Chapter 25

Xavier grinned at his best friend as they both stood near the door watching his mate petting Teether, soothing the pain away.

Zachary rolled his eyes as he dangled the new tiger tooth necklace from his hand, “It figures that the only other person he lets near him besides you is Nikki, your mate.”

Xavier shrugged, “She’s got my scent all over her now.”

Zachary nodded, “Yeah, well the rest of us have hung around you long enough to have your scent, but still, it’s Nikki he warms up to.”

Xavier arched an eyebrow, “Are we jealous?”

Zachary gave him a look, “Yeah, jealous that a full grown male tiger prefers to rub itself all over you and Nikki?” He shook his head, “Not a chance. The three of you can rub each other all you want. I’m going elsewhere.”

That got a wicked grin from Xavier, “Asked Kris if she wants to rub and pet you yet?”

Zachary growled, “None of your business!”

Nikki turned to look at them with a frown, “Would you two leave! You’re upsetting him and he’s still pissed that you just had to have his tooth!”

Zachary rolled his eyes, “It wasn’t that painful! He’s had teeth pulled before and he’s just doing that to get some sympathy from you.”

Nikki turned a pleading look to her husigos who nodded and ushered Zachary out of the room, “You have to get going anyway if you’re going to get to Kris when school lets out. Just make sure she understands how to use the necklace.”

Zachary nodded as he and Xavier made their way towards the main hall, “I’ll make sure. And tell Teether thanks again for allowing me to do this.”

Xavier nodded, “I will. Tell Kris hi for Nikki and I, okay?”

“Will do.”

Xavier watched Zachary head towards the front of the castle for a few moments before going back to retrieve his feigos from his tiger’s side.

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Kristine smiled and pushed off of the wall when Zachary came in to view. He grinned at her as he began to jog towards her.

“Hey!” she chuckled as he came to stand in front of her, slightly out of breath.

“Hey.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek, “Sorry I’m late, I had to do something first before I came.”

She nodded, “It’s okay, I haven’t been waiting long.”

“Good.” He slipped his arm around her shoulders and they began walking to her house. “Did your parents give you any trouble?” he asked.

She sighed, “No more than usual.”

He frowned, “Really? Cause that just sounded like it was more than usual.”

She looked up at him, “No, it’s something else.”

“Like?”

“We’ll talk about it in the barn, okay?”

Zachary simply nodded and they walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence.

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Nikki sat forward in the chair, a frown marring her features as she looked over the paper once more, “This can’t be right.” she muttered.

Devnet stopped what she was doing and looked up at her daughter in law, “What is it?”

Nikki handed her the paper, “It’s a permit stating that new housing is to be built in the third section of the West Side City for those residents from the Western border.”

Devnet nodded, “Yes. So what’s wrong with it?”

“I thought large bodies of residents such as these were only moved if it was a state of emergency, like floods or something.”

Again Devnet nodded.

“So, what’s the emergency?” Nikki asked as she swept her hand over the documents on the nearby table. “There’s nothing there that mentions anything about an emergency.”

Now Devnet frowned, “Are you sure?”

Nikki nodded, “Positive. I’ve looked three times already and all I have is that permit for the move.”

Devnet thought for a moment then shook her head, “Well, I for one don’t recall any emergency about the Western border. I guess you’ll have to run that by Xavier when you meet with him later.” She shrugged, “Could be he’s got the papers since the state of emergencies are part of his responsibilities anyway. While you just deal with the aftermath and keeping things calm.”

“You’re right. I’ll take this up with him during the meeting.”

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Kristine quirked an eyebrow as she looked up from the necklace Zachary had placed in her hand. When they had gotten to the barn and made themselves comfortable, Zachary had told her he had a gift for her. Then he’d told her to hold out her hand and close her eyes. When she had done that, he’d placed the necklace in her hand. Kristine hadn’t been expecting to open her eyes to see what looked like a tooth from some huge beast resting in her palm.

