Trusting A Tiger (Alaskan Tigers)

by Dobson, Marissa

  “Are you sure they’re related?” Raja inquired.

  Knowing what he recognized, he nodded. “Doc could do a DNA test, but I feel something there. It feels like a family connection, but not one they recognize yet.”

  “Very well. Find out if Harmony has any idea if she’s related to Daisy. We’ll have Doc do the DNA test if she doesn’t.” Ty shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Let’s get back to the women and make some decisions on Henry.”

  Felix turned to continue back to the conference room, and his thoughts turned back to Harmony. How would she feel about a possible cousin? Daisy was a security threat to the clan with no loyalties to anyone. He couldn’t trust his mate alone with her, even if they were related.

  He opened the door, checking the hallway before allowing the Elders to step in with Adam behind them. Commotion from the end of the conference room caught his attention. What the hell is going on now? He sped up his pace, knowing the others would do the same. He didn’t bother to order Adam to keep the Elders away—their mates were there, and all of them would risk their lives for the women.

  “Milo, please escort Harmony to the cafeteria. You two can have coffee or something, and Felix will come and get you when this is over,” Tabitha ordered just as Felix stepped into the room.

  “What’s going on? Ty said Harmony could attend the Elder meetings once we were mated.”

  Tabitha shook her head. “She’s a security threat.”

  “What?” Felix moved further into the room until he was standing next to his mate.

  “While we were talking, she said she would not be committing to the clan. With no commitment, she has no loyalty to us. I won’t risk the clan.” Tabitha turned to her mate looking for support on the matter. “You even said she couldn’t help Connor without the commitment. Same goes for the meetings. There’s too much sensitive material covered in one of the Elder meetings. Without her loyalty, there’s no guarantee she won’t betray us.”

  Coming to stand by his mate, Ty nodded. “I believed that once the two of you were mated, Harmony would be willing to commit to the clan. Now that the bond between Robin and Harmony has lessened with the mating, there’s no guarantee that Robin would be aware if there was a chance she’d betray the clan. I’m sorry, Felix, but you’re too involved emotionally and mentally with her. You could overlook something because you don’t want to believe that your mate would risk your clan. Tabitha’s right—without the commitment to the clan, Harmony’s a security threat.”

  “I can’t believe you’ll stand there and deny my mate after everything I’ve done for this clan!” Felix was shocked by what he was hearing.

  “Allowing your mate into the private details would risk my mate, and I won’t do that for someone who’s denying a clan that opened its arms and doors to her.” Ty’s eyes showed the fire of his temper, but his words were calm.

  Felix stared across the room at Ty. His beast wanted to stand up for his mate—to scream at Ty. The rational part of him knew Ty was right. They couldn’t risk the clan no matter whose mate she was. It was too dangerous for the Alaskan Tigers now, but even thinking logically, he couldn’t suppress his beast’s anger.

  Harmony laid a hand on his cheek, forcing him to look away from Ty. “It’s okay. I don’t want to be somewhere I’m not welcomed.”

  Before he could stifle it, a growl tore through his throat. His beast provoked him to challenge his Alpha, and he pushed Harmony aside and stepped towards Ty.

  Raja stepped in front of Ty. As the clan’s Lieutenant one of his jobs was to protect the Alpha, and he stood there, blocking direct access to Ty. “Don’t do something you’ll regret, Felix.”

  It was enough for Felix to rein-in his tiger. He didn’t want to go up against his Alpha. Ty and Tabitha were the ones that would bring peace to their kind, and fighting amongst themselves wouldn’t help things. This was put into motion because of Harmony’s choice. Even with the mating, she didn’t truly trust him or what she was feeling. He’d have to find another way to prove himself and the clan to her.

  “You can join her if you wish, and we’ll have this meeting without you.” Ty pulled Felix’s attention back to him. Even surrounded by Raja, Adam and Styx, there was no doubt to anyone in the room that Ty was in charge. He’d fight his own fight if it came to that with Felix.

