by Chant, Zoe
A terrifying roar shattered the night. Ethan was hard to startle, but he barely stopped himself from jumping out of his skin. It was some big cat, and close. A cougar? Could they roar like that? It wasn’t as if Santa Martina had lions…
The enemy at the lakeside stopped shooting. “What the fuck was that?”
The other man, who was near the edge of the woods, took a step back. “Must be a mountain lion.”
The roar sounded again, making the enemies twitch nervously.
“Maybe we should get out of here,” said the one who’d been shooting at the reeds.
“No!” the other snapped. “She’s from Protection, Inc., and they’re why Mr. Nagle is in jail right now. We’re taking her dow—”
A tiger leaped out of the woods and took him down.
Ethan’s jaw dropped. But he only let his shock stop him for an instant. As the other enemy started to swing his gun toward the tiger, Ethan charged him. The man heard him coming, looked round, and froze for a fateful second, caught between the man and the tiger. In that instant, Ethan punched him in the jaw, knocking him out cold.
The other enemy lay still between the big cat’s massive paws. Ethan didn’t see any blood. It seemed like both their enemies were unconscious, not dead.
The tiger stepped away from its prey. For such a huge beast, it moved with a strange daintiness. Ethan stayed still, his heart pounding. His enemy’s gun was right there at his feet, but he didn’t want to bet that he could stoop and grab it before the tiger could leap. Besides, he had no desire to harm the beast that had just saved his life. It was a magnificent creature, with its soft-looking fur and deadly grace. He’d always loved wild things; he’d hunted for food, but never for sport.
If he didn’t attack it, probably it wouldn’t attack him. Maybe it had been scared by all the shooting and had acted in self-defense. Or maybe it had cubs it was protecting.
Ethan and the tiger looked at each other. His pulse throbbed in his ears, but from excitement and awe rather than fear. He’d never been so close to a big cat before, not even at the zoo…
…of course. It must have escaped from a zoo. No wonder it didn’t seem afraid of him. Very slowly, Ethan held out his hand. The tiger cocked its head as if it was trying to figure out what he was doing, but it didn’t seem frightened or angry. He made the clicking sound that his sister’s best friend, Catalina, used to talk to her housecats.
The tiger padded up to him and nudged his hand with its head. Barely able to believe this was really happening, Ethan scratched it behind the ears. Its fur was incredibly thick and soft.
“You beauty,” he murmured. “I wish you were mine…”
The soft fur melted away from under his hand. Incredulous, Ethan stared into Destiny’s merry brown eyes.
And a whole lot else. She was completely nude, and standing so close that he could feel her body heat. Between that and the tiger, his brain went into a total shutdown.
“You can let go of my ear now,” she said.
“You’re the tiger!” he blurted out.
“Yup.”
“And you’re naked!”
She looked down at herself. “Whoops. Better give me your shirt.”
Ethan had been half-sure he was dreaming, but as he automatically moved to obey, the sensation of slimy cold cloth dragging over his face convinced him that no matter how bizarre the situation, he was awake and it was real.
He started to offer her the wet shirt, then thought better of it. “Take one of theirs instead. At least they’re dry.” He indicated the nearest unconscious enemy.
Destiny pulled a face. “Not quite. Got some tiger drool on it. My tiger’s drool, but still. I’ll take the other.”
Dazed, Ethan watched her pad over to the enemy he’d knocked out and start stripping off his shirt. Her nude body was every bit as lushly tempting as he’d imagined—no, it was ten times more tempting. A hundred times. A thousand. The perfect globes of her breasts, the sweet roundness of her belly with its dimpled button, the delicious sway of her thighs, her absolutely spectacular ass that he was getting a truly incredible view of right now—
She twisted around and snapped her fingers. “Get busy, jarhead. These guys could wake up any second.”
His face burning, Ethan started ripping up his own shirt, which was a lost cause anyway. He tied up the first enemy, then came over to help Destiny with the one who was now shirtless. To his regret, she’d already pulled on the shirt, which came almost down to her knees. But he comforted himself with the recollection that they’d been planning to duck into the woods to make love anyway. He’d see her naked again. Maybe even later tonight.
