Formidable: Shifters Forever Worlds (Ever After Dark Book 1) (2 page)

I
sabel paused
midway into her shift, and pulled her tigress in, not yielding to the impulse to morph into her shifter animal and take on the three men.

She felt like she’d been sucked into a vortex. A howling wind was pulling her deeper and deeper into the maelstrom. She couldn’t take her eyes off the dark-haired, tanned man before her. He was flanked by two others, but it was as if he were the beacon that drew all her energy into him.

She realized quickly that the howling wind was her tigress’s reaction to the man.

More like the tigress’s reaction to his tiger.

He was a white tiger shifter. And the strangest thing happened; she’d never been in a position where she’d met another shifter and could instantly see what shifter animal they were. No, that wasn’t usually revealed to her. Not with the relationship she had with her shifter animal. Many times, her tigress wasn’t the most forthcoming with Isabel.

But in this case, with this shifter, it was as if his tiger was larger than life and present. As in, she could really see his tiger’s image, right there with this giant of a man.

Massive. White with vivid black stripes, it tilted its mighty head and stared at her.

Then the strangest thing occurred.

Next to his tiger appeared another one. A tigress so faded, it was almost as though it were a mirage.

Isabel closed her eyes, squeezing them tightly. She forced them open again.

The tigers were still there.

The faded tigress snarled at Isabel.

Or was she snarling at Isabel’s tigress?

Isabel almost took a step back.

In Isabel’s mind, her own tigress released a challenging roar.

What the hell is going on here?

She glanced at Ana, wondering if Ana could see the two white tigers.

Ana gave no indication of seeing anything but the three men standing before them.

“We can take them,” Ana whispered to Isabel. “If we shift quickly enough.”

Oh, now she wants to take them? Now that I’ve pulled my tigress in?

Isabel didn't take her eyes off the man or the tigers.

The man in the center took a few steps in their direction. Neither his tiger nor the faded female stepped forward with him.

Isabel bristled at the faded female, still wanting to take her on, still feeling adversarial, but not even sure why. Where was this swirl of emotions coming from?

Staring at the man, Isabel whispered back, “I don't think so.”

He took a few more steps closer. “She's right, Ana. Listen to your sister.”

The tigers had kept up with him. The male was definitely his shifter animal, but who the hell or what the hell was that other one, the female that seemed farther away?

“How do you know my name?” Ana asked, then under her breath, she whispered to Isabel, “Why not?”

Why not? Isabel couldn’t move. She couldn’t answer Ana’s question. The vortex was pulling her deeper and deeper.

She was frozen in place, except that her mind was a whirl of activity. The man had a depth and a sadness to him that was almost tangible. She’d never felt this type of a connection before.

And those two tigers…

She wanted to shake herself the way a dog shook off water after a bath, but she knew that wouldn’t clear the sensations and images in her mind.

G
io bit
back the smile as if he couldn't hear Ana’s question. She should know better.

“Shifters,” Isabel hissed, but there was something in her eyes. Her dark eyes flared a silver white, as if showcasing her tigress.

“Correct.” He nodded in agreement. His own tiger was at full attention, but silent, fully concentrating. “In case you ladies are having second thoughts,” he pointed toward Tito holding the Tranq pistol, “we have Tranqs. Though they are still experimental, I have it on good authority, from personal experience, that they are extremely effective.”

God. Did he ever.

Federico accidentally shot him with one when the first shipment came in.

Not fun.

He resisted the urge to rub the lower half of his left buttock.

Indeed, his brother shot him in the ass.

“Who are you?” Ana was showing some spunk. Maybe she was more like Isabel than he’d originally given her credit for. “We have business in this area. Who are you to say we are trespassing?” So much for Ana being the meek patient one.

Isabel had still not taken her eyes from him. Her gaze was intense and burned through. And still his tiger was silent.

“Who are you?” Isabel echoed her sister's question.

“You are in the middle of Tiero territory,” Federico said.

