Tiger Born

by Tressie Lockwood

  Tiger Born

  By Tressie Lockwood

  Copyright © April 2013, Tressie Lockwood

  Cover art by Mina Carter © April 2013

  Formatting by Bob Houston eBook Formatting

  ISBN 978-1-939151-21-6

  This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this novel are fictitious or used fictitiously. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.

  Sugar and Spice Press

  North Carolina, USA

  www.sugarnspicepress.com

  Chapter One

  Sunlight warmed Deja’s face, and she slowly came awake, stretching and moaning. Movement under her head and hand brought to mind the fact that she no longer slept alone. She opened her eyes to the sight she could never tire of—the naked man she loved with all her heart. Reaching out to touch his lips, she shivered and recalled all they’d done last night.

  “What didn’t we do?” she murmured.

  Heath stirred, and his blue eyes fluttered open. Deja’s heart pounded. Damn, he was fine, and he was all hers.

  “Hey.”

  She smiled. “Hey, yourself.” His gaze went out of focus, and she could guess what he thought about. “That was last night. You won’t get a repeat this morning. I have to be in to my new job early.”

  She started to rise, but he reached out and grabbed her before dragging her back to his chest. When his hand came around her waist, her pussy clenched in anticipation of his touch. Just as she knew he would, he slid a palm over her belly and found her mound. With just a suggestive thought, her heat grew moist. The man’s desire knew no bounds, and one touch sent her into overdrive. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “Heath, I don’t have time for this. I told you, I start the new job at the post office today.”

  He harrumphed. “My dad is the alpha. I think his daughter-in-law can afford to be late.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Oh, is that how it is?”

  “Yes, that’s how it is.”

  “Don’t you think you wore me out last night?”

  His hand froze, and she glanced over her shoulder at him. The concern on his face touched her. Heath still didn’t trust his tiger, or the myriad of emotions that came with the beast being awakened in him. Not that Deja didn’t have her own questions. She did. Every day she questioned what she was and how that related to Heath and their future together. Today, however, was a good day. Today, she would talk to him about something that had been on her mind for a while, especially now that they were soon to move into their own house. Just thinking of the house and the future made her tummy do somersaults.

  She patted his hand and pulled out of his hold to sit up. “How about we go down to the diner and have breakfast together? Just the two of us.”

  Heath studied her face, and when he reached out to caress her cheek, she kissed his palm, allowing her eyelids to lower as she breathed in his familiar scent.

  “I’d like that,” he admitted. “Come here. A few more minutes holding you, and then we will get dressed.”

  Deja crawled forward, about to comply, when a bang from the front of the house caught her attention. Someone shouted for Ward, and she frowned. They couldn’t move soon enough. Ward loved his people to the point that he didn’t mind them barging in without knocking. Still, the tone of the caller’s voice made her wonder if something was up.

  Heath rolled to his feet in seconds and threw on a pair of jeans before padding barefoot out of the room. Deja took her time dressing and slid her feet into sandals. When she walked into the living room, she found the caller had been Joe. Fear creased his brows, and his face appeared paler than normal beneath the hot Texas sun.

  “Ward, you better come down to the lake,” Joe said. “We’ve got trouble.”

  Unlike her and Heath, Ward seemed to have already been dressed and having his breakfast. He dragged a napkin across his mouth and handed it to Coreen, his wife and Heath’s stepmother. “What’s happening, Joe?”

  Joe—one of Ward’s right hand men—scratched the back of his head. “It’s Carter. He’s fighting.”

  Ward frowned. “You disturb my breakfast for a fight? Damn it, practically every day someone busts someone else’s head down at the bar. You could have dragged Carter out of there. Hell, even his woman could shame him into behaving himself.”

  Joe fidgeted, and his gaze flicked from Ward’s annoyed expression to Coreen’s worried one. Deja wondered if the fight had something to do with one of her family members or something. She wasn’t aware that Coreen had any in Siberia, but then she and Heath had only lived there three months. Who knew if they’d met everyone yet. Not when Heath stayed busy working with his dad and she tried her best to find work that suited her. The post-office position opening was a real find.