She rifled through the men’s pockets while Ethan made sure they were securely bound, extracting their wallets and cell phones. He peered over her shoulder as she looked through their contact lists.
“Ah-ha!” Destiny indicated a number labeled ‘Mr. N.’ “I was right: they’re from the same organized crime ring that attacked my boss and your sister. That’s the private phone line for Wallace Nagle, the Godfather of Santa Martina. At least, it was. He’s in jail now, so I guess his phone is sitting in some FBI evidence lockbox. Let me call Hal and tell him what’s happened.”
She dialed a number. “Hal? First off, I’m fine and so is Ethan. But we still need a pickup. My car’s at the bottom of a lake, along with my Sig Sauer, one of my shoes, and all of Ethan’s stuff. And my dress is a pile of shreds and spangles.” She paused while Hal said something. “Yeah: he knows. I’ll explain it all to him while you cancel the cavalry.”
She turned to Ethan. “Let’s go talk somewhere out of earshot.”
“Sure.” They collected the gangsters’ weapons, and then he followed her along the shore of the lake until they reached a flat rock, far enough to escape prying ears but where they could still see the gangsters. Destiny plonked down on top of it, and he followed suit. There was a brief silence while they looked into each other’s eyes.
So beautiful, Ethan thought. The tiger had the same soft brown eyes as the woman, though much bigger. The tiger was the woman; the woman was the tiger. He’d seen and even felt for himself that it was true, but it was still hard to believe.
Wryly, Destiny said, “Would you believe that the whole time I’ve been a shifter, which is my entire life, this is the first time I’ve ever had to explain it to a person who’s never even heard of shifters before?”
Only then did Ethan realize what a sacrifice she’d made to save him. She obviously could have simply fled in her tiger form and kept her secret, but instead she’d come back for him. “Is anything bad going to happen because you let me find out? You’re not going to get court-martialed or something like that, are you?”
Her laugh echoed across the still water. “No. There’s no underground shifter government. We just keep it a secret for obvious reasons. Also, because there’s a lot of rumors floating around that the actual government, or parts of it, knows about shifters and would love to find out what makes us tick. Like, by keeping us locked up in a lab and experimenting on us.”
“I’ll never tell a soul,” Ethan said immediately. “But Hal knows? Did you tell him? Or is he a tiger shifter too?”
“Guess I might as well spill the beans on everyone,” she said with a grin. “Hal’s a shifter, yeah, but he’s a grizzly bear. Ellie already knows. They were going to tell you when you arrived. Break it to you gently.”
Now that the shock was wearing off, his mind worked quickly. “And the rest of your team?”
“Rafa’s a lion, Shane’s a panther, Nick’s a wolf, Fiona’s a snow leopard, and Lucas is a dragon.”
“What?” Suspicious that he was pulling her leg, he was about to say, “He is not,” when he remembered how Destiny had glanced upward as she’d estimated how long it would take for her teammates to arrive. “Lucas could fly here in about twenty minutes, huh?”
“Yup. You’re quick on the uptake. I thought you’d be way more disbelieving. And way more weirded out. Th
ough maybe you’re just having a delayed reaction and will freak out later.” Though her tone was light, her gaze dropped down as if she was genuinely uncertain how he’d respond. Her hands were flat on the stone, but the tendons stood out. He wondered if she thought he might suddenly recoil from her.
“Hey.” Ethan laid his hand over hers. She twitched slightly, but he kept it where it was. “Destiny, I can’t pretend this hasn’t been the biggest shock of my life. And to be honest, I’ll probably wake up in the middle of the night tonight and think, ‘Did that really happen?’ But I know it did. And I’m not scared or horrified or whatever it is you’re imagining. I’m just… surprised.”
She looked up then, and the moon shone in her beautiful eyes. “You sure?”
