Carter's POV
Time was moving so fast. Christmas was three days away and every day I got even more nervous. Not that I'd think he'd say no, but I was planning on talking...in front of everyone again. I wanted to say it, verbally. So he could hear in my voice just how much he meant to me.
Sloan was worth facing my fears.
The past few days have been amazing other than that. It was nice to be around family and feel loved and appreciated. This was my first time truly loving the holidays. It also helped that Sloan and I were fucking every day. Night and morning.
The Mickayas of course had traditions on traditions, which I found endearing. Last night Sloan spent all night making gingerbread with Delany for the gingerbread contest we were having today.
But right now, I was in one of the game rooms with Sloan and his siblings. While Uncle Tino and Uncle Koa are out running errands. I think they honestly wanted time away from us, which I completely understand.
"So, Ambrose, when are you going to tell me about this girlfriend of yours?" Sloan brought up, and everyone went still. Sloan was standing at the foosball table with Flo, Ezra, and Delany, I was lounging on the couch watching Cars Eli. Ambrose was lounging on a beanbag reading a book that looked to be in French.
His eyes left the book and he stared at his brother. And we all waited for what he was about to do. Sloan may be a tiger but Ambrose was genuinely terrifying. His face was always impassive and you could never tell what the kid was thinking.
"Who told you?" He finally asked after a long beat.
"Doesn't matter. Answer the question." Sloan crossed his arms and Flo sighed.
"Here we go," she muttered under her breath and all three of them at the table moved away from Sloan and joined me on the couch. I grabbed the remote to pause the movie, it just seemed weird to let them have this talk and have Mater yelling in the background.
"Yes, I do," Ambrose said curtly.
"Oh fuck that! You don't get off scot-free. Why didn't you tell me and Ezra?" Sloan yelled and Ambrose looked over at Ezra who's face was now bright red.
"I was going to--"
"Bullshit" Sloan interrupted and Eli and Delany sucked in a breath. I had a feeling that Ambrose didn't like to be interrupted. And that feeling was right as he closed the book and stood on his feet.
He walked over to Sloan, the two of them almost looking eye to eye, but my man was bigger.
"Why does it matter?" Ambrose asked crossing his arms.
"Because she's important to you and we deserve to fucking know." Sloan was getting heated, I could feel it in our bond. I slowly reached out to it and tried my best to calm him down.
"I was going--"
"BULLSHIT. You don't tell anyone about yourself. You think it makes you all cool and mysterious, but it makes your family feel separated from you." That struck a cord in Ambrose, as I saw his mask fall slightly, eyes go wide. "We all know you and Ezra are close. And you didn't tell him, imagine how he feels?"
Ezra's eyes were pointed to the ground as Ambrose turned to look at his brother. I would say something to stop them, but I know the Mickayas, and this is how they argue.
"Did you maybe think that I value your opinion?" Ambrose's jaw ticked as he spoke and I heard Florence let out a soft 'oop'. I wanted to laugh, but I stopped myself. Sloan stood quietly with a confused look on his face. "I guess not."
"Well, of course, I wouldn't. It's not like you come to us for advice anyhow."
"Duh, you two are idiots. But that doesn't mean I don't value your opinion." Ezra was finally looking at his brother and his face held a goofy smile.
"Awe! You love us!" Ezra was on his feet, and from the looks of it was headed to give Ambrose a giant hug. Sloan's face lit up and it was like watching two predators and prey. Ambrose took a hesitant step back and put his hands up. But he wasn't fast enough. Both brothers jumped onto him knocking him onto the bean bag.
"I need to get out of here." Florence sighed watching her brothers wrestle.
'What about you, Flo? You have anyone special you're keeping a secret?' I asked her but her face fell with disappointment. She tried to cover it up, but she wasn't fast enough. She forced out a laugh to try and lighten the mood.
"Me? A boyfriend? HA! Guys my age are intimated by me and my strength. I'd be damned if my mate is anything but a tiger."
I looked at Flo and even though she tried her best to play it off I knew it bothered her. Being one, if not the only female tiger in existence right now, could be daunting. But also, Florence was beautiful. Like genuinely one of the prettiest women I have ever seen, it made no sense men weren't tripping over themselves to get to her, regardless of her strength.
