“Oh, definitely not Archie,” she says cautiously and gathers the kittens closer like she’s going to protect them. They have no sense of self-preservation, though, and start hissing and spitting in my direction, the fur on their tiny little backs sticking out at all angles, trying to make themselves look bigger.
My tiger rumbles at them, and it’s all it takes for them to scurry away, finding hiding spots far away from us. The girl still doesn’t move, and my tiger wiggles his butt and stalkseven closer. The surprised look on her face turns to one of amusement, as if she thinks his actions are funny. He is pleased she is not scared of him. They both watch each other closely, and I note her eyes are a magnificent shade of lavender, much like the dress she’s wearing. As he gets closer, her intoxicating scent makes us giddy. Could this beautiful woman be our mate? She certainly smells good enough to eat, but surely if she was, the guys would have let me know. I can’t see our bond mark anywhere on her, but there isn’t a lot of exposed skin.
We finally get close enough to lay our head in her lap, and that’s exactly what my besotted tiger does. He sighs with relief and rolls onto his side, exposing his belly. Holy crap, he wants her to rub it like she was doing for one of the kittens.
She snorts, unable to control her laughter now. “I know somewhere inside you is a human, and I can’t help but wonder if I’m supposed to rub your tummy or not. That’s kind of weird.” Her fingers clench like she wants to but isn’t sure if she should. He bats a huge paw in her direction, almost like he’s begging, and I feel mortified. I’m never going to be able to look her in the eye once I shift back.
“I’m assuming your creature is fully in the driver’s seat, otherwise this is definitely a little weird,” she says, finally making the decision to give him what he wants. She leans forward and rubs his belly and coos to him.
“What a big, beautiful, majestic…” She pauses and lifts her eyes to look. “Boy,” she finishes, and he stretches, giving her better access, enthralled by her attention. I look a little closer, seeing if I can recognize her. There is something familiar about her, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. I’m sure I would remember running into such a stunning creature when I visited my family in the past.
Her fingers drag soothingly through our fur, and I feel our eyes drift closed. We’re worn out from all the running we’vedone today, and a little nap in the lap of a beautiful woman who smells delicious is his idea of heaven.
She giggles, and I feel her settle back against the wall of the stall. “Okay, kitty, you can have a little nap, but then I need to return to the palace before anyone notices I’m gone.”
She’s silent, and I drift off to sleep. The next thing I know, I wake up alone in the stall, and the pretty girl is nowhere in sight. How the fuck did she get away without us noticing? I ask my cat, and he shrugs, showing her leaving quietly, not wanting to wake us. I didn’t wake, but he noticed and allowed her the charade. When I berate him, he insists he has her scent now and can track her anywhere.
I decide maybe it’s for the best, and he gives me back the reins. I move through the castle, the magic doors opening for me in animal form. My claws are noisy on the marble floors, and as I move toward my wing, I’m waylaid by one of my sisters.
“Finally made it, did you, idiot?” Gretchin is leaning against the doorway of her suite, which is on the same floor as ours. She has a mug of something in her hand, and when I sniff, I can tell it’s hot chocolate. “Dad is pissed. The new royal appeared today, and you weren’t here like he requested.”
I don’t shift back. I’m not in the mood to argue with my sister. Instead, I push past her, stalk into her room, and jump up onto her sofa in her lounge area. I roll around on it, leaving black and white fur all over the thing, scent marking it so her own cat will be pissed at the intrusion, before jumping back down and leaving again.
“Real fucking mature, asshole,” she screeches and slams the door in my face, but I chuff with amusement. It saved me from a lecture. If only it would work with my own team. I continue down the hallway and brace myself for whatever their reaction is going to be.
I shift as I get to our suite and open the door. It’s silent inside. It is late, but I hadn’t expected all of them to be asleep. I sent them a message before I left that I was on my way. Not even Gem is waiting for me, which is very unlike him. He must be really mad at me. I consider waking him, but I’m not in the mood to be scolded, so instead, I make my way to my bed.
I think about showering, but there’s a part of me that is pleased I smell like cupcakes and frosting, even after shifting back. I don’t want to wash it all down the drain, so instead, I get to my room and strip before climbing into bed. Right then and there, I decide to give up my search for the sixth member of our team. The rest of them must be right. He doesn’t exist or really doesn’t want to be a part of our bond, so who am I to force him?
What if this means we never get a marked mate? Someone who bears the same mark as the rest of us, our perfect counterpart to spoil and cherish? Well, if that’s the case, I’m sure we can find someone who will make us just as happy. The gorgeous girl from earlier comes to mind, and I have to resist the urge to stroke my hard cock to the memory of her hands running through our fur. Instead, I grit my teeth, roll over, and bring up thoughts of the asshole alpha from the village today. That’s enough to dampen my desire. Tomorrow, I’ll make everything up to my bond group, starting with Gem.
I’m up early for breakfast the following morning, not bothering to shower. I find my bond mates already awake as well.
“Look what the cat dragged in,” Liam drawls, leaning on the door of our suite. The four of them are already dressed, and I’m assuming they are heading to breakfast as well.
Brodie and Hunter mumble their hellos, but Gem flat-out ignores me, pushing Liam out of the way and opening the door to our suite.
“I’m going to check on the queen and escort her to breakfast. I’ll see you all there,” he says when Brodie asks where he’s going. He leaves without a backward glance, and I flinch from the force of his anger.
“Dude, you have some serious ass kissing to do.” Brodie claps me on the shoulder as we walk through the hallways of the palace. “You’re lucky Liam covered for your ass yesterday, so I think your family will be okay, but Gem is butthurt. I hope you’ll honor your promise to him.”
“You covered for me?” I look at my bond mate in surprise, and he shrugs.
“You’re an idiot, but you’re our idiot.”
A smirk crosses my lips, but before I can reply to him, Hunter crowds me, his nostrils flaring, and he scowls. “Where have you been? Why do you smell like that?”
I’m wearing the same night watch uniform I had on yesterday. It smells just like cupcakes and frosting from when my tiger rubbed all over the pretty girl from yesterday. My smirk grows.
“Last night when I got back, I heard someone in the stables, so I decided to check it out. My tiger got loved on by a pretty palace maid who was cuddling with the kittens out there. She smelled fucking delicious. I’m hoping maybe I can find her and convince her to come play with me maybe tonight after dinner. I’ll ask Gem if he wants to join us.” I feel giddy with my decision. It feels right, and I can’t wait to share the maid with the phoenix.If we just so happened to touch one another, it would be even better.
The three of them stare at me, speechless. Liam and Hunter growl aggressively, but Brodie bursts into laughter, slapping them both on the shoulders. “Easy, guys. I think that’s a wonderful idea. I’m so glad you’ve decided to give up your relentless search for our sixth, but I think you’re going to have to rethink that ‘maid.’” He says “maid” in a kind of sarcastic tone, and Hunter and Liam snicker like schoolboys. What the fuck is their problem? We start walking again, and I look carefully at every staff member we pass. All dip into curtsies or bow as I pass.
“I’m just not sure where to find her, but how hard could it be? How many staff members does the palace have?”
“Over a hundred,” Hunter states dryly.
“Oh, I’m sure you won’t have any trouble finding her. She may even just drop into your lap,” Brodie says cheerfully.
