Running With The Tiger

by Bonnie Burrows

  Or die trying.

  She woke up, the later afternoon sun brightening the room with a cheeriness that Cambria didn’t feel.

  She was cuffed to a decorative cut out in the massive headboard. She yanked a few times, but her heart wasn’t in it. She knew that there was no way to break the headboard and she knew the cuff wasn’t going to break.

  Cambria pulled herself up into a sitting position, straining to hear any sign of Egan. But the room was silent.

  She was starting to get worried when the door to the room opened and Egan walked in. The aroma of hot food made her mouth water as Egan emptied the bags and spread his offerings on the small table beside the television.

  “I didn’t know what you wanted, so I got a bit of everything.”

  He wasn’t exaggerating. There was enough food in front of them to feed a small army. Cambria was suddenly starving, but she wasn’t going to eat while tied up like an animal. She gestured towards her hand and gave him a withering look.

  Egan released the cuff from the bed, but left it dangling from her wrist.

  “Please?”

  He sighed, unlocking the other bracelet and stuffing the cuffs in his back pocket.

  “You’d better not run.”

  “I won’t.” Not right now, anyway, she thought to herself.

  She sat down in one of the two chairs, looking through her options before choosing a grilled chicken sandwich and a large salad. She grabbed the large bottle of chocolate milk and drank greedily from it.

  “Hey. That was mine,” he said, his voice light and teasing.

  “Not anymore. I haven’t chocolate milk in ages.” She flashed him a devilish grin and finished off the milk before turning her sights on the food before her.

  They ate in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Egan smiled at Cambria every now and again, and Cambria returned the gesture. She wanted his defenses down.

  It would be easier to get away if he thought she was starting to like him.

  “So, explain this fated mate thing to me.”

  Egan took a bite of his sandwich, chewing slowly while he carefully considered his next words. He wasn’t ready to tell her that he was a shifter yet, but otherwise, explaining the fated mate concept was harmless. She would either believe it or not, and that wouldn’t change anything for Egan.

  “It starts around puberty. You start having dreams about the person you’re meant to be with. They’re vague at first, but then they get more and more detailed.”

  “Do you remember your first one?”

  “I do, but it’s a little hazy. I see a beach, and a plane, but not much else. I was eleven years, so it’s been twelve years since the first dream.”

  “What about after that?”

  “They get more and more clear.” He continued talking between bites, explaining how the dreams had progressed over the years, his need growing stronger with each stage.

  Cambria listened carefully, trying to keep him talking while she ate. More than once, she had to stop herself from rolling her eyes.

  Did he really believe all of this nonsense? A look at his face said that he believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was real.

  She sat there, chewing on her food as he talked. She tried to ignore him, but the more he talked, the more she heard things that paralleled her life. But those things were easily explained; until he got to the dream he’d had six years before.

  “It was you. You were running in the dark with a deer. The deer disappeared, and in its place was a silver fur and teeth, then darkness.”

  Cambria perked up a little bit. Could it be that the silver light was the silver tiger she’d seen in the woods? But she dismissed it. His dreams were ambiguous enough that they could apply to anyone’s life, really. Like a so-called psychic stumbling around a room full of people with open-ended observations until someone took the bait, he could present these dreams to any woman and she might find something similar to her real life.

  That didn’t make his dreams prophetic.

  Egan stopped talking and watched her face.

  “You don’t believe me, do you?”

  “Not really. But you believe it, so that’s all that matters.”

  “How do you explain that I knew where to find you?”

  “Dumb luck?”

  “I traveled all the way from Canada’s west coast directly here. I didn’t have any missteps, and I not once did I look for you somewhere you weren’t. I looked one place for you, and that’s exactly where you were. How can you shrug that off as if it means nothing?”

  Cambria shrugged again. “I guess I need more proof than just dreams.”

  “I know your name.”

  “Impossible.”

  “It’s Elise.”

  Cambria laughed. “Wrong. It’s Cambria.”

  She clapped her hands over her mouth, but it was too late. She’d already let the cat out of the bag. She expected him to gloat, to point out that he had fooled her. Instead, he looked confused.

  “You really thought my name was Elise, didn’t you?”

  “I did. But getting one thing wrong when I got so many right doesn’t really mean anything. I was in physical pain while I looked for you. The pull that led me to find you felt as if it was pulling me to pieces. The closer I got, the more the pain eased. It wasn’t until I had you in my arms in the forest that I finally felt like myself again. How do you explain that?”

  “Maybe you took a blow to the head or something.”

  Egan threw back his head and laughed.

  “It doesn’t matter if I knew your name or not. I knew from the very first dream that you were a handful. Trust me, you have not disappointed.”

  *

  Egan pulled the car into the parking space, killing the engine and turning in his seat to look at Cambria.

  “I need you to promise me that you won’t try to run. We need supplies and you need clothes. You can come in with me and act right or I can drive around and find a place to hogtie you and toss you in the trunk. Your call.”

  She let out an exasperated sigh, blowing some stray locks out of her face as she did.

