Free Brock by Kathi S. Barton Page B

not. The beast had dominated him.
    “Jules and Keith are looking into it for me.” She nodded. “I was…I’ve never been so terrified in my life. All I could think about was her and having her. I don’t know what I would have done to her had Peter not been there, or Ryland roaring at me to come back.”
    “Long ago , there was a mated pair of tigers that lived among our streak. They were wild, not shifters like us, but they lived around us and even ran with us when the mood suited them. When their cubs were born, they had seven—too many for the young mother to handle—and the male brought us one to help with.” He leaned back on the couch to watch her as she continued. “You were a baby at the time, and I had been in the kitchen when he came by. After he dropped off the kitten, I picked him up and held him until I realized that he wasn’t coming back for him.”
    “Never?” His mom shook her head and told him when the cub was weaned he came back, and from time to time, the mother would as well to check up on him. “So what happened? You fed him?”
    “Yes. I would pump my milk for him while I nursed you. He did so well that after a few weeks he was bigger than his siblings and much…smarter too. After three months and he was eating meat, the big tiger came back for him. A week later, there was a large stag on the doorstep, and one a week thereafter until….”
    “Until what?” She looked away, then back at him, and he could see the tears in her eyes. Whatever had happened was not good; he just knew it.
    “You were out playing and you fell. There was an abandoned mine on the property that we’d been warned about but had never encountered until then. You fell into it and broke your leg.”
    “He saved me. I remember thinking that it was Dad, but it had been the big tiger that we’d see once in a while. He shimmied his way down the long shaft and dragged me back out. He…he bit me on the thigh when he nearly dropped me.” She shook her head, and he nearly told her he remembered.
    “It was the cub that saved you, darling , not the father.” He looked at her when she stood up. The cub had saved him? He stood up and started to ask her what that meant when it occurred to him.
    “He marked me when he bit me.” She shrugged her shoulders. “He did , didn’t he? He marked me as his kind, and that has something to do with what happened today with Em.”
    “I honestly don’t know. It could, I suppose, but…I really wish I could help you.” He sat down and watched as Em walked around the rest of the table helping the caterer refill the trays of food that had been emptied. She smiled at him when she turned to him, and he fell in love with her. He looked at his mom and had a feeling she already knew.
    “Ryland will help you protect her , as will Peter, but when her family comes here, they’ll be as strong together as we are. And with them being vampires, they’ll be faster, and I believe a great deal meaner than we will be.” He nodded, knowing what she was saying was true. “Do you have a plan to change her?”
    “I’ve not asked her. I’m not going to either , until this is over. I don’t want her to feel pressured like I think she has been from her family. I think…I know they’ve tried that with her and it didn’t work. I’m not going to make her feel that way.” She nodded and smiled at him. “You think I’m wrong.”
    “On the contrary, I think it’s the smartest move. She’ll respect you more for it.” He nodded and told her he loved her. “Of course you do. I’m the best mom in the world.”
    Brock laughed; there was no hope for it. She was the best mom in the world, and she was all his. He reached for her hand and kissed it, then went to find Em. He wanted to take her into a closed room and see if he could muss her up again.

Chapter 6
     
    Bert walked the street trying to find a meal. He’d been out last night, too, and had been surprised to find the streets rolled up like