HER TIGER

FIONA DAVENPORT
Copyright © 2020 by Fiona Davenport
Cover designed by Elle Christensen
Edited by Editing4Indies
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 CONTENTS

Her Tiger
1. Calliope
2. Tane
3. Calliope
4. Calliope
5. Tane
6. Calliope
7. Calliope
8. Tane
9. Calliope
10. Calliope
Epilogue
Epilogue
About the Author
 HER TIGER

Calliope Taft has wanted a hunky shifter of her own ever since her best
friends let her in on the secret of their existence. Just when she started to
give up hope, a sexy tiger shifter claimed her as his own.

Tane Ruslan hadn’t expected to find his fated mate right across the street
when he returned home to Timber Ridge. Now that Calliope was where she
belonged—with him—Tane intended to make all her dreams come
true...and keep her safe from the bad guys who came looking for her.
 1

CALLIOPE

“L ife is so unfair,” I sighed, shaking my head at Allegra while she

unashamedly ogled her man’s butt as he walked out of the kitchen.
As happy as I was that my best friends had found happiness with incredible
guys—who just happened to be able to shift into wolves—spending my
holiday break from school with Allegra, Zeke, Larissa, and Kace had left
me feeling lonely.
I’d always felt a little bit like the odd man out in our trio, and being the
only one without a mate of my own had intensified the feeling. Not that my
friends had ever been anything other than accepting and supportive. I had
no doubt they both loved me like a sister. Heck, they’d even shared their
families with me.
Allegra’s parents welcomed me into their home whenever I wanted a
place to crash, and Larissa’s dad had done everything in his considerable
power to look out for me when my parents were traveling, which was often.
I knew my mom and dad loved me, but they sometimes got so wrapped up
in each other and the business they owned together that they kind of forgot
about me. I had spent a lot of my childhood with my nanny, and it had left a
mark on me.
“Huh?” Allegra asked, her brown eyes hazy from the doozy of a kiss
Zeke had given her before leaving.
“I want a hunky shifter of my own,” I grumbled.
“And I want one for you,” she agreed with a grin, tapping her finger
against her chin. “We just need to figure out a way for you to meet more of
them since nobody in the pack was your fated mate.”
 “I think maybe it’s time for us to come to terms with the fact that I’m
not going to find a wolf who’ll know I was meant to be his the moment he
sees me like Zeke and Kace did with you and Larissa.” I pressed my hand
against my chest as a deep-seated longing surged through my veins. With
my abandonment issues, I craved that sense of belonging more than
anything. Not finding it in Timber Ridge had me wondering if I should
ditch my plans to get my bachelor’s degree in design and just head to New
York instead. I could try to get an entry-level job somewhere and work my
way up from there. Which was all kinds of wrong since I was the only one
out of the three of us who’d even wanted a college education in the first
place.
“But you can’t just give up,” Allegra cried. It took me a moment to
realize she wasn’t suddenly able to read my thoughts and was replying to
what I’d said about not being anyone’s mate.
“It’s not as though I have much of a choice. You’ve already paraded me
past every single unattached male shifter in Timber Ridge.” I shrugged and
reached for a lemon-filled donut. Zeke had barely rolled out of bed this
morning before he’d hopped into his truck to drive almost an hour round
trip to hit up a specific bakery because it was what Allegra was craving for
breakfast. He’d remembered which kind were my favorite and had brought
them back for me, which had earned him an extra kiss from my best friend.
Not that she really needed an excuse since the happy couple was already lip
locked most of the time.
“Then we’ll just have to look elsewhere,” she insisted after polishing off
the maple bacon donut she’d devoured in no time flat.
I wrinkled my nose when she reached for a Sriracha-drizzled one next.
“In all the years I’ve known you, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you eat
anything other than plain old glazed or strawberry jam filled.”
She set the spicy donut on the napkin in front of her, and her teeth bit
into her bottom lip. “Yeah, the baby’s really messing with my taste buds.”
Since I had a big chunk of donut in my mouth, I nodded in response.
After I chewed and swallowed, I grinned big because Allegra’s baffled
expression as she patted her belly was adorable. The past month had been a
whirlwind for her, ending with Zeke telling her that she was pregnant a few
days ago. It was too early for a test to confirm she was carrying his baby,
but his shifter senses had picked up on the pregnancy right away. They
hadn’t been able to keep it a secret from anyone in Timber Ridge since the
news spread like wildfire as soon as the first shifter scented it on her. Even
though her parents had quickly gotten on board with her relationship with
Zeke when we all went home for the holiday, she hadn’t gotten up the nerve
to tell them yet. I’d hitched a ride back with them, and her relief at passing
that hurdle had been obvious. But I knew she worried that her
overprotective mom would head straight for Timber Ridge as soon as she
learned of the pregnancy and never leave. Which I could totally see happen
with how much she hovered over Allegra, something I was envious of since
I wished my mom would give me a sliver of the attention she got from hers.
I pulled myself out of my pity party when Allegra reached for her
donut. “Give that to me,” I huffed, snatching the donut out of her hand.
“I’m not entirely convinced the baby is telling you that sriracha sounds like
a great idea since you’re so early in your pregnancy, but the reason you
want this doesn’t really matter. We both know you’re going to give yourself
heartburn if you eat something this spicy.”
Allegra’s lips curved down in a pout. “You don’t know that it’s too
spicy. Maybe the sweetness of the donut will overpower the sriracha, and
I’ll barely taste it.”
I lifted the donut to my mouth and licked some of the red drizzle off the
top. The heat hit my tongue, but it was quickly followed by the sweet from
the sugar. Allegra might’ve been right about being able to handle the donut,
but I wasn’t willing to admit it to her in case she was wrong. “There’s no
way you’d miss the spiciness.”
“Jerk.” She shook her head and laughed as she grabbed a strawberry
jam-filled donut to replace the one I stole. “I guess it’s better if you eat the
stupid donut since you like hot things way more than I do.”
I dropped the sriracha donut on the napkin in front of me and picked up
the half of the lemon-filled one I hadn’t eaten yet. “Nah, I’m not sure I want
to breathe fire all day.”
“Breathe fire,” she echoed, clapping her hands together in excitement.
“That’s it!”
I had zero idea what she was talking about, but I recognized that gleam
in her eye enough to know I should probably be at least a little worried.
“What’s it?”
“Maybe you didn’t find your hunky shifter here because you’re going to
end up with a dragon!” She wagged her brows.
 “I don’t know why you’re acting like it would be such a great thing for
me to be paired with a dragon.” I rolled my eyes and shook my head.
“Yeah, well...I don’t understand why you’re being all pissy over the
possibility,” she grumbled.
“Remember how Larissa said that Kace told her there weren’t that many
dragon shifters?” Allegra nodded. “If fate matched me with one of them,
the odds of me finding my guy just went way down.”
“Oh, good point.” Understanding dawned in her eyes. “Maybe the
problem is that most of the guys around here are wolves, and you were
never much of a dog person.”
I glanced at the kitchen door and lowered my voice. “You probably
don’t want Zeke to hear you using the D-word like that.”
“Another good point.” Laughter bubbled up her throat. “But I bet he
wouldn’t have minded if we’d told Kace and him that you wanted a big,
sexy kitty for Christmas since you’re more of a cat person.”
 2

TANE

I loved my family, but after spending more than a month with them, I was
beyond ready to be back in Timber Ridge. Not that I regretted the trip
since it’d been important for me to be there to help my dad. But after the
risk to his recovery passed—along with our fear—my sisters got up to their
old tricks. They loved nothing more than giving me a hard time, and having
me home for so long gave them plenty of opportunities. If they weren’t
pushing me to get out there more and up my odds of finding my mate when
they knew damn well it wasn’t that simple, they were giving me shit about
living with wolves and being Kace’s third.
Tiger shifters didn’t normally live in packs, but I loved the life I’d built
in Timber Ridge. I knew Kace and Zeke had my back, no matter what. They
were more like brothers than pack mates, which was difficult for my sisters
to wrap their heads around since the only people they let inside their walls
were family. They were best friends, and everyone else was an outsider in
their view. Only the pull of the mating bond would be strong enough to get
my sisters to truly open up to someone.
Mating was sacred among shifters, but finding the person fate intended
for you didn’t happen for everyone. There were shifters who went their
whole lives never experiencing desire. Never giving their heart to someone.
Never feeling as though their soul was whole. The fear that I was going to
be one of those shifters lived inside me, but it eased a little when I heard
that Kace and Zeke found their mates only a day apart from each other.
Their luck gave me hope that I might be as blessed.
 When I got back into town late last night, I’d headed over to Kace’s
place to check in with my alpha. I’d been about to walk down the sidewalk
leading to his house when I heard female moans and quickly realized I
should wait until morning for my visit. Kace has always had an open-door
policy, twenty-four-seven, but now that his mate was in his life, that rule
was bound to change since they’d need some privacy.
My tiger had been agitated as I’d turned on my heel and headed to my
house instead. Even though I was finally home and in my own bed, he
hadn’t settled during the night. If anything, he’d been more wound up after
the few hours of sleep I’d managed to get. After showering and yanking on
some clothes, my plan was to drop in to update Kace—mostly because I
wanted to meet his mate and give them my support—before letting my tiger
out for a run. With everything that had been going on with my dad, I hadn’t
had the opportunity when I’d been in New York. I figured my beast was
antsy because he’d been cooped up for too long. Anxious to give him what
he needed, I jogged up Kace’s steps and knocked on his door.
I waited until he called out for me to enter, and then I pushed open the
door to step into his house. Kace had a pretty blonde tucked into his side,
and his possessive hold made me grin. Since I was looking at his mate, that
earned me a growl from my alpha. I pressed my lips together, dropped my
gaze to the floor, and tilted my head to expose my neck in a gesture of
submission.
“Welcome home, Tane,” Kace finally grunted. “Glad you’re back.”
My lips curved up in a smirk as I lifted my head again, but I didn’t aim
it in Larissa’s direction. I didn’t mind doing shit to get a rise out of my
alpha, but I wasn’t going to piss all over his mating bond to do it. “I guess
what they say about the power of the mating in the beginning is true.”
My chuckle was a little bit forced because I wanted what he’d found.
Larissa shouldn’t have caught on to what I was feeling, but when Kace
glanced down at her, she wiggled her eyebrows with a conspiratorial smile.
He chuckled and shrugged, before turning back to me.
“Tane, this is my mate, Larissa,” Kace introduced us. “Larissa, Tane,
my third.”
“I’m happy for you both,” I replied. The sexual tension between the two
mates was so damn thick that I swore I could smell it. “I’ll leave you
to...whatever I interrupted.” My smirk was more genuine this time, and
Kace rolled his eyes.
 “Everything good in New York?”
I nodded and filled him in on shit he already knew, just in case his mate
hadn’t been looped in yet. “Yeah, my dad fell and broke his hip. He
shattered it so badly, they needed to do surgery to reset it immediately,
which was probably for the best anyway. If his shifter healing had already
kicked in, the bone might have healed wrong. Even though my sisters were
there, I wanted to be at the hospital. He came through it like a champ.”
“Happy to hear it. Now get the fuck out of here so I can be alone with
my mate.” His demand was pretty much what I’d expected once I’d caught
a whiff of an unmistakable scent on Larissa, so I laughed and spun around.
Striding out of his house, I shut the door behind me and stalked down the
steps.
I was heading toward the motorcycle parked in my driveway when I
spotted the door to Zeke’s house opening. “Hey, man! Glad to see you’re
back,” he called.
I changed direction and jogged across the street to greet my friend. “It’s
damn good to be back.”
“C’mon, you weren’t gone that long,” Zeke chuckled.
“Long enough for everything to change around here,” I pointed out with
a grin as I slapped him on the back. “When I left, all three of us were
unattached, and now you and Kace have mates.” I shook my head and
laughed. “Hell, not just mates either. Babies, too.”
Zeke grinned back at me, looking happier than I’d ever seen him. “You
heard about that already?”
I cocked my head to the side, taking in his reaction. “Holy shit, man.
Allegra’s pregnant, too?”
“Too? Who else is pregnant?” His gaze darted over my shoulder, and his
grin widened. “Larissa’s pregnant?”
I tapped the side of my nose. “Smelled like it to me.”
Zeke waved toward his house. “Come inside. You can meet Allegra.
She’s going to be thrilled to find out one of her best friends is pregnant the
same time as she is.”
“One of her best friends?” I asked as I followed him inside, wondering
how many of them she had before a luscious scent hit my nostrils and any
thought beyond finding the source wiped from my brain. I barely heard
Zeke reply, “Yeah, she’s got two of them. Just like Kace, you, and me.
Calliope’s here too, so you’ll get to meet her. She’s staying with us until her
college classes start back up next week.”
If Calliope was who I thought she was, he was wrong—she’d be staying
with me. And not just until next week. She’d be with me for the rest of her
life. I didn’t share that with Zeke since I wasn’t sure I could get any words
past my throat. Instead, I stalked behind him as he walked through his
living room and into the kitchen. The scent grew stronger as we neared the
door, sending flames of desire coursing through my blood. When he pushed
it open, throaty feminine laughter wrapped around me, and I felt it all the
way to my dick. I was rock-hard as we neared the two blondes sitting at the
kitchen table. The one with the gray tint making her hair an ashy color
carried the smell of Zeke and his baby all over her. Thank fuck, because the
little firecracker with a hint of red in her hair was meant to be mine. All
fucking mine.
“Hey, baby. I just heard something that you’re going to love,” Zeke said
as he went behind his woman and dropped a kiss on the top of her head.
She twisted her neck to turn and look up at him with a smile. “Almost
as much as I love you?”
“Nah, this is excellent news, but it doesn’t come close to the love you
have for me,” Zeke chuckled.
“Not much does.” Her hand dropped to her belly as her smile widened.
“But I can always use excellent news. Give it up, handsome.”
“Larissa is pregnant, too.” Zeke jerked his chin in my direction. “Tane
went over to check in with Kace now that he’s back in town and smelled it
on her. Since it’s still early morning, we’re probably the first to know.”
“That’s awesome! Our baby will have a built-in best friend.” Allegra’s
gaze slid to Calliope. “Now we just need to find your hunky shifter so you
won’t be too far behind us.”
“Um.” Calliope’s hazel eyes widened, and her teeth scraped against her
plump bottom lip.
“No need to look any further,” I growled as I rounded the table and
lifted her off her chair. “She’s mine.”
 3

