Daunte had left his truck hidden from view a short distance away. Clari and he rode in front, and Tania took the back seat with Ian's tiger. She couldn't stop herself from caressing his fur, finding his touch comforting. 

She was still shaken up; not as much by seeing people torn to bits in front of her—they'd had it coming—but by her kidnapping. Expecting it didn't make the whole thing any less of an ordeal. 

She'd felt helpless. She'd felt helpless and she'd fucking hated it. 

"Do you think I could be a shifter, someday?" she asked, talking to Clari, but everyone in the car froze, tiger included. "Be changed like you, I mean." 

"Is that what you want?" 

She nodded, firm and definite. 

"It's not something I can promise," Clari replied, carefully. "And it could also be dangerous to the pride, if people found out...but if Ace and Rye agree, maybe. It doesn't always work." 

"It'll work on her," said Daunte. "She has it in her, like you did, before the change." 

Tania wondered what he'd meant by "it" but, for once, she didn't ask questions. She was just too tired, and the fact that Clari had said maybe was reassuring. 

The drive to the territory felt endless. 

"Do you want to rest or to head to the pride house?" 

The tiger on her lap made a guttural sound that had Daunte laughing. "Hey, don't growl at me. You'll have to ask the lady." 

"What does he want?" she wondered. 

"Ian is freaked. All his protective instincts are on fire, hence why he can't shift back. He wants you in his space, his place." 

Oh. "That'd be nice," she replied. She was exhausted, but hadn't wanted to be alone, so she would have chosen the pride house rather than the lake house, but his place was even better. "I've never seen your place," she told the beast, wondering if he understood her. 

"Oh, you're in for a treat. The cabins are amazing." 

Daunte drove past the lake house, his four-wheel-drive bumping for a couple of miles, until they reached the most picturesque wooden cabin at the edge of the lake. It was all on one floor, good-sized, and there was a swing on the porch. 

The betas dropped them off. Ian bumped his head on her leg, inviting her to step forward. 

The door was unlocked. Inside, the home was tidy, and smelled of pumpkin spice, like someone had just made an apple pie. There was a warm rug on the floor, brown and white furniture, full bookshelves, and an open fireplace. She laughed. 

"A fireplace in a wood house, really? That's tempting fate." 

"Well, we do have a seer in the pride, so I figured it was safe enough." 

She turned, and her jaw hit the floor. Shit. Instead of a tiger, there was a six-foot-tall naked mountain of muscles and deliciousness. She couldn't have stopped herself from staring if she'd tried. Which she didn't. 

"Why, see something you like?" 

His entire tone and demeanor had done a one eighty. No more mild flirtiness; his eyes were devouring her like she was the one without any clothes on. 

"Yes," she croaked. Then, clearing her throat, she challenged, "Do you?" 

Ian laughed. "You love playing with fire, don't you?"

He stepped forward, tilted her head and took her lips. 

"If you stop and say goodnight, I may kick you in your balls." 

He laughed against her neck. "Hellcat." 

Then he kissed her right under the ear, and bit her earlobe, making her gasp and plaster herself to him. 

"I stopped and said goodnight," he whispered, "because I knew that if I touched you, I'd want to take you, and bite you, and make you mine." 

That sounded like a great idea right now, as he peeled her sweater off her and cupped her breast. 

"Wait, did you say bite?" 

"Oh, yes. I very much want to bite you. Here," he said, his finger flickering over her nipple through her lacy bra. He unhooked it. "And here." 

Now, he traced her hips and wrapped his palm around the swell of her butt cheeks. 

"But I think I will mark you here, where all can see it." 

His mouth fell on her throat and he kissed it. 

Mark. She knew that term. She'd seen marks before. Her mother's, for one. 

"You want me. As in, for real. Permanently?" 

"Till death, and all that. I can get you a white dress if that's your sort of thing." 

"That was the worst proposal in the history of proposals. Shifters suck at romance. If you want to mark me, anywhere, you've got to convince me first." 

He unhooked the top button of her jeans. "Challenge accepted." 

Ian got on his knees and slid her jeans off before burying his face between her legs and licking her, slowly, leisurely, until she was chanting his name, hands curled in his dark hair. Then he did some more convincing, talking to her tits, teasing them with his thumbs, and mouth, and teeth. She would have agreed to anything just to get more. 

"Please!" 

"Please what, sweet?" 

Bite me. She wanted to say bite me. Instead, she told him, "Everything." And he did just that.