Page 11 of Tiger Bitten

“It happened young?”

She nodded. “Really young.”

“Fuck. I’m sorry. Who did it to you?”

She winced and shook her head and focused on the kitchen. From here, she could see two cooks working away through the window.

“You smell like pain,” he said so softly, she nearly missed it.

When she looked back at him, his eyes were the softest she had ever seen. He might’ve had truth in his voice when he had assured her that he was dangerous earlier, but Mars also had good in him. She could tell.

“Who did it to you?” she asked before she could stop herself.

His eyes closed off immediately and he leaned back in his chair as if he needed to create space between them.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “You asked so I thought it was on the table. I’m really sorry.” Oh, she felt bad. He wasn’t looking at her anymore. “I told you I’m not in the culture. I’ve never actually hung around any…you know…”

“Cats?” he asked.

“Yeah. You guys are pretty solitary creatures.”

“You guys,” he murmured.

Shoot. She’d said that wrong. “Your brothers. Do they live close?”

“No,” he murmured. “Dame lives in Salt Lake City, and Stellan is God-knows-where. Dead, maybe. He stopped calling us back months ago.”

“Oh my gosh. Do you need to file a missing person’s report?”

“Nah. I’m sure we would’ve found out something if he messed up.”

“Messed up, how?”

Mars shrugged. “My stepdad.”

“He messed up your stepdad?” she asked, confused.

“No. My stepdad was the one who Turned us. All three of us. Same night.”

“Holy…shit,” she whispered. She didn’t even know what else to say. That was the most awful piece of information he could’ve ever dropped on her. His stepdad? Someone who was supposed to protect him?

She swallowed hard. The waitress set an obscene amount of dumplings and spring rolls in front of them, but her appetite had gone away.

“Eat,” he murmured, gesturing. “You said you were hungry.”

“That was before you told me a family member Turned you,” she whispered, leaning forward so none of the humans who were being seated at tables around them would hear.

He shrugged. “It was a long time ago.” He said it so nonchalantly, but Ren was still absolutely choking on his admission.

Ren swallowed hard again and pulled a spring roll onto her appetizer plate. She spun it around in a slow circle, her mind racing as she imagined what it had been like for him.

“Ask and get it over with,” he said, his appetizer plate still empty. “I can’t watch you pick at your food. It’s not fun to eat alone.”

“Why did your stepdad Turn you?”

“He was trying to kill us. He wasn’t good at much. He did a shit-job at killing us and gave us all tigers instead.”

“And he was the Cat,” she whispered in horror. “Who tried to kill you and your brothers.”