  “Well, it’s complicated,” Joe explained.

  “I ain’t but had one cup of coffee, Joe, and you’re using it up by the second.”

  Deja almost burst out laughing. When she’d first met Ward, everyone had said he was ornery. She’d never seen evidence of it because of his joy at meeting Heath, the son of his mate who had died. Getting to know the son he never knew existed had kept Ward flying high. Lately, though, she noticed a greater strain in him—and in Heath. Neither felt the need to share about what they dealt with no matter how much she badgered both.

  “It’s got to do with a human, sir,” Joe admitted. Deja figured it out. A human was involved with the dispute, and Joe didn’t want to tell Ward in front of Coreen, who, she’d learned soon after they came to Siberia, Texas, was not a shifter but human.

  Ward grunted and turned as if to get Coreen to bring his hat, but she had already retrieved it and handed it to him. Ward kissed her cheek and stuffed his dusty Stetson on his head. Everyone strolled toward the door. Deja stepped outside, but Coreen stood in the doorway. The woman seemed comfortable trusting Ward to take care of every situation. Deja didn’t think there could be a woman who complimented a headstrong man like him so well.

  At Ward’s truck, Heath turned back to her and gave her a kiss. “Baby, why don’t you stay here until we get back? I’ll fill you in.”

  Deja ducked beneath the arm he rested on the open door, climbed in, and slid to the middle. “Save your breath. I’m coming.”

  “Deja.”

  She folded her arms over her chest and cut her eyes at him. “My name is not Coreen. Let’s go.”

  Ward chuckled while Heath grumbled, but he slid in beside her and slammed the door closed. Ward shook his head, grinning, and threw the truck into gear. “That’s some woman you got there, son. She’s going to be a real handful.”

  “Please, like he has to handle me?” Deja resented the implication that she should be more like Coreen. Yeah, she did things her way, but so what? That didn’t mean she was any less than anyone else. Ward acted like he’d never heard of the twenty-first century, and if Heath kept spending so much time with his dad, he might get ideas. She had no problem disabusing him of them. Still, she didn’t blame him. Neither of the men knew of the other’s existence until a few months ago. They were bonding over the running of the town, even if Heath longed for what he loved most—ranching.

  At the lake, Ward pulled the truck to a screeching halt, and they jumped out. Deja couldn’t see the center of the confusion because it looked like everybody and his brother had turned out to see what went on. She grabbed the back of Heath’s shirt and let his big build and authoritative air cut through the crowd. The closer they drew to the front, the more distinctly she picked up the impact of fist smashing into jaw. No sooner had she identified the sound, it changed, and tiger growls rent the air.

  Water splashing, stains of blood floating on the surface, two big ca
ts went at each other, ripping each other apart with vicious intent. Even shifted, Deja recognized which one was Carter. She knew the markings of his coat and his scent. He was one of the men that worked close by Ward besides Joe and a few others. She cringed when the other tiger bit into Carter’s neck, and he howled in pain.

  “Enough!”

  At Ward’s shout, the fighting ceased. Carter’s and his opponent’s face slapped the water’s surface before they came up for air in human form. Deja felt like someone had laid a heavy hand at the back of her neck and shoved her toward the ground. She fell to her knees and managed with supreme effort to glance around her. Almost the entire crowd had dropped when she did. A few stragglers with wide, nervous eyes took in her and the rest of the shifters. They dove to their knees and bowed their heads. While Deja had fallen immediately, she noticed her lover clench his jaw and take a knee more slowly. She wondered if Heath ever decided to come up against Ward, could he resist his power?

  When she dragged her attention from Heath, she locked gazes with Jake at the back of the group. The obvious terror in the man’s expression and the red staining his skin from neck to hairline made her reach out a hand and gestured for him to get down. The Adam’s apple in his neck bobbed, and he crouched. If the situation weren’t so dire, she would have laughed. Jake was human, and he’d arrived in Siberia, Texas the same time she did, but even after three months, the tigers terrified him. She felt sorry for the dude.