Which makes me wonder about my kids and their future. Would I have tigers too? Or lycans? Which two of us can get pregnant? Fuck....maybe I should have asked these questions when I was with UK a few days ago.
'Do you know any tigers?' I asked, trying to keep my thoughts from spinning too much.
"Yeah, I do. I mean there are only 15 of us and all of them are men except for one."
'What's her name?'
"I think it's like Tate or something. I don't know, I've never met her. Most of the tigers haven't, all except Sloan and Darren." Florence shrugged.
Darren, I've heard him mention him before, but I never pushed the issue to know more. All I know is Darren is a tiger friend of his, and as long as they didn't have sex, they are more than welcome to stay friends. But I noticed at the mention of Tate, Sloan untangled himself from his brothers and he looked at his sister. There was a sadness in their eyes which made my chest tighten up.
'Why not? She could be a friend who might know what you're going through.' Sloan sighed and there was a heaviness that now coated the room.
"Tate...Tate was taken by the humans." Florence spoke softly and we all turned to her. "She was roaming on her shifted form and then a human got too close to her territory and saw her, and they called animal control--" I saw as Florence's eyes begin to water this was a hard story for her to tell. It's a hard story for any shifter to hear.
"They captured her. Knocked her out and when she woke up she was in a zoo." Sloan finished for her. And my heart dropped.
This is why we don't mingle with humans. This is why we stay clear of their territory, especially in shifted form.
"Is she...?" Eli asked softly, pain etched on his face.
There is this tale amongst the shifters of what happens when you're in your second form for too long. The human loses themselves, their mind goes and they become fully animal. Not quite rogue, they can always be saved, but who knows how long it will take before the human side is strong enough to free them.
"No, no she's not. Not yet, at least." Sloan said as he walked over and sat beside his sister. "She's been on more 'grazes' than any of us Tiger's combined. She and her tiger have a strong bond, but she's been there for three years now, she doesn't have much of her mind left."
"We should do something," Delany spoke up, tears running down her face. "We could save her."
"I don't even know where she is--" Sloan began but Florence cut him off.
"I do. I know where she is."
"How?" Ezra asked, walking over to join us on the couch.
"With us Tigers, we are all connected. We all can feel each other one way or another. We know when one is near and if we wanted to find someone specific we'd find that thread and pull it."
Did this mean that Sloan knows where that stupid, ugly ass, little, rat-looking, sorry mistake for a tiger, is?
Sloan must have felt my anger through the bond and I felt him slowly caress down it. Making me look at him. She gave me a soft smirk like he knew what I was thinking. He whispered a soft 'No it's not as strong with him as it is with everyone else' which reassured me slightly.
"But I think because she and I are the only females, I can feel her more than the others. Her thread has always been thicker than the others, and more visible. If I just follow it, I'd find her." Florence looked determined to do such, but worry crossed her twin's face.
"You're not going alone." Ambrose's voice was powerful as he spoke.
"I'll be okay, everyone else is busy with--"
"I said no." I almost flinched at how strong his voice was. Florence gave him a soft face, knowing that he was being protective. "I'll go with you."
"Wait, really?" Florence perked up and stood to her feet.
"Yes, I will help you save your friend." Ambrose could barely get the words out before Florence wrapped her arms around him and jumped on him. I could see Ambrose trying to fight his smile but he gave in and a small one slowly appeared on his face.
They all went back to talking to each other about nonsense but Sloan stood to his feet and grabbed my hand. I followed him out of the room until we were a decent ways from everyone and he pulled me into a hug. Burying his face into my neck.
"You okay, tiger?" I whispered into his ear, and he nodded against me.
"Yeah. I love them, I do. But I miss us just being alone all day, every day." I laughed at him, and I made sure to pull him closer to me.
"You want to spend the rest of the day in bed? Watching Cars, alone?" I asked him, and honestly, it sounded appealing to me too. I missed us just being alone.
Aunt Rena had texted me a few times this week about the house and how the construction was going. We also talked about how we left things. I hated being mad at her. She was like a mom to me, and I knew she didn't mean anything by it. I just want to better my life, move forward, and be at peace.
"Yes, yes please."
"Come on, Tiger."