Outlaw Tiger

by Terry Bolryder

  Mel could hear him waving his camera all over the place. “Positive. You need to get out here. The site’s on the west end of town. Can’t miss it.”

  “Got it.” She ended the call and lowered the phone from her ear slowly, wondering what to make of everything. Could this be real? Or was it another wild goose chase? There was really only one way to make sure.

  As she was about to stand up from the bed, she heard rustling behind her, and she turned to see Dallas sitting up, eyeing her curiously, his dark hair gorgeously mussed.

  “That was my cameraman,” Mel said.

  He cocked an eyebrow.

  She stood up and got dressed excitedly. “Apparently, there was a sighting of one of those big monsters I’ve been looking for last night.”

  Dallas’s eyes narrowed at that, and he looked down at the covers for a second, troubled.

  Mel smiled. “Shall we go take a look?”

  He nodded and got out of bed, and she couldn’t help but watch as he got dressed, thinking it was a shame that he had to hide his body beneath clothing.

  Once they were fully dressed and had eaten a fast breakfast, they said their good-byes to Harrison and Marian and headed into town.

  When they arrived, it wasn’t difficult to find the spot. In fact, it would have been hard to miss it, considering the appearance had occurred in a small field just outside the main city limits.

  That was new. All of the other incidents had happened far out in the county, near ranches or in wide-open areas. There hadn’t been an appearance so close to the town before.

  When they got there, several cars were parked along the side of the street, including a few police cars.

  As they parked and got out, she examined the large indent in the ground, noting that it was similar to the one she’d seen the other day, as if someone had torn the ground apart with an enormous backhoe.

  Making sure her recording equipment was on, Mel jogged excitedly over to the police car where a few county officers were interviewing a young woman who looked to be in her late twenties.

  “Sorry, I’m Mel,” she exclaimed when they were close enough, holding out a hand. “I’m with Channel 8 news. Are you the one who saw it?”

  “Sally.” The woman shook her hand, then nodded, looking frazzled. “Yes, I saw it, but your cameraman already got my statement.”

  Mel laughed exasperatedly and looked around. Despite the fact that Trent had been the one to inform her of the ongoing scene, he was nowhere to be found. He’d probably run off again.

  Even that, however, wasn’t enough to dim her excitement. This was the best lead she’d had so far.

  “I just need to ask a few questions,” she said animatedly, holding up her notebook. “Did you get a good look at it? Could you describe it to me?”

  Sally shook her head. “Not really. I can tell you it was huge, though. It had giant horns and scales, but I couldn’t make out much else because it was almost completely covered in a shell of rock and mud.”

  No way. This was even better than she could have expected.

  “Did you get a video, picture, anything?” Mel pressed eagerly.

  “Sadly, no,” the woman replied, looking over her shoulder at the site. “I was coming out to my car to drive to work when I saw it. I tried to grab my phone from my purse in order to get a picture, but by the time I had, the thing had disappeared.”

  Mel frowned, disappointment coursing through her. “What do you mean? How could something so big just vanish into thin air?”

  Sally just held up her hands at that, looking tired and lost. “Your guess is as good as mine. For all I know, it was just a mirage or something.”

  That couldn’t possibly be true. The ground was showing telltale marks of being torn asunder as if something were wrenching its way up into the open air.

  “Look,” she added. “I just want to forget about it, so if you don’t have any more questions for me, I’ll be going back inside to get some rest.”

  Mel nodded. “Of course, thank you.”

  With that, Sally nodded and walked back inside her home.

  As she watched the lady leave, Mel felt her heart begin to sag. No video, barely any evidence except for a bizarre description from a witness who seemed to only have glimpsed it for a second.

  What had sounded so promising over the phone had become a huge disappointment. Part of her wished she’d stayed home and slept in with Dallas.

  How nice that would have been.

  Speaking of, he had edged his way over toward the torn-up ground and was kneeling, his eyes narrowed at it. Then he looked back up and around as if searching for something.

  She watched him for a second, then turned to look at the small crowd that was clustered, chattering and pointing at the wrecked dirt.

  Suddenly, Mel got the feeling she was being watched, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw a man glowering at the scene from an alleyway across the street.

  He was wearing old, ratty black clothing but was extremely tall and muscled, not unlike the men at Dragonclaw. He was also handsome, in an intimidating sort of way, with a chiseled jawline, straight nose, and full lips.

  He folded his arms, and suddenly, she noticed the lines of tattoos that laced their way down his biceps and forearms, stopping at his hands. Everything about him looked hard and mean, except for, surprisingly, his gaze.

  He was watching everything with a cool, intense curiosity. His eyes met hers for a second, and she looked away, focusing on the scene in front of her.

  When she looked back to see if he was still there, she gasped. The unsettling man was gone.

  Bizarre.

  What was going on in this town?

  Just at that moment, however, Dallas walked back over and gave her a curious look, and she exhaled, releasing the breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding in.

  It was a shame that there hadn’t been more evidence for them to find. Mel had really thought that they were onto something.