  A few humans were sprinkled throughout the crowd. Some knew to bow, and others took their cue. Still, Deja sensed the tension, even if she didn’t catch the occasional resentful glance tossed about. What was going on here?

  “Carter, Frank, get up here,” Ward ordered, and both men waded in from the water. “Everyone else except my son and Deja clear out.”

  The crowd disbursed, and that was when Deja saw the human, cradling a broken arm. He started off, but Carter shouted after him. “Not you!”

  Ward’s brows went up.

  “No disrespect, Ward, but this guy’s been in contact with Spiderweb,” Carter explained.

  Deja gasped, as did Heath. Frank didn’t appear to be surprised, but she noted the way his jaw tightened and how his gaze darted around as if he looked for a way to escape. Heath must have seen it as well because he took a step closer to the man, his stance an obvious threat. If she knew her lover as she’d learned him well as a tiger over the last few months, she knew Heath would relish a chase, one that wouldn’t end well for the other shifter. Frank seemed to know it too and didn’t try anything.

  Ward’s demeanor went black, and if Deja felt the power he exuded to make them bow before, it tripled now. Heath dropped a hand on his father’s shoulder, and right away the bind eased. She blew out a breath of relief with everyone else. “Spiderweb?” Heath spat as if he didn’t want the word sullying his mouth.

  Carter nodded. “You might expect a human, but Frank was in on it.”

  “He’s a liar, Ward. I swear I never—”

  Carter cracked the unfamiliar shifter across the mouth, and Frank started after him before Ward gave another clipped order.

  “We’ll discuss this at my office.” The alpha scanned their surroundings, and Deja followed suit. The shifters had been obedient to Ward, but a few humans hung about. They were worried, but she prayed it was unfounded. Her hope went by the wayside when Heath walked to the bed of the truck and pulled out rope to bind the human’s hands along with Frank’s. When the human cried out, her lover didn’t flinch.

  “Heath, don’t you think you’re being a little rough?” she demanded and reached for the knot.

  “Go home, Deja.”

  She stared at him. “Excuse me?”

  “I said go home. Now.”

  She curled her fingers into her palms. “I…” One look at Ward told her this wasn’t the time to argue. As if on cue, Joe arrived to offer her a lift. She scowled at all of them and got into his truck. Something was going on, and one way or another, she’d find out all the details.

  Chapter Two

  A short while later, Deja walked into the house fuming. Who the hell did Heath think he was talking to her like that? If she hadn’t sensed him and Ward were wound so tight, she would have told him about himself. Either way, he’d get it when he got home. Not that she wanted to be angry with him. She wanted nothing to ruin their talk.

  “Coreen?” she called through the house.

  “In here, honey,” Coreen answered from the kitchen.

  Deja paused to call into work. She’d been due to start that morning, but with everything that was going on, she hoped her new boss would understand if she asked for it to be switched to the next day. Sure, she was taking advantage, kind of being the alpha’s daughter-in-law—even if she and Heath weren’t married yet—but if she couldn’t use the connection sometimes, why bother?

  She strolled into the kitchen. Bacon sizzled in a frying pan, and Coreen stood at the counter stirring creamer into her coffee. Heath’s younger brothers, who were fourteen and twelve, and bore an incredible resemblance to Heath with their blond hair and blue eyes, sat at the table looking like the food couldn’t be cooked fast enough. Shifting her gaze back to Coreen, Deja determined the woman worried more than she’d at first thought. Coreen didn’t use creamer in her coffee but preferred real milk.

  “Let me get you the milk, Coreen. I’ll take that cup if you don’t mind.” She whipped away the mug and added sugar. After she’d prepared a fresh one for Coreen, she grabbed a seat at the table. The kitchen had been designed to accommodate the entire family plus guests, but sometimes Ward rose earlier than the rest of them and had breakfast alone. Coreen seemed to have no problem cooking breakfast twice. While Deja was comfortable, she couldn’t wait to have her own with Heath. She sighed and then recalled the incident from earlier. “Carter was fighting with someone named Frank.”

