King's Throne(26)

Gina chewed on her fingernails—a bad habit she’d picked up in medical school when the pressure to perform had grown too stressful—and worried about what the upcoming battle would mean for Mitch. And for her.
She didn’t want him to die.
Far from it, she wanted him for herself. Her tigress had taken only a little time to convince her. The tigress knew and accepted that Mitch would be her mate, if the Goddess allowed it. Unlike other shifters, the tigre blanche had to consider more than just their own desires when mating. Very often, the Lady Goddess stepped in directly and blessed one union     over another.
Gina sent up a silent prayer, asking the Lady to allow her time with Mitch. Time to be with him—if that’s all she could have—before he had to face her uncle in mortal combat. She knew her family. She remembered her uncle. He was a savage fighter. As strong as her father, if not stronger. And he’d held his position of power through many challenges over the years, savaging all those who had tried to remove him from the sham of a stewardship he used to control all the tiger kingdom’s resources and people.
Many knew and understood why her father had chosen to leave rather than spill his brother’s blood, and many had been lost in the attempt to champion the exiled king. So many loyal Royal Guards. So many friends. So much death. All at the hands of the usurper. Her uncle, Gisli.
A hand on her knee roused her from her dark thoughts. She looked up and found Mitch watching her, concern on his handsome face. He had a little bit of beard stubble just shadowing his chin in bright gold and it was sexy as all get out.
“What puts such a worried look on your face, sweetheart?” His words were pitched low, in a sexy rumble that thawed her from the inside out, melting away her fears. At least for the moment.
She moved closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. “It’s nothing.”
“Come on, sweetheart.” He turned her to face him, one hand cupping her cheek briefly. “You can tell me anything.”
Caught. She wanted to burrow into his arms and seek reassurance, but she knew full well there was none to be had. His vision showed him fighting Gisli, a warrior to be reckoned with. She couldn’t undermine Mitch’s confidence by admitting to her fear that he would not prevail.
“Just worried you’re going to balk when you read some of the stuff in the Rule. It’s a little hard to stomach if you weren’t raised to it, I’d imagine.”
The distraction worked as he hefted the book in his other hand. He was more than halfway through it already.#p#分页标题#e#
“Actually, the majority of it makes a lot of sense and most of the concepts are not unfamiliar to me. The Guard has something similar, though not quite as extensive and certainly not geared toward those who would rule, since we protect them. We are not them. Which is why I can’t figure why your dad wants me to read this. Unless it’s just so I understand the weight of what lays on his shoulders.”
“Mitch…” Gina didn’t quite know how to say what was in her mind. Maybe flat out. That was probably best. Like ripping off a bandage. Taking a deep breath, she went for it. “If you challenge Gisli and win, according to the Rule, you can become Tig’Ra.”
Mitch turned away from her and put the book down next to him, his eyes widening as he blew out a stream of air. The unconscious gesture spoke more than words about his state of mind. He was troubled—and very obviously surprised.
“I guess I haven’t gotten to that part of the book yet,” he finally said, not looking at her but staring into the fire. “If what I saw was me fighting a challenge, I figured I’d be acting as your father’s champion. I wasn’t born to rule anything, Gina. I’m a soldier. A Guard. That’s my job. My calling. I’m not fit to be king. If that’s what your father wants, I’m going to have to respectfully decline.”
Her heart broke a little at the shock and denial in his eyes. She sought to reassure him. “Look, don’t think about it right now. Neither of us knows the will of the Goddess. She gave you the white fur for a reason. Maybe it’s so you can return my father to the throne. Maybe it’s something else. There’s no way to know until it happens. I think my dad is just preparing you. It’s his way to prepare for every contingency. The more you get to know him, the more you’ll realize how unbelievably prepared he is for everything. He could be one of those doomsday preppers if he wasn’t a shifter. I think he gets most of his new ideas from those end-of-the-world websites lately.” She tried to lighten the mood and it appeared to help a little. He moved his arm around her shoulders and sat back on the sofa, squeezing her close next to him as they both watched the flames dance in the fireplace.