“Uh, thanks.” She grimaced, “Do I even want to know?”

Zachary chuckled, “It’s a tiger tooth.”

Kristine nodded, “Right, well, gotta say, that is one huge tiger.” She took hold of the gold chain and dangled it from her fingers.

This time Zachary laughed, “Yeah, you’re right. Teether is huge. Twice the size of Xavier and ten times as heavy.” He rolled his eyes, “But Xavier refuses to get rid of him and well, I think Nikki is now on his side too.”

Kristine’s eyes went wide, “Wait! Are you telling me Xavier owns a real tiger and Nikki knows about it?”

Zachary nodded, “Yeah. Xavier’s had Teether since he was a cub. And I guess since Xavier’s the one who raised him, Teether only allows him to get close to him. Well, now he allows Nikki to get close too.” He frowned, “He’s never allowed anyone else close, not even Xavier’s other family members.”

Kristine stood there with her mouth hanging open as Zachary continued to talk, “You should see him Kris. He’s this huge fierce tiger right, but when Xavier, and now Nikki come near, he suddenly turns into this giant kitten, purring and rubbing himself up against them.” He shook his head, “And when Xavier pulled the tooth from him earlier today, he starts whining and whimpering just so he could get lots of sympathy from Nikki.”

“And she went near it?” Kristine asked in horror.

Zachary looked at Kristine then and noticed the look on her face, as well as the way she was still holding the necklace away from her at arm’s length. He frowned, “Teether won’t harm Nikki, she’s Xavier’s mate, so Teether is honor bound to protect her.”

Kristine gaped at him, “It’s a tiger Zach, what does it know about honor?”

Zachary sighed, “Kris, you’re thinking of Teether as if he were a tiger from your world. He’s not. He’s from our world and he’s a li’ani.”

“What’s that?”

“I can’t really explain it, but more or less he’s a type of mythical creature. Meaning he’s an incredibly intelligent animal and can communicate with us using mind speech. They have their own language too, but when they communicate with us, they use our language.”

“And Nikki can understand what he’s saying?”

Zachary nodded, “Yes.”

Kristine frowned, “Geez, what’s Xavier been doing? Giving her a crash course in his language?”

“What? Oh, no, Teether can speak English. Xavier says Teether can probably speak any language that exists, but we really don’t know.”

“Really? Hasn’t he asked?”

“Yeah, but that’s the thing with these li’ani, they can be very secretive. It’s like they know how the universe works, but aren’t divulging the secrets because they don’t want to piss off whoever it is that created them. So, we’re on a need to know basis.”

Kristine rolled her eyes, “Figures, isn’t that always the case.”

Zachary chuckled, “Yeah.”

“Okay, so why did you force him to give me his tooth?”

“I didn’t force him. Xavier asked and Teether willingly gave it up. He was just acting like it hurt to get Nikki to comfort him.”

Kristine chuckled, “Typical male.”

“Hey!”

She grinned, “What? I’m just saying. So, what did Xavier say about that?”

“Nothing. I think he’s just glad that they’re taking to each other so well. I honestly think he would have begged if Nikki had insisted he get rid of Teether and she would have probably been the only one who would have convinced him to. He hasn’t listened to anyone else.”

Kristine nodded, “I have to agree. So, why this necklace?”

He took it from her as he said, “It’s a way for you to contact us, if there’s an emergency.” At her questioning look, he held it up for her to see. “Right here on the top of the tooth, see? You can press down on this part and it presses against the filling of the tooth. Basically inside the tooth are synapses, like left over nerve endings. You press down on them, and Teether gets a toothache. It lets him know you need help and he alerts us.” Kristine’s eyes widened in amazement at what the tooth could do. “It also helps us to track you should we need to find you.”

“What? How?”

“It’s still connected to Teether in a way, so it acts like a homing beacon. Should we need to find you, we bring Teether and he tracks you, like a hunting dog.”