  “Don’t, Felix.” Harmony came back up to him. “This isn’t worth it. When I accepted the mating, I knew who you were and your position. Your clan needs you now.” She reached out for him, taking his hand in hers and giving it a squeeze. “Find me when you’re done. You know where I’ll be.” With that, she stepped away from him.

  “Don’t leave the grounds,” he called after her as she strolled through the door.

  “Shall I go with her?” Milo questioned from his spot by Bethany where he watched things play out.

  “She’ll be fine.” Felix growled, angry with himself, Harmony, and the whole situation. “Let’s get this over with so I can get back to my mate.”

  “You’re angry about it now, but you know it’s the right decision. Things are too dangerous to take any risks.” Tabitha slid her arm around Ty again now that things had calmed.

  “I know, and that makes it harder. Damn it! Why can’t she just make things easier?” Felix pulled out one of the leather conference chairs and sank down on it, his shoulders sagging slightly in defeat.

  Ty’s joyous laughter filled the room. “Mating is never easy. You’re fooling yourself if you think you’re going to have it easy.”

  “I’m finding that out. She’s accepted me as her mate because she has no choice—the mating desire caused her enough pain that she gave in—but every time she looks at me, she sees Henry.” Felix used his forefinger and thumb to rub his eyes. “What are we going to do about Henry?”

  “Eliminate him?” When all eyes turned to Adam, he added. “What choice do we have?”

  “You’re right, we don’t have a choice, but what I meant is, are we going to wait for him to come after Harmony or are we going after him?” Felix smiled at the fact his partner was so outspoken. He was willing to state what needed to be done, even if he encountered Felix’s wrath later. If only he could have been that forward years ago when Henry and he came into their beast…maybe they wouldn’t be in this situation now.

  “We know he landed in Seattle, but do we know anything else?” Styx spoke up for the first time.

  “When Felix was on the phone with Ty, news came in that Henry booked a car. We suspected it was to drive to Fairbanks. But since then, he also booked a seat on the only flight from Seattle to Fairbanks today. It leaves in less than an hour, but we’re not sure which way he’s coming.”

  Connor sat at the table looking as though he had been raised with the clan. No one would have realized that Connor, the clan’s geek, was a wolf shifter until they smelled the musky, woody smell that was entirely Connor. “With so many searches, Lukas and I are working around the clock, but we don’t have any new information on Henry at this time. He hasn’t returned the car yet, or at least it hasn’t been updated in their system. Depending on if he used the key drop or clerk, it could take a little time. As far as we know, he’s in Seattle still. He hasn’t checked in for the flight yet.”

  “It’s possible he doesn’t know Harmony didn’t make it to Seattle.” Felix had kept his mate occupied during the night so she didn’t have time for anything else. “Now with our mating, it’s broken the connection Henry had with her, so she can no longer give him the message. But he’ll figured it out and come after her unless we get to him first.”

  “Does she still have her cell phone? He might call it, and I have the tracer activated on it.” Connor tried to stifle a yawn.

  Felix nodded, knowing where he was going with the questions. “She has it, but it’s off. I can have her turn it back on when we’re done here. It’s worth a try.”

  “Connor, you’re exhausted,” Robin chimed in. “Why don’t you get some sleep, and I’ll h
elp Lukas go through the scans for a few hours. When you get up, then he can get some sleep. You can’t keep going on like this.” Robin was always concerned with everyone else. She was the caregiver of the Elder team.

  “Thanks, when we’re done here.” He yawned again before turning to Felix. “If you can convince your mate to commit to the clan, I could sure use her help. She must have some mad skills just from what Robin’s learned from her connection to Harmony.”

  “I’ll see what I can do. I know she considers herself a hacker, which is how she made enough to support herself outside of the Ohio land.” His mate would be a good addition to the clan’s nerd crew if he could just get her to see that they were different than her Ohio clan.

