A Twitch of Tail by R. E. Butler Read Free Book Online Page A

would punish me.”
    “Punish you for helping people?” Tahlon asked.
    Her lips pressed into a hard line for a moment before she answered, “Her coven doesn’t consider were-animals people.  I refused to quit.  It was the first time I really went against the coven.  So they cast a binding spell on me, muting my powers in an attempt to force me to quit.  I didn’t want to, but after a year without being able to commune with my power and the coven, I felt so out of touch with my power that I quit and returned to the coven.  I don’t think that I ever really realized how cold my mother was until she bound me like that.  She basically made me human.  I towed the line for a few more years, but my heart wasn’t with the coven anymore.  Then they started to question my other choices:  where I lived, who I dated, what I did in my free time.  It was stifling.  I started looking for another coven to join and found Lorene’s.”
    “Does your mother know where you are?” Melo asked.
    “Yeah, but I haven’t spoken to her since I left the coven.  I tried to contact her a few times, but she was never available.  And she could easily find me by casting a location spell.  I have a feeling I’ll never see her again,” she sighed.
    Melo lifted her hand and kissed the top.  “I’m sorry you had a hard time of things with your mother and the coven, but I’ll never be sorry you came here, sweetheart.”
    “I’m not sorry either, Mel,” she promised.
    Melo stopped the car at the base of the bluffs and turned to her.  “I need to tell you something I probably should have mentioned yesterday.”
    Worry skated through her fast.  No good news ever started that way.
    Melo looked down at his hands as he began to speak.  “A couple years ago I dated one of the Wiccans in the coven, Lorene’s granddaughter.  We weren’t exclusive, but we were involved for a while, and I didn’t want you to get blindsided if someone mentioned it.”
    “Okay.”
    His head lifted abruptly.  “Okay?”
    She laughed.  “Yeah.  I know you were with people before me.  I appreciate you telling me.”  She leaned forward and hooked her hands behind his neck.  “Are you mine, Melo?”
    “You know I am.  Entirely.”
    “Then that’s the only thing I need to know.  Whoever came before me doesn’t matter.”
    Tahlon laughed.  “Our kitta’s something special, brother.”
    Melo smiled.  “Indeed.”
    She kissed him and rolled her eyes.  “What did you think I was going to do?  Pitch a fit?  Hunt her down?  Shoot you in the balls?  Give me a little credit.”
    “I will never underestimate you again, sweetheart.”
    She looked back at Tahlon, and he put his hands up in an I-give-up gesture.  “I’ll never underestimate you, kitta.”
    “What’s kitta mean?”
    “Kitten,” Tahlon said.  “It’s a tiger term of endearment.”
    They got out of the car and walked up the path to the top of the bluffs.  She explained that a spell kept the bluffs hidden from human eyes.  Lorene was waiting for them when they reached the top, and she looked at both men and then at Tera.
    “I just found out that the lion pride is an entirely unmated male group,” Lorene said.
    Melo and Tahlon stiffened next to her.  She looked up at them in confusion and then at Lorene.
    “What’s the problem?” Tera asked.
    “Tigers are extremely possessive of their females.  Manny came up here with Mari, took one look at the group, and refused to let her stay.  She’s an unnatural and not very powerful, so it won’t hurt us to not have her here, but I’ll miss her all the same.”
    “But most of the guards here are unmated males,” Tera said, thinking about the ones each were-group sent on the full moon to help guard the coven while they cast their spells.
    “It’s because they are a new group.  Hopefully by the next full moon when it’s their smaller group of guards, the others will be more welcoming.  And it’s my