Yes, you will be finding out what happened with Tawny while we were reading books 3 & 4. Remember: Tawny's father is a werewolf and her mother was a werecat. Important to remember.
CRIMSON I walk out of the room, Gillian in tow and Tawny behind her. Shit I forgot all about Arnold coming to meet with us, the whole reason I needed to speak with Tawny. I have no idea what happened in there. How or why - I did what I did. When tawny told me she felt it every time I made love to Gillian, the guilt inside me filled my head with doubts and my heart ached for her discomfort. Pain that I had caused. The look in her tear-glazed eyes had my resolve breaking and I could think of nothing more than comforting her. Once in my arms, I could think of nothing else but being inside her, claiming her as mine. I wanted her for my own selfish reasons. Was that the bond between us at work? An invisible thread drawing me to her? Whatever happened, whatever it was - it couldn’t and wouldn’t happen again. I open the door to my office, Arnold Maydor, Gillian’s father is standing with his back to me his attention on whatever he sees outside the window that looks over the training gro
TAWNY 4 MONTHS EARLIER For weeks we trained the Cambiador warriors. Taking a page out of MacTire’s book and splitting the warriors into five groups. Alpha, Beta, and Delta platoons. The other two platoons were named Gamma divisions. They were the warriors that would stay behind and protect the Kingdom’s capital. Then there were the new recruits, the younger werecats - the Zeta team. It was their job to act as enforcers in emergencies until they came of age or moved up to the gamma divisions. Crimson, Mason, and I had done a fine job of training up our army and getting them fighting-ready and confident to face Orion Artos and his army of crawlers and rogues. I stood next to Mason’s side as we watched our fighters, men and women training. Unfortunately, there were only a handful of women who joined the Cambiador army. But it was a start in the right direction. I personally had started their training, until they were strong enough and skilled enough to join a higher ranking. Even Gil
TAWNY “No!” I say loud and clear - my voice raising above the arguing males. “Tawny,” Mason sighs, coming to stand in front of me. His hand reached up, palm cupping my face tenderly. “He is an unknown. You are skilled and strong but…” He doesn’t have to finish the sentence. I get it. He’s a huge bastard, one hit from him and I could be knocked out, killed even. Then he would hold a position to be named the next King. “Worst-case scenario, he wins, then he will have to fight Crimson once his and Gillian’s contract has been fulfilled.” I look between Crimson and Gillian for clarification. Crimson nods, defeatedly “That is correct. But Princess, you can rescind your acceptance of the challenge. You can’t fight him.” I rear back at his words. I am not weak. I will rescind nothing. “I will fight,” I say matter of fact. “Whether I fight and lose or dispute the challenge – the outcome will be the same. I will not lose.” I hope. “But Tawny…” “No ‘buts’, Mason. In battle, we don’t get t
CRIMSON STILL 3 1/2 MONTHS EARLIER Tomorrow, we leave for Riocht and as I look around at our warriors packing up trucks with weapons and other equipment, a forlorn feeling creeps in knowing that not every soldier will come back with us. Gillian and a few other mates and wives are handing out special uniforms that Alpha Lamia had commissioned. We were sent four hundred of the metallic materialled outfits. They were lightweight and the fabric acted as a shield for our bodies, and they stretched and rolled when we shifted. Tawny and Mason had given us a demonstration of their uses. And although they couldn’t prevent a sword or arrow from piercing us, they did deflect teeth and claws from sinking into skin. The most useful thing about the uniforms was their ability to allow us shifters to keep clothes on us and shred them. Then when we shifted back to feet, we had clothes to cover us. Besides looking like a real army, for the first time since I can remember - the uniforms were all bla
TAWNY “Shit, shit” I mumble as I stumble to the bedside table. Pulling my shorts up and almost tripping over my own feet in the process. I rip the drawer open and grab the bottle of pills, opening it with shaky hands and dumping two of the pills into my clammy palm. “What the fuck are those?” Mason’s agitated and harsh voice cuts through the air as I pop the pills into my mouth. He reaches me and snatches the bottle from my hand inspecting it. His eyes widen and his mouth forms an ‘O’ as realization dawns on him. “Fuck Tawny,” he sighs “He’s your mate, isn’t he?” I nod swallowing the pills. “Why didn’t you tell me?” His voice has lost all the anger and now holds sympathy. “How long have you been taking these?” He refers to the heat reducing pills. Pills that are meant to hide the scent of a werecats heat and reduce the symptoms, keeping the heat at bay. Pills that don’t seem to work when around Crimson, evidently, if tonight is anything to go by. “A few months,” I admit “A week
TAWNY PRESENT DAY For the past few months, Crimson and I have been able to, for the most part, avoid each other. We were getting really good at it by now. Both of us spent more time outside the palace when the other is there. Mason and I had been traveling back and forth, visiting Clowders and small Prides outside the kingdom as we searched for the missing King of the werewolf kingdom. Kellen Moon had been abducted and shipped to the second continent and we had spent several months searching the werecat kingdom in case he had been brought here. Eventually, and thankfully, he was discovered to be in a faraway kingdom of Bhakhil and they managed to get him out of there. With his newfound mate, who I couldn’t wait to meet. Hopefully soon. I was due to visit up north. That, and Lamia gave birth to triplets. I missed not being there for their birth because of my commitment to help search for Kellen, then life happens, and we had things that needed to be dealt with here. I was thankfu
CRIMSON As the weeks went by, I had become more agitated. Even Gillian’s presence gnawed at my nerves, and I didn’t know why. Lie. I knew exactly why. Ever since Tawny rejected me, it hadn’t sat right with me. The scene from that night - playing over and over in my mind drove me insane as to why I should even care. She rejected me, so what? It’s not as if I felt the mate bond anyway. Gillian was upset with me. I could tell. Last night while staying in the hotel room she tried to be intimate with me and I pushed her away. I just couldn’t. I couldn't even get hard the last few times she stroked me or took my cock between her lips. Her scent was beginning to repulse me. She knew something was wrong. And there was. Is. Tawny. I played it off that I was just stressed and wasn’t feeling it. To her credit she let it go, but I almost wish she hadn’t. I wish she has yelled and screamed at me. Demanded to know what my problem was. I wish she had gotten so angry that she lashed out at me
TAWNY Tapping my pen on the paper rapidly, I scrub my face for the thousandth time and blow huff out a deep breath, also for the thousandth time. I drop my pen onto the pile of paperwork I was working through, unable to concentrate. My thoughts flit back to yesterday. More specifically last night when Crimson showed up at my room looking forlorn and regretful. He was trying to tell me something. But whatever it was he wanted to say – he didn’t. Now it was bugging me. What was it he couldn’t say? I had the sickening feeling he was going to reject me. Why that thought made my stomach churn with tension, I have no idea. Isn’t that what I would want, wouldn’t that break the bond completely? I hadn’t even thought that he would need to reject me to sever the bond. It sure does explain a lot though. Why I didn’t feel the pain of a broken bond like so many have told me exists. Why my feline was content and seemingly not bothered that I had rejected her mate. However, that doesn’t explai