Page 50 of Tiger Born

“I wanted to thank you,” Stellan said softly around a bite of sandwich.

“For what?” Dame asked with his back to him as he looked in the fridge at the leftovers.

“Not you. I meant I wanted to thank her.”

Misty’s scent hit him in that moment, and Dame stood turned in a rush.

Misty stood at the door, leaning on it. Her hair was still wet from her shower, and her skin was clean and clear of make-up. She wore one of his t-shirts knotted up in front, and the bottom part of her blue scrubs. She was so freaking pretty in the afternoon sunlight.

She smiled at him and then returned her attention to Stellan. “Thank me for what?” she asked as she carefully sat in the chair, far away from the cage.

Stellan swallowed the bite and slid a dark-eyed gaze to her. “For putting me back together. I don’t think many people would’ve done that. Me dying would’ve solved all your problems.”

“And it would’ve been the start of an entirely new set of problems,” she said easily.

“Like?” Stellan asked, curiosity in his tone.

Dame didn’t understand. They were talking like normal. Stellan wasn’t even scenting the air or pacing the cage. The tiger was staying buried.

“Like it would’ve broken Dame’s heart to lose his brother and therefore would’ve broken mine. Like my guilty conscience if I didn’t try. Like the awful feeling that would sit in the pit of my stomach any time your brothers talked about you with sadness in their voices. Like the guilt Dame would carry for killing you. I didn’t want him to choose between us.”

“He chose you,” Stellan said. He pursed his lips and dropped his gaze back to the sandwich. “Fair choice. I know what I’ve done to your life.” That last part was for Dame. “Triplets aren’t supposed to have a big brother. We’re all supposed to be the same. We’re all supposed to lean on each other, not drag each other down. I could see the toll this whole time. I just didn't know how to be…less. The tiger was really big, and I…well, I was small.”

“Was?” Mars asked from the doorway.

Stellan’s nostrils flared with his deep inhalation. His somber gaze glided to Misty. “He’s watching you.”

“I’m sure he is,” she said tiredly.

“He doesn’t call you the Rabbit anymore though.”

Misty’s delicate eyebrows drew down, and she leaned forward in the chair. “What does he call me now?”

Stellan lifted his chin higher into the air. “He doesn’t call you anything at all.”

“Truth,” Dame murmured, hope stirring in his middle. “Stellan? What’s happening?”

“I can hear him. I can feel him. He can feel me. He doesn’t want my skin around Misty. He thinks it’s dangerous.”

“He thinks she’s dangerous?” Mars asked, coming to stand on the other side of Misty.

“For her. He doesn’t want it to be dangerous for her.” Stellan’s eyes were full of raw vulnerability as he looked at Dame. “He knows she saved him. I…” His voice cracked, and he had to swallow hard and try again. “I am here. I can hear him and talk to him. Inside, you know? I know what he’s thinking. Feeling. He is quiet. He’s watching.”

Dame linked his hands behind his head and looked at Mars, who looked just as stunned as he felt. “Stellan, that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”

“If you open the cage, I won’t hurt her. Even if he wanted to, I could stop him. He saw her refuse to shoot me when I was begging. I was trying to kill my tiger, and she wouldn’t do it. That was the first time she saved him. Second time, after the fight, he saw her ask to save him. Then he saw her fix him. She’s not the Rabbit anymore.”

Truth, truth, truth.

Dame inhaled sharply and squatted down, his hands over his mouth as he absorbed what Stellan was saying. A hundred memories flooded him of trying to keep Misty off Stellan’s radar.

Stellan’s eyes had stayed soft even with Misty here, filling this place with her scent. He was keeping his mind. He wasn’t hunting her, and the tiger wasn’t either.

When he looked up at Mars, his brother was staring back at him. His blue eyes said so much.

Without a word, Mars strode for the cage, and Dame stood in front of Misty, blocking her from Stellan.

If this was a trick, they would know fast.