Wish Upon a Tiger: A BBW Weretiger Shifter Romance (Fountain of Love) (10 page)

“
Let's
go.”

Nobody knew how far the cavern extended. According to
legend, it was the den of ancient saber-toothed cats, long ago when
the mountains were fierce and the things living in them fiercer
still.

“
Elder
Brahm?” I cupped my hands over my mouth and called his name.

The erratic voice echoed through the ghostly chambers.
We'd come to the wide cavern where he normally had his fire set.

Jenna's grip tightened on mine. I moved forward, bent
near the fire, and swept my hand through the earthy material there.

“
Pretty
fresh looking ash. He's been around here recently. He's just
gone...deeper.” I stared down the nearest hole leading into the
mountain.

There were three tunnels, and I wasn't crazy enough to
go looking for him down any. The caverns were a maze, meant only for
our oracle to go deep and commune with the spirits.

Worse, small strips of ice were embedded in the little
cracks lining the cave's floor. Up here, in the darkness, it was cold
enough for water to freeze, an omen of the winter coming soon to the
outside world.

“
Doesn't
anyone check up on this guy?” Jenna asked.

“
Only
when there's reason to. Our oldest, holiest tigers separate
themselves from the community as soon as their hair goes gray and
their coats begin to dull. Elder Brahm has been Tiger Tree's spirit
guide since my father was young and –“

My words stopped in my throat. A shadow crept up near
the walkway where we'd entered. My instincts roared to life and I
raced after it.

“
Stop
tracking ash all over my home. You're too hasty, young tiger.”

The Elder's voice froze me in mid-run. I suppressed a
surprised growl and looked him up and down. He stood there in his
faded cloak and trademark walking stick, tall and wiry as ever. He'd
lost weight and gained several inches on the tangled gray beard
reaching to his stomach since I'd last seen him.

“
Someone's
brought you here.” He sniffed at the air. “Why the
hesitation to show me who?”

I blinked. “No hesitation here, Elder. Right this
way.”

I led him over to Jenna. She was leaning against one of
the large boulders where he and I always sat during our
consultations.

When the Elder saw my lady, he smiled. In all my time
with him, I never recalled a grin like that.

I didn't know whether to be uneasy or hopeful.

“
Welcome
home, young tigress!” In one big swoop, he threw his skinny
arms around my Jenna and hugged her tight.

She looked over his shoulder at me, sharing an
expression so confused I nearly laughed.

“
Sit,
sit,” the Elder said, slowly releasing her. “You've come
here to discover who you are, tigress. I can help you do that.”

“
Her
name is Jenna,” I said, catching up to them and sitting next to
her on the rocks.

Elder Brahm looked at me sullenly. “I know.”

He reached behind the biggest boulder against the cavern
wall, pulling out flint and kindling. The fire was lit with a few
sparks created by his branch-like arms.

Why the sudden interest? Normally he makes visitors
feel like it's a chore to talk to him. He doesn't like to be
disrupted from whatever the hell goes on up here.

I stared into his eyes. They betrayed nothing. The dark
pools there were just as mysterious as the rest of him.

“
You,
tigress, must ask the questions I already have the answers to,”
he said.

Jenna looked at me, her pretty face tense. I could tell
she was trying to keep herself whole, without shaking, and not
because of the cold.

“
Why
are we here again?” she asked in a low voice.

“
To
discover your tiger side. You've wondered about your family, right?
That's where he comes in. He can help you discover the truth.”
I looked at Brahm, but he just kept his eyes fixed on Jenna.

“
Ask
the questions,” the Elder droned. “You summon the truth.”

Jenna stared into the fire, no doubt collecting her
words. Finally, she looked up and stared at the Elder, a little less
nervous than before.

“
Tell
me about my parents. There's some connection to this place. I've felt
it since the moment I was brought here...”

“
Blood
that arrives in danger once left in danger too.” The Elder's
eyes bulged. “The one who birthed you was not one of us. And
for her origins, she paid dearly.”

He swept one hand through the top of the fire, catching
flames in his fingers. Brahm wasn't fazed by the deadly heat.

“
My
mother died of natural causes. Cancer.”

“
I'm
talking about exile, child. The wounds of alienation are greater than
any mortal death. Here! Look into the fire with me and see for
yourself!”

What the fuck?

The Elder lunched forward, reaching around the side of
the fire pit and grabbing for Jenna's arm. She yelped and fell
forward.

“
Elder...”
I stopped just short of saying
I'm
warning you.

He held her hand above the fire. Jenna's fingers stopped
just short of touching the flames like his did. With the orange heat
dancing in her eyes, she seemed frozen, transfixed. She was under the
same spell as Brahm, visiting the Gods.

“
Do
you feel it, tigress? A father's terror for his mate and his unborn
child. A whole clan coming apart. Tigers turning on their Alpha and
tearing him to pieces, all thanks to rumor and deceit.”

“
Jenna?”
I stepped forward.

This whole thing was freaking me out. Elder or not, if
Brahm had gone crazy and tried to hurt her, I wouldn't hesitate to
shred him.

“
I
see it. I feel it. It's...oh, Gods!”

Brahm released her. She tumbled backward. I jumped
behind Jenna, breaking her fall on the hard rocks being used as
stools.

Jenna hugged me tight. I pulled her in, eyeing the Elder
angrily over her trembling head.