  “I promise not to tell anyone that you’ve kidnapped me and are holding me against my will.” Her tone was sarcastic, almost playful, and Egan couldn’t help but chuckle.

  “Smart ass,” he muttered.

  He got out of the car and she slid out behind him. Cambria slipped her hand into his, looking away when he smiled at her.

  “You know, so people don’t know you kidnapped me.”

  “Of course.”

  They walked hand in hand to the store and Egan led her straight to the outdoor department.

  Her concern mounted as Egan piled an armful of camping MREs into the basket. He asked her to pick from the many meal options available, but none of them looked palatable. No matter what you did to it, she doubted that scrambled eggs would ever come back from freeze-dried even remotely resembling edible. She grabbed a few packages of “ice cream” and beef jerky, but she didn’t touch the packages that were meant to be complete meals.

  Egan worked his way down the aisle, grabbing things as he went and placing them in the basket. She was surprised when he bypassed the matches entirely, and she wondered how he intended to stay warm without a fire.

  A television hung from the ceiling suddenly flash breaking news across the screen. Cambria and Egan both stopped, watching the news anchor as he interrupted whatever programing was piped through the store’s television.

  The close caption was on and the sound down. Cambria watched in horror as the details of the massacre at the compound flashed across the screen, followed by her name and a vague description. There was no picture, and no last name, but the rest of the information was correct.

  Cambria leaned close to Egan

  “What do we do?” she whispered.

  “Nothing. No one knows who you are or what you look like. As long as you don’t tell anyone your name you’ll be fine.”

  H
e was so blasé about the entire thing. Cambria was wanted for questioning in the death of seven men in the compound. Which meant that someone had implicated her.

  Egan continued shopping as if the newscast had never taken place. He grabbed a narrow black tent and two tarps-one black one camouflaged-and put them in the cart along with two winter-weight sleeping bags. Cambria got a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach but she didn’t say a word. Whatever Egan had planned, he meant to be gone for a long time.

  Cambria was starting to get antsy when they finally finished shopping and headed out the door. She’d picked a few changes of clothes and a light-weight hiking pack. Egan had purchased a much larger pack, which would hold all his supplies as well as the things they would share.

  Egan popped the trunk and started to unload the cart. Cambria wanted to change out of her clothes, but Egan had worried about letting her out of his sight for so long, so she waited.

  He left the trunk open while he returned the cart to the cart corral, leaving Cambria beside the car, digging through the bags to pull out her new hiking boots, lined hiking pants and a long sleeved thermal shirt and fleece jacket. Searching through the bags in the dim light of the trunk light, her hand brushed across something in the corner of the trunk.

  She pulled on it, holding it closer to the light so she could see it. Gasping, she quickly shoved the money into the inner pocket of her fleece jacket. She didn’t have time to count it, but the stack was thick, with a band like she’d seen on the movies.

  Egan returned moments later, pulling her boots out of the trunk for her and digging out the extra thick socks she’d bought. She didn’t have anything with her and had been wearing the same clothes for two days. He didn’t blame her for wanting to change.

  She crawled into the back seat and changed quickly, stuffing her dirty clothes into a bag and letting Egan put them in the trunk while she laced her boots up.

  “Are you going to ride in the front with me?” he asked.

  “No. I’m tired. I’d like to lay in the back seat if that’s okay.”

  “Sure, I’ll wake you when I stop for a bathroom break.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Cambria crumpled the jacket under her head, careful to keep her hand on the money.

  She waited until he got on the road, using the passing light from the street lamps to check the stack of money hidden in her jacket. The bundle held fifty dollar bills. The paper band read $5000.00 on the side.

  Cambria couldn’t believe her luck. She had dark, warm clothes that would hide and protect her in the night, and now she had five thousand dollars for a fresh start.

  Now she couldn’t wait to get away from the shifter and out on her own. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, resting up for her big escape.

  The car stopped hours later and Cambria was instantly awake, though she feigned sleep until Egan opened the car door behind her head and gently shook her away.

  “Cambria?”

  “Huh, where are we?” She was convincing, and Egan smiled at her as she seemed to struggle to grasp where they were.

  “Last stop for a while if you want to use the restroom.”

  Cambria blinked at him a few times before sitting up.

  “That sounds good.”

  Egan closed the door and went around to open the door at her feet so she could get out more easily. While he was out of sight for a moment, Cambria looked over her surroundings.

  They were at a remote rest stop, with picnic benches several yards away from a dense, wooded area. The rest center was large, featuring a miniature convenience store and pay per use showers.

  Egan walked with her inside the store and she grabbed a bottle of water.

  “Can I get this now?” she asked. “I’m really thirsty.”

  “Of course.” He reached into his pocket, paying the cashier and asking where the restrooms were. The woman pointed to the right, back behind the massive beer display.

  Cambria started to follow Egan when the cashier spoke up.

  “Men only. The women’s is this way.”

  Cambria hesitated a moment, looking to Egan for direction. He shrugged as if to say that it would be alright and walked away. The cashier gave her a knowing look and Cambria wanted to wipe the smirk off the older woman’s face.