“Positive, nerd girl.” As he’d hoped, she made a face at him, and he felt some of the tension leave her hand. “You’re a gorgeous, fierce woman, and you’re a gorgeous, fierce tiger. Any man lucky enough to get with you will never sleep cold at night.”
She snickered. “He wouldn’t anyway.”
They sat in silence for a while, with her soft hand warm under his. A feeling of utter contentment filled his heart. He had no need to rush anything. If he and Destiny didn’t do anything that night but hold hands, that was fine. He and this brave, bewitching, literally magical woman had all the time in the world.
A shout made them both start. “Destiny? Ethan?”
She jumped up and waved. “Over here, Hal!”
An enormous man holding a flashlight in one hand and a gun in the other stepped out of the woods. Ellie followed him.
Ethan ran to meet his sister, sweeping her off her feet in a hug. She threw her arms around him and held him tight. He’d never admitted it to anyone, not even to her, but by far the hardest part of being a Marine was how little he got to see Ellie, and how much he missed her when he was gone.
“Hey,” he said, setting her down. “Hear you went and got engaged to a grizzly bear.”
“He’s only furry sometimes,” she said, smiling. Despite the stress she’d been under, she looked happy and relaxed. It seemed like love agreed with her.
Ethan took a good long look at Hal the bear. Ellie might like him, but Ethan was going to make up his own mind. Still, he had to admit that the first impression was positive. Hal clearly knew how to use the gun he held, which indicated competence. Destiny respected him, which did as well. But most importantly, there was no mistaking the love in Hal’s gaze when he looked at Ellie. That man would live and die for her, and lay down the world at her feet. That was good enough for Ethan.
Ellie and Ethan started to catch up with each other while Hal and Destiny conferred about the gangsters and her car. Hal called the police to come pick up the gangsters and take them to jail, and made another call to get her car winched out of the lake. They waited for the police to arrive, and then they all climbed into Hal’s car to drive to the cabin.
Destiny squeezed into the back seat with Ethan. He nearly put his arm around her, then decided that he shouldn’t without knowing if she wanted her boss to know. He wasn’t even sure how he felt about Ellie knowing. It was all so fresh and new, he wanted to keep it between the two of them for now. With an inward start of surprise, he realized that the most they’d ever done was kiss, and that only once. How strange. It felt like they’d come so much farther than that already.
He didn’t dare look her in the eyes, or he’d give it away for sure. It was killing him to keep his hands off her. But a delicious warmth kindled within him at her presence.
Soon, he thought. Maybe not tonight. But soon.
Chapter 3
Destiny
At Hal’s cabin, Destiny took a hot shower and changed into clean clothes from the stash of assorted clothing in the attic for the use of any shifters who’d gotten unexpectedly naked. After Ethan had taken his turn with the shower and emergency clothes, they all converged in the living room to sit by the fire and listen first to the story of Ethan and Destiny’s adventure (leaving out the part where they’d intended to get it on in the woods), then to the story of how Ellie and Hal had met. Destiny had heard it before but not in much detail, so she didn’t mind hearing it again.
Despite the loss of her car, her dress, her gun, her purse, and even her shoes, she felt strangely happy. She and Ethan had put away the very last of Nagle’s gang and so protected her friends, and she’d just met a man whom she felt very confident was going to become much more than a friend. With any luck, and if Hal and Ellie fell asleep soon, tonight.
“…and there she was, sitting in the police station,” Hal was saying. “But her head was down so I couldn’t see her eyes. I introduced myself and she looked up, and when our eyes met—”
He broke off, shaking his head, his expression alight with what Destiny could only think of as glory. “It nearly knocked me backwards. And my bear roared, ‘Mine!’”
“You were a bear?” Ethan said. “In the police station? A talking bear?”
Ellie burst into giggles.
“No, no,” said Hal. “When you’re a shifter, your animal is always with you. When you’re human, it’s a voice in your mind. That voice is the part of you that is the animal: your deepest, most instinctive, most primal self. And it’s the part of you that recognizes your mate.”
“Your mate,” Ethan echoed. “What does that mean?”
