Free Wish Upon a Tiger: A BBW Weretiger Shifter Romance (Fountain of Love) by A.T. Mitchell Page B

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