by A. Star
Things were tossed to the floor and a knife was left point down in the top of the dresser, like someone tried to stab something...or someone...and missed. Trying to force himself to breathe, he wheeled into the room and saw a man, dressed in black, lying on the floor. The window was wide open, screen removed, and there was blood on the floor.
He sneezed. Then cursed. What an inconvenient time to sneeze!
Gareth tried to reconcile what he saw, but he couldn’t. What had Irina said earlier? Her parents were murdered and she came to the US to escape and there was a man in the store...
Oh, fuck, why hadn’t he listened to her?
“Bobby!” he yelled at the top of his lungs, before sneezing again. What the... The only thing that made him sneeze like this was...
Cats.
What had she said?
His heart thudded in his ears as he looked at the blood in front of the desk and then on the window sill. Was that a...paw print?
Oh, God... He sneezed again, but adrenaline was coursing now. He shouted for Bobby again, who came running. He knew the basics of the fight earlier, but not everything Irina had said that Gareth had dismissed as insanity.
“Where’s Irina?!” Bobby immediately said, though he rushed to the man. “He’s not dead,” he confirmed, “but very unconscious. Oh, God, Gareth, he’s got a gun!”
“Tie him up with something,” Gareth ordered, trying to find order in the chaos that was his entire soul at that moment. Where was Irina? The paw print... The sneezing... The open window... The unconscious man...
There was a browser open on her computer. He looked, and read the email from Oksana, who he knew was Irina’s friend in Russia.
A man in the US...
A tiger in the woods?
Blood...
“Call the police!” Gareth shouted at Bobby as he wheeled with reckless urgency from the room.
“Where are you going?” Bobby cried after him.
“To find Irina!”
Moving along the paved driveway, Gareth could see a trail of blood from the window that led across the tarmac and to the short lawn before the strip of trees. It seemed to be the only place to look, given everything, but he knew that he should have made Bobby come with him. How was he going to get in there? But there was no time!
He traveled along the pavement until he reached the grassy edge. The lawn was well manicured and the dirt beneath was flat, so with a lot of effort he was able to make it across the greenery until reaching the edge of the trees. The house’s outside lights had trouble penetrating this far, but he was able to see a little. Shadows became clearer as he stared into them and he thought he saw an odd shape, not far off, and heard labored breathing and a faint rumble that he hadn’t noticed before.
Leaning as far forward as he could without unbalancing himself, he called out, “Irina?”
There was a low growl, like from...a wounded animal.
“Irina, it’s Gareth,” he tried, unable to believe he was talking to an animal that he had married, but here he was. Maybe he was the crazy one... “Irina, it’s okay. You’re safe now. But you’ve got to come out of there.”
Another low growl. He felt like she was asking why she should trust him, after he hadn’t listened before, and he didn’t blame her. “Irina, I’m sorry.” He sighed heavily. He wanted to see her. Maybe if she saw him, she would listen. How did you do something like this? How did you talk to a tiger that used to be your wife, of all of three days...
With a deep breath, he steeled himself and basically threw his body forward. He caught himself on powerful arms as his useless legs flopped down behind him. With some sensation, he was aware of them hitting the ground but he couldn’t move the damn things.
Feeling like something from a freak show, he pulled himself forward between the trees and ignored the way the twigs and rocks bit into his bare palms.
There was another warning growl.
“Irina,” he said, through grit teeth as he focused on his task, “I’m not going to hurt you, I swear to you. I’m so sorry I didn’t listen, but I’m here now.” He continued hauling his frame along the dirt, driving on towards the sound of the breathing. There was another low growl, but this was a little quieter and more like a rumble.
He took that for a good sign.
One particularly sharp stone bit into his skin and he grunted, but refused to be stopped. He just kept seeing images from the past days, recalling conversations of the months before, thinking of the things that she had made him feel, of how... Of how meant to be it had felt when he was with her.
“Irina, please,” he said and finally broke past some magical line in the light and the shadow and found a shaft of clear illumination falling upon half a face, the face of a fucking white tiger.
