Tigers Rival Chapter 7

Lady Tessa made her way down the stone hallway her mouth watering with thoughts of the scrumptious dinner awaiting her in the banquet hall. She had not had a bite to eat since early afternoon and was greatly looking forward to the great feast that had been prepared in lea of the palaces unexpected morning guests.

"Princess how lovely to see you I was just making my way to your chambers to escort you to dinner.", came a voice from in front of her.

'Speak of the devil' thought Tessa as one of those unexpected guests came toward her. She shivered when she realized who it was. Lord Grey wolf was considered a handsome man by many of the ladies of the court. His long hair so gray it was almost silver hung to his shoulders in waves. He was tall and broad shouldered although not as muscular as Tiger which was to be expected since he spent most of his time at court not on the battlefields like her knight. Yet it was his eyes that always chilled her, those cold gold eyes it was almost like there was nothing there. Looking into those eyes was like looking into a black hole and it scared her to death. Straitening her back she forced a smile to come to her lips and lifted her head to answer him.

"Lord Grey wolf how gentlemanly of you to escort me to dinner I am grateful." Coming toward her he took her hand into his and leaning forward brushed his lips against the top. Tessa couldn't help the shiver of disgust that wound its way down her spine. Ever since she had gone from the nursery to being thought of as a full grown woman Grey wolf had been trying to insinuate himself into the role of her husband. Yet Tessa could not abide the thought of him in her life and especially in her bed. Grey wolf was arrogant and too sure of himself and worse yet he felt he was the only one with the right to become her husband and the next king. Grey wolf's father Lord Garrett was cousin to her father and the only other living blood relative to the king besides herself. That made her and Lord Grey wolf related by blood also although it was a small and weak link. Yet Grey wolf hung onto that link with all his might claiming it was the reason he was the only one good enough to become her betrothed.

That was why he had been shocked along with many of the other nobles when Tessa's choice of Tiger a lowly knight with only a low title and small lands was accepted by the king to become her husband. Many believed the King's acceptance was because he could not deny his only child anything she wanted yet this was not true. The King's choice of a knight over a nobleman was not to please his daughter although that was taken into consideration but based on the fact that despite King Aaron's love for his cousin and his cousin's son both he and Garrett knew that Grey wolf was broken in some way. His soul was dark where it should have been light and to have him on the throne would be like giving the kingdom over to the devil himself. Tiger was a much better choice he was loyal, honorable, and responsible and loved the princess more than his own life. He would make a great King probably even greater than Aaron himself.

Still even with her betrothal to Tiger already announced and their wedding only a couple of months away Grey wolf still would not accept the fact that she was no longer in his reach. Still he was her 'family' and she must treat him as such. Besides she absolutely loved his father whom she had always called Uncle Garrett and out of love and respect for him would not insult his son by being rude. Coldly accepting his gesture she quickly released herself from his hold and rigidly placed the tips of her fingers on his right sleeve letting him escort her to the dining hall.

Grey wolf tried hard to control the heat of his anger as he watched the princess try hard to keep herself as far from his body as she could. 'Dam her for betraying him with that bastard of a brother of his!' The family secret that had been hidden for years was now coming back to haunt him. Tiger the lowly knight had a lineage nobler than he knew. He was the son of Lord Garrett cousin to the King and yet his mother had been nothing but a peasant a lowly farm girl his father had found during one of the many wars he had fought in his soldering days. To think that he shared the same blood as that dirty peasant caused revulsion to slither through his body. Grey wolf had always been proud of his heritage that he was blood related to royalty and that his mother had been a duchess before she had married his father. That his father would have flings he understood, for all nobles were known to slake their lust on those from lower stations, yet for him to accept the offspring of one of those flings on the same level as his noble born son was unacceptable. One of the biggest problems he had with his brother was that Tiger was one year older than he. That meant that if he ever found out about his sire and wanted to take his rightful place then his brother could in a sense take his position and power without a quarrel. As the oldest son, bastard or not, it was his right to inherit before Grey wolf. That was something he would never let happen just like this so called marriage to Princess Tessa. He would not let his brother, correction half-brother; have all that he had for years schemed to achieve. Oh no he had an ace up his sleeve and the time was coming when he would be ready to play it.

Tessa groaned coming back from the distant memory/dream slowly. As she tried to open her eyes a sharp pain made her close them quickly a slight gasp coming from her mouth before she could stop it.

"Well looks as though the princess is awaking get the boss he'll want to talk to her before her mate arrives." The sound of paws hitting dirt came to her ears as she assumed one of the wolf monsters ran to wherever there 'boss' was. Finally feeling the pain in her head recede to a dull ache Tessa tried once again this time more slowly to open her eyes she had only gotten them halfway to her goal when another voice this one she recognized rang out.

"Enjoy your nap milady do not worry you are not my prey you are merely the bait soon my brother will be here and finally all this between us will end." Forcing her eyes completely open she waited until her vision was no longer blurred before turning to talk to the huge grey wolf monster from earlier. Yet as soon as she saw him the string of angry words she had been about to utter stopped as though stuck in her throat All she could do was stare, stare into a pair of cold gold eyes that seemed all too familiar; eyes that were like looking into a black hole, eyes that suddenly scared her to death. 'This was too much' she thought the remnants of her dream from before coming back to haunt her, 'oh Tiger where are you, I need my knight in shining armor and I need him now!' It was right then that a howl was heard through out the night. All the wolves stopped in their tracks as if listening to a message held in the sound. Grey smiled showing off canines that could tear a person to shreds in seconds. His voice seemed to hold anticipation when he stated to the group as a whole: "He's coming."

To be continued……

Sorry to leave it this way I know most of you wanted to read about the confrontation between Tiger and Grey but I felt I needed to place Tiger's brother in his past life if my story's plot would make sense. Don't worry the two brothers will meet in the next chapter. Hope this was a good one I am not so sure myself please review to let me know! By the way thanks for the support it's nice to know people haven't given up on this story.