“How do you know we don't have permission to be here?” Isabel scoffed.

Gio admired her ballsy attitude. He fought to keep a smile from appearing. This was not the time to be friendly or play the host. “Because I'm the one who grants permission.” He nodded for emphasis. “I'm Giovanni Tiero. And you, it seems, are my
guests
for the evening.” He waved toward his brothers. “Tito and Federico, my brothers.”

“What kind of manners are those? Pointing a weapon at a lady?” Ana asked.

Gio laughed. He laughed, hard. Finally, when he stopped laughing, he asked, “Ladies?” Then he glanced about, as if looking for a lady, knowing this was bound to piss them off. “Your sister here, beautiful as she may be—” He gave Isabel a terse smile. “—was preparing to shift and attempt to rip us to shreds. Unsuccessfully, I might add, because, well shifters.” He pointed to his chest and then his brothers.

Clearly his compliment about her being beautiful did not affect Isabel enough to keep her from emitting a low growl.

He smiled at that. “I like her,” he told Federico and Tito.

Her feistiness brought a measure of light to his darkness. He'd been living in a dark, dark world for far too long.

Gio didn't have long to dwell on how much he liked the dark-haired curvy woman because her sister began to speak.

Ana pulled up to her full height. “I have business. So hurry up and give us the courtesy of your permission.”

Gio looked at her as if she'd gone crazy. “You have business here? What sort of business could you have on my land that I'm not aware of?”

Ana did not answer.

Isabel laughed. Looked him in the eye and laughed. “So, Signor Giovanni Tiero, our business is our own.”

He turned on his heel, quickly showing them his back, then said to his brothers, “Bring them to the house.”

G
io
and his brothers sat in the library. Their
guests
, the two female tigress shifters, were in spare quarters, dressing for dinner. Gio had the housekeeper provide them with an assortment of clothing, that for one reason or another, had been assembled at the villa.

The surplus of ladies’ attire came in handy at the most unexpected and opportune times. It had been a tradition that his mother had put in place, always providing extra clothing in case guests found themselves in need.

Each of the brothers had a scotch in front of him, though none of them were affected by alcohol, as alcohol had no effect on shifters, whatsoever. The Tiero men enjoyed the flavor and it had been one of their father’s traditions, a scotch before dinner while discussing business.

Traditions were big to the Tieros.

Gio heaved a sigh. Traditions were sometimes too important, and often very inhibiting. He pushed the thought away. He was firstborn. He had a responsibility to uphold these traditions. He had to fake it ‘til he felt it. And he’d do it to the best of his ability as he was raised to.

He was not accustomed to trespassers. No one dared to mess with him. No one dared to mess with the Tiero machine. “What do you think?” he asked his brothers.

“Two women,” Tito said. “That's it, just two women. Send them on their way. Let's give them a little bit of lip service. Maybe give them a little bit of a scare. That will keep them at bay.”

“I don't think they'll be that easy to scare. At least, not the feisty one.”

“Yeah, I think you took a liking to that one.” Tito snickered.

Gio gave him a look.

Federico cleared his throat, adjusted the collar on his shirt, pulling on it. “So what’s the plan regarding Esmerelda?” he asked.

Gio frowned at the subject change, then shrugged. “She has to face the Shifter Council. What choice do we have on that?” It was not like they had many choices, and he couldn’t be the one to buck convention.

Rumor had it Esmerelda had become involved with a shifter. She wouldn't tell the Tiero security team who it was. She wouldn't even admit to it. They’d tried to coerce her for the information. They’d threatened.

The redheaded witch had laughed at the idea of being threatened by a shifter. She didn’t take threats from shifters seriously.

Federico shook his head. “I know that's how it's supposed to be handled. I know it's the right thing to do, according to shifter customs, but she's never caused any trouble. We didn't even know she was here.”

