete, her mate must then mark her and take her to his bed before any other male can possess her. If he succeeds then she will be able to complete her change and produce children, with her true mate only. If her mate fails to find her and she is taken by another she becomes barren and unable to complete the change, ever. Most cannot stand the strain and take their own lives,” he sighed deeply and looked into her crystal blue eyes before he dropped them to his hands. “Our race is dwindling. We need women and children. We need new blood as well. You are an answered prayer. I have waited countless years for you.” He raised his hopeful eyes to hers.

“Why do others wish to dishonor me then? Should they not be glad for us?”

“Some wish to gain from my death, which will surely be forfeit if you are lost to us. My life would be worthless without you,” he said simply. “Others are of other races, such as wolf and lion and are our natural enemies. The one who attempted to take you last evening was a tiger and the one from today was lion. Both were thought to be friendly. The young tiger has been trusted by your family for years and at one time was believed, by your father, to be a possible mate for you. The lion was unexpected. He was thought to be an ally. No one suspected his intentions. He sought to mate you. Cross breeding does not occur with our people, but he believed it possible because of your mother. There are also wolves that hate all cats and will simply kill you.”

She shivered. “Why have you not taken me then? It seems foolhardy to wait when so much depends on our union.”

“I would prefer to wait until we arrive at my home. You will be safe in either form there. Your first change will be difficult for you and you will require a great deal of space to exercise your new found form. I have made arrangements to leave immediately, but I have been unable to convince your parents. It is too dangerous for you here.”

“We shall leave as soon as it can be arranged. I do not care to wait around here to be ravished by an enemy or killed by a dog. May I suggest that you acquire a special license, my Laird? That would take care of the wait. I understand that I may be overstepping, but I would like to get this done as soon as possible.”

He laughed. “My estates are in Scotland and there we may wed when we choose. There is a bit more. I will be honest. I want as many children as you are willing to provide. I want to see our race prosper again, but I will not do anything to jeopardize your health. I am most anxious to see our cubs though. I cannot help but wonder which one of us they will take after.” As he said it he lifted her hair to his mouth and kissed it.

“What do you mean? Am I to be so different?”

“Indeed, I believe your tiger will be white. I have never seen one of our kind with your coloring. Your father was certain of your humanity because of your hair. You appear almost other worldly, like your mother. Your father is like me, you know, orange and black. You, my love, will be a marvel. I am convinced that your amazing anomaly has protected you. I cannot figure your mother out, but it must some how come from her. Regardless, you are a jewel beyond measure.”

“What if one of them does get to me before you are able to change me? What will become of me then? Will you simply leave me?”

“I have more money than I could ever spend. I hold titles here in England as well. If that should occur I will simply step down as the leader of our people and we shall move to another estate and live out our lives happily together. My love for you transcends race. It will endure any hardship we may face.”

“You would not seek another mate?”

“Listen; there can never be any other mate for me. Only you forever. I will be unable to desire any other. I already am. I admit that I have not been without women in my life, but I will have only you from now on.”

“I see,” she said quietly. “You also mentioned your age. How old are you?”

“I am fifty seven years old,” he smiled at her look of astonishment.” Do not fear that I will leave you a widow. I may live to be more than a hundred years old before I begin to visibly age, and many years after that. I was thirty-nine years old when you were born. I had lost all hope of finding my mate. Your mother knew before you were born, somehow. She allowed me to be present at your birth, even though your father was against it. I was the first person to hold you after the physician tended you. I cleaned you and placed you at your mother’s breast.”

“So, you know my mother well. Have you known my father very long? Is my father very old?”

“Yes, I have known him all my life. He was a trusted advisor to my father and a great warrior. He left us after he was jilted by a young changeling. He was in love with her, but she was not his mate. When she was mated to a stranger and unable to fight it, your father refused to accept such a cruel fate and left us. He found your mother and did the unthinkable by mating a human. He is eighty.”

“Eighty? He looks no more than fifty. You scarcely look more than thirty.” She squinted her eyes and examined his face thoughtfully. “Will I live a very long time too?”

“I do not know. I fear your mother’s blood may shorten your life, but so little is known about her uniqueness that no one can be certain. Her age is also a question to us. She still appears very young, but must be at least forty. I of course will never ask her age. I fear the repercussions.” He stated seriously.