CALLIOPE

“I was right! Not finding the guy for you was because you’re a cat
person!” Allegra shrieked as Tane cradled me against his chest.
“A cat person, huh?” Tane asked, his brown eyes full of humor. His hold
on me tightened before he turned and headed to the front of the house.
My cheeks filled with heat as I nodded. “Yeah, Allegra was trying to
make me feel better about not being someone’s mate like her and Larissa.
Right before you guys came in, she was joking around about how it must be
because I’ve always been more into cats than dogs since most of the shifters
in town are wolves.”
He nodded, and a lock of his blond hair fell on his forehead. “She
might’ve been joking, but it makes sense to me.”
“It does?” I asked as he yanked the door open and carried me down the
steps in front of Zeke and Allegra’s house.
“Yeah, baby. With you being a cat person, you’ll love my tiger,” he
explained.
“Tiger?” I echoed, my eyes going wide in shock while I tried to wrap
my head around him shifting into a freaking tiger. He was tall, with an
athletic, lean-muscle build, but he wasn’t much bigger than Kace or Zeke.
It’d been mind-blowing to see their wolves, and I couldn’t imagine Tane
shifting into an animal that was at least three times larger.
“My tiger is a fucking beast at six hundred pounds, but he’ll purr like a
kitten for you,” he assured me as he walked up the steps to a house across
the street and carried me inside.
Six hundred pounds.
 Whoa.
Tane must’ve caught the stunned shock on my face because he went
over to the couch instead of heading up the stairs that I assumed led to his
bedroom. After dropping onto the cushions, he settled me on his lap.
“Sorry, honey. I didn’t mean to freak you out.”
“You’d think I would’ve gotten used to all the surprises by now,” I
sighed, shaking my head. “I mean, Zeke and Kace shifted for me when I
thought Allegra and Larissa were pulling my legs about them being able to
change into wolves. But somehow, I’m more shocked that you can shift into
a huge tiger than I was by that, even though I’ve had a month to get used to
the idea of shifters and fated mates.”
His biceps bulged as his entire body tensed. “Zeke and Kace shifted in
front of you?”
“Of course.” A muscle jumped in his jaw. I wasn’t sure why he was so
bothered by this. “How else were they supposed to prove to me that shifters
are real?”
“Fuck if I know,” he rumbled. “I can’t think straight when it comes to
you. All I know is that I want to go hunt down my best friends and kick
their asses because you saw them naked.”
I stroked my hand down his chest, trying to soothe him. “There’s no
need to get into a fight with your friends. At most, I’ve only ever seen them
without their shirts on. When they shifted for me, I turned around while
they stripped down.”
“Thank fuck for that,” he grunted.
I tilted my head to the side, and some of my hair spilled over my
shoulder and covered his hand. “I thought that wasn’t a big deal for
shifters?”
“Anything to do with you is going to be a big fucking deal for me,” he
answered as he gave me a little squeeze.
It felt as though butterflies swarmed in my belly. “That’s so sweet.”
“I might have a ferocious beast under my skin, but I’ll always be sweet
to you,” he promised, his fingers toying with the ends of my hair. “I’ll also
always be brutally honest with you, which is why I need to tell you that my
stance on nudity isn’t the same as most shifters. My mom is human, so we
weren’t as open about it in my family growing up.”
A surge of happiness raced through me. I liked knowing I already had
something in common with his mom. Kace and Zeke both came from a long
line of shifters, and I hadn’t learned much about the families of the other
members of the Timber Ridge pack. “She is?”
“Yeah, and she’s going to love having you in the family,” he confirmed.
My lips curved up in a big smile. “Really?”
“Definitely.” He nodded. “And not just because you’re human. My
mom has been waiting not-so-patiently for one of her babies to find their
mate, so she’s going to be over the moon when I tell her about you.”
Tane referring to himself as one of his mom’s babies was so adorable.
He was this big, strong guy who didn’t hesitate to show how much he loved
his mom, and it gave hope to the little girl deep inside me who’d always
craved affection. And as an only child who’d always wanted a brother or
sister, I liked that he had at least one. My parents had never given me a
sibling, but my mate was going to give me in-laws. “How many siblings do
you have?”
Tane traced his index and middle finger over my thigh. Even through
the thickness of my jeans, his touch spread goose bumps in its wake. “I
have two older sisters. Tabara by two years and Trinity by one.”
“What was it like growing up as the youngest of the bunch?” I asked,
leaning my head against his chest.
“My sisters can be bossy as fuck,” he chuckled. “It doesn’t matter to
them that I’m bigger in both my human and tiger forms, they’ll always see
me as the baby.”
I laced my fingers through his. “Maybe they’ll ease up a bit now that
you’re the first one to find their mate.”
“Not a chance in hell.” He shook his head and squeezed my hand. “But
you don’t need to worry about them being too much of a bother since my
parents and sisters live in New York.”
I leaned my head back to look into his eyes. “The state or the city.”
“The city,” he answered with a grin. “My parents still live in the same
house I grew up in on the Upper East Side, and my sisters have apartments
right next door to each other only a few blocks away.”
With every detail he shared, I was getting the impression that his family
was like the ones I’d always dreamed about having. “I’ve only been to New
York City once when I was younger, but I loved it there. What made you
leave the big city, your family, and your pack behind?”
“There wasn’t a pack to leave behind. The social structure for tigers is
different from most shifters. We tend to stick with our families instead of
larger groups,” he explained. “It was difficult for my parents and sisters to
understand what I found in Timber Ridge since it’s so far outside the norm,
but that didn’t stop them from supporting my decision. All they care about
is my happiness, even if my path is different from what they want out of
life. When I met Kace and he invited me for a visit, I followed my gut
because it told me I belonged here. I’ve never second-guessed my decision,
and now I get why becoming a part of his pack was the right call. It’s not
because of the satisfaction I feel in being Kace’s third—being in Timber
Ridge brought you to me.”
My heart melted at the sincerity shining from his eyes. “You’re too good
to be true.”
“You have it backward, baby.” He shifted me on his lap to straddle him,
tangling one hand in the back of my hair and cupping my chin with the
other. His thumb brushed my lower lip as he added, “With a mate as
gorgeous and sweet as you, I’m the lucky one.”
I felt his hard length pressing against my core, ratcheting up my desire
for him several notches. “How about we agree to disagree and focus on the
getting lucky part instead?”
His hold on my hair tightened, pulling my head back about an inch. A
deep growl rumbled up his chest as he lowered his lips to claim mine in a
deep kiss. I gasped, and his tongue swept inside my mouth. It felt as though
he was devouring me, and my nipples hardened in response. When he
pulled me closer, they rubbed against his chest. I felt the contact all the way
to my core, making me whimper in need. He tore his lips from mine, and
our gazes met. His dark eyes were full of lust, there was a splash of color on
his cheekbones, and a muscle jumped in his jaw. I had no doubt how much
he wanted me, even before he said, “I need to get you upstairs before I take
you for the first time right here on the couch. You deserve better than that.”
I pressed my hands against Tane’s chest, and he stilled. “You know that
thing Allegra said, about finding me a guy so I wouldn’t be too far behind
Larissa and her in having babies?”
“Fuck, yeah.” His hips jerked up, pressing his dick harder against me.
“I’m all for that idea, baby. But I want your gorgeous body spread out for
me on my bed first.”
“Crap,” I mumbled, my body tensing as I worried about how he’d react
to what I had to tell him before we went any further. Both of my friends had
gotten pregnant super fast after meeting their mates, but as thrilled as I was
for them, that wasn’t what I wanted for myself.
 4