Gio looked at his younger brother. Federico sported his hair longer than Gio, scruffy stubble marking his face. He was the rebel in the family, the black sheep. He had left the fold and traveled the world for years before finally returning home to join them in the family business. He narrowed his eyes. “Do you have any suggestions then, Rico?” Gio used his brother’s childhood nickname.

Federico delivered a slight shrug. “I’m not alpha. I don’t have to dictate policy.”

No, you just get to break policy while the rest of us clean up after you. You get to gallivant around the globe, traipsing into different adventures while someone else stays behind to make sure traditions are upheld and businesses are being run. While we battle others to keep our territory and protect our ways.

Bitter much? Gio’s subconscious recognized his resentment with Federico’s lack of adherence to rules.

Yes, I guess I am bitter.
He twirled the glass, swirling the rich amber liquid inside, watching it refract the light and distort images on the other side of the tumbler.

Tito rose to his feet. “It's not our business what the council decides to do with her. All we need to do is our duty. And our duty is to take her to them, to turn her over.”

Hear, hear.
Gio couldn’t argue with Tito’s logic.

A knock sounded on the door.

“Enter.” Gio sat up straight, wondering if they’d come to tell them the dinner was ready.

“Signor.” It was the nanny. “Vittorio is missing.”

Vittorio. His son. Gio rocketed to his feet.

“Where is Vax?” Tito asked the nanny.

“I don't care for that nickname.” Gio frowned at Tito.

“Vittorio was in the playroom while I was helping Veila in the bath.” She wrung her hands. “It's not like I could have left Veila.” Tears sprang to her eyes.

She was the third nanny in three months.

Could he not find a decent nanny to stay long enough to take care of the little ones?

Gio wasn't worried that his son would be lost, he was more worried that he would find some of their guests. The two tigress shifters.

Or worse—

The witch.

That caused him worry.

Little Vittorio, for all his bravery, would be used as a pawn to dictate Tiero policy if he was taken captive by the wrong person.

I
sabel paced the room
. The shifters had put her and Ana in a guest room and told them to dress for dinner.

Dinner, my ass.

She was so tempted to break out. All she had to do was open the window, shift, and leap from the second floor to ground level and run into the night. She and her tigress both lost in the darkness, hidden by the shadows while they sought the witch.

Yes, she was tempted, but she wouldn’t indulge in that temptation. Isabel had quelled her rebellious stirrings. She suppressed them with the assurance that rebelling would create more hassles for her sister. That she shouldn’t leave the villa as it might thwart Ana’s efforts.

Lies.

Lies that Isabel told herself as to why she wasn’t leaving.

That was not why. Not the only reason anyway. Sure, she could tell herself that all day and night long, but she knew better.

It wasn’t that she wouldn’t leave.

She couldn’t.

Even if she wanted to, there was something unanswered here, something that drew her in, wrapping its clutches around her, growing like an ivy, persistent tendrils that sought to seize and keep her here.

No, she couldn’t go. Not yet.

She glanced at the bed. The housekeeper had brought an array of dresses, and Isabel had indicated she lay them on the bed.

She’d wanted to throw them at Giovanni Tiero personally for assuming they’d comply and stay for dinner.

Of course, we will. He held the key to Ana’s quest, access to searching for the witch.

The bed was littered with an assortment of colorful fabrics, sequins, bows, buttons, all designed to entice and seduce.

Too many of them were too small, most too tight. Isabel wore a sneer as she wondered who the hell the dresses belonged to.

And yet, she couldn’t get that hunk of a shifter out of her mind.

Beautiful did not even begin to describe him.

Could you call a man beautiful? There seemed something wrong with that. And yet, she couldn’t think of any other word.

Sure she could: Hot. Sexy. Delicious. Scary.

Scary? Where did that come from?

Yes, she did find something about him scary because the man’s piercing gaze ripped through her walls, and all her defenses were left crumbling as though the remnants of artillery. Scattered fragments of the barricades she’d always kept in place, barricades that kept men out. Something scary because there was a darkness she didn’t quite understand.

