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Chapter 5 - Mates

Kamryn tried to think of the best way to describe what it's like to be mates. Not only that, he knew he needed to tell her about other shifters, vampires, and witches. He looked down at her little body against his. Could Legend be right? Was she something more than human? He decided to start with weretigers and go from there.

"Weretigers are taught from an early age about their mates. In the shifter world, one person is meant for each shifter. When we find our mate, we typically know instantly. For weretigers, we know by touching our mate that we have found the person meant for us. I didn't know with you immediately because of the poison in my system, temporarily causing me to lose my tiger abilities." Anna listened in fascination.

"Does it still have the same effect with me not being like you?" She asked thoughtfully.

"It can explain why you're drawn to me. Typically it doesn't matter what species you are when you find the one you're supposed to be with; you will naturally have an attraction to that person. Not only an attraction, but from that moment on, you will do whatever is necessary to keep that person by your side. The connection you have with your fated mate is so strong that if one rejects the other, it can kill them both." Anna looked up at him in surprise.

"So it's not like you can fall in love with someone else down the road and decide to leave me?" She asked, looking away.

"That will never happen anyway. When two mates accept each other, they have to mark each other. For weretigers, that means I will bite down into your neck to release my venom. The marking causes a connection between mates that's deeper than love. It's as though you're connected by an invisible line. If you're hurting, I can feel it. If you're scared or angry, I can feel your emotions too. It's powerful." Anna thought about what he said. For some reason, it felt as though she already knew this but couldn't remember why.

"Are there others that can shift into different animals?" She asked again, feeling like she already knew the answer.

"There are werewolves, werebears, werelions, and many others. There are also vampires and witches." Kamryn didn't want to think about the witch he was supposed to mate with. That wasn't going to happen now that he'd found his fated mate.

"I don't understand why, but this information feels like something I already knew. Maybe it has to do with where I came from or something." Anna tried hard to see if anything he said would shake loose any memories, but nothing came.

"If you're human, you will turn into a weretiger after I mark you. If you're something other than human, you'll mark me in your own way. Other shifters bite, as do vampires. Witches place a bonding spell on their mate after they've been marked. That's their way of marking their mate who isn't a witch or warlock, but it's just as powerful as a bite." Kamryn watched Anna's face and could tell she was trying to think if any of what he was telling her would come back to her.

"Tell her that she doesn't smell human when I sniff her. I don't know what she is, but she's special." Legend took a deep breath to smell her again but still couldn't figure out what she was. It made him think someone used a powerful poison to make her lose her memory. Why did they not want their mate to know what or who she was?

Kamryn thought about what Legend had said. Would it be better to tell her she wasn't human, or would that upset her even more? He decided to go ahead and let her know.

"Legend says that when he smells your scent, he can tell you're not human. He can't tell what you are, but he said you're definitely not human." Anna looked up at Kamryn and nodded. That made sense to her as to why she felt she knew about the supernatural world.

"If I was part animal wouldn't I be able to talk to my animal even if I didn't have my memory?" She asked while looking out toward the forest.

"I would think you would have heard her after all these months. So that means you are most likely a vampire or witch." Kamryn looked down at her, wondering which one she was.

"Have you felt the need to drink any blood? When I was bleeding, did it make you thirsty?" Anna made a disgusted look and shook her head.

"No, I've not had any cravings for blood. The thought of that makes me ill." She said quietly. Did that mean she was a witch?

"I think you may be a witch then. That could be why the poison or whatever the person did had so much impact on you. If you had an animal, they should have shown themselves, and if you're a vampire, you'll crave blood. Being a witch is the only one that makes sense." Kamryn almost laughed. Too bad she wasn't the witch his parents were trying to force him to mate with.

Anna thought about being a witch. Did that mean she knew spells? Why would someone not want her to remember that she was a witch? She hoped to find out when Kamryn took her to where he was from.

"Where are you from, Kamryn? I know you told me about your family, and they're important, but what exactly does that mean?" She had a feeling that now she knew he was a weretiger, that it was something more than what she thought.

"To be honest, my dad is the king of weretigers, and I'm the crown prince." Anna looked up at him in shock. The crown prince? That meant he would be the king.

"You're going to be king? Even though I'm your mate, won't they want you to be with another weretiger?" She asked, certain that they would have trouble when they went to his home. Kamryn hesitated. They wouldn't care that she was a witch, but they would care she wasn't the right witch.

"My parents don't have an issue with me mating with a witch." He stopped there, not wanting to tell her the rest until necessary. She's had enough to deal with already.

"When will we go to your home?" She asked nervously. As much as she was tired of being in the cabin, she was scared of how his family would feel about her.

"Let's stay here a couple more days so we can get to know each other, and then we'll go. I'm not anxious to get back. I like having you to myself." Anna blushed and leaned against him. At least it would give her a couple more days to process everything.

"Are you hungry? I have some canned food we can heat up." She asked quietly. Kamryn smiled; he had another idea for lunch.

"How about we let Legend out to go hunting? He can catch us some meat that we can cook." Anna smiled brightly. She had been eating canned food and berries for two months. Having some meat that didn't come from a can made her mouth water.

"Sounds good to me. Do you want me to wait here while he goes hunting?" She asked, a little disappointed.

"You don't have to wait here. You can ride on Legends back. How do you feel about riding a tiger?" Kamryn asked while Legend purred his approval. Anna looked at him with wide eyes.

"I can ride on him? Yes, let's do that." Anna giggled in delight. She had only ventured a short distance from the cabin so she didn't get lost. She wouldn't have to worry about that on the back of a tiger.

"Legend is excited to have you on his back. Although I'm a little jealous that you'll be on him before you're on me." Anna felt her face flaming in embarrassment, and she heard Kamryn chuckle.

"Don't talk like that. I'm pretty sure I'm a virgin, but I can't be sure." She said quietly, not looking at him. He lifted her face up to look at him, and he smiled.

"I'm a virgin too. Remember I told you I've been waiting for the right woman? We'll now I've found her." He looked at her full red lips and wanted to kiss her.

Anna felt her heart thumping in her chest as he stared into her eyes. When she saw him glance at her mouth, she nodded slightly. She wanted him to kiss her.

He smiled and brought his mouth down to hers. When their lips touched, Anna felt a warmth spread through her entire body. She didn't know what she was doing, but as he moved his lips over hers, she began to copy his movements. When she thought her lungs were going to burst, he pulled away.

She was still trying to catch her breath when he started to kiss her again. This time he put his hand on her neck and rubbed her cheek with his thumb. She opened her mouth and felt his tongue slide inside. She was too surprised to respond at first, but then her tongue started moving with his. The feelings Anna felt from the kiss were so overwhelming. She reached out and put her arms around his neck, holding him closer. When Kamryn pulled away, she didn't want to let go.

"My angel, I'm going to be addicted to your kisses," Kamryn whispered as he kissed her cheek and forehead, unable to get enough of her. Anna looked up at him and gave a radiant smile that took his breath away.

"That was incredible. I can't wait to do a lot more kissing with you, but right now, I'm hungry. Let's go hunting." Kamryn kissed her one more time before letting her go.

"Alright, but after we hunt, I want more kisses." He chuckled when he saw her face turning red. He loved how red his angel got.

Anna watched in excitement as Kamryn took his clothes off and quickly shifted into Legend. What is it like to ride a tiger?

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