CALLIOPE

T ane released my hair and stroked his hand down my back. “What’s
wrong, baby?”
“Um...I’m not really sure how to say this other than to just spit it out.” I
squeezed my eyes shut so I didn’t have to see the disappointment in his. “I
don’t want to get pregnant right away.”
“Okay.” He slid an arm under my knees and the other around my back,
lifting me as he stood. I thought he was going to set me in the chair or
something, and my heart dropped. Then he started moving, and my eyes
popped open.
Gripping his shoulders, I peered up at him as he headed toward the
stairs. “Wait. Don’t you want to hear why?”
“Of course, I do.” He smiled down at me. “I want to hear everything
about you, but whatever you have to say isn’t going to make a difference to
us as a couple.”
My eyes widened in surprise. “It’s not?”
“Nope.” He shook his head as we reached the top of the stairs and
continued down the hallway. “You can tell me anything. You’re mine, and
nothing is going to change that.”
His declaration overwhelmed me. That steadfastness was a huge part of
why I’d wanted a hunky shifter of my own. As close as I was to my best
friends, I’d never had anyone in my life who was all about me. A solitary
tear slid down my cheek, but I wiped it against his shirt as he carried me
into the bedroom. He kicked his shoes off—I hadn’t been wearing any—
and climbed onto the bed. After he got us settled with his back against the
headboard and me sprawled on his chest, he asked, “Why do you want to
wait to have babies? Is it because this is going too fast for you? I don’t want
to rush you into a mating if you aren’t ready for it.”
“No, it isn’t that at all,” I rushed to reassure him, stroking my hand up
his chest to cup his cheek as I stared into his eyes. “I’m one hundred
percent on board with being your mate. After meeting every eligible male in
Timber Ridge, I was ready to give up hope on the possibility that fate had
someone in store for me. Then you walked into Zeke and Allegra’s kitchen
and made my dream come true.”
“Damn,” he sighed, shaking his head.
I started to pull my hand away, but he wrapped his fingers around my
wrist and held it in place. “Did I say something wrong?”
“No, it’s just a shame that I’m going to have to kick the ass of every
unmated member of the pack.” His lips curved up in a smirk that said he
had no concerns about being able to back up his claim.
“You can’t possibly be jealous.” I rubbed my palm against the scruff on
his cheek. “None of the guys felt even the tiniest bit of desire for me since
I’m not their fated mate.”
“I get that it might not be the most logical thing in the world, but fuck
being reasonable when it comes to you,” he growled, his eyes filled with a
possessive gleam. “They had time with you that should’ve been mine.”
I loved his reason since I’d always wanted someone who would look
forward to spending time with me. “You just added more points onto your
perfectness scale.”
“I have no problem with you thinking I’m perfect as long as you realize
I feel the same about you.” He brushed his lips over mine. “Now tell me
why you want to wait for babies.”
“I have another dream I’ve wanted to fulfill ever since I was a little girl,
but I never want my children to feel as though they come second to
anything else in my life.” I knew far too well the impact that had on a kid.
“What’s your dream, baby? I’ll do everything I can to make it happen,”
he promised as he ran his fingers through my hair.
I flashed him a grateful smile. “Unless you have connections in the
fashion world, this one’s all on me.”
“Tell me everything,” he urged with an answering grin. “You might be
surprised by the strings I can pull when it comes to your happiness.”
 “Ever since I was ten years old and my mom took me to New York City
for Fashion Week, all I’ve wanted was to have a show of my own. I doubt
I’ll ever get to Fashion Week, but a show in New York City would be a
dream come true.” I closed my eyes, picturing the models strutting down
the runway in spectacular outfits I’d designed. “I think I fixated on it
because that trip was the only time she took me somewhere just the two of
us. I felt so special, getting dressed up and having her all to myself.”
He brushed a kiss against my forehead. “You aren’t close with your
mom?”
“I wish,” I sighed, blinking a few times to try to stop the tears filling
them as I thought about my relationship with my parents. “Don’t get me
wrong, it’s not as though they neglected me. I grew up in a huge house with
all the things any girl could wish for. Heck, we even had another house up
at the nearest lake and another in Colorado for ski season. But it was my
nanny who took me to and from school, made sure I had new shoes and
clothes when I needed them, took me to doctor’s appointments, and spent
most of my vacations with me. I know my parents love me even though it
tends to be from a distance because they’re so busy with each other and
building the family business.”
“No parent should ever be too busy for their children.” He gave me a
gentle squeeze. “And their business couldn’t need that much attention if
they have three fucking houses.”
I shrugged. “What can I say? For my parents, there’s no such thing as
being too successful. Appearances are very important to them.”
“Now you have my family and me.” He traced his fingertip down my
arm. “They’ll either show up on our doorstep shortly after I tell them about
you, or they’ll have all the travel arrangements set for us to go to New York.
My mom and sisters will want to spend so much time with you that it’ll
drive me up the wall because I want you to myself, but maybe I can distract
them with your dream of having a fashion show. They’re an unstoppable
trio once they’ve set their minds to something. I bet they’ll be thrilled to
help.”
Tane was handing me everything I’d ever wanted—a man who would
always want to be by my side, a family who’d welcome me with open arms,
and support for my dreams in fashion design. Even though he’d be thrilled
to knock me up our first time, he hadn’t thought twice about waiting since
that was what I wanted. I hadn’t been overexaggerating when I’d said he
was perfect for me. We might’ve only met less than an hour ago, but I
didn’t want to waste another second in moving forward with our life
together. Luckily, my friends had already filled me in on most of the shifter
mating details. Knowing what to expect—and seeing how happy they were
with their mates—gave me the courage I needed to jump into this
relationship when I normally would’ve been too scared to take the risk.
Throwing caution to the wind and acting completely out of character, I
wiggled out of Tane’s embrace. He jerked upright and reached out for me,
but then my hands went to the bottom of my shirt, and he realized why I’d
moved away from him. His dark eyes filled with heat as he watched me lift
my shirt over my head. My breasts felt swollen, and my pebbled nipples
pressed against the delicate, white lace of my bra. His gaze dropped to my
chest, and his tongue swiped out to lick his bottom lip. “Fuck, you’re
gorgeous.”
“It’s a good thing you think so because you’re stuck with me forever,” I
whispered as some of my boldness left me, and a blush swept across my
cheeks and trailed down my neck.
Tane’s hand snaked out to wrap around the back of my neck. Holding
me in place with a firm grasp as he pressed his forehead against mine and
stared into my eyes, he growled, “You still have it all wrong, baby. If
anything, you’re going to be stuck with me. I’m going to be territorial as
hell when it comes to you, with my tiger urging me to mark your delicate
skin over and over again to warn off any dumb fuck who even thinks of
trying to get close.”
I knew he meant it as a warning, but I had no problem with what he was
telling me. “That doesn’t sound bad to me.”
 5

TANE

T he scent of Calliope’s desire grew stronger, leaving me with no doubt

that she was more than okay with being paired with a possessive mate.
Considering what she’d told me about her childhood, it made sense that
she’d find comfort in being with someone who wanted her so much that
they were greedy for her attention. I was determined to shower her with so
much love that she never doubted her importance to me. Starting right now.
I loosened my hold on her neck and glided my hand lower. Sliding my
finger under her bra strap, I gave it a tug before moving down to her jeans
to unbutton them. “Take this off. I want to see all your gorgeous body while
I kiss every inch of your soft skin before I sink my cock into your tight
pussy.”
“Oh, wow,” she breathed as she twisted her arms behind her back to
undo the clasp on her bra.
Her breasts sprang free, and my need for her punched up another level. I
yanked her jeans down her legs, panties and all, and tossed them over my
shoulder. My mate was naked in my bed, and I wanted nothing more than to
fuck my come into her tight pussy before marking the fuck out of her neck.
But I needed to get her ready before I tried to shove my cock inside her.
“There’s something you should know about tiger shifters.” I trailed the
tip of my tongue along her collarbone.
Her delicate shudder had my lips curving up in a smirk as she asked,
“What?”
“We tend to have a bit of an oral fixation.” I nibbled down her chest
until my face was in the valley between her breasts. “One that means you’re
going to need to get used to having my mouth all over you each and every
day.”
I moved to the right and swirled my tongue around her pebbled nipple.
She let out a breathy sigh and grasped the back of my head to press me
closer. “If it feels as good as this does, I don’t think that will be a problem
for me.”
“Good.” I sucked her nipple into my mouth and teased the tip with my
teeth before letting it go with a pop. “Because I’m already addicted to your
taste, and I haven’t even gotten to the best part yet.”
She leaned back and murmured, “Yes, please.”
With the scent of her need thick in the room, I was desperate for my
first taste of her pussy. But I wasn’t going to skip over an inch of her
tempting curves as I made my way there. Licking and sucking across her
chest, I sucked the other delicious peak into my mouth. Calliope moaned
and arched her back in response. I gently bit down on her nipple and flicked
it with my tongue, and she started to wiggle beneath me. She pressed the
bottoms of her feet on the mattress and cradled my waist with her knees.
My dick felt as though it was going to bust through my zipper to get to her
sweet pussy any second.
After kissing the tip of each breast one last time, I started to move lower
once again. I trailed my tongue along her ribs, swirled around her belly
button before dipping inside, and teased her pubic bone. I ended on my
knees between her sprawled legs with her pussy lips bared to me and
glistening with her need.
My tiger pressed against my skin as I wedged my shoulders between her
thighs. Inhaling her scent into my lungs, I experienced a strange mixture of
relief and disappointment over the fact that I didn’t pick up a trace of
ovulation. The limited risk of getting her pregnant made tonight easier since
she wanted to wait, but my tiger didn’t have the same understanding of her
desire to achieve her childhood dream. He wanted to fill her womb with his
cubs, but that would have to wait until she was ready. For now, he’d have to
be satisfied by drowning in her taste. Spreading her wide, I licked her from
clit to hole.
“Tane. Oh my God,” she whimpered.
“Look how wet you are for me, baby.” I gave the glistening lips of her
pussy another swipe with my tongue, savoring her flavor. She mewled, and
her legs instinctively widened, letting me dive right in. I started with
another long, slow lick before lapping at her juices. Urging her legs even
wider with my palms, I moved in closer and ate her pussy with deep licks
and nibbles from her clit to her tight hole. When she was dripping wet, I
thrust my tongue inside, over and over again until she was crying out. I kept
at her, driving her closer to the edge until my dick couldn’t stand it
anymore. I needed her to come.
I eased a finger inside her, groaning as her walls clamped down on the
digit. Working it deeper, a growl ripped from me when I felt the proof of
her innocence. “I need you to come for me before I can pop this sweet
cherry, baby.”
“I’m so close,” she panted.
I twisted my wrist, and Calliope threw her head back against the
mattress. Her hips jerked up as I worked another finger into her tight, wet
heat. Lowering my head, I flicked my tongue over her clit, and she flew
apart. I licked her through her orgasm, her fluids coating my throat.
“Mine,” I growled, flicking my tongue against her clit one last time
before I went up on my knees.
“Yours,” she agreed, staring up at me with heavy-lidded eyes. A pink
blush had spread from her cheeks down her chest, and her nipples had
darkened to a deep red. She kept her gaze on me as I stripped out of my
shirt. Since I’d gone commando, I was careful with the zipper of my jeans.
When my dick sprang free, Calliope leveled up onto an elbow and reached
out with her other hand to catch a drop of pre-come with her fingertip. Then
she licked the fluid away, and my small amount of remaining control
snapped.
I grabbed her hips in my hands and lifted her body toward me as I
guided my rock-hard cock to her entrance. Notching the tip inside her tight
heat, I held still when she breathed, “You’re so big.”
“Don’t worry, baby.” I gentled my hold and stroked my thumbs over her
soft skin. “You were made to be filled by me.”
“I know,” she whispered, her plump lips curving up in a smile of pure
feminine satisfaction as the hint of fear drained from her eyes.
“I’m on board with waiting until you’re ready to have babies, but I want
to take you bare. I don’t want anything between us,” I rasped as her wetness
bathed the crown of my cock.
“Won’t that be super risky?” she asked.
 “I’m not sure how much you know about shifter senses, but my ability
to scent is unrivaled by anyone else in the pack.” My nostrils flared as I
pulled her scent deep into my lungs. “And I can tell you with complete
confidence that you aren’t ovulating yet.”
“Oh. Wow. Um…” she trailed off as she wiggled her hips. “Then my
vote is that we go bare because just the little bit of your dick that’s inside
me already feels incredible.”
I didn’t want to prolong the pain that would come from taking her
innocence, so I slammed my cock into her tight sheath, burying myself deep
before I stopped. Calliope tensed beneath me, and I bent low to kiss the
tears off her cheeks. “I’m sorry, baby. It’ll be better soon. I swear.”
She gave me a jerky nod, and I held still until her muscles started to
ease, and she wiggled her hips. “It’s starting to feel good already.”
“Yeah?” I asked, trailing my mouth down her neck to nibble at her pulse
point.
Her walls loosened their tight grip on my hard length. When I angled
my hips back and slowly sank inside again, she gasped, “Uh-huh.”
“I want this every single day for the rest of our lives, Calliope,” I
grunted as I thrust back into her.
“Yes, me too.” Her nails dug into my shoulders, her hips lifting off the
mattress to meet mine. “Tane, please…”
“So fucking tight. Perfect,” I groaned as I buried my face in her
shoulder while I pounded in and out of her pussy.
Her inner walls fluttered around me. “So perfect that I’m already so
close.”
I lifted one of her legs and brought it over my shoulder so I could get
even deeper. Then I slid my hand between our bodies to circle her clit with
my thumb. “Are you going to come for me, baby?”
“Oh, yes,” she breathed.
I pumped in, hard and fast, my gaze locked on her face as I watched her
orgasm build. Her eyes were hazy, and the pink in her cheeks had deepened.
“Do it now,” I urged.
I dropped her leg from my shoulder and wrapped it around my waist as
I continued to power into her body. Her heels dug into my ass cheeks, and
she lifted her hips to meet me thrust for thrust. Her body finally shook in
ecstasy, her pussy clenching around my cock and taking me with her.
 I shot so much come into her pussy that our combined fluids dripped
down her leg. Our scents mixed, shredding my control past the point of no
return. My tiger pushed for control, and my canines burst through my gums.
I grazed the sharp edges over her soft skin, being careful not to draw blood.
Although she’d given her body to me, I needed to hear her tell me that she
was ready to join our souls together too. “I want to leave my mark right
here while your pussy is full of my come. You’re already mine, and I’m
never going to let you go. But this will complete the mating process so
every other shifter will know.”
A glint of fear filled her eyes, darkening them to a golden brown. “I can
be a big scaredy-cat sometimes when it comes to pain, but I want to be
yours. Please do it quickly so I don’t have the chance to freeze up too much
and make it worse.”
“Trust me, baby. When I sink my teeth into your soft skin, the last thing
you’ll want is for me to go fast,” I purred while my lips curved up in a
smirk. “From everything I’ve been told about fated mates, the only thing
you need to brace for is an orgasm that will blow your fucking mind.”
“Then heck yeah”—she lifted her shoulder closer to me—“hurry up and
get to it because I’d love to see how this orgasm will top the two you just
gave me.”
My tiger surged close to the surface, his fur brushing against my skin.
As both sides of my soul reached for hers, I sank my canines into her flesh.
It felt as though an explosion went off inside me, but it was quickly
followed by a sense of peace I’d never experienced before. My tiger and I
were in sync. Happy. And it was all because of my gorgeous mate whose
pussy milked another orgasm out of me as she flew over the edge again.
 6