Until Giovanni—Gio—Tiero.

She heaved a deep breath of exasperation. What the hell was wrong with her?

She should run.

She knew she wouldn’t.

Scary. Definitely, because she was scared to death he could ram through all those defenses she’d spent many a year putting up.

Isabel picked up one of the dozen dresses the housekeeper had brought in with the explanation: “Signor Tiero is inviting you to dinner.”

She crumpled one of the gowns’ silk fabric between her fingers, ignoring the quality, the craftsmanship in tailoring.

“Really?” She frowned. “He expects us to show up for dinner and behave casually. As if it’s a dinner party.”

She threw it at the wall. “How dare he!”

“Isabel. Please, calm down.” Ana, sitting on the window bench, looking out into the evening’s shadows turned Isabel’s way, worry clearly on her face, probably thinking about Cristiano. “Why does this bother you? Let’s have dinner with him, then let’s explain our cause. I’m sure he will work with us. He may even help us.”

Isabel’s nostrils flared in agitation. “Pffft. Did you see him? He’s a brute. He’s a—”

“You like him.” Ana turned back to gazing out the window, but Isabel could see her sister watching her in the window’s reflection.

Isabel stiffened, whirled. Cheeks heating with anger, she realized her mouth was open and snapped it shut. “I.” She delivered a foot stomp. “Do.” Another foot stomp. “Not.” Isabel kicked the footstool near the dresser
Jesus, that hurt
. “Ouch.”

She roared, a bellow that came from her tigress’s pain, then turned to Ana again. “Don’t say that,” she hissed, then flounced into the wingchair across from Ana. “I will make him pay for this. How dare he do this? Does he not know who we are?”

Ana wrung her hands. “For my sake. For Tino’s sake, please calm down. This is not the time to act hastily and Giovanni Tiero is not a man to antagonize.”

“Don’t tell me what to do! I’ll—”

The door opened, interrupting Isabel’s tirade.

She stared at the slit, wondering who would be there as it opened further and further until it was fully open.

At the threshold stood a boy with intense eyes. A boy who was easily a miniature replica of the Tieros.

“Who are you?” the boy asked.

Isabel huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “Who are you, little man?”

“I’m Vittorio. My friends call me Vax.”

Ana rose to her feet, seeming eager to intercept Isabel’s fury. “I’m Capriana Valenti. My friends call me Ana.”

“Can I call you Ana?” The mini Tiero stepped closer.

“Of course.” Ana held out her hand.

The boy shook it solemnly. “Don’t tell my father I was here. I was curious about our new guests. It’s not often we get guests. You’re the second ones this week. I haven’t been able to see the witch. She’s confined in a different wing.”

Icy fingertips glossed across Isabel’s spine. She felt she knew the answer to this before she asked. “Who is your father?” She studied the little boy with the serious expression.

He glanced at her, head cocked, eyes that reminded her too much of eyes she’d stared at earlier today. “Giovanni. Shhh. Someone’s coming. I have to go.”

And like that, the boy was gone.

The icy fingertips grew into a vice that clamped down on her heart and seared it with a burning cold.

I should have known.

“He’s mated.” Isabel whispered the words, not aware she’d said them out loud until Ana responded.

Ana turned her way. “What?”

Isabel’s mouth opened. She spoke, but she didn’t feel as if she was really there. No, she wasn’t there. She was in a dungeon where she was preparing to castigate herself for allowing that damned dark-haired gorgeous being called Gio to break through her walls.

And yet, Isabel did speak the words. “Giovanni Tiero. That was his son.”

“Yes. I gathered.” Ana said as if it was no big deal. She added, “Let’s go to dinner.”

“Harrumph.” Isabel exhaled.

No big deal, at all.

Her tigress released a roar.

You. You should have warned me.
Isabel tuned the betraying feline out. Until today, her tigress had always been great at protecting Isabel’s heart.

Until today.