The Maverick Pride Tales - Chapter 135: Chapter 135

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Anna grunted and tried breathing, but the pain in her stomach was too strong. “I don’t, I don’t feel well.”
“Shit. Anna? Can you hear me?”
She could, but there was no room to answer. Her brain was being bombarded with so many emotions.
Anger at her sister. Desire for her mate. Eagerness to run in the snow and play like a wild thing.
It was like something inside of her was biting and scratching against her skin. The tearing and burning sensations were growing. Her nerve-endings screamed as the feelings intensified. Her gums ached, hell, even her nailbeds hurt.
“What is happening?” she looked down and screeched.
“Oh fuck,” Lance growled, eyes wide.
Her usually short fingernails now resembled three-inch-long, black claws, orange and black fur began to sprout out along her skin. Something inside of her was pissed. It wanted to hunt her sister down and smack the bitch for what she’d done. The animalistic instinct seemed to intensify, as did the pain.
“It’s the Puspa,” growled Lance. “Baby, are you okay? Fuck, I didn’t know. I’m so sorry. Listen to me, my love. I gave you my claiming bite, but the Fates blessed us even further.”
“Blessed us? This hurts like fuck, Lance.”
She knew instinctively that extra grrrr in his voice was his beast. When he glanced at her, she saw the animal in his eyes. Worry and concern, along with other, deeper emotions flooded her.
It was almost overwhelming, but that pain she felt still held her in its grips. It wouldn’t allow her to be swept away by the tide of emotions that was her mate’s own feelings.
Mine.
What the? A voice inside her seemed to be calling out. It wanted to claim him. To mark him.
Mine. Yes, mine.
“Shit, Annalia, you must listen to me,” Lance cursed and slammed the steering wheel with his hands. “This is too fast, but Uncle Uzzi explained you were my mate, right? Last night, when we made love, and I bit you, that was my animal side claiming you as mate. In doing so, I sealed our matebond, accepting the universe’s blessing, that’s you, essentially. Shifters know their mates. You are mine. But my bite did something else⁠—”
“What the fuck did it do? Ow!” she roared, like really fucking roared in pain.
The highway was only semi-crowded, a good thing for the Garden State Parkway. The snow was coming down faster, but the roads were salted and clear for now. Lance pressed the gas pedal hard.
“Aghhhhhh. Laannncccceeeee!” She tossed her head from side to side. It was too much.
“I gave you a Tiger,” he whispered. “Easy, love, hold on a few minutes more,” he cajoled, but it was no good.
Whatever was happening, it was happening now. She heard the metal in the seat bend as she pushed back against the passenger side chair.
Fucking hell, she was breaking his car.
“I don’t give a shit about the car,” he grunted. “Fuck, baby, I am so sorry I did not even think about this as a possibility because it is so rare. Don’t fight her, Anna. Let your she-Cat in. She won’t hurt you anymore than she has to.”
His fingers gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were white with the strain. Then she knew. Deep inside, she understood they were connected.
Lance was right there with her, feeling her pain, going through whatever this was that held her tight in its relentless grip.
“Puspa,” he told her the strange word again, and she waited for him to continue. “It means awakening in Bengali. I awakened the beast within you, love. Let her in, Anna.”
“I’m a Shifter now? Lance,” she growled his name in disbelief.
Roooooooooooaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrr.
Yes, that sound was her. She was growling at him. Like a fucking Tiger.
“Sandra made you mad. Tiger wants to protect.”
He was reduced to barely understandable sentence fragments. But she knew exactly what he was saying. It all rang true. Deep in that place inside her, Anna felt her animal spirit trying desperately to make contact, to connect. All she had to do was let her.
She’d been through so much with Lance in such a short time. Who would believe all this could happen in only a couple of days? But it was happening regardless of belief.
Anna had mistakenly trusted her sister and Glenn to do what was best for her when she’d been growing up, and that was a mistake.
It was her turn now to decide. From the photo albums and her mother’s diary, she knew her parents had shared an intense love. Her mother claimed she’d fallen for her man at first sight, and Anna had always dreamed of the same thing happening to her.
This was her shot. With Lance she wasn’t risking her heart, she was letting it soar. People might think it was crazy, but who cared what people think anyway? Not Anna. She was going to hold on to Lance with both hands, er, claws.