  If she only knew the reality of the situation.

  Cambria hurried towards the bathrooms, which were down a narrow hallway. She was shocked to see that the end of the hallway featured a glass exit door, and there was no sign warning that the door was armed.

  Looking behind her, Cambria carefully pushed the handle on the door, ready to duck into the bathroom if an alarm sounded. When nothing happened she pushed the door open a little further, squeezing through the door and running straight for the woods beyond.

  She expected to hear shouting behind her, but there was only silence and the sound of the water bottle in her deep jacket pocket banging against her hip.

  She burst into the darkness, running as fast as she could with her arms stretched out before her. The moon was out, but the tall trees kept most of the light from reaching the forest floor. Without a flashlight, she was basically running blind.

  She heard Egan shout her name then, the panic in his voice evident.

  “Shit!” she muttered under her breath. She was hoping to get at least a five minute lead on him, closer to ten.

  But he wasn’t easily fooled. He’d probably realized she was gone within a minute of her reaching the tree line.

  She pressed on, trying to put as much distance between herself and the shifter. If she could just get through the trees, maybe there was another interstate on the other side. Or a house. Any sign of hope that she could outrun him and find her way out of her situation.

  Cambria heard Egan call out again. He wasn’t much closer but he was at the edge of the tree line, which meant he knew where she was. She pressed on, looking over her shoulder to make sure he wasn’t gaining on her.

  She ran headlong into a chain link fence, sinking into the fence before it snapped back and flung her onto the ground. She stood up, feeling along the fence line with her hands as her heart sank.

  There was a fence between her and freedom. She tried to climb it, but she soon realized that the top was covered with barbed wire, and she had nothing to throw on top of that to protect herself.

  She was stuck.

  Cambria kicked at the dirt in anger, but it wouldn’t do her any good. She could hear Egan working his way towards her and she had nowhere to run.

  Egan called out to her, but she didn’t answer back. She might be trapped, but she wasn’t going to make it easy on her.

  “Fine, if you won’t talk just listen. I can feel you out there. I can’t fight the draw I feel to you, any more than I can stop my heart from beating. I know you don’t believe me, but someday you’ll understand that I love you.”

  Cambria scoffed silently. He couldn’t love her, he didn’t know her name until today. He was a fool, and he was bent on dragging her into his fantasy world. Well she wasn’t going to fall for it.

  “Cambria, I know you’re scared, but if you’ll give me a chance, you’ll see that we were meant to be.”

  He’s crazy, Cambria thought.

  “Please. Just come out so we can talk. I promise you, I’ll listen. I’m not who you think I am, who you’ve been led to believe I am.”

  He was closer now, almost on top of her. Cambria pulled herself into the shadow, but she could see him a short distance away. She was sure he could see her too.

  “So you’re not a shifter then? You’re just some average guy who happened to show up at my home and take me away from the only family I have?”

  Her voice was angry, unsteady.

  “I am a shifter. I don’t know how you knew that, but it’s the truth. It doesn’t change who I am, it’s just a part of me. I would never hurt you, and we’re not the monsters that Laskin told you we were. Look at Laskin, he cared for you and protected you for y
ears, yet he was a shifter.”

  “And he turned out to be bad.”

  “There are good and bad people in every species and shifters are no different. Just as humans have good and bad people.”

  Cambria waited for him to move closer, but he didn’t.

  “Look, Cambria. I’m not leaving here without you. I don’t want to stuff you in the trunk or keep you shackled to make you stay with me. That’s the last thing I want. But I will have you, and I will not stop until you are mine.”

  He moved forward slowly, eyes looking directly at the shadows where Cambria crouched, hidden from view.

  “If you just give me a chance, I can show you things you never imagined and give you a life you’ve never dreamed of.”

  “I dream of a life lived in a world that is free of shifters!” she was furious.

  She’d been so close to freedom, yet here they were, yards from each other with her back against the wall and nowhere to go.

  “So you would kill me? My brother, and my sweet nephew?”

  “Yes,” Cambria called out, but her voice faltered.

  She wasn’t a murderer, and Laskin’s death had turned her world upside down. She didn’t know who she could trust anymore. Cambria knew the one and only person she could rely on was herself.

  Egan took another step forward and Cambria was tempted to run, but she stopped. It was pointless to fight. He was bigger and stronger. If she did manage to get away, he could shift and be on her in seconds, and she’d be right back where she started.

  Her shoulders slumped and she slid down the tree and onto the ground, pulling her knees to her chest and resting her head on her legs.

  She sat there like that, huddled in a ball and wishing she could disappear.

  Egan moved forward in the shadows, sitting beside her but careful not to touch her. He waited in silence for a long time while she was lost inside herself, struggling with her life and her current situation.

  She spoke suddenly.

  “If I give you a chance -- a real chance -- and I still decide I don’t want you, will you leave me alone?”

  “I would be willing to try. How long do you mean?”

  “At least a month. If, after a month, you decide that you’ll never love me, I can live with that.”