“Wow! Um, isn’t it painful?”

Zachary shook his head, “No. You’d think so since the tooth still contains nerve endings, but no. He’s growing a new tooth as we speak. And when you use it, he’ll just feel this pulse where his old tooth used to be, nothing painful.”

“Am I the only one with a tooth? I mean how does he know it’s me?”

“There’s only two other people with teeth from him, Nikki and Xavier. Their teeth are from his top canines. When he gives a tooth, it’s never from the same spot he gave another. So if his top left canine starts pulsing, he’ll know something’s wrong with Nikki.”

Kristine chuckled, “Yep, smart tiger all right.”

Zachary grinned a moment before his look turned serious. He caressed Kristine’s cheek as he said, “I just wanted you to have something to keep you safer. Since we can’t always be with you and I worry about you up here with that gang still on the loose.”

Kristine sighed, “Right, the gang.” She looked up into his eyes, “that’s what I wanted to talk to you about, actually.”

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Evelyn made a face as she listened to Nikki talk about Teether and the things she’d learned about him. She really didn’t like that tiger, but then again, it didn’t seem to like anyone either.

“I can’t believe you actually like that beast Nikki! It’s so temperamental.”

Nikki chuckled, “Teether isn’t temperamental. He’s just misunderstood.”

She rolled her eyes, “Whatever. He’s tried to bite everyone who comes near him. Xavier was the only one he’s never tried to bite. Well, until you that is.”

Nikki nodded, “It’s because I’m Xavier’s mate. That’s what Teether said anyway. He told me he’d protect Xavier, myself, and any of our cubs.” She giggled, “That’s so adorable, he called our future children cubs.”

Evelyn scoffed, “Od’yia! You sound like Xavier when he talks about you.”

“Really? Do tell!”

“Oh no! I’m not gonna tell you how he sighs and goes on and on about ‘Nikki is my ulhi’maos, I love her so much’. Ugh, it’s enough to make my teeth hurt.”

Nikki giggled, “I love him too.”

Evelyn grinned, “I know you do. It’s so obvious to anyone who’s near the two of you.” She reached out and squeezed her sister in law’s hand, “I’m glad it’s you Nikki. And it really does make perfect sense to find out that you’re like us now. I think you were right, you and Xavier were meant to be. And you both make each other so happy.”

Nikki returned her gesture, “Cheer up Ev, you and Charles will have your day. I know it. I can see how you make him happy too.”

Evelyn sighed, “I don’t think my father is going to like this. I think he’s got his sights on some nobleman.”

“Charles is a nobleman, Evelyn. And before you start, your father will not have a say in your marriage because he’s not King anymore. Xavier is, so it’s he who will have a say. And believe me, Xavier likes Charles and I have no doubt he will allow the two of you to be together.” She grinned, “Unless he wants to sleep somewhere else for the rest of his life.”

Evelyn laughed, “You are so bad, te’rade dimo.”

As Evelyn continued to laugh, Nikki joined her until she suddenly felt it. Going silent, Nikki sat there trying to understand the feeling that was slowly moving through her body. Vaguely, she could hear Evelyn asking her what was wrong, but all she could focus on was the sudden heat that flared up inside of her. She felt like her nerves were on fire and getting worse by the second.

Evelyn’s eyes went wide when Nikki turned towards her, eyes turning into orange. She sprang to her feet when Nikki let out a hiss, baring her fangs.

Nikki couldn’t stop the hiss from escaping as the heat continued to get worse. Now her skin began to itch something fierce, as if there were something beneath, trying to get out. She snapped her teeth together in an attempt to get herself under control. Instead, her head whipped towards the door and she let out a growl as she went down into a crouch, digging claws into the wooden floor.

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Zachary frowned at his King as he began to pace the room. He’d just returned from being with Kristine and she’d told him about her parents and their plan to take the gang to court. He’d agreed that the best thing for her to do was exactly what she’d told her parents.