It was true.
He had known when he heard the growls, but to see it was something else. Another step closer and her saw more. The majestic form stretched out on the ground, with some of that beautiful white fur matted red. The trembling way the massive rib cage rose and fell. The tiger chuffed softly and Gareth felt tears welling in his throat and in his eyes.
“God, Irina, you’re beautiful,” he said with true awe, instantly forgetting the pain in his palms and the burning in his arms.
Something softened in that feline eye, along with a pained, keening wail. He dragged himself further, enough to reach out with one hand and touch her fur. “It’s just me, Irina,” he said softly. “I swear I’m not going to hurt you, but I can’t get you out of here on my own. Please, I want to get you out of here. I’ll take care of you. I’ll protect you.”
The eyes closed with another wail.
One lucky shot with that gun had almost gotten her, but Irina had been too quick and she’d gotten him. She hoped the man was dead, but she wasn’t sure. Instead she had willed the transformation, because her healing was better in cat form. She had pushed the bullet from her body as she limped and staggered into the safety of the trees.
But then she heard his voice. At first her reaction was entirely the cat’s instinct, but the sound of his voice had penetrated and drew the human forward. She was hurt, in more ways than one, but that sense of security somehow came to her as she realized he was making his way through the trees to get to her.
When he spoke to her, met her eyes, touched her fur, and was not reviled, she wept inside and then he said the words that meant more to her than any other three words. That said “I love you” more than even “I love you” could.
I’ll protect you.
That’s as much as she’d ever wanted. She was a powerful being who could take care of herself, most of the time, as she’d shown that man today, but she couldn’t do it all alone. She needed help.
The human became more aware with each passing moment, her preternatural body healing though her loss of blood still leaving her fuzzy. He was here, in the woods, not in his chair...and the magnitude of that caught her. He couldn’t get her out of here, as human or cat. She had to help him, but he would help her.
She groaned and pushed herself to her massive size, padding slowly closer and lowering her great head. He put his arms around her and she affectionately nuzzled the side of his face, chuffing softly. She realized that he was laughing, and crying.
Together they made it back out of the small tree line and to where he’d left his chair, both collapsing in the cool grass. Then, her body broke.
Panting for breath, Gareth watched as the beautiful creature contorted in ways he didn’t know anything of flesh and blood could. The noises her body made were truly horrific, and yet he couldn’t look away as this giant cat somehow broke apart and formed again as the naked body of the human woman he’d laid next to just the night before.
An ugly red hole was in her abdomen, but damn, it was healing already. Apparently that part of the legends and movies was true.
She helped him back into his chair and then fell to her knees, resting her cheek against his dirty pant leg. “You came for me,” she whisp
ered. “I never meant to bring trouble to your house. I needed to find somewhere safe. Apparently I was wrong.”
He reached out and lifted her face to look at him. “You weren’t wrong,” he said. “You’ll be safe here.” He leaned forward and put his head against hers, much like she had done when still in cat form a few minutes before. “I’ll protect you, just please stay with me,” he whispered.
The cops had come just after Irina and Gareth returned to the house and she put on some clothes. The pair worked well together in erecting a hasty story, which Bobby held up with wide-eyes. The cops took away the bad guy, took their statements, and said they’d follow up but took the story at face value.
Bobby gave them both a look that demanded he learn the truth, but would wait. The pair seemed to need some time alone.
Lying in bed, Irina told him everything. She knelt beside him and let him poke at the nearly healed gun shot wound, marveling at her abilities. They theorized if the hunters would try again, having been rebuffed this time. There was no certain answer, but Gareth intended to make sure Irina was watched over.
“I’ll talk to Cade tomorrow. He’s made all sorts of contacts, worked with government contractors.” He rested his head against hers. “That was how I was able to bypass some requirements and get you over here faster. He may have some advice, and either way, a lot of money can go a long way for protection.”