  Abel, the older of the boys, perked up, his blue eyes glittering with excitement. “Did Carter kick Frank’s ass?”

  “Abel!” his mother scolded.

  “Did he bite his ear off?” Aaron chipped in.

  “If you two don’t stay out of adult conversations, I will send you to your rooms until breakfast is ready.” Coreen pinched both young tigers by the ear, and they howled, muttering a “yes, ma’am” in unison. Deja hid a smile. Coreen might be human, but she was time enough for the cubs. “What were you saying, Deja?”

  Deja shook her head. “Well, apparently two people were caught with ties to Spiderweb. One of the men, Frank, is a shifter, which I can’t even imagine why he would betray his own kind.” She shivered and shut her eyes, trying to stave off memories of the hell she went through when that evil organization spliced her DNA with that of a Siberian white tiger against her will. She could imagine every one of the shifter residents in Siberia, Texas had gone through the same thing, including Frank. Well, all of those not born as shifters as Abel and Aaron were. “The other person involved was human. He had a broken arm, and Ward took them both back to his office. I just don’t get why Frank would do it. Do you know him?”

  Coreen made a small sound of dislike. “Not well, but what I have seen of him, he has a bad attitude.” Her eyes glazed over, and Deja wondered if she was worried about the fact that one of the suspects was human.

  Abel echoed her thoughts, spitting out his next words as if in revulsion. “Humans! I think my dad should kick them all out of Siberia. We don’t need them, and they obviously don’t have any loyalty.”

  Coreen opened her mouth to speak, but Aaron cut her off. “Yeah, who needs them anyway? They’re slow, blind, deaf, and they have no instincts. Even Dad said so. I’d have rather been born a shifter any day.”

  “Oh, is that right?” Coreen growled, giving a good imitation of a tiger if Deja did say so herself.

  She couldn’t believe how condescending these two kids were being. They acted like they were better than all humans just because they were shifters.

  “You know what I think?” Deja
snapped, putting a hand on her hip. “I think you’re rude, and you need to watch your mouth. Did you once consider the fact that you’re insulting your mother while you’re laying out humans like they’re no better than garbage under your feet? What, you think anything you have someone didn’t give to you? Please, you couldn’t survive out there in the world alone. You’d be crying for your human mother in a heartbeat!”

  Both boys’ faces reddened. Abel, as usual, spoke first. “I’m sorry, Mom. Of course we didn’t mean you.”

  “Yeah, sorry, Mom,” Aaron echoed. “We weren’t talking about you.”

  “You shouldn’t have been talking about anybody,” Coreen told them. How their attitudes affected her showed in the tremor in her hand when she set their food on the table. Coreen wasn’t afraid of her boys. She was probably afraid for them—and for what would happen if the other, stronger shifters agreed with their sentiment.

  When the boys had wolfed down their food and thanked Coreen for the meal, they escaped the kitchen. Once they were out of earshot, Coreen dropped into a chair and released a heavy sigh. “There aren’t a lot of humans in Siberia, and I’m worried about where this mess will lead.”

  Deja rested a hand over Coreen’s. “You know Ward will look out for you. Besides, no one would breathe wrong in your direction and risk Ward’s wrath.”

  Coreen nodded. “I know that, but what about the others?”

  Deja didn’t have an answer. “I know why Jake’s here. They started the process toward making him a shifter but were interrupted when Ward rescued him. Even if it failed, Spiderweb would hunt him down and kill him rather than leave a loose end. What about the other humans? Were they rescued early too? And you?”

  The alpha’s wife stared down at the table as if remembering. “No, most of us lived in one of the surrounding towns or in some other city where Ward and his people visited, looking for clues to other Spiderweb cells. I met Ward in McAllen.”