CALLIOPE

W aking up in Tane’s arms was beyond anything I’d ever imagined.

After spending most of yesterday in bed together—with a few
breaks to eat, pick my stuff up from Allegra’s house, and shower—we’d
finally passed out late into the night. No matter what we were doing, Tane
kept me close. I quickly got used to how he always liked to touch me. He
kept a hand on my nape when we talked to Zeke, his thigh flush against
mine as we sat side by side whenever we ate in his kitchen, and spooned his
body around mine while we slept. He didn’t shy away from public displays
of affection, which he proved when he French kissed the heck out of me on
his front porch, and several members of his pack jogged past, shouting out
encouragement while they were still within earshot. And he loved to leave
marks of his possession all over my body, as though the mating mark on my
neck wasn’t enough to warn off other shifters.
My body ached in places I’d never felt before, but I had zero regrets. I
wouldn’t give up a minute of the past twenty-four hours with Tane for
anything.
“C’mere, baby.” Tane tugged me closer, nestling his face into my neck
and licking over my mating mark. “How are you feeling?”
I tilted my head to give him better access. “I’m a little sore but in a good
way. It’s like I can still feel you inside me.”
His hips surged forward, pressing his morning hard on against my butt.
“Get used to the feeling. I’m going to spend a lot of time in your tight
pussy.”
 His breath was hot against my neck, and I let out a shuddering sigh. “If
that’s your plan for the day, you have my stamp of approval.”
“Only after you take a nice, long bath to ease those aches so you won’t
hurt when I take you again.” He brushed a kiss against my cheek and gave
me a squeeze. “And at some point, I’d like to call my parents to give them
the good news. Be warned, I’m sure my mom will want to video chat so she
can meet her new daughter-in-law.”
“Then I definitely need a bath.” I wiggled out of his hold and scrambled
off the mattress. I was completely naked, but I’d lost most of my shyness
throughout the night. Waving my hand down the front of my body, I still
blushed as I muttered, “She can’t see me like this. I’m covered in hickeys
and come!”
His dark eyes filled with humor as a low chuckle rumbled up his chest.
He crawled across the mattress, hooked an arm around my waist, and pulled
me down next to him. “You’re fucking gorgeous and smell delicious.”
I laughed and pushed against his chest. “And you’re delusional.”
“Not even close.” After rolling on top of me, he flared his nostrils as he
inhaled my scent. “My tiger would love nothing more than to roll around in
your scent until it seeped in my bones.”
“Then maybe he should,” I suggested.
My sexy mate lifted his head and grinned. “You want to meet my
tiger?”
He was offering to show me the six-hundred-pound tiger that lived
inside his skin. I was normally a fairly timid person, but I already trusted
Tane enough to know that I had nothing to fear from him. So my answer
was a no-brainer. “Yes, please.”
“Do you want to take a moment to think about your answer?” I shook
my head, and he chuckled. “Okay then.”
He claimed my mouth in a deep kiss before sliding off the mattress. My
gaze dropped to his cock, but my head jerked up when I heard cracking and
popping sounds. I blinked in shock, and when my eyes reopened, a giant
tiger was standing in front of me. “Whoa! That’s so cool.”
Tane padded across the floor to sit in front of me and butted my hand
with the top of his head. “Hey, there. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything
more stunning than you, buddy.”
I scratched under his chin, in awe of the gentleness of the huge beast
who let me stroke him as though he was a fluffy kitten. When my fingers
dug into the fur at his side, he started purring and my heart melted. “I
must’ve done something awesome for fate to have given you to me.”
He made a chuffing sound and dragged his rough tongue over the mark
on my neck. Even though he wasn’t in human form, I knew exactly what he
meant. “Yeah, yeah. I get it. You’re the lucky one.”
His cell rang from the table on the other side of the bed. He backed up
and leaped over the mattress, making me gasp in surprise. After he landed
on the floor, he shifted back to his human form and winked at me. “You’re
going to want to grab some clothes, baby. It’s my mom.”
“Oh, crap!” I jumped up and raced over to the closet.
“Get some shorts for me, too,” he requested as the phone rang for the
third time.
I tossed him a pair of athletic shorts as he answered. “Hey, Mom.”
As I listened to the low murmur of his voice, I yanked on a bra, panties,
jeans, and long-sleeved top. Then I started to run my fingers through my
hair about five seconds before he called my name. Taking a deep breath to
settle my nerves, I walked out of the closet and cringed when he turned the
phone screen toward me so I could see the couple squeezed into the frame.
The man was an older version of Tane, but the woman’s eyes were an exact
match for his. I forced a smile onto my face and tried not to freak out over
the fact that my hair looked like I’d spent the past twenty-four hours rolling
around in bed...which was fair since that was a pretty accurate description.
“Oh, my gosh! She’s gorgeous, Tane!” his mom cried.
Tane’s dad chuckled and shook his head. “The girl can hear you,
honey.”
“Oops, right.” She grinned. “I’m just so excited. I forgot for a second.”
When I got closer to Tane, he wrapped his arm around my back and
pulled me close. I gave his parents an awkward wave. “Don’t be
embarrassed. I totally get it since I was a little nervous about meeting you.”
“Pretty and sweet.” His mom clapped her hands together. “Fate was
generous with my baby boy.”
I tilted my head back to smile up at Tane. “Yeah, fate did awesome for
me, too.”
He brushed his lips against mine, and my cheeks heated when I heard
his mom sigh. When I turned my head to look at the phone’s screen again,
both of his parents were grinning in approval. I leaned my head on his
shoulder as he said, “Mom, Dad, this is Calliope. My mate.”
 “It’s lovely to meet you, dear,” his mom replied.
Tane jerked his chin toward the screen. “Calliope, these are my parents
—Tobias and Cora Ruslan.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Ruslan.”
“There’s no need to be so formal. Tobias and Cora will do,” his dad
corrected.
“Or Mom and Dad if you’d prefer,” Cora suggested with a wink. “Since
you’ll be with our son for the rest of your lives and will give us grandbabies
and all.”
“Don’t scare the poor girl off,” Tobias chided. “I’m sure our daughters
will be enough for her to think twice about what fate was thinking getting
her mixed up with our family.”
“Hush, now.” Cora rolled her eyes. “Our girls will welcome Calliope
with open arms. They’ve always wanted another sister.”
Tobias chuckled again. “That doesn’t mean they won’t be a lot for her to
handle.”
“That’s fair,” Cora agreed with a nod.
“Okay, guys,” Tane sighed, squeezing the bridge of his nose with his
forefinger and thumb. “Now that you’ve freaked my mate out, I’m going to
let you go so I can make sure she doesn’t want to go running in the opposite
direction.”
“If she does get away, at least your tiger has always been very good at
hunting down his prey,” Cora teased as she and Tobias waved goodbye.
After Tane disconnected the call, he nudged me back a few steps until
my legs hit the edge of the mattress. “Sorry about that. I know you wanted
to get cleaned up before you talked to them.”
“That’s okay. It’s not as though you could ignore her call,” I reassured
him. “At least your mom was cool about my freshly rolled out of bed look
—”
“Otherwise known as freshly fucked,” he corrected as he wagged his
brows.
I laughed and shook my head. “I’m not sure you can say freshly when
it’s been like five hours since the last time we had sex.”
“Good point.” He tossed his phone on the mattress. “It’s been too long. I
should do something about that.”
“Ah, ah, ah.” I wagged my finger from side to side before heading
toward the bathroom. Glancing over my shoulder, I added, “Not until after
I’ve had my soothing bath...and we get the call to my parents over with.
When we fall back into bed together, I don’t want to have anything else
hanging over our heads.”
“Then hurry up, baby,” he urged. “I’m hungry for you more than
breakfast.”
 7

