The Tiger's Pregnant Bride

by Bonnie Burrows

  “I’ll see you soon. I’ll be there waiting for you. I can’t wait to see you!”

  They said their good-byes and Olivia hung up, relieved that her sweet friend would be here and out of danger soon. She booked a hotel in Grace’s name before she forgot, leaving her credit card number to pay for the room and room service and texted Grace to feel free to treat herself to a nice dinner and breakfast at the hotel, on her.

  Satisfied that everything would soon be right in her world, she laid back and snuggled up with a still sleeping Sable. This time tomorrow, Grace would be in their home, and Olivia could start working on convincing her best friend to stay with them for good. She smiled and drifted off to sleep, thinking life didn’t get much better than this moment.

  *

  Looking around the house one last time before she left, she dragged her heavy carry-on bag through the kitchen door into her tiny garage. She pushed the button to raise the door and turned on her car, carefully backing out onto the road. The street was pretty empty, the violence tending to escalate at night, under the cover of darkness. Grace suspected a few of her neighbors were involved in the vandalism done to her house, but she would never know.

  “Shifter Loving Slut” and other choice profanities were spray-painted on her house in massive black letters. She’d never dated a shifter before but the vandals weren’t interested in the facts, just their all-consuming hatred.

  She stopped at a stop sign and turned onto the road leading to the highway. A part of her wanted to take one more look at the neighborhood she’d called home for so many years. The rest of her was glad she’d never see it again.

  Grace turned up the radio, trying to drown her thoughts in the peppy tune. Five years ago, when everything first started changing, things weren’t so bad. She remembered the first time she watched in horror as the news showed a story about a young family being ripped from their home and taken to be executed. Like Olivia and Sable, they hadn’t married before conceiving a child, though they had married soon after.

  Politicians on both sides had used this poor family as an example, televising the entire thing to prove their point. Shortly after, the laws changed, barring all human and shifter relationships and marriage. The human politicians claimed it was to protect human women from being enslaved by shifter men, the shifter politicians claimed the humans were diluting shifter blood in an effort to eradicate shifters, once and for all.

  The truth was, both sides were acting based on their unfounded fear, creating problems that didn’t exist. A young family had died, all to further political agendas. When the elders had started dying one by one without explanation, both sides pointed the finger at the other, but no one truly knew who was responsible.

  In the midst of all the turmoil, several militias sprung up on each side, claiming the need for protection from the other. Humans were routinely pulled from their homes, accused of being a sympathizer at the very least, and other times, of more heinous crimes. Fear among people grew, and it wasn’t long before old friends and neighbors became suspicious of one another.

  Then there was the exposé a year ago, the catalyst behind all the violence. Grace was shocked to see her face on the screen, an unsteady camera revealing what transpired in the woods. It was edited, making it look like she’d helped a tiger shifter kidnap Olivia, then showing Grace riding atop a shifter’s back as if they were fleeing together.

  She should have left right then. Packing her bags and leaving at that moment would have been the smart thing to do. It didn’t matter what she said, no one would believe her that nothing claimed by the reporter was even close to true. She could've died that day, and if anything, she was the victim. By the next morning, the vandalism had started, with people blaming her for the violence between humans and shifters.

  After all, no one knew where Sable, Egan and Olivia had gone but they knew Grace was the only one of the group to return. It was hard to blame them with all the “facts” presented in the exposé. But she was disappointed when people who’d known her for years turned against her.

  Shaking her head, trying to release the hold the memories had on her, Grace slowed to pull into a gas station. Her tank was nearly empty and she didn’t want to get stranded on the way to the airport. She parked next to an empty pump, pulling out her credit card and getting out of the car. She began pumping the gas, her eyes constantly scanning the cars coming and going. She couldn’t wait until she got to Olivia’s house and could relax. Living a life of looking over her shoulder was exhausting. Grace was ready to go back to a carefree life.

  A silver sedan pulled up to the other side of the pump and Grace turned her head. She was about 20 miles from home but she’d had people recognize her before. A handsome man stepped out of the car, reaching into his pocket to pull out his wallet. Change fell out everywhere, some of it rolling under Grace’s car and his own. He ran around the pump and her car, kneeling down quickly to retrieve a few quarters that had made their way around her back tire. The car obscured her view of him, and she hoped he hadn’t seen her face either. He stood up, and Grace stifled a groan when he made eye-contact and smiled.

  Great, just great. His smile was dazzling, his light blond hair styled in a tousled way that made him look as if he’d just pulled himself out of bed. His clothes were nice, tailored to fit his body in a deep shade of brown.

  “Sorry about that. Day before payday and all. Every cent counts.” He winked at her and headed off into the station to pay for his gas.

  Grace turned off the pump and returned it to the holder. She wanted to get out of there before the handsome stranger returned. He might not have noticed who she was yet, but it was only a matter of time. She jumped into her car and drove away, getting back onto the highway and continuing towards the airport.

  *

  The car ate up the miles, passing motorists racing home to their families before curfew. It wasn’t long before traffic thinned out and she was left alone on the highway with only a few cars in the distance behind her, and some passing on the other side of the median. She was surprised by how relieved she felt. Being completely alone on the once busy highway should've unnerved her. Instead, she felt calm for the first time in weeks. The sign up ahead indicated the airport was only ten miles away. Grace released a sigh, happy to be so close to freedom.

