would call it common sense. Find a female, have sex with her as often as possible within a short time frame until she was carrying his cubs, then move on to the next female. It was a simple rule for big cats in nature to ensure fertilization. As a human, of course, Khan was meticulous about using protection to ensure that didn’t happen. Thankfully, his inner tiger didn’t take over completely.
Monogamy wasn’t part of the tiger social structure, but despite his inner cat, Khan wasn’t all wild animal. He didn’t get to be that lucky. Being a shifter, he got to live within a set of expectations that applied to all shifters. Ones that said he needed a mate. It seemed there was no right of appeal. Even though there were so many things wrong in this case. The mate the Fates had selected for him was the wrong species. She didn’t know she was a shifter. And don’t get me started on who I am...
Khan bit back a smile. Monogamy without a partner? Wasn’t that called celibacy? That should keep Ged happy. At least there would be no sensational kiss-and-tell stories tomorrow morning.
“Come and join me, Tiger Boy.” As if in answer to his thoughts, Ged appeared at Khan’s side. He was carrying a bottle of brandy and two glasses. It was always serious when Ged got the brandy bottle out.
By some miracle, they found a quiet corner table and Ged sloshed brandy into the glasses. Around them, celebrities were getting drunker and noisier. Finglas was locked in an embrace with one member of a girl band, while her bandmate wrapped her arms around his waist from behind.
“That guy is after your reputation as the bad boy of Beast.” Ged tilted his glass toward Finglas.
“The way I feel right now he’s welcome to it.” Khan leaned back in his seat, draining his glass in one gulp.
“Does this newfound apathy have anything to do with Sarange?”
Khan stared at his manager, the man who had rescued him from a cage and given him his life back. For long, unblinking seconds he said nothing. Then he sighed. If Ged wanted information from him, he would get it. He might as well cut out the part where he tried to resist.
“You’ve heard some crazy shifter stories in your lifetime, Ged. Shall I tell you a new one? One that takes screwed up to a whole new level?” He dropped his voice, glancing around to make sure they were the only ones who could hear. “How about I tell you the story of a tiger who fell for a wolf? If that wasn’t bad enough, it gets even crazier. It turns out she didn’t know she was a wolf.”
Khan reached for the brandy, planning to pour himself another glass. To hell with it. He drank long and hard straight from the bottle, wiping the neck on the tail of his designer shirt when he finished. “I know.”
Khan’s eyes narrowed. “You know what?”
“I’ve met Sarange. I know she’s a werewolf.” Ged took the brandy from Khan and tilted the bottle to his own lips. “And I agree with your assessment. She has no idea what she is.”
Khan slumped down in his seat. “Has that ever happened before?” If anyone was going to know the answer to that question, it would be Ged.
“Not that I’m aware. Violet, Nate’s wife, lost her memory for a while.” Violet was a werewolf who had joined them on tour recently. When she and Nate got married, he had left the band. “Part of that memory loss meant she forgot how to shift. That was temporary, but this is different. Sarange seems unaware that she has ever been a werewolf.”
“What I don’t understand is how she can be a shifter yet not want to shift. It’s the most powerful urge we have. Right up there with breathing and sex.”
Ged had been about to take another drink, but he lowered the bottle. “Judging by some of the situations I’ve had to bail you out of over the years, I’d say sex is the strongest urge you have.”
Khan stretched his long legs in front of him. “I’m a cat. We enjoy the hunt.”
“Yet you’re not hunting tonight?” Ged raised a brow.
Before Khan could tell him to butt out, the music was lowered and the sound turned up on the big screens that were located on each wall. “You might want to listen to this, guys.” Torque came to lean against the wall next to them.
The screens were all showing the same news story. The announcer’s voice filled the room. “We’re returning to our main story. Earlier this evening a group of four men broke into the Los Angeles home of singer, songwriter and animal rights activist Sarange—”
Khan was on his feet in an instant, his heart rate kicking up to explosive new levels. “What the...?”
“—although the men fled when the singer’s bodyguards came to her aid, Sarange sustained minor injuries in the attack. It is believed the intention was kidnapping—”
Khan didn’t hear any more. He couldn’t think straight. Someone had tried to abduct Sarange. She had been hurt. His mate had been in danger and he hadn’t been there to protect her.
Ged’s hand was firm on his shoulder. “Go to her.”
How many different ways was she supposed to answer the same question? Tiredness and frustration were getting to Sarange now. It was beginning to feel like she was the suspect as the detective waited with his notebook open and his pen poised.
“I’ve already told you, Detective Kidd.” Sarange thought she did a pretty good job of keeping the annoyance out of her voice. “They came into my bedroom through the balcony.”
He tapped his pen against his teeth. It was a mannerism he’d already used a few times. If it continued, he might find himself eating that pen before too much longer. “See, that’s where I’m struggling.” He shook his head, and Sarange decided he’d modeled his mannerisms on various TV cops he’d seen. “You’re saying that four men climbed up the front of the house and in through the balcony to this suite in broad daylight without being seen and without triggering the alarm system?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
Sarange had decided not to go to the Rock the World Awards. She hadn’t declined, she had just decided she wouldn’t turn up. Even though it was one of the biggest nights in the music world’s calendar, she wasn’t going to put herself through the humiliation of seeing Khan again. She might spend every private minute fighting the cravings, but she didn’t have to do it publicly. She couldn’t trust her emotions around him, and no way was he going to get another chance to humiliate her.
Even if he didn’t reject her this time, what did she anticipate would happen between them? A one-night stand? She shivered at the thought. Spontaneity, stepping outside the boundaries, seizing the moment...they were all alien to Sarange’s nature. She played by the rules. That, and the fact that she lived her life in the full glare of the public eye, were probably the reasons she’d never hooked up with a stranger. I don’t do wild. An image of Khan came into her mind, bringing with it a surge of longing to break free of her self-imposed constraints. Although she thought she knew her own mind, her treacherous body kept giving the idea of a one-night stand an enthusiastic thumbs-up.
Her resolve had held firm. Vowing to avoid social media, she had spent the day in her office, doing her best to focus on Animals Alive paperwork. The attempt had
