The Tiger's Bride (The Necklace Chronicles)

By R.E. Butler

As the last golden-furred tiger shifter in existence, Charisma Gains knows that his best chance to find his soulmate is on the All Hallows’ Eve full moon. With an enchanted medallion in hand, Charisma casts the spell for his soulmate, hoping against hope that the necklace will find the one woman meant to be his. Unless he finds his other half, he’ll go feral, his beast slowly taking over.

When Valerie Winter sees a beautiful necklace with the image of a tiger on it at a flea market, she’s overcome with the desire to own it. With the cryptic words of the merchant ringing in her ears, she takes the necklace home and puts it on before the moon rises on All Hallows’ Eve. She passes out and wakes up in the woods, face-to-face with a big cat.

Valerie is asked to believe the impossible: that shifters exist, that the man before her can change into a tiger at will, and that she was destined to own the necklace because they’re soulmates. Charisma knows it won’t be easy to convince Valerie of the truth in the span of a day, but if she refuses his advances, the necklace will return her to her home and he’ll lose her forever. What he doesn’t expect is interference from the very wiccan who helped him, and for Valerie’s life to be on the line.

*This book appeared in the Shifters Hallows Eve boxed set. If you already own that boxed set, please do not purchase this book!*

• Language: English
• Publisher: R.E. Butler
• Release date: Jan 2, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370913046

R.E. Butler

A Midwesterner by birth, R.E. spent much of her childhood rewriting her favorite books to include herself as the main character. Later, she graduated on to writing her own books after "retiring" from her day job as a secretary to become a stay-at-home mom.When not playing with her kids, wrestling her dogs out the door, or cooking dinner for her family, you'll find her typing furiously and growling obscenities to the characters on the screen.Her best-selling series Wiccan-Were-Bear, The Necklace Chronicles, Hyena Heat, Wilde Creek, Were-Zoo, Arctic Shifters, Norlanian Brides, Saber Chronicles, and Ashland Pride are available now.

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The Tiger’s Bride (Necklace Chronicles Three)

By R. E. Butler

Copyright 2016 R. E. Butler

The Tiger’s Bride (Necklace Chronicles Three)

By R. E. Butler

License Notes

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

Cover by CT Cover Designs

This ebook is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locations is coincidental.

Disclaimer: The material in this book is for mature audiences only and contains graphic sexual content and is intended for those older than the age of 18 only.

* * *

Editing by Alexis Arendt

* * *

Much thanks to the lovely Bryce Evans for inviting me to the original boxed set.

Hugs to Joyce & Shelley for beta-reading

Much love to Aunt B. L & my husband B. B.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Contact the Author

Other Works by R. E. Butler

The Tiger’s Bride (The Necklace Chronicles Book Three)

By R. E. Butler

As the last golden-furred tiger shifter in existence, Charisma Gains knows that his best chance to find his soulmate is on the All Hallows’ Eve full moon. With an enchanted medallion in hand, Charisma casts the spell for his soulmate, hoping against hope that the necklace will find the one woman meant to be his. Unless he finds his other half, he’ll go feral, his beast slowly taking over.

When Valerie Winter sees a beautiful necklace with the image of a tiger on it at a flea market, she’s overcome with the desire to own it. With the cryptic words of the merchant ringing in her ears, she takes the necklace home and puts it on before the moon rises on All Hallows’ Eve. She passes out and wakes up in the woods, face-to-face with a big cat.

Valerie is asked to believe the impossible: that shifters exist, that the man before her can change into a tiger at will, and that she was destined to own the necklace because they’re soulmates. Charisma knows it won’t be easy to convince Valerie of the truth in the span of a day, but if she refuses his advances, the necklace will return her to her home and he’ll lose her forever. What he doesn’t expect is interference from the very wiccan who helped him, and for Valerie’s life to be on the line.

Chapter 1

Valerie Winters settled onto the poolside lounge at the hotel, her e-reader in her hands. The latest delicious paranormal offering from her favorite author had hit the virtual bookshelves early that morning, and she hadn’t been able to keep from downloading it immediately. This book centered on a group of lion shifters as they looked for their mates. The hero was all alpha-male and demanding, and the heroine was a plucky young woman who tempted man and beast. It was exactly the sort of book that she adored reading, and she was already envious of the heroine in the story, who was seduced by the fiercely handsome alpha.

A shadow covered her, and she looked up to see her best friend and bride-to-be leaning over the lounge. What are you reading, Val? Bethany asked, settling into the vacant lounge next to her.

"Myra James’ latest, Come Sweet Lion."

Bethany rolled her eyes. You’re so silly.

Maybe, but I like being silly when I can read about hot, sexy men who shift into big old cats. She wiggled her brows, and her best friend laughed lightly. Waving at one of the servers who bustled around the hotel pool, Bethany ordered mimosas and they chatted about her wedding that night.

When their drinks were done, they headed to the hotel’s spa to get ready for the early evening wedding, which was taking place in one of the hotel’s grand ballrooms.

Valerie and Bethany had been friends since high school, when they both took Home Ec to escape gym. Bethany was tall compared Valerie’s short stature, lean where Valerie had curves. Blonde to her golden brown. Underneath their physical differences, though, were two women who loved shopping for shoes, watching Lifetime movies, and dancing on the weekends.

But that was about to stop, wasn’t it? Married women didn’t club.

Aw, you look bummed, woman. What’s up? Bethany closed her eyes with a yawn as the masseuse worked on her shoulders.

I’m gonna miss the hell out of our kickass weekends, Valerie grumbled, squeaking when her masseuse hit a tender spot in her back.

One robin’s-egg-blue eye opened. I’m getting married, not dying. Gerald travels a lot; we’ll still get to hang out.

Valerie brightened at that thought. She wasn’t ready to lose her best friend at twenty-three.

The day passed quickly as they were pampered, plucked, and polished in preparation for the small wedding. At six-thirty, Valerie put her hand on the arm of Gerald’s nephew Troy, a gangly seventeen-year-old who hadn’t been able to take his eyes off her cleavage since the rehearsal dinner the night before. He escorted her clumsily down the aisle, taking too-long strides and having to stop to wait for her to catch up. When they parted at the end of the aisle, she had the urge to dunk her hand in a large tub of hand sanitizer, because the kid was just that creepy.

Turning her attention to the other end of the aisle, she watched as her bestie stepped into view with her father. She was a vision in ivory, her golden hair shimmering as she moved down the aisle. Valerie envied Bethany her close relationship to her parents. Valerie’s own parents had divorced when she was a teenager, and she’d stayed with her mother. Her father had remarried quickly and settled down with a woman a few hours’ drive away. The weekly phone calls from him became monthly ones, and then drifted further and further apart.

He was busy with his new family, his wife’s children from a previous marriage, and then their own children. Valerie became a footnote in his life, receiving a birthday card and a Christmas gift, but nothing more. She’d become far closer to her mother, who was a combination best friend and super-mom wrapped in one petite package. Her mother had never remarried.

She turned her attention to Bethany and Gerald. Gerald was a thirty-two-year-old marketing executive who worked in the same office building in Philadelphia as Bethany and Valerie. Bethany worked for a large cell phone company’s executive staff, and Valerie was an assistant at a collections agency.

When Bethany handed her rose and lily bouquet to Valerie, her teary face showed just how happy she was she’d found Gerald, and Valerie was happy for her. Her own love life was pretty sparse. She dated frequently, but always seemed to find flaws in the men she went out with. They were too lazy, or too focused on their careers, or not good in bed. Now, if she could find a man like the ones in her paranormal romance novels, she’d