CALLIOPE

I didn’t hurry up. Instead, I spent much longer in the tub than I’d needed.
In my defense, I had a few great reasons to linger in the bathroom.
When I slipped into the water, the heat was more soothing than I’d expected
it to be, and I wanted to take full advantage of it so my body was ready for
another round or two with my hunky shifter. Plus, Tane offered to make
waffles and bacon for breakfast. But mostly, it was because I was worried
about how the call with my parents was going to go. After the warm
welcome I’d received from Cora and Tobias, I was worried my parents
would ruin everything by being rude to Tane—either because they wouldn’t
approve of him or they just wouldn’t react well to the news of me having a
man in my life.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t hide in the bath forever. Once breakfast was
ready, I dragged myself out of the tub, got dressed, and headed downstairs. I
took my sweet time eating the delicious food Tane made for me, forking the
last bite off my plate while he was finishing up cleaning the dishes he’d
dirtied while he was cooking.
After drying his hands off on a towel, Tane came over and grabbed my
plate. Pressing a kiss to the top of my head, he murmured, “Relax, baby. I
know you’re freaked out about how your parents will react, but it doesn’t
really matter. You’re mine, and I’m yours. They can either get on board
with that or be left behind as we move forward with our lives. Either way,
you’ll be good because I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure of it.”
His promise gave me the courage I needed to grab my phone and dial
my mom’s number. When it rang four times before rolling over to
voicemail, I sighed in frustration. Then I tried my dad, but I didn’t have any
better luck. As Tane dropped down onto the chair next to me and flung his
arm around my shoulders, I pulled up the contact for my dad’s
administrative assistant. Unlike my parents, she picked up on the first ring.
“Good morning, Calliope. How can I help you today?”
“Hey, Stephanie. I was hoping to speak with my parents, but neither of
them picked up,” I explained. “Are they in a meeting?”
“Oh, um...I’m sorry you’re having a hard time reaching your parents. I
don’t see anything on your dad’s calendar, but let me pull up your mom’s to
check there, too.” There was a pause before she added, “Nope, nothing
there to explain it either.”
“Okay, well just let them know I’m trying to get a hold of them please,”
I requested since I hadn’t left a voicemail.
“Will do,” she agreed before hurrying off without saying goodbye.
I stared down at my phone and muttered, “That was super weird.”
“Is it usually easier for you to get ahold of your parents?” Tane asked.
I shook my head as I set my cell on the table in front of me. “No, it isn’t
rare for me to need to have Stephanie connect me with one or the other. She
always knows what’s going on with them, but she seemed off. It was almost
as though she was trying to get me off the phone or something. Usually,
she’d ask me all sorts of questions about what’s going on in my life. She
likes to be in the loop on everything because it helps her do her job better.”
“Everyone has a bad day now and then,” Tane suggested, giving me a
comforting squeeze.
“Yeah, I guess that could be it.” I leaned into his side. “But with classes
starting up again on Monday, she normally would’ve at least asked me if I
needed anything for school. She’s the one who makes sure tuition is paid
and my account has enough money to cover all my expenses.”
Tane’s arm tightened on me as his body tensed. “How many classes are
you taking?”
“I’m registered for five, but I’m only excited about two of them—Form
and Space and Connections Through Color and Design.” I shrugged my
shoulders and sighed. “Allegra and Larissa decided to bail on the next
semester since getting their degree isn’t important to either of them, and I
was seriously considering dropping out and heading to New York to try to
get a jump-start on my design career before you showed up since college
won’t be as much fun without them.”
 “Whatever you want to do is fine by me.” He gently turned my
shoulders so I was facing him. “Take all five classes or just the two you
like, as long as you move out of the dorm and into our house. Or skip
college and get to work on your collection, which is probably the best plan
because my mom and sisters will shock you with how quickly they can get
shit done when it’s for family.”
There wasn’t an ounce of doubt in his dark eyes that my dream was
going to happen. His confidence in me—and support—made me want to do
a happy dance while I also had the urge to break down in tears. Of joy,
though. My emotions were kind of overwhelming, and I wasn’t sure what to
say. “I-I-I’m not sure what I want to do. Can I take a day or two to decide?”
“Take as much time as you need, baby. Just do it with me.” I gave him a
jerky nod, and he lifted me off my chair and spread me out on the table.
Pressing his palm against my chest, he nudged me down until my back was
against the hard surface before undoing my jeans and pulling them down
my legs with my panties. “Let’s take advantage of my oral fixation and help
you to forget all your worries. Now that I’ve satisfied the hunger in my
belly, I think it’s time for me to get another taste of what I’m really
craving.”
The bottom half of my body was completely bare while he was fully
clothed in the pair of shorts I’d tossed to him earlier and a shirt he’d pulled
on while I’d been in the tub. But I couldn’t feel vulnerable with the way his
gaze practically worshipped my body. Anticipation of the pleasure he was
about to give me spread through my veins, and a rush of damp liquid spilled
from my core. His nostrils flared, and I knew the scent of my arousal was
turning him on even more than he already was.
His finger inched inside me, but he only kept the digit there long
enough to get it wet. My whimpered protest at the loss was replaced by a
moan when he began a slow, torturous circle around my clit. “And I’m not
going to wait another moment to get it.”
That was all the warning I got before he yanked my legs over his
shoulders and dipped his head low. His mouth clamped down on me, and
my hips jerked off the table. His hands slid under my butt to hold me in
place while he began to devour me. His tongue plunged, and his teeth
nipped. He quickly drove me close to the edge, making me whimper. I tried
to grind against him, but the position of my legs left me with little leverage.
Not that I needed it since he took full advantage of the way I was wide open
to him. Using his mouth and fingers, he pushed me up fast until my entire
body clenched as my orgasm crashed over me.
He ate me through it but didn’t give me much of a chance to recover
before he shoved his shorts down, wrapped his palm around his hard length,
and nudged at my entrance. With his eyes locked with mine and a flash of
his tiger visible in his dark orbs, he thrust deep and buried himself inside
me until his balls slapped against my butt. Only his hands and cock were
touching me, but I still felt surrounded by him. It was almost as though now
that we were mated, I could feel his pleasure as much as my own. Our
combined need burned through my veins as he moved in and out, over and
over again.
His cock swelled inside me, and I knew he was close to the edge.
Keeping my gaze on his face, I watched the pleasure build as I surrendered
my body to his touch and refused to look away as the tidal wave ripped
through us at the same time. When it was over, Tane collapsed on top of
me, pressing his lips to the mark on my neck. Our coupling had been fast,
intense, and quiet. And I felt as though it had somehow cemented our bond
even further.
 8

TANE

A nother day passed without a return call from Calliope’s parents. Each
time they didn’t return a message—she’d left three so far—she grew
more disappointed and I got more pissed off. My parents would’ve walked
halfway across the country to get to me if that was what it took, but hers
couldn’t be bothered to pick up the phone and speak with their daughter. It
killed me that she had to put up with shit like this from the people who
should’ve always been there for her.
I’d decided to give it one more day before I hunted them down, but that
plan was shot to shit when Kace got a call from his father-in-law. He used
his alpha gift and sent me a telepathic message to get to his house stat.
Calliope was busy drawing some dress designs, so I gave her a quick kiss
before running down the street.
“What’s going on?” I asked after flinging open the door and swiftly
crossing the living room to stand beside Kace.
He switched the call to speaker and barked, “I’m going to need you to
repeat that for Tane.”
“Why? Aren’t you in charge down there?” Link asked.
Kace got along with Larissa’s dad, but from the stories I’d heard while I
was out of town, it sounded as though he wasn’t the kind of man who was
going to cut his son-in-law much slack, even if he had the ability to shift
into a fiercely dominant wolf. I enjoyed listening to him give my friend a
hard time...until I heard the reason Kace has asked Link to repeat himself.
“Tane isn’t just my third in command, he’s also Calliope’s mate. Her safety
is his priority the same way Larissa’s is for me.”
 “This is about Calliope?” I growled, my muscles bunching with tension.
“Yeah, word on the street up here is that some bad shit is going down
with her parents,” Link explained. “They got mixed up in a deal with an
importer whose business isn’t always on the up and up. One of his clients is
pissed off they’ve lost container space to Calliope’s parents, and he’s been
pressuring them to drop their contract with the importer.”
“Maybe that’s why they’ve been avoiding Calliope,” I muttered.
“If so, it’s the only smart decision they’ve made with this situation,”
Link grumbled. “This guy doesn’t fuck around when it comes to getting
what he wants, and he has a reputation for playing dirty and going after
family members if that’s what it takes to get the job done.”
“Do you think trouble is headed our way?” Kace asked.
“If I had to guess? Yeah, that’s what my gut’s saying,” Link sighed.
“We’ve got a handle on things up here, and I’m making sure Calliope’s
parents are covered.”
“Calliope is safe in Timber Ridge,” Kace replied.
“Anyone who dares to try to hurt my mate will be dead before they have
the chance to lay a finger on her,” I guaranteed.
“Just make sure nobody ever finds the bodies,” Link warned. “I don’t
think the authorities will look very hard if he and his underlings turn up
missing, and he’s not the kind of guy who shares shit up the hierarchy if it's
going to make him look bad. So if he up and disappears, that’ll probably
take care of the problem.”
“No worries there,” Kace assured him. “Tane’s tiger has a hell of an
appetite.”
“Tane, the tiger?” Link chuckled. “His parents must have a hell of a
sense of humor since it sounds an awful lot like the cereal cartoon mascot.”
I didn’t bother reacting to his joke. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard it,
and odds were good it wouldn’t be the last. And I had more important
things to worry about at the moment. “Is there anything else I need to know
to help keep Calliope safe?”
“I’ll send everything we’ve got on the guy,” Link promised. “Our tech
guy is good, so the email will have his picture along with photos of known
associates.”
Kace was my alpha, but I didn’t hesitate to bark out a command to him
since my mate’s safety was at stake. “Forward whatever Link sends to you
right away and give him my email address so I can get that shit direct until
this is resolved. Unless there’s anything else urgent that I need to hear now,
I’m heading back to my place. I left Calliope there by herself, and I don’t
want her alone.”
“Will do,” Kace agreed.
“I don’t have anything else yet,” Link confirmed. “Get back to our girl.”
“My girl,” I corrected as I headed for the door. It didn’t matter that the
man had known Calliope since she was five years old and had been the one
to alert me to the possible danger; I wasn’t willing to let another man lay
even the smallest claim to my mate. Especially not when my protective
instincts were at an all-time high.
Rushing back to our house, I called out for her as soon I was through
the door. “Calliope!”
“I’m still up here,” she answered with a yell.
I pounded up the stairs and shook my head when I heard her grumble,
“You were only gone for like ten minutes tops. Where did you think I
would’ve run off to in that little bit of time?”
I heaved a deep sigh of relief when I found her in our room, still curled
up on the bed with her tablet in her lap. Logically, I knew nothing could’ve
happened to her while I was at Kace’s house, but reason had been tossed out
the window when I found out my gorgeous mate might be in danger. Some
of the terror and rage I was feeling must have shown on my face because
she dropped her tablet on the mattress and sat up. “What’s wrong? Is it
Larissa or Allegra? Your parents? Sisters?”
“No, baby. They’re all okay.” I hurried over to her, crawled on the
mattress, and pulled her into my arms. “It’s your parents.”
“My parents?” she echoed, her head going back so she could look at me
with hazel eyes wide with shock. “What? Did they get wind of us being
together and call you after ignoring me all this time? I swear, if they think
they can interfere in our relationship because of some stupid reason they
haven’t bothered to share with me, they’re going to regret it.”
She was so damn cute as she worked herself into a frenzy in my
defense. If it had been any other day, I would have helped her work through
her mad with a nice, hard fuck. But that wasn’t possible until I’d put
protections in place to keep her safe—after I filled her in on the shit they’d
actually pulled, which was unfortunately worse than whatever she was
dreaming up in her head. “I wish that was what I had to tell you.”
Her already fair skin paled. “Are they…? Have they—”
 As soon as I realized how she’d taken what I said, I interrupted her
stammer. “Your parents are physically okay, and Larissa’s dad is going to
do his best to make sure they stay that way.”
“Crap. Link’s involved?” She cringed at my nod. “Then I guess the
reason they aren’t returning my calls is more serious than I expected.”
After I filled her in on the details Link had shared with me, she jumped
off the bed to pace back and forth. “I can’t believe them. Even knowing I’m
in danger, they still won’t risk their precious business over some stupid
deal?”
I didn’t really want to cut her parents any slack, considering the
situation they’d put Calliope in, but I hated seeing her so upset. “From what
you’ve told me about your parents, they probably don’t realize how far this
guy will go to get what he wants. The risks they usually take are purely
financial. They aren’t used to dealing with people who are willing to cross
any boundary to get what they want.”
“My parents aren’t dumb,” she huffed, coming to a stop in front of me
and crossing her arms over her chest. “They aren’t returning my calls for a
reason, and I’m willing to bet it’s because they realized they’re in a
situation they aren’t used to dealing with and don’t want me anywhere near
it.”
“It wasn’t the best decision to make. They should’ve let you know what
was going on so you could protect yourself, though. But in the end, their
mistake doesn’t really matter,” I reassured her, tugging on her hand to pull
her close. “Even if this guy comes looking for you to use as leverage
against them, I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“What? No.” Calliope shook her head. “I don’t want you to get hurt
protecting me.”
I pointed at my chest. “I shift into a six-hundred-pound tiger,
remember?”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you’re invincible,” she argued with a
frown.
“When I’m going up against humans who have no idea what they’re
facing, it’s pretty damn close.” My added strength and ability to heal went a
long way, and if shit got serious, I could always shift into my tiger.
“You better be because I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you,”
she grumbled, burying her face in my chest as she fisted her hands in my
shirt.
 She didn’t have to worry about me; I wasn’t going to let anything ruin
the happiness I’d found with my mate. It was her parents’ adversary who
was in for a world of hurt if he tried to pull Calliope into this mess.
 9