She would continue to go to school and he’d be there to walk her home. And if there was any problems at all, she would use the necklace and make her way to the barn into the portal. Zachary would be there to get her as soon as Teether sounded the alarm. He’d tried to convince her to just go with him, but she refused to leave her parents. So, he had to be content with the plan they already had in place.

As soon as he’d returned, he’d gone directly to Xavier and told him everything he and Kristine had discussed. He’d also said that he still wanted Kristine to come here, but she didn’t want to leave her parents.

Xavier had begun to pace when he’d gotten to the part about trying to convince Kristine to come here. He wasn’t sure if Xavier was even listening past that point because he suddenly seemed highly agitated about something.

“Xavier? Did you hear me? Can you ask Nikki to talk to her? Maybe she can convince Kristine to come here.”

Xavier’s answer was a growl.

Zachary’s frown deepened as he watched Xavier continue to pace. Alarm raced up his spine when he saw the claws flex.

“X? What’s wrong?”

“Zachary.” Devnet stepped into the room, her eyes on her agitated son. “I hate to interrupt, but do you think it’s possible to escort my son to his rooms?”

“What? I don’t think he’d let me near him in this state.”

Devnet nodded her agreement, but spoke to Xavier, “Xavier, ursa feigos menowa afo esu sehi ursa no‘edatioro.”

Xavier’s head immediately whipped to face Devnet and they all saw his nostrils flare. He lifted his head slightly and sniffed the air.

He growled, “Nikki!”

Devnet barely had time to get out of the way as Xavier launched himself out of the room.

Zachary chuckled, “Well, I guess I won’t have to escort him anywhere now, huh?”

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Nikki slammed her hand against the door, dragging her claws down the wood, splintering it. Still, it wasn’t enough to get through the door and to freedom. She hissed and growled at the offending thing, wanting it out of her way.

She moved away and resumed her pacing, a shudder running through her when the heat seemed to blaze through her nerves. Hissing in agitation, she whirled around when she heard a growl coming from outside the door.

She went down into a crouch, eyes narrowed as she listened to the sounds.

“It’ska! Move out of the way! Open the door!” She was aware that it was Kegan’s voice she heard. “Da’kata! Why do I always have to be around when he’s in this form? Da’kata, I said move out of the way!”

There was some scuffling, grunts, and finally an earsplitting roar which sent her scrambling to hide behind the bed as Kegan’s voice sounded once more, “I know, Da’kata, just let me get the door open!”

More growls, as she heard the latch moving.

She lifted her head to peak over the edge of the bed just as the door swung open and a form landed in a crouch in the room. The door slammed shut behind him. She froze as his eyes landed on her and he growled. She couldn’t help but hiss at him in response. She was aware of the wicked smile that formed on his face just before he licked his lips.

There was no warning at all as he suddenly leaped from his crouch and cleared both the area in front of the bed and the bed itself. With a yelp, she scrambled away from the bed, only to be pinned down to the floor. Twisting her body, she swiped at him with a claw as she growled in warning.

He hissed when the claw made contact with his chest, but refused to get off of her. Instead, he leaned forward and snapped at her which only made her growl again. He allowed her to wiggle free, just long enough for him to trap her against the wall. When she tried to turn around again, he gripped her shoulders and gently took hold of the skin of her neck in his teeth.

With a cross between a growl and a whimper, she went limp in his arms. He knew she’d just conceded the win to him. Now, it was up to him to make sure his mate received her reward.

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Evelyn rushed into her mother’s room, fear in her eyes, “Mother! They locked her in her room!”

Devnet nodded, “I know honey, I told them to.”

“What? Why? She could hurt herself or…”

“She’s fine Evelyn, Xavier’s with her now.”

“Oh.” Evelyn frowned, “What’s wrong with her? Does Xavier know how to help her?”

“Nothing’s wrong with Nikki, Evelyn.”

