Page 28 of Tiger Bitten

Stellan was sitting on his back porch. Mars could tell just by the tension in his brother’s shoulders that it was him, and not Dame.

The creak of the door filled the silence of the night as Mars slowly opened the back door of his house. “What are you doing here?” Mars asked.

“You said you need my help,” Stellan said in a snarling voice. He smelled like fur, and something bitter.

“I sent you that voicemail an hour ago.” Mars looked around, chills running up his spine. “Where have you been staying?”

“Close to you.”

Mars barely recognized his voice. It sounded more animal than man.

Mars walked slowly around the outdoor chair and took in his brother’s face. There was a long scar down the side of it now, and his eyes were bright gold. He was staring straight ahead. Stellan gestured to a pair of beer cans on the outdoor table as Mars took a seat on the free-standing swing. “I picked those up at a gas station. I don’t drink much anymore but tonight it felt right. I haven’t seen you in a year.”

This interaction was strange. Stellan had been pretty normal when they’d parted ways in Salt Lake City last year.

“Are you tired?” Mars asked, reaching forward to grab the closest can.

Stellan finally blinked. It was slow, and his body seemed to relax as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I’m always tired.” There was truth to his tone.

Mars huffed a sigh. He’d been wrong to bother his brother with his problems. He would bet money Stellan had problems of his own.

“Listen, I’m sorry I called you—”

“You found your Rabbit?”

“I think so? It’s hard to leave her alone.”

“She’s all you think about?”

“Yes,” Mars murmured.

“She’s human?”

Mars shook his head. “She’s a Cat.”

“Good.”

“Good?”

“At least she has weapons,” Stellan said in that strange snarling voice.

“Right. She doesn’t seem like the type that can take my tiger though.”

“Where is she?”

But something inside of Mars told him to protect her. He’d seen when Stellan had hunted Misty. Even if his Rabbit hunt was through, he would never fully trust Stellan again.

“She’s safe for the night,” he answered.

“Good.” There was a hollowness to Stellan’s voice. He leaned forward and grabbed his beer, cracked it open and took a long sip.

Uneasy, Mars opened his and took a sip. Hell it was good. Stellan had remembered his favorite beer. Mars took a longer drink and wiped a drip of condensation off his hand. Another drip splatted on his pants. “You going to the Ambush reunion?” Mars asked.

“I’ve been waiting for you to leave. I’m only going if you do.”

“Wait, so you’ve been here the whole time? Watching me?”

Stellan shrugged and stared out at the trees that lined Mars’s fenceline. “Not the whole time. Just for a few days.”