  “If he made it to Fairbanks, do you think you’d be able to feel him?” Raja steered the meeting back on track.

  “He’d be close enough that I would hope so, but like I said, the sibling connection has never been strong since Henry doesn’t shift.” He rested his head against the back of the chair. “As much as I want this over, until we know where Henry is, we can’t go off after him. We don’t know for certain he’s still in Seattle, so I don’t think we should go after him. He could be on his way here, and we could miss him.”

  “Agreed. Go to your mate, turn the cell phone on, and we’ll see if he contacts her. With luck Connor can pinpoint Henry’s location and we can take him down before gets near the compound. Until then we need to be on alert and ready at a moment’s notice. In the meantime, see if you can make progress with her,” Ty ordered.

  Everyone rose, ready to get back to what they were doing before the meeting. Felix stood, stretching out his long legs. He was eager to find Harmony to see what damage being denied into the meetings had done to the progress he had made with her.

  “Wait a moment, Felix,” Ty hollered to him before he could get to the door.

  He paused, the tension tightened his muscles as he waited for Ty to knock him back to his place after his display before the meeting. When nothing came, he asked. “Everything okay?”

  “Come with me.” Ty led Felix away from the group, causing the anxiety to rise further. Down the hall, out of hearing range of the others still gathered in the conference room, he stopped. “I’ve been giving this a great deal of thought, and I know what I’m about to tell you won’t make you happy but it needs to be said. You’ve been an important part of this clan—and I don’t want that to change—but Harmony isn’t going to make things easy. Without her commitment, I can’t have her in the main building. She’s too much of a risk.”

  “What? It’s one thing not having her in the Elder meetings, but this is uncalled for!”

  “Not when it comes to protecting the mates and clan. There’s too much of a chance she could hear something, and even with guards, the mates are here. I won’t risk Tabby and Bethany to save face with your stubborn mate.” Ty crossed his arms over his broad chest. “If you wish to take a leave from your duties for a bit, I can make arrangements. With Tad, Theodore and Carran, there are enough guards to keep Tabitha safe, and Adam can take over your other duties.”

  Felix had to bite his tongue. He wanted to tell Ty to shove the job up his ass, as if he didn’t care, but no matter what Ty said, he couldn’t do that. He had worked too hard for his position in the clan, and he wouldn’t give that up, not even for his mate. Somehow, he’d find a way to divide his attentions to keep things equal without slacking on his duties to the clan. “No, I made my commitment to this clan and Tabitha long before the uphill battle of mating started. I’ll convince her to commit to the clan.”

  “It needs to be her decision. If you force it, she’ll regret it, and it will cause tension between you two. It’s possible that once we eliminate Henry it will help, especially now that the Ohio Alpha is no longer a threat.”

  “Eliminating Henry could take years. Look how long we were after Pierce before you were able to take him down. Still now there are others who have taken his place. The threats to the clan and the mates won’t end until there’s peace for our kind. For that to happen, I need to find a way to do my duties and deal with a mate that is uncooperative.” Felix didn’t have the patience to wait years for Henry to no longer be a threat to Harmony and the clan, even if that meant he had to go after him alone.

  Chapter Twelve

  Tossing rocks at the creek, Harmony tried to let her anger go. She hated being kept in the dark about things that concerned her. Henry was coming after her, not the clan, and keeping information from her when it was her safety at risk was unacceptable. How was she supposed to believe they were so different from the Ohio Alpha after this? “Damn it, why did I let Felix drag me back?”

  “Because the mating desire had taken hold,” Felix reminded her as he stepped out from the trees coming toward her.

  Her breath caught in her throat from fear. She let her guard down, lost in the reel of emotions and didn’t even sense him coming. Mates rarely were able to sneak up on each other because they were so in tune with each other, but she was too emotional to be focused.