  A sudden pop ended her happiness as the wheel started shaking in her hands. For a moment, Grace panicked, thinking someone had shot at her. Then the panic cleared and she realized her tire had blown. She guided the car to the emergency lane, grateful this section of highway featured a large, grassy median on either side of the cement wall. She was able to pull off of the highway far enough that she wouldn’t have to worry about a distracted driver accidentally hitting her car.

  Grace laughed at herself. Who was she kidding? The nearest motorist was miles behind her, and in the current climate, it was doubtful anyone would stop to help her.

  Getting out and rolling up her sleeves, Grace popped the trunk and began rummaging through the trunk storage space for the jack and spare tire. If she hadn’t already planned on abandoning her car at the airport, she might have been upset that she’d need a new tire. But the spare would get her to the airport, and the car could rot in the airport parking lot for all she cared. There would be other cars.

  The rear tire on the driver’s side was completely flat and tattered, having blown out quite dramatically. Grace got to work, leaning the spare against the car and sliding the jack under the frame. She’d made good time thus far, and she wasn’t worried about missing the plane. She still had almost an hour before the flight started boarding less than ten miles to go. She’d downloaded her boarding pass on her phone, so she could walk right onto the plane once she arrived.

  Truth be told, if she ended up cutting it too close, she wouldn’t be opposed to parking in the loading zone and walking away from her car then and there. What could they do besides tow it? She’d be long gone before they realized her car was abandoned.

&
nbsp; Grace had just finished removing the first lug nut when she heard a car pull up behind her. The driver got out, his shoes crunching on the gravel as he walked towards her.

  “Here, let me give you a hand.”

  Grace looked up at the man, his face with a nearly golden cast as the sun quickly fled towards the horizon. The handsome man from the gas station looked down at her, swoon-worthy smile brightening his handsome face as he held his hand out for the tire iron.

  Standing, Grace handed him the tool and stood back. “You know you left before I got to introduce myself. I was afraid I’d never see you again. I guess fate has a way of setting things right.”

  Grace couldn’t believe her luck. A handsome guy talking about her and fate in the same sentence without running, and she was leaving town for good. She watched his hands as he removed the next nut, noticing he didn’t have a tan line where his ring should be.

  Three for three: handsome, interested, and available. What the hell, life?

  “I’m sorry, where are my manners?” He stood and held out his hand, smiling at Grace. “My name is Tom.”

  Grace took his outstretched hand, covered in dirt and oil like her own and shook it. His touch sent shivers up her arm and made her tingle in embarrassing places.

  “Grace.”

  “Grace? You’re just the woman I was looking for.” Before she knew what happening, she heard a sizzle and felt her body seize. She dropped to the ground like a ton of bricks, briefly wondering what that crackling sound was as darkness overtook her.

  Tom looked up and down the road, making sure the highway was still clear before he threw Grace over his shoulder. He carried her to the open trunk, lying her down so he could tape her arms and legs together. Going back to her car, he turned the hazard lights off and retrieved her bag, cell phone and purse before closing the door. He put the carry-on bag in the trunk with her and closed the lid. Careful to drive as normally as possible to avoid being pulled over, he drove down the highway and took the next exit, heading back in the opposite direction.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Tom was nearly giddy with excitement. He’d been following Grace for almost a week, hoping to be the one to bring her in. Laskin would be thrilled when he found out; he’d had a bounty on her head for so long. His only stipulations had been that she be brought in alive and that no one saw her when she was captured. The last thing the brotherhood needed was for someone to see them kidnap a human woman, even though she was a shifter-lover. By the time he would have been able to explain, the damage already would be done, exposing the existence of the brotherhood and putting their leader in jeopardy. Laskin had already suffered horribly for the cause, coming back from trying to save Olivia from her captor a scarred and broken man.

  He shook in anger, thinking about the woman in the trunk and her role in Laskin’s injuries. If she hadn’t alerted the shifters to his presence there, Laskin would've been able to save Olivia and defeat the shifter councilmen sent there to execute the poor woman.

  Knowing Grace was partly responsible for the death of an innocent human and the near death of the leader of the brotherhood filled Tom with rage. He was tempted to stop the car and shoot her in the trunk. She didn’t deserve any less. But Laskin had been clear, and Tom wanted nothing more than to please the leader of the brotherhood.

  He took the next exit north, heading for the group’s hideout so he could call Laskin and let him know he had Grace. In the trunk, he could hear the woman moving around, likely already waking up after being shocked with a taser. The look on her face had been one of shock, the memory nearly arousing Tom as he continued to drive. Soon, she’d be awake enough to start fighting and kicking, screaming her head off in a vain attempt to get help.

  But she could scream all she wanted. By the time they got to the exit leading to the secluded hideout, everyone on the road would be home and curfew would be in full effect. There would be no one to hear Grace’s screams except Tom, and he wasn’t about to help her.