“Your true love,” Hal replied without a trace of embarrassment. “The person you’re perfectly compatible with. The person you’ll never fall out of love with.”
Perfectly compatible, Destiny thought. Sounds like me and Ethan.
They had so much in common, with their similar sense of humor, taste for excitement, cool under fire, even their shared love for dancing. They’d both been in the military. Even though they’d only just met, they had worked as well together to protect each other as if they’d been teammates for years. And, of course, there was their absolutely sizzling sexual chemistry.
Could Ethan be the one? Destiny wondered. My one true mate?
For an instant, she was filled with certainty and joy. Of course he was. He had to be. It felt so right.
Then Hal spoke again. “People who aren’t shifters can have mates too, of course—I’m Ellie’s as much as she’s mine—but they have to fall in love the regular way, over time. Shifters recognize their mates the instant their eyes meet.” He snapped his fingers. “Like that.”
“Like that,” Destiny repeated numbly, not even aware that she was speaking until she heard the words leave her mouth.
Hal nodded, then chuckled. “And, of course, my bear kept growling stuff like ‘Protect our mate! Take her to our lair! Feed her nuts and berries! Catch her a nice fat salmon! Only the best for our mate!’” More seriously, he added, “But yeah, I knew then and there. It was absolutely unmistakable, the instant I looked into her eyes.”
Destiny forced her glance at Ethan to seem casual, as if she was looking out the window at the stars rather than meaningfully staring into his eyes. But she did look into his eyes.
Nothing happened.
She felt like she’d been kicked in the gut. And then she realized something that made her feel even worse. She’d looked into his eyes before—she’d looked into them plenty of times in the short but eventful time since they’d met—and nothing had ever happened.
Well, no—not quite nothing. That first time they’d met, she’d felt a sort of jolt. And she was sure feeling a whole lot of things right now. But that jolt could have just been a whole lot of sexual chemistry, or the force of a strong personality. And her attraction could be because he was exactly her type: a gentleman and a soldier, sweet and funny and hot as blazes, and because they got along so well and they were so compatible…
But her tiger hadn’t said a word. And she was the one who would know.
Maybe she’d been snoozing.
Hey! Destiny gave her inner tiger a mental shove. What do you think of Ethan?
Her tiger tilted her head, a big cat’s eq
uivalent of a shrug. He seems nice.
Nice, Destiny thought. Ugh. Nice is for best friends and bosses and brothers, not for fated true loves.
But she wasn’t going to let her tiger off the hook that easily. She tried again. Could he be my mate?
Her tiger gave her that head tilt again. Your mate? I don’t know. How am I supposed to tell?
Weren’t you paying any attention to Hal’s story? Destiny asked, frustrated. Do you get a ‘mine’ feeling when I look into his eyes?
Nope, her tiger purred, sounding so unconcerned that Destiny wanted to grab her by the ears and shake her. Never felt anything like that. Still don’t.
And then, adding insult to injury, the big cat curled up and went to sleep.
A hand touched her thigh. Destiny nearly jumped out of her skin.
“Hey, space cadet,” Ethan said. “Say goodnight.”
Her head jerked up. Hal and Ellie had already stood up. She leaned against him with every line of her body signaling her absolute trust, and he had his arms around her in a gesture of protectiveness and devotion.
That’s what mates look like, Destiny thought. Despite the fire, she felt chilled to the bone.
Hal and Ellie went off to their bedroom, leaving Destiny and Ethan alone together.
“You can take the sofa. There’s a sleeping bag I can use.” Ethan smiled at her. “Or we can wait fifteen minutes, then split one. What do you think?”
His blue-green eyes were hot with desire and the firelight made his hair shine like molten gold. She could feel the heat of his body from where she stood, as if the space between them didn’t separate them at all. He reached out for her. All she had to do was stand there, and then he’d hold her in his strong arms and press his lips against hers and—
It was the one of the hardest things she’d ever done, but she held up her hand. “Ethan, wait.”
He stopped. “Too tired? We don’t have to do anything, you know. We could literally just sleep together.”