He hadn’t only hung out with her for the sake of their “secret operation” to stop Dr Cooper from shipping him off someplace. No, he’d watched over Aspen. Protected her. Avenged her, even, where necessary.
Over the years, they’d shared everything—secrets, hopes, goals. They spent time together doing everything from simply watching TV to camping. They could sit in silence, and there would be nothing awkward about it, because neither felt compelled to entertain the other. They could just sit. Be. Wind down.
Aspen was very close to Havana and Bailey, but the bond she’d formed with Camden ran deeper. Her bearcat was equally fond of him. The animal trusted him 100% and would be devastated if he chose to return to being a loner. Hell, the bearcat didn’t even like that he now lived at a separate apartment, so she wasn’t happy with Aspen for insisting on it.
He’d been Aspen’s roommate in every complex they’d lived at. Until now. Camden was no more pleased about the change than her inner animal was. But Aspen had her reasons for insisting on this new arrangement, and they were good ones.
A short elevator ride took Aspen down to the first level of the building. She made a beeline for the rear door. She heard the rumbly growl before she even stepped outside. The sight she found made her wince. One of her pride mates, Tim, stood flattened against the wall while over 500 pounds of sleek muscle, immense strength, and raw power paced before him.
The tiger truly was as magnificent as he was formidable. All white fur and dark stripes, he possessed a distinct aura of nobility and the badass grace of a hunter. And right then, he was in a foul mood.
Shifters tended to be supremely wary of pallas cats. Mean and vicious and bundled with attitude, those dastardly little suckers were the physical manifestation of crazy. If they decided to take you down, you were going down. Camden’s tiger, though … he knew no fear. He was implacably ferocious and would take on anyone.
Given that he was equipped with a broad skull, massive structure, powerful forelimbs, and long, curved canines, he had every right to be so confident in his ability to overpower any challenger. There was no denying that the beast was a superior killing machine. One swipe from one of those front paws could smash a skull or break a spine. Not much got in his way. If something did, he removed it from his path—usually in a fatal method.
She sidled up to Luke. The Beta was a ruthless son of a bitch who was also as hot and well-built as his brother, Tate. The Beta position suited Luke, despite that he was a natural-born alpha. He was all over the current petty shit happening in her life, which she massively appreciated, because it needed to stop yesterday.
Right then, though, none of that mattered. Her only concern was Camden’s tiger. “What happened?” she asked Luke.
“Well, as per your request, I instructed the pride not to let their animals roam out here if the tiger was around,” the Beta replied. “I explained that the beast liked his space and wouldn’t take kindly to sharing it. But Tim either forgot or thought the tiger wouldn’t truly care so much.” Luke licked his front teeth. “No one mentioned that the animal’s a little … unstable.”
Aspen frowned. “He’s just moody and antisocial.” And, okay, unstable. But that wasn’t exactly his fault. “I warned you he tends to view any living creature as prey.”
“You did, and I warned everyone of that,” said Luke. “It isn’t the tiger’s fault that Tim didn’t listen. I’m not holding the beast to blame for this little scenario. But I am hoping you’ll calm his ass down, because I can’t have him attacking Tim.”
Attempting to calm him would get her nowhere. The cat calmed in his own sweet time. But she could certainly try to coax him to return upstairs. She took a few steps forward as she called out, “Hey, Sabretooth.”
His head whipped toward her, and his blue eyes focused on her with a burning intensity. Flattening his ears, he bared his teeth.
“Now that was rude.” Tigers often were, whether in human or animal form. “You need to let him go,” she said, flicking Tim a look. The animal wouldn’t understand the words, but Camden would hear and communicate them to his beast.
A growl sawed at the back of the tiger’s throat, and he swiped at the ground.
“Yeah, I get that he’s not your favorite person right now. But I think it’s safe to say that he received that message loud and clear. Come on, let’s go inside.”
He only huffed. And that wasn’t good. The tiger was incredibly stubborn. If he truly did not want to walk away, well, then he was not going to walk away.