“But you didn’t see what was happening…”

“I saw.”

She stomped her foot, “How can you be so calm about this! Nikki needs help!”

Devnet sighed and turned to look at her daughter, “I know you don’t understand it, Evelyn, but Nikki will be fine. She just needs some time with Xavier and she’ll be fine.”

“She almost attacked me, how do you know she won’t attack Xavier?”

Devnet grinned as she turned back to her book, “Oh, I’m certain she will attack him, but I know he’ll enjoy every moment of it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Nikki needs her mate, he’s the only thing that can calm her down right now.”

“But…” Evelyn went still as her mother’s words dawned on her. “Od’yia dimo! Are you saying she’s in heat!” As Devnet chuckled, Evelyn stomped out of the room muttering, “Ew! That’s just wrong! Wrong, I say! Ewwww!”

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She threw her head back in ecstasy as she felt him thrusting into her. Growling her approval, she dug her claws further into the wall using it to push back against him.

His teeth remained clenched around the skin of her neck, holding her steady for his plundering of her body. His claws held her breasts without hurting her. He used his palms to rub against her nipples, sending ripples of pleasure through her.

She whimpered in need as the fire continued to race through her nerves, albeit not as powerful as before. It seemed to be dying down with every thrust he gave her. She lifted her hips and pushed back, trying to get him deeper. Little mewling sounds escaped her throat as he felt her grinding her hips against his.

He could sense her need, could smell her desire to reach that height that only he could give her. As her mate, he couldn’t do anything else other than satisfy her. He lowered his hands to her hips, picking up the pace as he gripped her tighter.

She could feel his claws pricking the skin of her hips, but it wasn’t painful. Grunting, she lowered her head and dug her claws into the wall a little more. It served to help her push harder against him, burying him deeper inside of her.

He growled against her neck at the feel of himself going deeper inside of her. As she continued grunting, he began answering her with his own grunts while he buried himself deeper and deeper, his pace becoming frantic.

She let out a soft hiss, baring her fangs as he finally found her pleasure point. Turning her head slightly she snapped at him, which only served to make him growl and slam them both into the wall. Two thrusts later and her head was thrown back as a howl burst from her mouth. A deeper howl blended with hers as she felt him explode inside of her and everything went white for a few moments.

Neither one of them was aware of how much time had passed as their bodies began to cool down. It was a while before Nikki realized she was pressed against the wall of her bedroom by her husband’s equally naked body.

The smell of sex seemed to permeate their thoughts at the same time. Nikki was the first to smile about it. Sending her thoughts to him, Well, I guess I’ll know what’s wrong with me the next time my nerves seem to be on fire.

She felt him chuckle against her neck, Yeah, wish they could have warned us about it though.


Maybe they didn’t know.


Oh they knew. Why do you think you were immediately locked in the bedroom and they went to retrieve me the moment you were?

It was her turn to chuckle, Okay, maybe they knew, but didn’t expect it to happen to us?

He growled, “Well, I think it’s about time we found out everything there is to know about ulhi’maos and their mates so we don’t have another surprise like this one.” He leaned closer to her ear, “Don’t want to end up giving them too many free shows or embarrassing ourselves in any way.”

Turning her head slightly, she curled her fingers in his hair, bringing him close for a kiss, “I agree, but we can wait until tomorrow, hm?”

He chuckled as her lips claimed his once more. He closed his eyes as their kiss deepened, savoring the way she tasted. It took him a moment to realize he was hearing heartbeats and another moment to realize there were more than two.

At that moment, Nikki gasped and pulled away from him. With wide eyes she stared into his, letting him know she’d heard them too. “Od’yia! The surprises just keep coming!” She exclaimed.

Translations
husigos - husband
li'ani - (mythical) animal
od'yia - god
te'rade - sister
ursa feigos menowa afo esu sehi ursa no'edatioro - your wife (is) waiting for you in your bedroom
it'ska - shit
da'kata - damn