Mine!
With a tremendous roar and a bone-breaking crunch, Anna let it happen. Lance threw the SUV in park and jumped out of the car to open her door. Not a second too soon, either. Tigers were big as fuck. And heavy, too.
“Come on, baby,” he stood back, crooning to her in his deep, sexy baritone.
Annalia leapt from the ruined vehicle. She sniffed and chuffed at the falling snow. A million different stimuli invaded her heightened senses, but Lance was there to walk her through it.
He whispered encouragingly, praising her beauty and strength. Anna had to admit her feline side was so on board with that. Everyone liked to be complimented now and then. Even pussies.
Rrrroooaaaaarrr!
“Damn, you are so beautiful,” he said and grinned widely and sank to the floor despite the gathering snow.
Annalia chuffed again, feeling his pride in her as if it were her own. Growling, she bumped his chest with her large, feline head. She could hardly believe it. Anna was a Tiger—a real, honest to gods, striped fur having, tail swaying, fangs dripping, huge snarly ass Tiger.
“She-Tiger, love.”
Her mate was still grinning at her, and she wanted to shake him. Panic flared to life. How could he do this to her? Why didn’t he tell her? But just as quickly, she let all that go. Besides, he was too cute to ruin with her new claws.
Still, he deserved a little displeasure, so she hissed and snarled, snapping her jaws as close to his face as she dared get. Then she pushed him with her massive head once again, and he rolled over laughing.
The jerk.
“Let me shift, love. Then we can run together,” he said, and his invitation was made with a low rumble that made even her furry bits quake with need.
Fuck.
In her fur, she recognized him as her fated mate down to her soul. All the doubts her human side had with trying to reconcile her fantasy of love at first sight, was nothing compared to the reality that was her feelings for Lance.
The wintergreen scent she’d thought was simply a breath mint he’d eaten last night invaded her nostrils, and she knew it was all him. And he was all hers. His scent, his unique flavor, called to her like no other.
Absolute certainty that he was her mate filled her, and Anna understood his rush to claim her the night before. It humbled her and thrilled her at the same time. She shivered in response to the emotions washing over her in great tsunamic waves. Lance swapped skin for fur, his Shift much swifter and easier than hers.
It will get better, love, he whispered into her mind.
Her mate was large and strong, as handsome on four legs as he was on two.
Want. Need. Mine.
Yours, he snarled, let’s explore together. Then I will claim you again.
Her stomach quivered at the suggestion. His voice was clear inside her head, where hers was mostly single words, but she knew that would change too over time. Sounded like a plan. Anna wanted him as badly as he did her.
Yes. Definitely. Always.
Grrr.
Before the moment grew too intense, Lance swatted her butt with the tip of his thick tail and took off. Her she-Cat yowled indignantly, giving chase. The snow was thick, covering the woods in a blanket of white, but her she-Tiger went wild for it.
She ran after snowflakes and caught them on her long, sand-papery tongue. All her senses had increased. The world was new and exciting like this, but she was still getting the hang of things on four legs.
She stopped at a stream to drink, and her overzealous mate tackled her from behind. Annalia managed to stay on the shore, rolling on the bank. She stopped in prone position.
Waiting.
Lance grunted and leapt to her side. She felt his fear, worry, and anxiety as if they were her own. The joke she’d planned forgotten, she sprung up rushing to reassure him. The big Tiger heaved a breath and licked her face with the flat side of his rough tongue.
It was unlike anything she’d ever felt, but it was honest and good. For the first time in her life, Annalia understood what it was to be loved.
She knew now that Shifters were real, but she didn’t know mating one would feel this way. Thank goodness for Uncle Uzzi. Running into the matchmaker had been the best damn thing that had ever happened to Anna.
But even in her wildest dreams, Anna had never expected this. Falling in love with her soulmate and turning into a Tiger—how did one prepare for such things? How did one adjust?
Together, Lance answered her unspoken questions.
Together, she echoed
Anna calmed immediately. He was a gift, she realized. As was turning into a Shifter. The best gifts she’d ever received in her whole life. His wintergreen scent wrapped around her like a warm, familiar blanket and she shivered and rubbed along his side.
It was time for them to go home.