“
What
did you show her? What did you do?” I demanded.

“
Her
destiny, already written in the blood of her past. Nothing under the
sun is new, my boy. A life borne in tragedy, poised between two
worlds like hers, can only beget more darkness. More bloodshed. She
is cursed.”

I lowered my eyes, quietly seething. I stroked Jenna's
hair, trying to soothe her discomfort.

“
Don't
listen to him. Nothing he says changes anything between us, or
anything between you and Tiger Tree.”

“
What
if the vision's right, Erik?” She looked up, wiping tears from
the corners of her eyes.

“
What
if it is? What did you see?”

“
The
blood of her ancestors, human and tiger alike,” Brahm answered
before Jenna could. “The girl has been touched by the God
Tiger. She carries his blood and his accursed treasure. The very same
as I.”

The Elder reached beneath the neckline of his cloak. His
hand flicked back, pulling something up on a chain. He held it out
toward the fire.

It looked like a small silver necklace with a shiny
stone attached. No, a fang.

“
God
Tiger? Really? Elder, this is blurring legend with reality.”

“
Does
this look like myth to you, boy?” In a huff, Brahm stood,
coming close and shoving the necklace in my face.

“
The
God Tiger's treasure spilled more tiger blood than anything else. The
old ones buried his treasure deep in this mountain, where his greed
and power would be bound for all eternity. Of course, a few tigers
snuck pieces for themselves, his children, and they too were cursed.
The Gods made them hand down their stolen trinkets to their
posterity, keeping evil in the world for heaven's amusement.”

Jenna glanced at the amulet quickly, and then hid her
face in my chest. Slowly, she looked up at me and whispered.

“
I
used to have one just like it. Doctor Tarken and the men who captured
me, brought me here...they stole it. The professor knew it was some
kind of treasure, just like the Elder's saying.”

Damn! It unnerved me to know the old man wasn't
hallucinating or senile. He'd always been strange, as tiger elders
are, but nobody who'd been touched by his words could deny their
power, their truth.

“
You
don't toy with destiny, my boy.” The Elder looked at me,
gradually tucking his necklace back beneath his worn cloak. “Fate
plays with you.”

“
I
know that, Elder. You told me to embrace my instinct, and that's
exactly what I'm doing right now.” I pulled Jenna tighter,
laying a firm kiss on her forehead.

Brahm flashed his terrible grin. He began to laugh, a
chaotic, high pitched whooping noise, echoing through the huge cavern
like swarming bats taking flight.

“
You
know nothing but theory, young tiger. Fortunately for you, the vision
we shared is bathed in shadows.” He glanced at the flames,
letting the orange sheen fill his eyes. “Understand one thing:
this mate will complete you or ruin everything you've built. No tiger
was meant to rule all, and for his arrogant sin, the being who styled
himself a God was punished, his blood tainted by the true gods.”

“
I
see perfectly clear who's fucking tainted here,” I growled.

Brahm was really pissing me off and scaring Jenna. She
was still trembling in my arms, overwhelmed with the insane secrets
he'd spilled.

Enough. If we didn't leave now, then I was going to do
something I'd regret.

“
Come
on. We're out of here.”

Jenna wasn't moving. I never took my eyes off the Elder.
I just picked her up and carried her out of his forsaken den, hoping
there would never be a need to return.

I hoped like hell this vision and fate mumbo-jumbo
wasn't real.

“
We're
safe now, beautiful. Can you walk?” I set her down near the
steps leading down the mountain, squeezing her shoulder to break her
trance.

“
Yeah.
I just want to go home and forget all this shit. He's so creepy!”

“
No
disagreement here. I shouldn't have brought you up here so soon.
Every meeting with the Elder is unpredictable, though it's never been
like this. Let's get the hell off this mountain.”

I helped her disrobe, and then did the same myself.
Carefully packing the bag, I shifted, and waited until she strapped
it on my striped back before I moved on four legs.

Watching Jenna get on the ground and shift wasn't easy.
Her body looked more beautiful than ever before in both her forms.

But even as a tigress, her eyes carried the same anxious
sadness she'd brought with her out of the cave.

“
What
was all that?” Jenna asked me later over dinner. “His God
Tiger crap?”

“
A
very old legend.” I stabbed my caribou steak hard with my fork.
“Long ago, they say all the tiger clans were one. A huge and
ruthless man controlled every group from here to China, the last man
on Earth who could shift into a giant saber-toothed beast. Nobody has
any proof, of course, except for these odd treasures and scraps of
writing we can't understand.”

“
Yeah,
that's what the Elder said in his own freaky way. My amulet really
looked just like the one he was wearing.”

I shook my head, thinking and chewing my food. The
stupid myth of the God Tiger's treasure had been around forever. Me
and the other guys used to chase after it as cubs, digging deep in
the forest and scaling the steps toward the ancient caverns, as high
as our mothers would let us.

It didn't matter that nobody knew where the God Tiger
had his fortress. Kids do crazy things, and we
knew
it was in
our own backyard, if only our little paws could reach deep enough
into the earth and pull it out.

“
It's
a myth,” I repeated. “One look at the ruins around here
proves there were tiger civilizations long before us. I'm sure that's
where the silver necklaces and old teeth are coming from. God Tiger?
I just don't believe.”