“A cub,” Walker said thoughtfully. “Congratulations. That will be interesting.”
Tiger shot Walker a fierce look. He got to his feet and hoisted Katriona to his shoulder. “I will help you, Walker,” he said, taking on a hint of a growl. “But you will stay away from my cub.”
Walker stared up at him, his blue eyes taking on a wary look. But then he relaxed, nodded, and stuck out his hand. “Deal.”
Tiger studied Walker’s hand without touching it. “And no shooting me to see how fast I heal the next time. That f**king hurt.”
“No more worries about that,” Walker said. “If you help us, you’ll work with us, not be a test subject. I’ve even put in the paperwork to create a new position for you if you’ll take it—Shifter Liaison to the Shifter Bureau South, Special Assignment. With a salary.”
Tiger stared at him in wonder, not quite taking it in. Walker was saying he wanted to give Tiger a job, with money paid to him, which meant Liam wouldn’t have to provide for Tiger’s every meal. Most Shifters didn’t worry much about money and were happy to share, but the idea that Tiger could pull his weight with them, as even Connor did, gave him a feeling of satisfaction, of belonging.
“Deal,” Tiger said and shook Walker’s hand, human-style.
Kim hugged Tiger around the waist. “I’m so happy for you, big guy.”
Tiger returned Kim’s hug carefully, not wanting to squash Katriona in the rejoicing. He handed the giggling Kat back to her mother, then he stepped to where Liam and Sean still hugged Carly, took them by the backs of their necks, and peeled them away from her.
“Hands off my mate.”
Sean laughed, shook off Tiger’s hold with surprising strength, and returned to the kitchen.
Liam stepped back, making a gallant gesture. “She’s all yours.”
“Yes,” Tiger said. “She is.”
Carly laced her arms around Tiger’s neck and pulled him down to her. “I love you,” she whispered before she kissed his lips. “My mate.”
Warmth flowed from her, and her words, to fill all the empty spaces inside Tiger. Nothing left out.
Walker had declared that he’d figured out what Tiger had been made for. But Tiger already knew.
He’d been made to find this woman, Carly, this mate of his heart. He’d been made for the bond that stretched between her and him, and he’d been made to bond with the child that grew inside her.
Tiger always seemed to know things before others did. Maybe that was part of his programming, a mechanism that let him find those in danger, as he had Olaf in the fire. He would work with Walker to figure out how he knew these things, and all about what he could do.
He did know, as he held Carly and kissed her back—the best new activity he’d learned since meeting her—that the child inside her was a boy. And that he’d live, and grow up, and be a tiger like his father. There would be more cubs, and Tiger and Carly, together for as long as it took.
Liam had told Tiger about the Fae spell that let humans live as long as their Shifter mates, as Kim would with Liam. Tiger would grab the Fae called Fionn and make him perform the spell on Carly right away.
Tiger saw their days stretched before them, Carly with him, and all their cubs. He pulled Carly close.
“I know what I was made for,” Tiger whispered into her ear. “I was made for you.”
That, and happiness. Tiger had reached for happiness in the past, only to have it shatter like a glass bubble when he closed his hand around it.
“I love you, my mate,” Tiger said, touching the softness of her cheek.
“I love you, Tiger,” Carly said again.
This time, as Carly smiled up at him, her green eyes the most beautiful things Tiger had ever seen, happiness stayed with him, whole and warm, and surrounded his heart.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Carly didn’t thoroughly understand the Shifter mating ceremonies, though Kim and Andrea had done their best to explain the symbolism. The circle dances called the Goddess and the God to the place; the flower garland in Carly’s hair represented nature, eternity, and fertility. The ritual sealed Carly and Tiger so that their union was sacred under the moon—the Mother Goddess—and under the sun—the Father God.
What Carly did understand was that the ceremony itself was brief, Liam saying, with a smile, “Under the light of the moon, the Mother Goddess, I recognize this mating.”
She also understood the party into which the solemn ceremony degenerated, music blasting from Sean’s back porch, the beer flowing, meat grilling, Shifters dancing, talking, laughing. Carly’s mother and sisters, who’d come to Shiftertown for the event, fit right in—Althea and Zoë already had Shifter admirers. Janine and Simon, her husband, were a little more reticent, but Olaf and Jordan soon had their son playing with them, and Andrea and Sean had the couple laughing and talking.
Likewise Yvette and Armand had come for the ritual, Armand with gifts of food and his beneficence, Yvette with a wise smile for Carly for following her heart. Yvette immediately joined Liam at the grill, first discussing with him and then arguing about cooking techniques, marinades, and what should be served with what.
Liam was in a particularly good mood, even beyond his excitement at presiding over a mating. The other Shifter leaders, he’d told Carly and Tiger before the ceremony, had agreed it was a good thing that Tiger would work with the Shifter Bureau in learning about himself. The arrangement kept Tiger out of trouble—in other words, made him someone else’s problem. And the Shifter leaders, particularly Bowman, Eric, and Graham, were interested in Liam testing out Collar changes on Tiger. Tiger had agreed to help in figuring out ways to get the Collars off Shifters, especially after Liam mentioned he wanted to get the cubs out of the Collars first.