Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Lake

I jerk upright as Tucker steps into the room, his eyes on the ceiling. The very ceiling I was just looking at, watching the tigers dance around and around. No one has ever seen the night-light on besides my dad and uncles. They'd sit and tell me the stories about the tiger princess and how her prince would come for her. Save her, and she'd be happily ever after.

"I thought you would be a while longer," I murmur, stretching across the bed to switch the night-light off.

"You thought wrong," Tucker grunts, moving far quicker than I expected. He grabs my wrists, stopping me from turning the light off. "Leave it on."

I don't say anything, I just watch him watching the ceiling.

"This the reason you're so protective over this light? The tigers circling around?"

"Yes." There's no reason to hide the truth of it. "I've had it all my life. I remember my dad turning it on and telling me stories before bedtime. Sometimes, I'd fall asleep before he was finished. Other times, I'd stay awake to watch the tigers dancing."

Tucker doesn't say anything as he lets my wrist go. He does, however, sit on the side of the bed, twists and falls back on his back. His arms stretch upward, and he puts them behind his head, not once taking his eyes off the ceiling.

"I can see why you're drawn to it," he finally states.

Being on the same bed with him is almost more than I can handle. I mean, just the very air changes. Like it becomes charged, and I don't understand it in the least.

"We need to talk." Tucker turns and faces me.

"About what? You letting me go? Realizing we're not mates?" Okay, so maybe I shouldn't have asked those questions. But it's been a lot to take in today. Before he came in here, I'd been staring up at the tigers, coming to terms with the fact that I'm his mate. I want to fight it because I know he'd be yet another person who can be taken away from me.

"We're not going there again," he growls, eyes intensely focused on me. They were also a vibrant gold. The stripes slowly show themselves.

Those stripes alone caught my attention in ways I didn't think possible. My hands itch to run them through his fur, petting those stripes. I wanted to memorize each and every detail of them all. I also wanted to bury my face in his fur and feel safe and know I don't have to worry about the panic or having to look over my shoulder.

"You said we need to talk." I barely contain my need to lick my lip or touch him.

Tucker's eyes don't change, nor do the stripes go away, but he nods as he answers. "Yeah." He lets out a breath. "You've had a lot thrown at you all at once."

"You could say that," I agree.

"Right, well, I've got more for you, but I'm gonna start off by saying." He pauses as he lifts a hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear. He follows this movement by stroking my cheek. I've never felt such intense feelings from a simple stroke of a thumb against my cheek.

"What?" The word comes out on no more than a breath as I stare into the eyes of this man, seeing the tiger within him. It's eerie how much he and his tiger seem to share Tucker's body.

"As your mate, I want you to know you can trust me. You won't do that if we don't have honesty. Mates who lie and deceive are not mates at all."

"Um, okay." I don't completely understand, but I do appreciate the fact he wants to be honest with me.

"What I'm saying is, what I'm about to share with you is a lot to take in. It's a lot to absorb. And it sure as hell is going to not only freak the fuck out of you, but it's going to have you wanting to do something I can't let you do. You're my mate, and I'm not letting you get away from me. Do you understand?"

"I guess so." I somewhat understood. But not fully, what could he know that I don't?

Tucker holds my gaze for a moment longer before his eyes lighten, and he lets out a puff of air. "I told you already I knew the Wildthorns."

"I got that part."

"Let me finish before you say anything else," Tucker orders, his voice soft and gentle yet still commanding. I nod, earning another stroke over my cheek. "Remember, it's a lot, and you're going to probably not want to believe it, but it's all true." The story he goes on to tell me rocks my world entirely. He was right about wanting to get up and run. It was a total nightmare. The worst of sorts at that.

"Let me get this straight," I mutter and sit up, crossing my legs. Tucker moves to sit with his back to the headboard. "You're telling me one your ‘brothers'," I totally use the air quotes saying this, "is my cousin. His dad had been my uncle. That my mother was a nymph, my biological father was a Fae, and some dragon king is who has been after me all these years?"

"It's Drakon King with a K." Tucker grunts, correcting me and watching me closely. "And I wasn't quite done. Your dad and uncles, they're not dead as you seem to think they are. They were taken captive by him. They're his bait to get to you. The only thing is, is you've been staying one step ahead of them, keeping yourself out of the Drakon King's hands. What you need to know now is, if he gets his hands on you, there's no saving you."

"There's no saving you."

"There's no saving you."

Those simple four words continue to repeat themselves on a loop in my head.

My dad was alive. He's out there somewhere, being held as a way to draw me in. To trick me.

What's that story my dad would tell me? Not the one with the tiger prince saving the princess, but the one about the trickster who came after the princess. To stay safe, she needed to find the prince. To ask him to save her.

Could he have been talking to me about Tucker all this time? It's silly. But I have this inkling feeling that my dad was preparing me through the stories. But why couldn't he just outright tell me? Also, why didn't he tell me about my mother? That she was a nymph well half nymph according to Tucker.

God, it all sounds so strange.

I shouldn't be surprised by it all, but I find myself believing everything Tucker says, including him being my mate.

"So, what now?" I finally ask, my mind still reeling with everything. I wish nothing more than to run out of here and find this person, creature, shifter, whatever he is, and demand he return my dad and uncles.

I still have a cousin, which I'm not sure I believe yet. It's just one thing too many for me to cope with right now.

"Right now, we're gonna get you something to eat, get you straight so you can get some sleep," Tucker states, getting off the bed. "Tomorrow's soon enough to discuss what comes next."

"That sounds good." I could use some rest. I don't remember the last time I actually rested.

"Good, and while we eat, you can tell me one of the stories your dad told you while you were a kid and looking at the light shining on the ceiling."

He's got to be joking. Right?

There's no way I'm retelling the stories of the tiger prince and the princess. Nope. No way.

Tucker's lips curl into a smirk, and he shakes his head. "Come on, little Fae." He stretches a hand out in my direction.

I look down at his hand, then back up to his eyes. Before I can think better of it, I take his offered hand and let him pull me from the bed. At the same time, I give him something I've never given anyone.

Some of my trust.