Savage King: New Worlds - Milly Taiden Page 0,30
The tiger slumped into the water and paddled to the shore. The girls slid to the ground, panting.
Wren let her head fall onto Lilah’s lap as her cousin wiped the wet hair from her face.
“Wren,” Daphne whispered, “there’s something you need to know.” She didn’t have the strength to do much more than grunt. “You know how you’re always saying it would be cool if shifters really existed.”
What the hell has that got to do with anything? Lilah lifted her head and turned it. The beautiful animal, who’d saved her once already, crawled up the bank and collapsed, breathing heavily. Slashes leaking blue liquid. The beast looked rather rough with its fur plastered to its body, some sticking up in all directions like funny online photos of cats getting out of a bath. But she was glad it was alive.
When its eyes locked with hers, she gasped. Those starburst eyes contained pain and intelligence. A bright light flashed, but she never lost their visual connection even when the tiger became a man.
She wasn’t sure she could move, wasn’t sure she wasn’t dreaming. All her dreams and fantasies for years had been about her shifters being real. Especially her tigers. Now she didn’t know what to think. The shift was magical, not so much physical with joints popping out and skin stretching. Magic just like in the Crystal Kingdom.
“Holy fuck,” Wren whispered.
“I know. Isn’t it unbelievable?” Daphne said.
“No,” Wren replied, “we’re not on Earth.”
“Oh,” Lilah said. “I thought you were disappointed that he shifted with clothes on.”
Chapter Thirteen
Xenos lay on the ground next to the creek, staring at his mate staring at him. Well, the decision not to tell her about his tigron was taken out of his hands. She hadn’t run away yet. That was a good sign. But he could have lost her. He let her get too close to the water. But he hadn’t seen a vulgaris in three hundred cold moons. How was one in this creek?
He sat up, not taking his eyes off her. He was afraid if he did, she’d be gone.
Lilah and Daphne hugged her. “You gonna be okay? You scared the living hell out of us.”
His mate nodded. She whispered something to them, but he couldn’t hear it. “Daphne,” Lilah said unnaturally loud, “how about we go over there and see if there are any berries?”
“Yes,” Daphne replied equally loudly, “let’s go do that.”
Wren pulled away from her friends, told them there were terrible actors, and crawled toward him. He met her halfway, enfolding her in his arms, determined to never let her go. He held her as she cried, savoring every tear that fell onto his chest.
He sprinkled kisses on her hair, forehead, and face. He breathed her in—fear, relief, and love. She leaned back and smacked his arm. “Why didn’t you tell me you were a shifter?” She sniffled. “And don’t use the excuse that I don’t understand your language.”
His brain went blank trying to figure out how to answer her. She laughed and he relaxed, knowing she was being playful; though her body screamed she was in survival mode. He thought he’d been a fun person to be around. But compared to his mate, he was a bump on a stump.
She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. He let her control this. She needed to gain her confidence back. Know that she had control of something.
“Thank you for saving me again,” she said. He wanted to tell her that she’d saved him too. If she hadn’t removed the spike and made his form change, he would’ve died. If she hadn’t been a reason for him to live, he might not be.
He lifted her to straddle his lap, then pulled her close, rubbing her back as he rocked. Finally taking a moment to see where they had come out, he froze. Just a few strides away was the ditch his tribe had dug eons ago to transport water from the creek to the back gardens.
They were on tribal lands. A place he swore he would never return to. Too many happy and sad memories were made here. Too many friends and family lost here. Despite all that, he knew they would take care of the girls and his mate. They were good people except when it came to him. He wouldn’t doubt there were standing orders to shoot him on sight.
Goddess, he hoped this was the right decision. He held his mate tighter to control the shaking in