  He took the service road as the sun dipped below the horizon. He had a few miles to go before he could safely turn on his lights without alerting the authorities he was breaking curfew. With any luck, he’d hit the dirt road leading to the compound before he’d need his headlights, eliminating the issue altogether.

  Grace’s cell phone chirped on the seat beside him. He grabbed the phone and read the text. The number wasn’t saved in the contacts, so there was no name, just a number.

  When you land in Toronto tonight, feel free to have room service on us for dinner and breakfast. I left our credit card with the front desk so don’t worry the cost. See you soon!

  So Grace was heading to Canada? Fleeing north with the rest of yellow-bellies that were too cowardly to fight for human rights. He held the phone up in front of him as he drove, typing a simple reply, Thank you! Can’t wait to see you! He turned the phone off and tossed it on the chair. Someone expected Grace in Toronto this evening. It wouldn’t take much to look up flights and figure out when that was supposed to be. He’d check it when they got to the stronghold and make sure to text whoever it was tonight and claim to have landed. It wouldn’t do them any good if Grace’s disappearance was noted before they got what they needed from her. Once Laskin was finished with her, they would dump her body in shifter territory and let the animals take the blame for her death, since she loved them so much.

  **

  Grace came to in the dark, confusion clouding her thoughts as she tried to figure out what was going on. Her legs were heavy, her arms unmovable and her skin on her stomach felt burned. She tried to roll over and turn on the bedside lamp when it hit her. She wasn’t waking up from a bad dream – she was waking up to reality.

  Suddenly aware, she shook her head to clear the last of the cobwebs. She could hear the road below her, the tires whooshing across the smooth surface as it sped down the highway. The driver was mumbling to himself, but the sound was muffled by the seats. Grace closed her eyes and listened to the sounds on the road, trying to get her bearings, searching for any sound that could help her figure out where they were headed so she could escape later. He had to stop at some point.

  She heard nothing outside of the sound of the road, smooth and flat under the sedan’s tires. Tom’s face flashed in her mind, his handsome image now contorted by anger welling up inside Grace. The coin incident at the gas station had been a ruse, giving him a moment to do something to her tire to ensure he would find her alone and helpless down the road.

  She’d been in such a hurry to get away before he returned that she hadn’t even noticed if the tire had anything wrong with it, though she doubted whatever he did would have been noticeable. With the tire blowing the way it did, any evidence of foul play would have been scattered along the highway in the mass of tire shreds and litter from other cars.

  One thing was for sure, their meeting hadn’t happened by chance.

  Grace’s phone chirped, indicating she had received a text. The car slowed, and Grace assumed the man was reading her text. She was instantly grateful she hadn’t saved Olivia’s number to her contacts. While he’d see her phone number, he would never know whom she’d been heading to see. If she died, at least her friend was safe.

  A single tear slid down her cheek. She wasn’t sure what this man wanted from her, but the way he’d secured her spoke volumes. He hadn’t taped her mouth shut, which meant there was no one to hear her scream. And he hadn’t blindfolded her, which meant it didn’t matter if she saw his face. Which meant that she wasn’t going to survive to turn him in. But Grace wasn’t going to make it easy on him. If this man thought she was going to just lie down and die, he was in for a big surprise.

  The car picked up speed again and she heard a muffled bounce. He’d probably answered the text, which meant it would be tomorrow before anyone knew she was missing. Not that anyone would care; she’d been branded a traitor, and the only ones left in the world who cared about her, had bought her a flight out she’d never use. One hour away f
rom freedom and she was trapped in a car trunk, speeding towards her death, or worse. Of all the luck.

  *

  Olivia woke up the next morning, nearly jumping out of bed with excitement. Grace had texted her last night, Super exhausted, talk to you soon. Olivia had responded to Grace, wishing her goodnight and asking her to text when she got on the plane the following morning. Grace didn’t answer, but Olivia understood; it had been a long day for her friend and she’d probably passed out as soon as she checked into the hotel.

  Signing on to the airline’s website, Olivia checked into the morning flight and had the boarding pass sent to her phone. Now, when her friend woke up, she wouldn’t have to do a thing except eat and get on the shuttle to the terminal.

  Sable was already up, the smells wafting their way up to the second floor suggesting that Sable had started cooking breakfast already.

  “What a good man.” She crawled out of bed and headed for the shower, eager to get the day going so she could go to the airport and get Grace. She soaped up her hair and showered quickly, jumping out in record time and dressing before going downstairs. The smell of sizzling bacon and eggs enveloped her, a welcoming scent reminding her that no matter where they lived, if she was with this man and their son, she was home.

  She stood in the doorway, watching her little family move about the kitchen. Morgan sat at the table, devouring his frog-faced pancakes and bacon. He’d begged her to buy that pan last month and ever since refused to eat pancakes unless they looked like a frog. He may have been the size of a ten year old, but he was definitely her sweet baby still.

  His baby-soft hair was strawberry blond, with a hint of shimmer that reminded her of the silver coat he wore when he shifted. He also shared her smattering of freckles across his cheeks and nose. The rest of his features were all Sable: strong chin, bright eyes that were dazzling when he smiled. She loved him so much that at times, she felt like she would burst when she looked at him.