CALLIOPE

T he one upside to the trouble my parents landed me in was that it

helped clarify things in my head. Getting a college degree didn’t really
matter to me—the life I wanted to build with Tane did. I dropped all my
classes without any problems because it was before the deadline and moved
my stuff out of the dorm even though it was paid for through the end of the
semester.
All the drama also seemed to feed my muse because I’d made great
progress on a couple of designs that I could totally picture on the runway in
New York. That was a good thing because Tane had told his mom all about
my dream to have a show during Fashion Week, and she called me every
day to ask for an update on my designs. She and my sisters-in-law were on
a mission to make it happen at an insanely fast pace. If I didn’t know better,
I would’ve suspected that Tane had let her know we were holding off on
getting pregnant until after I fulfilled my dream so I could focus on my
family without any work responsibilities pulling me away from them. But
that was something we’d agreed to keep between ourselves for now, and I
knew my hunky mate would never do anything to betray my trust. Plus, he
hadn’t left my side since he found out what was going on.
“I can’t believe I still haven’t heard a peep from my parents. I mean,
their priorities have always been a little messed up, but I’ve never doubted
their love for me. And they’ve always been protective of me.” I shook my
head, feeling dumbfounded by their silence, considering the circumstances.
Tane came out of the en suite bathroom and padded across the room
toward me. Taking the sweatshirt I’d grabbed from the closet out of my
hand, he tugged it over my head and guided my arms through the holes.
“Link probably took their phones away so they couldn’t be tracked.”
“Maybe,” I conceded with a sigh. “It just sucks that they’ve let that stop
them from getting ahold of me when you wouldn’t. I’m sure Link would’ve
let them call using his phone or something.”
“Damn straight. Nothing would stop me from talking to you,” he
agreed, wrapping his arms around me to pull me against his chest. “His
entire club could try to lock me down, and that still wouldn’t keep me away
from you.”
I grinned a little at the thought of Tane going up against Larissa’s dad
and his crew. As tough as they were, I had no doubt my man would find his
way around them to get to me. I swore that I’d never take his devotion to
me for granted. “Mac, their president, would do anything for his wife,
Bridget, too. So I don’t think you’d get much resistance from them.”
I didn’t hear anything unusual, but I stilled when Tane tensed up and
cocked his head to the side to look out the window. His dark orbs filled with
the ferality of his tiger, and his voice was rough as he commanded, “Get on
the floor and slide under the bed, baby.”
Without hesitating, I dropped down to my hands and knees and crawled
over to the bed. It was a tight fit, but I managed to squeeze underneath the
frame. I couldn’t see much from my position, but I watched Tane’s feet as
he crossed the room to flip the switch on the wall. With the lights off and
only the moon shining through the window, I could see even less. “Is
someone out there?”
“Shh, baby. I don’t want them to realize you’re under there if they make
it up here,” he whispered.
That answered my question—yes, someone was out there. And it wasn’t
a member of the Timber Ridge pack if Tane was worried about them
coming into the house. With Tane’s heightened hearing, I knew he’d still be
able to hear me when nobody else would as I barely mouthed, “Please be
careful.”
“As long as you stay hidden, I’ll be fine,” he reassured me. “There are
only three of them, and they’ll be surrounded soon. Kace is coming in from
the east and Zeke from the west.”
I’d adjusted to the shifter world without many issues—taking in stride
that Tane could change into a tiger that was about three times bigger than
his human form without much thought—but I still hadn’t gotten used to the
idea of Kace having telepathic capabilities. But I was going to be super
accepting of them after this because being able to communicate with his
alpha gave my mate an advantage against the bad guys. I was a big fan of
anything that kept him safe, especially since I brought this trouble to his
door.
I heard a sound at the window, and my head jerked in that direction as
Tane circled the bed to stand flat against the wall out of sight through the
glass. I scooted over a little so I could see up to his knees, and slapped my
hand over my mouth when I saw a leg descend from the window, a dark
boot silently pressing against the floor. The guy didn’t even get all the way
into the room before Tane raced forward and slammed him to the ground.
Startled eyes widened further when he spotted me under the bed, but then
Tane’s hands fisted the front of his coat, and he lifted the guy up as though
he weighed almost nothing. “You fucked up big time, coming after my
woman.”
“Shit, man. Relax. I haven’t even laid eyes on the girl yet. I haven’t so
much as touched a hair on her head. We can work something out here,” an
unfamiliar male voice muttered.
“Oh, we’ll work something out alright,” Tane agreed on a low growl.
The man’s relieved sigh was quickly followed up by several thuds and a
grunt. His feet were dangling in the air directly in front of Tane’s shins.
“The only thing that’ll make me happy is knowing any possible threat to
Calliope has been eliminated. You’re not going to like my solution to the
problem, but that’s okay. The second you entered Timber Ridge, the
outcome was already decided. We’re going to work this out to my
satisfaction, not yours. But that won’t be a problem since you won’t be
around to complain after we’re done.”
“You don’t know who you’re messing with,” the guy warned.
“I think you’re operating under a mistaken belief, Stan Michaels. I
know exactly who you are. I have a full report on you from the Silver Saints
MC. I just don’t give a damn because to me you’re the guy who thought he
could fuck with my woman.” Tane stomped closer to the window.
I heard a sliding sound that made me think he opened it farther,
followed by a loud but distant thump. My eyes widened when I realized
what those noises meant; Tane just threw that dude out the second-floor
window. “Is it safe for me to come out now?”
 “Yeah, baby.” He came close and bent low to reach a hand under the
bed and help me. “He isn’t going to try to hurt anyone ever again, and Kace
and Zeke took care of the other two guys.”
I gripped his hand and slid across the floor with ease as he tugged.
“Thanks, I was worried you might have to pick up the entire bed in order to
get me out of there.”
Sliding his hands under my armpits, he lifted me and set me on the
mattress. “Are you okay?”
“Me? I’m fine.” I got on my knees and looked out the window, but I
couldn’t see anything at this angle. “I was perfectly safe under the bed
while you did all the heavy lifting.”
“As it should be, baby.” He leaned down and claimed my mouth in a
deep kiss. “Wait here. I’m going to go down and help Kace and Zeke with
cleaning up.”
“Holy crap!” I pressed my hand against my chest, my heart beating so
hard it felt as though it would burst through my rib cage after he walked out
of the room. I was pretty sure the clean up the guys would be doing
involved some dead bodies. A month ago—heck, even a few days ago—I
would’ve been horrified. But when you were surrounded by men who
shifted into ferocious beasts and bad guys came to town to hurt you—or
worse—a little bit of mayhem and death didn’t bother you so much. At least
one of them was the sheriff and the other was the mayor. Nobody would
come after Tane for the events of tonight.
10
 CALLIOPE

E ven though I was on an adrenaline high unlike any I’d ever felt before,
I didn’t move until Tane came back. Considering odds were darn close
to one hundred percent that he’d just killed someone to keep me safe—and
made sure I couldn’t see anything before, during, or after—I figured it was
the least I could do. He wasn’t gone long, maybe fifteen minutes, but he
headed straight for the bathroom to wash his face and hands—probably
because cleaning up dead bodies was messy—before joining me on the bed.
“I’m glad that’s over with.”
“There’s still one last thing to take care of,” Tane corrected, handing me
his cell phone with a number I didn’t recognize pulled up. “When we called
Link to let him know things were handled, he let me know that your parents
want to talk to you. I was right about their phones, but Link was going to
give them a burner so you could call.”
“Okay.” I climbed on his lap, wrapping his arms around me because I
wanted him close for this, and hit the button to place the call.
It rang twice before my dad answered, “Calliope? Hold on a second so I
can put this on speaker. Your mom wants to talk to you, too.”
There was a brief pause, and then my mom asked, “Are you okay?”
My eyes filled with tears at hearing their voices. I had to clear my throat
before I could answer. “Yes, there was a little bit of an issue tonight, but
Tane kept me safe.”
“And he’s the young man Larissa’s father told us about? The one you’re
dating?” my mom asked.
 I pressed my lips together to stifle my snort at her description of my
mate. “Yes, Mom. I tried calling to tell you guys about Tane, but you didn’t
answer any of my calls.”
“Yes, well, all things considered, we thought it was best not to draw any
unnecessary attention to you since we thought you’d be safe at college,” my
dad explained.
Since I’d put them on speaker right away, Tane was the one who
replied, “Hello, Mr. Taft. This is Tane. Going forward, if anything comes up
that might impact Calliope, I’m going to need you to call me. Link will
make sure you have my number and email when you get your phones
back.”
“Look, Tane. We appreciate what you’ve done for our daughter, but
your relationship is new and—”
Tane cut my dad off. “This isn’t up for debate. She’s my responsibility
now, and I can’t keep her safe—emotionally and physically—unless I know
what’s going on.”
“I get that things have been intense this week, and you were a huge help
in resolving our issue, but that doesn’t mean you get to take over our
daughter’s life,” my mom argued.
“Very soon, your daughter is going to be my wife”—my eyes widened
since he hadn’t proposed, although we were fated mates so it shouldn’t be a
surprise—“so you need to get used to me being around because I’m not
going anywhere.”
“Not without a prenup,” my dad muttered.
“And that’s the end of this call. I love you guys, but Tane is right. He’s
going to be my husband, and nothing you say is going to change that. After
everything that just happened, you should be thanking him instead of giving
him a hard time. So after you’ve gotten your phones back from Link and
you’re ready to do that, give me a call.” I stabbed my finger against the
screen and tossed the phone to the side.
Tane brushed his lips over mine. “I’m sorry that didn’t go how you
hoped.”
At some point, we’d explain shifters and fated mates to my parents, and
they’d understand why things moved so quickly for Tane and me. Until
then, they’d just have to deal. “Meh, today could’ve gone a whole lot
worse, so I’m not going to complain too much. They’ll pull their heads out
of their butts and get over it eventually. And if not, it’s not as though
they’ve ever been super involved in my life anyway.”
“I hate seeing you sad. Is there anything I can do to make you feel
better?” he asked as his hand stroked up my belly to cup my breast, leaving
me with a really good guess at what he was suggesting. But I had an idea of
my own.
“There’s something you should know about the mates of tigers,” I
teased as I tugged his shirt over his head and kissed my way down his chest.
“What’s that, baby?” he asked, returning the favor with my sweatshirt.
I slid my hand inside his shorts and wrapped my hand around his hard
length. After blowing on the tip, I murmured, “We tend to pick up on the
whole oral fixation thing.”
“Fuck, yeah.” He shoved his shorts all the way down and pulled off my
bra, pants, and panties before wrapping my hair around his fist. “I’m dying
to know how it feels to have those pretty lips of yours wrapped around my
dick.”
I wanted to have him in my mouth. To make him lose control. Leaning
forward, I darted my tongue out to lick away the drop of pre-come beaded
on the tip. Savoring his taste, I moaned, “Mmm.”
“Keep it up, baby. There’ll be a hell of a lot more where that came
from,” he urged.
I opened my mouth wide, and he slowly sank inside, giving me time to
adjust as he went deeper. I sucked him back as far as I could manage and
then licked the ridges of his hard length as I pulled back. As my mouth
glided down again, he let out a low moan of pleasure. My gaze jerked up to
his face, and if I’d had panties on, they would’ve combusted at the look of
satisfaction on his face. His eyes were riveted on his cock with my lips
stretched around it, and a muscle jumped in his jaw. “Fuck, baby. I don’t
think I can take much more, and I want to blow in your pussy while it’s still
safe.”
I wanted that too, so I gave his dick one last lick and smiled when he
flipped me onto my back. His hand stroked down my chest and belly to my
pussy, and he groaned when he sank two fingers inside me. “Did sucking
me off turn you on?”
“Uh-huh,” I panted as he lined his cock at my opening and filled me in
one powerful thrust.
 “That’s a damn good thing because this is going to be hard and fast,” he
warned.
He hadn’t been kidding, but I didn’t mind. I met him thrust for thrust
with my knees clenched at his sides and my heels digging into his butt
cheeks. My nails dug into his shoulders, and the sting just seemed to egg
him on, making him move harder and faster. “So close,” he grunted.
His dick felt bigger as it dragged against my walls, making me shudder.
“Me, too.”
“Good, ’cause no way in hell am I going without you.” He slid his hand
between us and flicked my clit with his thumb. That was all it took to throw
me over the edge. My orgasm crashed over me with so much force I lost my
breath, and it was all I could do to cling to him as he pumped into me a few
more times before his groans of satisfaction rang in my ears. My body felt
as though it melted into the mattress when he finally pulled out and rolled
to the side, pulling me against his chest. “Damn, that was perfect.”
“Mm-hmm,” I purred in agreement.
“Today was a hell of a day, baby. What do you want to do tomorrow?”
Tane asked as he glided his palm down my back.
“Let’s go to New York,” I suggested, tilting my head to smile at him. “I
think it would be good to be close to your family for a little bit, and maybe I
can talk to your mom and sisters about the small fashion show they want to
help me do.”
His brow wrinkled. “I thought you had your heart set on doing
something during Fashion Week?”
“That was before I fell in love with you and dreamed about having
babies with blond hair and dark eyes just like their daddy.” I pressed my
lips against his and added, “I still want to see my designs on the runway in
New York, but it doesn’t have to be a big thing anymore.”
He cupped my cheeks with my palms and stared into my eyes. “Are you
trying to tell me that you love me, baby?”
“Yeah,” I answered with a shy smile.
“I love you, too.”
It was great to hear the words, but I already knew because everything
Tane had done since the moment we met had shown me how he felt. And I
had no doubt that he’d do the same for the rest of our lives.
EPILOGUE
 TANE