“I hate that it has to be this way,” she said softly. “I’m sorry I brought it to your door.”
He shushed her, not regretting it at all. Would have given anything for a moment like this. He’d do what he could tomorrow, all that he could. For now, they needed a change of subject.
“What about kids?” Gareth asked on a whim. It was three in the morning and getting back to the ins and outs of being a were-tiger seemed like a good place to get back to, since he still had a lot to learn. Thankfully, the sneezing had stopped. (It only occurred to him later how he hadn’t sneezed at all around her in the woods. Adrenaline and fear, perhaps? Who knew.)
“Tigers don’t have litters, so don’t worry,” she replied with a glimmer of humor in her dark eyes, chasing away much of the sadness from moments before.
Now that he looked at her, he saw the black and white contrast in her coloring and could see the tiger.
He kissed her forehead. “Can you have children with a human?”
“Do you want children?”
He paused and shrugged. “I never really thought about it. I know it’s not impossible, but right now, I’m just curious.”
Irina nodded. “It’s possible, though there is no way to know whether children will be human or shifter until they’re at least ten. We don’t shift until we hit puberty.”
The idea of children who could become lethal with every tantrum was a frightening thought, so that was okay by him.
Sitting back against the headboard, he pulled her closer into his body and pressed his cheek to her hair, amazed at how close he had came to losing her. The hole she had filled, which would have been torn open again with her going, mocked him from its near-return. He ignored it and just held her close, letting his keen business sense work through all the ideas for how he was going to protect his mate tomorrow, and for all the rest of their days.
~*~ The End ~*~
About the Author: Mia Darien is an indie author of speculative fiction, and a New England Yankee transplanted into Alabama clay. No matter her geography, she continues to stubbornly and rebelliously live the life of her choosing along with her family and pets. She doesn’t miss the snow.
Connect with the Author:
http://www.miadarien.com
http://www.facebook.com/author.miadarien
http://www.twitter.com/MiaDarien
“Nick Jensen’s back. Have you seen him yet?”
Hannah’s ears perked up. She was scrunched down in a high-backed chair, so the two girls who’d just entered the common room had no idea she was there. Hannah pulled her legs up and made herself as small as she could when she recognized Stella’s high-pitched voice.
“Mmmmm…and he’s even yummier now than he was before, if that’s possible,” Cathie, Stella’s wingman--or wing woman—said. Hannah cringed. She wasn’t sure which of them she disliked more.
“I heard he hasn’t taken a Mate yet,” Cathie continued.
“This season?”
“At all.”
“Whoa. Well, I bet I could convince him that it’s time he did. I was just meant to be a Mate of an Alpha’s Council leader. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s gorgeous.”
The girls’ voices faded as they left the room. They must have been just passing through. The compound the Keller Dare occupied had three common rooms, and they all had multiple entrances. This layout was intentionally designed to bring them all together more often, to force them to interact with one another whether they wanted to or not. As mountain lion shifters, they all tended to be loners, part of the nature of the beast inside them. The wild cats were elusive and highly territorial. Not everyone lived at the compound. Most lived elsewhere and just came and went as they pleased. Cougars needed too much space to stay in one place for long.
As soon as Hannah knew Stella and Cathie were well gone, she hopped up and made a break for her room. If Nick was around, she was going to make herself scarce. Even though it had been nearly eight years, the shame his rejection caused her felt as fresh and as raw as if it happened yesterday.
Hannah had been in love with her brother’s best friend for years…ever since she was twelve and he was eighteen. Then, when she’d been a sixteen-year-old, hormone-driven, I’m-too-sexy-for-my-shirt-hot mama, she had thrown herself at the so-hot-it-should-be-illegal Nick Jensen…and been totally and humiliatingly rejected.
Logically, Hannah knew that she’d grown up, and that the intense emotions she still felt about that evening were tied to her sixteen-year-old perspective of that night. Regardless of time and age, even after achieving not only her bachelor’s degree, but also her master’s in business and earning her way onto the Alpha’s Council at only twenty-four, thinking back to that horrifying moment still brought her right back into it. That awful, want-to-die-of-mortification moment. The shame that had only his name. Ugh.