  But there was definitely something going on. Today confirmed it. One large patch of ruined ground could be coincidental, but two? There was just no way that something supernatural wasn’t at play here.

  And both witnesses had claimed to see colossal monsters rising from the ground.

  The progress was much slower than she would have liked, but they were getting somewhere, and thankfully, she had a few more days left to investigate.

  Still, Mel couldn’t shake the feeling that somehow everything that had happened in the past week was connected. Dragonclaw, Dallas, rumors of shapeshifting people and gigantic figures rising from the ground—there was no way that all of these were isolated events.

  They had to be connected. She just couldn’t figure out how. Mel had never been one to believe in fate, but she couldn’t help but think that she had been put here at this moment to try and figure out what was going on and to meet Dallas.

  “I’m fine,” she said, looking up at him. “Did you find anything interesting?”

  He shook his head.

  Mel sighed. “Me neither. All the witness said was that she saw something big and scaly rise from the ground, then disappear.”

  Dallas frowned, his eyebrows turning downward.

  “I know, right?” she added. “It doesn’t make sense. None of this makes sense.”

  The only thing that had made any sense today had been waking up next to Dallas. It had felt so right.

  She eyed the crowd for a second. Still, there were quite a few people here. Maybe one of them had gotten a glimpse of whatever it was that the woman had seen.

  Dallas followed her quietly as she made her way over to the small group and to a small, elderly couple who was chatting and pointing down at the upturned earth.

  “It’s God’s reckonin’. I’m telling you, Sheila!” the older gentleman exclaimed.

  “Oh, hush, George,” the old woman said, waving her hand. “This is just someone playin’ pranks on all of us. That’s all.”

  �
�Did either of you see it?” Mel asked.

  Sheila shook her head. “Nah, we ain’t seen nothin’. We came outside when we heard Sally screaming and yelling bloody murder.” She frowned. “Did hear a loud sound a few minutes before, didn’t we, George?”

  “Yup.” George nodded emphatically. “Felt like the ground was shaking!”

  Mel shared a curious look with Dallas, who just shrugged. “Are you sure? There was no way you could have imagined it?”

  “Could have,” Sheila said, laughing. “We’re getting up there in years, and our senses ain’t what they used to be.”

  “Do you think Sally was telling the truth about a giant monster?”

  Sheila cocked her head to the side. “Hard to say. Could have been the summer heat tricking her eyes, but she’s always been a level-headed gal, that Sally. I can’t really see why she would lie or make it all up.”

  “I’m tellin’ ya, God’s reckonin’!” George crowed again as Mel and Dallas turned away.

  “Well,” Mel said with a laugh, “looks like that woman really saw something. What she saw, I still have no idea.”

  Dallas shrugged.

  Dang it, how she wished she could have been there to see whatever had made the huge hole in the ground.

  Almost as much as she wished she could just take the whole day off and spend it in Dallas’s big, strong, sexy arms.

  Almost.

  14

  Another wood shaving floated to the ground below as Dallas sat atop the roof of his trailer, hands busy whittling away while his mind worked.

  His eyes darted across the parking lot, searching for anything out of the ordinary, for what felt like the thousandth time. He couldn’t help it, not since the strange occurrence that had been him and Mel checking out the large hole in the ground that a basilisk had risen out of.

  In all of his years, he’d never heard of one rising so close to the town, and relief had coursed through him to see that no damage had been done to any of the nearby structures.

  That was until he had noticed the big, tattooed man watching them from the shadows.

  At least that had been what Dallas thought until he’d caught a whiff of the mysterious figure’s scent on the wind.

  Shifter.

  The man had definitely smelled like a shifter. The troubling thing was that he hadn’t smelled like any other shifter Dallas had ever seen before.

  Even worse, during their time in town, Dallas had been picking up another scent. Unlike the tattooed man’s smell, this one was faint and almost… familiar.

  It had been there ever since the first night that Mel had come into town, but he hadn’t noticed it until today. Someone was clearly trying to cover it, conceal it. The question was why. And why was it familiar? Where had he smelled it before?

  He shook his head, whittling away another chunk of wood, hating that he couldn’t quite piece it all together.

  On top of all of that, there was the fact that, after last night, Dallas was positive that Mel was his mate.

  It had been one of the most difficult things he’d ever done, holding back his tiger when it had roared to mate her, to claim her, to hold her close and never, ever let her go.

  Suddenly, his pocket dinged, heralding a text from someone. He pulled it out, eyes narrowing at the screen as he tried to decipher the words in the glaring sunlight.

  It was Reno.

  Dallas had never been a big fan of technology and phones in general. Although, texting was nice because it felt a lot easier to type the words than to speak them.

  R: Heard about the excitement in town. What are you going to do?

  D:?

  R: Come on, Dal. We both know what I’m talking about. Mel is obviously your mate. It was made clear from the moment you swiped the water pitcher from me.

  Dallas frowned. Reno had a good point there.

  D: So what if she is?

  R: So what? With the incident in town, she’s getting even closer to realizing that shifters exist, and she’s not likely to stop searching. I don’t think I need to remind you that you are a shifter.

  D: I’ve got it under control.