2 months later

“C alliope, my love! You were spectacular!”

A growl rumbled in my throat, and I yanked my mate into my
side just as Salazar Humphries reached for her. I didn’t give a flying fuck
that the man didn’t go for women; I was territorial over mine.
My mate threw me a glare, but it lacked any real anger since she loved
it when I got territorial over her. I grinned in response, making her roll her
eyes before she turned back to Salazar with a beaming smile. “I hope I
made you proud.”
Salazar was Calliope’s investor and besides me and my family, her
biggest cheerleader. He was a legend in the fashion world. Tabara was a
costume designer for Broadway, and she’d known him for years. When my
mother and sisters found out about Calliope’s dream, they made it their
mission in life to make it happen. The goal had been to find an investor to
sponsor a show at a small-scale fashion house. However, when Trinity saw
Calliope’s designs, she’d demanded that Tabara take them straight to
Salazar. He’d been blown away, and the next thing we knew, he’d managed
to snag her a coveted spot in New York Fashion Week. With the tight
timeline, he’d hired an army to help her get ready, and her night had finally
arrived.
 It had gone off without a hitch, and the smile on her face made all the
time I’d had to give up in the past couple of months completely worth it.
She was incredible, and I couldn’t have been prouder to be her man.
“You more than delivered, little one! My office phone is already ringing
off the hook with potential buyers!” Salazar bounced on his feet and
clapped his hands. His boyish excitement made a stark contrast with the
older man’s distinguished looks and five-thousand-dollar tailored suit. I
turned my head into Calliope’s sunshine hair to muffle my chuckle and
earned myself a pinch in the ribs. “We should get started planning for
September. You’re going to have to move here of course. I’ll get my
assistant to start looking for a house—”
“Salazar,” Calliope cut him off with a tinkling laugh. “Let’s not get
ahead of ourselves. Besides, this was a dream come true. For a long time, it
was my only dream. Well, the only dream I thought I had any chance of
making come true.”
Salazar’s expression fell, clearly sensing by Calliope’s tone that he
wouldn’t be happy with what she had to say next.
“But now I want so many other things, and while I intend to keep
designing, I think we’ll table another fashion show for long into the future.”
“How long?” Salazar asked with a suspicious gleam in his ice-blue
eyes.
Calliope giggled and shook her head, wagging her finger at him. “Stop
whatever shenanigans you’re planning right now. I’ll let you know when, or
if, I’m ever ready again, okay? Right now, I want to focus on”—she paused
and looked up at me through her lashes, pink spots blooming on her cheeks
—“having a family.”
I was immediately in pain...from the grin stretching impossibly wide
across my face and the steel pipe that instantly formed in my pants. Fuck
yeah! Slazar glared at me, to which I gave him a wink before kissing my
mate on her temple.
“This isn’t over, my brilliant girl,” he sighed. “I’ll win eventually.” I
suppressed a snort, reminding myself that he didn’t understand my Calliope
like I did, or how important family was to us.
He gave her an air-kiss on each cheek from a foot away since I wouldn’t
let him get any closer. Then he promised to call and spun on his heel to
stroll across the room to another one of his pet projects.
 I curled my arm around Calliope and steered her into the nearest dark
corner before bringing her front flush against mine. I smirked as I stared
down into her beautiful, happy face. “You want to get knocked up, huh?”
She blushed and dropped her eyes to my chest. “I could probably be
convinced to let you put a little cub in my belly,” she quipped lightly,
followed by an adorable giggle.
I let her go so that I could grab her hand and drag her toward the exit to
the back lot. But I only got as far as a few steps before she was tugging on
my arm to halt me. “We can’t go yet,” she laughed. “For one thing, your
family is waiting for us out in the audience!”
Sighing, I altered our direction and headed for the door that led out to
the seating area around the runway. “Let’s get this over with,” I muttered.
Calliope laughed again, and I felt the sound reverberate through me,
sending a tingle straight to my dick. I loved nothing more than seeing my
mate happy, especially when that happiness was due to an earth-shattering
orgasm. Fuck. I really needed to focus on something besides getting inside
my woman. Otherwise, it would only take one look at the bulge in my pants
for everyone to know exactly where my mind was at.
“Oh, my sweet girl!” my mother cried joyfully as she pulled Calliope
into her arms. “Congratulations! I’m so proud of you!”
My sisters stepped in next, gushing over my mate’s designs and the
success of the show. “I knew it would be spectacular!” Trinity claimed,
beaming with pride.
After the girls calmed down, my father stepped up and gathered
Calliope into a giant bear hug, making her glow with happiness. Knowing
what her childhood had been like, I was so grateful for how my family had
embraced her. When he let her go, she practically floated back into my
arms.
“So! Which after-party should we hit first?” Tabara asked, practically
jumping up and down with eagerness.
I inwardly groaned. Son of a bitch. I’d forgotten about all that shit. My
first instinct was to throw Calliope over my shoulder and run back to our
hotel room, but I wasn’t going to take away any of this experience from her.
“Umm…” Calliope glanced up at me hesitantly, and I smiled gently in
return.
“Whatever you want to do, baby. Tonight is about making your dreams
come true.”
 “All of them?” she whispered with a smirk.
I nodded. “I'll do anything for you, you know that. Even if it means a
bunch of loud, crowded, sweaty parties full of pretentious artsy types, like
those two.” I pointed at my sisters and grinned when I heard them gasp in
overly dramatic outrage.
“Low blow, little brother,” Trinity murmured. “How did someone so
awesome end up with your boring, grumpy ass?”
Calliope giggled and went up on her tiptoes to place a sweet kiss on my
jaw. “He’s perfect,” she said softly. Then she looked at my sisters
apologetically. “But you’ll have to party without us. Tane and I have—um
—other plans. Other dreams to work on.” She blushed and buried her face
in my chest. I might have laughed if I hadn’t been so fucking turned on.
I didn’t bother to say another word as I grabbed my woman by her hips
and threw her over my shoulder to make a beeline for the nearest exit. Only
the sound of my dad’s booming laughter managed to penetrate my focus,
making me grin.

“Y ,” I whispered as I stared at my naked

mate, sprawled out on the bed. I licked my lips in anticipation of devouring
the feast in front of me. However, my cock was swollen to epic proportions,
and my tiger growling and gnashing his teeth, threatening violence if I
didn’t get inside Calliope so we could put our cub in her womb.
“This first time is going to be hard and fast, baby,” I rasped as I climbed
onto the bed and kneeled between her wide-spread legs. “I can’t wait to get
my cock inside this tight little pussy and fill you with my come.”
Calliope smiled seductively and arched her back, pushing up her
spectacular breasts and making my mouth water. “No argument here.”
I bent over and pressed my fists into the mattress as I took one succulent
nipple in my mouth and gently grazed my teeth over the sensitive tip.
Calliope moaned and wiggled her hips restlessly. I gave the other diamond
hard peak some attention before gliding up her body to take her mouth in a
deep, hungry kiss. “I love you, Calliope,” I murmured against her lips right
before my hips surged forward, and I bottomed out in one thrust. Calliope
ripped her mouth from mine and let out a cry of passion. Her hands flew to
my biceps, holding on so hard that I wouldn’t have been surprised if her
nails drew blood. Burying my face in her neck, I groaned at the feel of her
hot pussy tightly squeezing my shaft. I almost released my load right that
second, but I refused to climax until my mate did. I slowly inhaled and
grabbed the remaining shreds of my control.
“I need you,” Calliope whimpered.
“Fuck,” I grunted as everything slipped through my fingers, and I lost
myself to the need pulsing through my body. I began to pump my hips as
slow as I could manage, but my tiger was pushing hard against my skin. My
animalistic instincts took over, and after withdrawing almost to the very tip
of my cock, I slammed back inside her, roaring at the streaks of ecstasy that
shot to every nerve ending. Calliope screamed my name, and her legs
clamped around my waist, nearly squeezing the breath out of me.
There was no rhythm or finesse this time. I fucked her hard, rutting
between her silky thighs, my entire being focused on breeding my mate. I
wasn’t surprised that Calliope took everything I had to give and begged for
more. She was made for me in every way.
When her muscles tensed and her breathing became heavy, I knew she
was close. Thank fuck because I couldn’t hold back anymore. I slipped a
hand between us and rubbed her clit until she detonated. Her orgasm milked
me to an immediate climax, and I shouted as my come exploded from my
cock, burst after burst, filling her so full, there was no way in hell we hadn’t
just made a baby.
That thought had my desire—and my hard on—returning quicker than
I’d anticipated. Calliope had barely finished coming when I started to move
again. At least this time, I was able to take it slower. I savored every touch,
every taste, and made sweet love to my mate until we both passed out.
I scented her pregnancy a couple of weeks later, but unlike Kace and
Zeke, I was patient and let Calliope figure it out on her own. I had to
threaten every shifter in town to keep their mouths shut, but it was
completely worth it when I saw the happiness on my mate’s face as she
shyly informed me that I was going to be a daddy.
I gave her a sweet kiss, then I swept her up into my arms and headed to
our bedroom.
“Where are we going?” she asked with a laugh.
“To practice for the next one.”
EPILOGUE
 CALLIOPE