Luckily, right after the most embarrassing night of her entire life, Nick had gone back to college and hadn’t come home, and a few years later Hannah was able to escape to college herself. She’d eventually had a boyfriend…several, lost her virginity, grew up, made some mistakes, and now here she was, back with her family where she belonged. But she hadn’t seen Nick in the year since she’d come home. Jaxon, Hannah’s older brother and the dare’s Alpha, had sent him away to work on some intra-dare relationships.
So why are you hiding, then? her inner voice taunted her.
Not hiding, she argued with herself. There’ll be plenty of time to bump into Nick Jensen. He’s home for good now, after all. And so what if he hasn’t found a Mate yet?
Stella and Cathie were welcome to him. She couldn’t care less.
Right?
*****
Two days later, Hannah sat beside Jaxon in the conference room where the Council usually met to discuss business. Jaxon was the Alpha of the Keller Dare, one of the ten dares of the Shadowcat Nation. The term ‘dare’ was based on a Native American word ‘awa dare,’ which meant ‘we live in.’
Hannah was incredibly proud to have earned her place beside her brother on the Alpha’s Council at such a young age. She now managed many of the corporations they owned. And she loved it. She was good at it. So why the hell was she so nervous?
Because Nick would be at this meeting, that was why.
Hannah flicked an invisible piece of dirt off her skirt. She’d changed her stupid clothes at least five times. Jeez… Was she sixteen again? She wanted to look like she hadn’t been trying, but at the same time, it wouldn’t hurt if his jaw dropped to the floor when he first saw her. Fantasies of Nick falling on his knees and professing what an id
iot he’d been to reject her filled her head. She ruthlessly pushed them aside.
Confidence, Hannah. She repeated that mantra over and over again. She was a successful, strong, capable woman. Gone were the glasses, the acne, and the awful hair. Her roommates in college had seen to that. But more than that, her success was enough to give anyone a feeling of accomplishment. Nick was just a man, for heaven’s sake. Nothing to get all freaked out about.
“Something bothering you?” Jaxon’s deep voice caught her attention.
Hannah feigned casual surprise. “Not at all. Why do you ask?”
He reached under the table and stilled her jiggling leg with his strong hand. Hannah laughed and tried to play it off. “Too much coffee this morning, I guess.”
“Mmm-hmmm.” Jaxon turned back to the report he’d been reading.
Hannah flipped open her Ultrabook. Plenty of things to keep her busy, and if she was concentrating on them then she wouldn’t be concentrating on the door. She managed to get lost in a spreadsheet as the rest of the leaders started to filter into the room.
*****
Nick tried not to let his eyes linger on the gorgeous woman sitting next to Jaxon. Hannah had grown from a gangly teenager--all legs and big eyes and carroty hair--into a stunning woman. Her conservative blouse failed to disguise her lush, womanly curves. Her big eyes were now exotic, her hair now a striking shade of dark auburn. He wondered what she would look like as a cougar. Sandy brown, or would there be a reddish tint to her fur?
Although to be completely honest, even as a teenager Nick had seen the potential in her, and he’d always thought her beautiful. But now…now he had a hard time keeping his eyes off her. He’d thought of her every day for eight years…since the night of her sixteenth birthday party. What a disaster that had been.
Slightly tipsy, she’d cornered him on the patio and thrown herself into his arms. Not that he didn’t want what she was offering, but it had been too much too soon, and she was way too young. He’d been her friend, her confidant, and her protector since she was five years old. So at that damn party, the six years separating them had seemed like a lifetime. But that hadn’t been his only reason. Jaxon would have killed him for messing around with his little sister at that age. Also, the Seer’s warning had rung in his head. The timing was all wrong. Nick had gone to Jaxon the next day, and they’d agreed that Hannah needed some time to grow up and establish herself.