  Even as he typed the words, he could feel the lie hidden beneath the letters. Truthfully, Dallas had no idea what he was doing. He’d never expected to find a mate. Nor had he ever expected her to be the one person who was set on exposing the one thing he was sworn to protect.

  R: You do? Well, I’m glad then. Because I’ve been hearing news of… other things.

  D: What about? Basilisks?

  R: No. Just other things. Shifter things.

  Dallas read the text, then set his phone down on his knee, eyebrows turning in thoughtfully. He knew Reno still had connections to wolf society. After all, wolves made up the majority of the shifter world, so they controlled most aspects of the society.

  That was pretty much all Dallas knew about the subject. Although Reno could be incredibly smiley and friendly, he tended to keep his past, his alpha status as a wolf, and pretty much everything else close to the chest.

  D:?

  R: Sorry I can’t say more. I’m still looking into it. Just… keep an eye out. All I can tell you is that there’s more going on right now than meets the eye. Talk to you later.

  Dallas shook his head as he deposited his phone back into his pocket.

  More than meets the eye.

  What the hell was that supposed to mean? How was that information helpful in the slightest? Damn Reno. It wasn’t like Dallas needed any more mystery in his life.

  Right as he picked up his knife to go back to his carving, Mel stepped out of the trailer, looking as beautiful as ever. Her dark eyes sparkled in the waning evening sun.

  “I’m tired,” she said, yawning. “Can I come up and join you?”

  Dallas nodded, holding a hand out to pull her up. Once up, she sat down next to him on the edge and leaned in against him, laying her head on his shoulder.

  He put an arm around her, pulling her close, and when she sighed peacefully, he thought about how perfect this all was. Them together, atop this trailer, her fitting snugly against him.

  Part of him wished that he could tell her everything, just lay it all out for her, tell her what he was. But he disregarded the idea quickly. Everything they had hung from one tenuous thread: the fact that she didn’t know about shifters.

  Everything could change once she did. Even among shifters, Dallas was unnatural. Tigers weren’t born. They were made. And for all he knew, he was the only tiger out there except for rumors he’d heard a while back about a trio of tiger brothers that lived up north.

  He’d never looked into it, as the bosses of Dragonclaw made a point to keep out of mainstream shifter business. It had worked fine for them so far.

  Even more concerning was the question of what she would do if she knew. Mel had the power to expose all of them. Rumors were rumors, but if real, hard proof got out about the shifter world, that actual dragons lived at Dragonclaw, what would happen to his family? What would happen to the only home he had ever known? He couldn’t risk it.

  It was like playing with fire. The most beautiful, perfect, wonderful fire he’d ever seen. But fire nonetheless.

  He felt a small nudge in his side and looked down to find her staring up at him.

  “What are you thinking about?” she asked.

  Dallas just shrugged at that and squeezed her a little closer.

  Mel cuddled closer to him for a second, then pulled back. “No, seriously, talk to me. I want to hear more about you. I’ve told you about my past, my family. Now I’d like to hear about yours. Talk.” She smiled. “Please?”

  He could never refuse her, not when she looked at him like that. Like he meant the world to her and she wanted to know him on a deeper level and was willing to push past his barriers.

  Dallas had never had anyone look at him like that before. He guessed that was probably part of her being his mate.

  Mate.

  Damn, the word was beginning to sound t
oo good in his head.

  “Why?” he asked.

  She pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Well, I think it’s because I really care about you, and you always listen to me, and it makes me feel heard and cared for. I know you don’t talk a lot, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have things to say, and I want to be there for you.”

  Dallas blinked, staring down at her with wide eyes.

  Did she have to be so damn perfect all the time?

  “I didn’t… really have a normal family growing up,” he said finally, choosing his words carefully.

  Mel cocked her head. “Oh, were you fostered? Adopted?”

  More like created.

  “Something like that. They were…” He paused. “Mercenaries. Violent people who built a life on violence.”

  “How so? Like a gang or something?”

  They were professional assassins, hoping to raise him for a bloody purpose that he had never really understood as a child. But it wasn’t like he could tell her that.

  “Worse than that,” Dallas replied.

  She frowned. “I’m so sorry. You deserved better.”

  “I escaped when I was little.” He shrugged. “Found a new home.”

  Dallas couldn’t remember the last time he had talked this much. It was almost weird to hear his voice out loud, but it kind of felt right talking to her.

  “I’m glad,” Mel said, grinning up at him. “I love hearing you talk.”

  He couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Why? You listen to people talk all day.”

  Mel reached out and poked him in the chest. “Maybe, but those people aren’t you. I don’t want to listen to them. I want to listen to you. I don’t want them. I want you, only you.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “And right now, I want you to kiss me.”

  He growled, taking her lips with his. It was a good thing she had told him she wanted it, because after what she’d said, he hadn’t been sure that he would be able to hold back.

  She wanted him? Only him?

  He’d never thought that someone could desire him like that, but now that he knew she did, it felt like anything was possible.

  They kissed long and passionately, the sun watching as it fell over the horizon, casting scarlet glints across the trailer and their faces.