I smoothed down the fabric of my red ball gown and shuffled nervously
from foot to foot. How did I let them talk me into this? Tabara and
Trinity fussed over me, fluffing my hair and adjusting the dress over and
over until I finally put a stop to it. “I’m pretty sure anything else we do
from here will go downhill, so can we get started and get this over with,
please?” They harrumphed good-naturedly before giving me a peck on the
cheek and scampering back to wait behind the cameraman.
It was hot in the desert, but there were so many butterflies fluttering
around in my stomach that I barely noticed. Still, I had to remind myself not
to touch “their masterpiece” as my sisters-in-law put it and swipe at the
sweat trickling down the valley between my breasts. I suddenly had a new
appreciation for my models.
My best friends and I had planned a trip to Vegas with my sisters-in-law
and all our mates. Once Salazar found out, he decided to shift the shoot for
the cover of Vogue to the desert an hour outside the city. He wanted me on
set to oversee the dress, and since I had said no to Fashion Week in New
York, Milan, and Paris for the past ten years straight, I gave in. Besides, I
couldn’t argue with his brilliance. The setting was perfect for the deep red
dress with a plunging neckline that went all the way to the waist where the
skirt poofed just a little and fell to the ground.
We showed up at the site and waited around for over an hour until we
finally received word from the model that she couldn’t make it. Everything
was set up, and the cover needed to be shot today, so it was a disaster. Then
things took a turn for the worse when Trinity suggested I step in for the
model. I promptly told her she’d lost her freaking mind and threw a donut at
her.
Unfortunately, everyone else thought it was a brilliant idea. Even
Tane...which shocked me at first, but I should have known better. He was so
proud of me, and no one thought I was more beautiful than my sexy tiger.
According to him, he had no problem letting the world see what belonged
to him. The next thing I knew, I was all dolled up and wearing my creation
in front of a camera.
Speaking of my husband...I glanced around, looking for him, and my
anxiety ratcheted up another couple of degrees without his presence to
soothe me.
“It’s missing something,” Brian, the campaign director grumbled.
“Like a professional model?” I muttered.
“No, you’ll do,” he replied absently, causing Tabara and Trinity to roll
their eyes. “If only we had some kind of animal or—” he broke off and let
out a girlish scream, scrambling backward until he knocked into the snack
table.
Everyone was suddenly staring behind me, though Brian was the only
one who looked completely terrified as he tried to scramble under the table.
Confused, I glanced to the side, and that’s when I noticed the huge shadow
falling over the ground. My lips grew into a smile as my beast of a mate
ambled up next to me. My tiger bumped his head into my thigh and purred,
making me laugh as I stroked his soft head. I immediately felt one hundred
percent calm and at peace. Like always, he’d known exactly what I needed,
and he’d found a way to make it happen. Adding a tiger to the photo would
be amazing, but it was the comfort of having him next to me that gave me
the confidence to go through with the whole thing.
After a moment, I realized why Brian was the only one who was
terrified of the situation. He was the only other human on set. Even Cree,
the cameraman, was from a local pack. I’d met him in the industry a few
times and was ecstatic when Salazar was able to book him for this shoot.
“Fucking perfect!” Cree shouted with a pump of his fist. “Brilliant!”
“What’s wrong with you people?” Brian screeched as he peeked out
from under the table. “There’s a murderous monster about to kill us all, and
you want to take pictures with it?”
“Hey!” I snapped as rage infused my blood. “He’s not a monster, and he
wouldn’t hurt—” I broke off when I heard the threatening growl coming
from the six-hundred-pound cat beside me. “I mean not unprovoked or
anything.”
Tane took a step forward, and Brian let out another bloodcurdling
scream before he disappeared under the table again. Then he popped up on
the other side and took off toward his limo. Once his car had burned rubber
—so to speak—and disappeared over the horizon, Cree burst out laughing.
Trinity, Tabara and I began to giggle, and I even heard Tane’s amusement
rumbling in his chest.
After a few minutes, we calmed ourselves and got down to business.
The photoshoot was bound to be unbelievable with my stunning tiger by my
side, and I couldn’t wait to see the proofs.

“M ! M !!” Kyla, our nine-year-old, came running into the

kitchen waving something around wildly in her hand. “It’s here!” She
skidded to a halt in front of me and held up a copy of the Vogue that
showcased my dress and my magnificent mate. “You look so beautiful,
Mommy,” she gushed with a dreamy smile.
“How is that different from any other day?” Tane piped up as he strolled
into the kitchen with our two-year-old son, Rush, on his hip. Azlyn, who
was a year older, trailed after them, her thumb lodged in her mouth and her
ever inquisitive eyes taking in everything around her.
“’Cause she’s on a magazine, Daddy,” Kyla informed him indignantly.
With one hand propped on her small hip, she looked every bit the diva that
she was.
“I think she’s even more beautiful right now,” he replied with a wink in
my direction.
I snorted as I brushed some of my unruly hair away from my face. I’d
been lost in my studio all day, and I looked a complete mess from the pencil
holding up my hair, to the chalk residue on my fingers, to the ratty sweats
I’d thrown on after hopping out of the shower this morning.
Kyla cocked her head to the side, squinted, and looked me up and down.
Then she nodded matter-of-factly. “Yeah, you’re right, Daddy. Mommy is
always beautiful.”
 I laughed and pulled my baby girl in for a hug. “Thanks, sweetie. Right
back atcha.”
“All my girls are gorgeous”—Tane sighed as he slid his free arm around
me—“which is just one more reason to be grateful that we’re shifters. I
don’t have to worry about any pups sniffing after my mate or my
daughters.”
I laughed and turned my head to kiss his cheek. “Famous last words,” I
teased.

“W did you just say?” Tane shouted at Kace. His hands

clenched into fists, and a growl that warned how close he was to shifting
emitted from his throat.
“Calm down, Tane,” Kace commanded. In just about any other
circumstance, Kace’s tone would have Tane lowering his eyes and baring
his neck in submission to his alpha. Tane was as loyal as they come, and
normally, his allegiance to his alpha was unwavering. The only exception
was when it concerned his mate and cubs. Something Kace understood,
which was likely why he didn’t force Tane into submission...yet.
“You want me to calm the fuck down? When you just told me that your
son is mated to my daughter? My sixteen-year-old daughter?” He roared the
last words, and his canines elongated as his skin rippled. If I didn’t defuse
the situation fast, Tane was going to shift and try to tear his alpha apart.
“Tane, honey,” I called softly, laying a hand on his arm. His whole body
lost some of its rigidness as my voice and touch penetrated the cloud of
anger surrounding him. “I’m sure Kace is as concerned about this as you
are.” Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to think about the whole thing. Finding a
fated mate wasn’t exactly common in the first place, but to have it happen
so young was unheard of as far as I knew.
Kace nodded and folded his arms across his chest as he watched Tane
with wary eyes. “Talon and I had a talk. He knows nothing can happen until
she’s eighteen.”
“I don’t want him anywhere near my Kyla,” Tane snarled.
I sighed and gently patted Tane’s arm. “You can’t keep them completely
apart, honey,” I murmured. Allegra's oldest, Jake, and Talon had always
been close with Kyla. But as they’d gotten older, I’d started to notice the
way Talon and Kyla had seemed to gravitate more to each other with each
passing year. They were best friends. That alone would make tearing them
apart impossible. But now, knowing how strong the bond was between fated
mates, I was actually afraid of what it would do to them if they were kept
apart.
Tane glared at me and shook his head stubbornly. “She can go stay with
Mom and Dad in New York.”
“And what would you do if I decided to up and move away?” I raised an
eyebrow and waited for him to stop looking for a way to answer without
lying.
Finally, he grunted in frustration and muttered. “Follow your ass and
drag you back home.”
I nodded. “Is it really such a bad thing? Not only do you know your
daughter won’t spend her life searching for her fated mate, but it’s Talon.
Deep down, you know he would never hurt her. He’ll put her first in
everything he does, and he’ll love her like you love me.”
“Over my dead-fucking-body will he love her like I love you,” Tane
growled.
Kace snickered, and I threw him a glare that made it very clear he was
not helping. Honestly, I was flying a little blind here because I had no idea
if Talon and Kyla were experiencing the same desperate physical need for
each other that Tane and I had when we were first mated. I sent up a fervent
prayer that it wasn’t that strong, or my next words would end up being a lie.
“I’m sure nothing will happen until they’re adults. Talon respects you, and
more importantly, he respects Kyla.”
Tane vibrated with energy, and for a minute, I wondered if I’d failed to
calm him and he was about to shift and race off to rip Talon’s throat out. I
breathed a sigh of relief when he took several deep breaths and seemed to
become a little more in control.
Tane must have been having similar thoughts to mine because Kace
spoke up, answering my unasked question. “Talon loves her. He loved her
before they knew they were fated mates. But he swears that the sexual”—
Tane growled, and Kace threw him a warning look before continuing
—“pull isn’t overwhelming like it was for us. Clearly, we are guessing here,
but I think that just as our bodies and beasts are aware that we have an
eternal mate, they also know when the time is right to seal that connection.”
 Kace’s words confirmed one thing, though; Talon was obviously feeling
desire for Kyla, even if it was manageable at the moment. Tane picked up
on that too because his eyes narrowed, and he pointed at Kace, growling,
“If my baby girl ends up pregnant before she’s married, I’ll make it
impossible for Talon to have any more kids. He won’t even have the ability
to try.”
“Fair enough,” Kace agreed. He watched my mate in silence for another
minute, then spoke again. “Talon wanted to be the one to tell you, but I
didn’t want you to kill my son before he could explain. He was trying to be
a man, to respect you as his mate’s father and his alpha’s third. I convinced
him to let me take the brunt of your reaction, but he still wants to talk to
you. Can I trust if I send my son over here that you will be reasonable?”
“Of course,” I replied immediately. Tane didn’t respond verbally, but he
gave Kace a sharp nod, and I saw one corner of his mouth tick up. We both
knew what courage it was taking Talon to come over and face Tane himself.
He was an amazing kid and was quickly growing into an amazing man.
When it came down to it, I wasn’t upset over the mating, though I would
have preferred it happen when they were a little older. And I wasn’t sure
how Kace had managed to keep Larissa from rushing over to start planning
a wedding and baby showers.

Curious about Larissa’s dad? Link appears in My Father’s Rival and will
get his own story soon!

Join us over in Fiona’s Smutaholics on Facebook for sneak peeks before it

releases.

If you’re in the mood for more shifters while you’re waiting, Rochelle
Paige (the Davenport half of our writing duo) has the first book in her
shifter series FREE! And Elle Christensen (aka: Fiona) has some great Fae
romances, starting with Protecting Shaylee which is FREE!
*prices current as of June 28, 2020.
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The writing duo of Elle Christensen and Rochelle Paige team up under the Fiona Davenport pen
name to bring you sexy, insta-love stories filled with alpha males. If you want a quick & dirty read
with a guaranteed happily ever after, then give Fiona Davenport a try!

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