  Seeing him sneak up on her from behind the trees reminded her once again how closely he resembled Henry, at least at a distance. When they were close, she could see the subtle changes, run her fingers over the deep dimples, and his personality never let her forget they were different. It was just from a distance that it sent fear coursing through her again.

  “You’re done?” Even as the words left her mouth, she knew it was stupid—if he wasn’t done, then he wouldn’t be standing in front of her.

  “For now.” He closed the last remaining distance and sat down next to her, holding her cell phone out to her. “Here, I’ve turned this back on to see if Henry calls you. We need to pinpoint his location, and if you can keep him on the phone for at least sixty seconds, Connor will be able to trace it.”

  “I don’t want to talk to him.” It might have been childish, but it was the truth, every time she thought about him, she had to fight the distance it was causing between her and Felix. Speaking to him and hearing the threats from a voice that was too close to Felix’s for her taste would only make it harder to fight.

  “If we want to find him before he makes it to the compound, it’s our best option. If you’d prefer to wait until he arrives here, then I’ll respect your decision. It will put you and the others at more risk, but I won’t force you to do this if you’re against it.”

  His words sent the guilt rushing through her. Keeping the others safe was the reason she fled the compound in the first place. Now he sat there using her reasoning against her. Damn him. “Fine, I’ll do it.” She snatched the phone from his hand.

  They sat there in silence for a while, watching the salmon swim down the creek. It was one of the added features for Kallie’s mates and the rest of the Kodiak Bears that would visit occasionally. Felix finally turned to her and broached the subject she knew had been hanging in the balance since she left the conference room. “We’re going to have to discuss your unwillingness to commit to the clan.”

  “What do you want me to say?” She leaned back against the tree, refusing to meet his gaze. “Are you or Ty going to force the commitment?”

  “No, it needs to be done of your own free will. But you need to realize how hard this will make it on our mating.”

  Hidden words lay within that statement, because she could feel his concern on what it would do to his career. He had worked long and hard to gain the position and respect of the clan and to have a mate not committed to something that was his heart and soul would look bad for him. It could also cause tension and problems with the Elders and clan members. “Couldn’t we just focus on Henry for now?”

  “Fine.” He stretched his legs out in front of him and continued to gaze at the creek. “Let’s discuss your family then. You mentioned your parents died when you were young, leaving you the cottage near your clan’s land where you stayed by yourself. Did they have any siblings? Cousins?”

  “Mom had a sister, but I never
met her. She died from complications during childbirth. The father raised the child, but that’s all I know. It’s the only family that I have, and I’ve never even met my cousin and her father. Why?”

  “When the team took down Pierce, they found a prisoner. I believe she’s your cousin.” Felix turned to lie on his side to watch her.

  “What?”

  “She has the same ruby red hair and other features that peaked my interest, which is when I sensed the family connection. I think when you met J.J. that you made an impression on him. It transferred to Pierce when he was bit by J.J., and that’s why he kept Daisy prisoner. Doc can do a DNA test to be sure, but it would explain things.”

  Daisy? She tried to think back—way back to when she was a child, trying to remember if her mother ever mentioned the girl’s name. Nothing solid came to mind, but the name Daisy rang a bell in her head.

  “Did you ask her?” She couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that she might have family.

  “Not yet. It wasn’t until after we left that I was able to put the pieces together, and I wanted to speak with you first. She spent too long under Pierce’s control, and as you were when you came here, she is untrusting. Daisy grew up among the clan as a child before her father’s job took her out of the country, so she’s coming around quicker than expected. I’m not sure she’s up for company, but she might welcome a family member, especially since you’ve had similar experiences. You might be able to provide comfort for one another.”

  “I’m not ready to see her. Have Doc do the DNA test first. I don’t want to get my hopes up that I have a cousin if in reality we just have the same hair color. Red hair is uncommon but not unheard of.” She reached out to him, cupping his cheek. “Instead of talking about everyone else, how about we focus on us before something else comes up to draw you away from me.”