A Tiger's Tale

by Lisa Oliver

  As he turned back towards his twisted mess of junk metal, Ella’s assessment would be spot on with this one, he spied Simon glaring at him, his arms crossed and a mean look on his face.

  “No one is supposed to be in here. This is my space,” he said curtly as he brushed passed the snake shifter and picked up his welding torch.

  “When were you going to tell us?” Simon hissed.

  “Tell you what? I’m working.”

  “That your mate’s pregnant.”

  The welding torch fell to the concrete with a clang. “How did you know? Has Seth been bragging to everyone already?”

  “I could smell the change in his scent and picked up the sound of a faster heartbeat when he came in to get dinner last night. A dinner you didn’t show up for again. He hasn’t said anything. He spends all his time in your room, crying.”

  “It will be the hormones. Nothing to worry about,” Ra said. He had ordered a score of books online and although the books were all about female pregnancies, he figured he sounded knowledgeable enough to put Simon off. So okay, he’d been doing more than welding and running, but Simon didn’t need to know that.

  “Or maybe it’s because his mate’s a bastard and hasn’t even congratulated him or told him how happy he is he’s going to be a father.”

  “The news was a hell of a shock,” Ra said calmly unwilling to let Simon know how much his words hit the mark. He didn’t need to be told he was being a bastard. “We only found out yesterday. I’m just trying to get things sorted in my head.”

  “Yesterday?” Simon frowned.

  “Yeah, you remember. You were there when he fainted at Cam’s and I took him to the doctor. Farriday confirmed it then. Look, you have to admit, this came out of left field for both of us. I’m sure Seth has some thinking of his own to do. I had this piece to finish and I do my best thinking in here. I’m sure Seth understands.”

  “We were at Cam’s Friday night. It’s Tuesday lunchtime.”

  Ra’s heart stuttered. “Tuesday?” he whispered. He looked down at his clothes; they were the same work jeans he’d pulled on after tucking Seth into bed Friday night. He sniffed. Shit. He hadn’t showered, run a comb through his hair or anything. He knew he had a tendency to get caught up in his work sometimes, but how the hell did he lose four days? Seth would be worried about him.

  “Can I use your bathroom?” he asked. “I don’t want Seth to see me like this.”

  “Use your own,” Simon snapped. “Seth’s not here; not that you’ve noticed anything about your mate in the last four days. In fact, there’s a good chance he won’t be back anytime soon. I trailed him when he went out yesterday and he went to the doctor’s office, the library and then the real estate office. He left this morning with a bag after spending another night crying. You connect the dots.”

  “Fuck. Wait. What? Why did you trail him yesterday?” Ra sat on a beer crate, his knees unable to hold his weight. Seth left me?

  “Have you seen that thing he calls a car? It’s held together with duct tape and bailing wire. I knew you’d worry if anything happened to him, so I followed him and kept an eye on him.”

  Ra rubbed his head. If he thought his head was bad before, it was ten times worse now. “You think he left me? Why didn’t you follow him today?”

  “Why do you care?” Simon hissed, a sure sign his snake was getting agitated. “You haven’t slept in your bed in four nights; you haven’t come in for meals. Being an artist is one thing but losing four days is ridiculous. You blatantly told Seth he wasn’t allowed to come near you – yes, we all heard that. I felt sure you two just had an argument and it’d all be over by now. But no. You’re stuck in here not even knowing what day it is and in the meantime, Seth’s packed his stuff and gone. I did follow him this morning, okay? He’s working at the library and when I knew he was safe I came back here to knock some sense into you. Are you deliberately trying to kill your tiger? Do you honestly hate the idea of children that much?”

  “I don’t hate children,” Ra said quietly, trying not to notice the scales forming on Simon’s arms. He didn’t want to grapple with a snake. Simon was vicious in his shifted form. “I’ve just never thought about being a father. I’m gay. I always knew my mate would be gay. Children…tigers…I don’t even know who my father is.”

  “Neither do I,” Simon said crossly. “You think your life was bad, at least you had a mother for the first fifteen years of your life. I was born in a nest with my brothers and sisters. No parents around. My first sight was seeing one of my brothers devouring one of the eggs.”

  Ra shivered and then he frowned. “You were born in your shifted form and then became human later?”

  “When I was a teenager. My first shift scared the living shit out of me. I’d lived alone all that time. I remember I was hunting a rat at the time. Was halfway down this hole in the desert and them bam, I suddenly grew feet. Can you imagine what that was like? It took me a whole day to learn how to walk.”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” Ra said although he wasn’t sure what he was sorry about. Simon never said much about where he came from and everyone respected each other’s privacy.

  “And I don’t want or need your pity now,” Simon said harshly. “But as a poster child for an unwanted kid, I know what it’s like to grow up without parents. I listened to you whine for years about how uncaring your mother was. Every time you got drunk, you always spouted off how no kid of yours would ever be treated that way.”

  “That was a long time ago and I never dreamed I’d have children,” Ra said sullenly. But Simon was right.

  “And that’s your excuse, is it? You’re a tiger. Tiger’s don’t feel anything for their cubs, so you’re going to let Seth raise this child on his own; another bastard just like you are.”

  “NO!” Ra roared, but Simon’s words hit their mark. “No,” he said more softly this time. “We’re meant to be together. We’re meant to be a family. Why did Seth leave me? He was safe here.” He looked up at his friend, unashamed of the tears rolling down his cheeks.

  “Safe from everything except a broken heart,” Simon said, but his words were softer now. “Try to imagine for just one minute, you’re a rabbit shifter. A tiny rabbit shifter the herd hunted and then banished because you want to be with your true mate. So, you find the courage to stand up to your alpha, you move into a house full of predators your mate won’t allow you to get to know because he’s all growly and protective and thinks with his dick most of the time.”

  Ra chuffed. He had been like that and now he felt bad about it.

  “Now imagine you get this over the top, totally jaw-dropping news that you’re about to give birth. Something you never believed in a million years could be possible. You’re scared, worried and probably a tiny bit hopeful too. What would you do?”

  “I wouldn’t leave the father of my baby.” Ra still couldn’t believe Seth actually left without saying anything.

  A punch to the head knocked him off his seat. Leaving him sprawled on the concrete. “You fucking thick-headed bastard!” Simon’s scales covered his arms and were working their way up his neck. “If you were Seth, you’d be looking to your big, sex-crazed, over-protective tiger mate for some fucking support. You’d want him to be happy about the baby, share the news with his friends, and go to doctor’s visits with him. Make sure he’s eating properly, make sure he gets enough rest. Keep him safe so he doesn’t fucking shift. Rub his feet, tell him he looks beautiful even when he can’t see his toes. Buy ten times more baby stuff than the little one will probably need and maybe even plan a nursery with him. Not ignore the issue and him to the point where he feels he has no choice but to take a fucking apartment in town because his mate doesn’t want him or the baby.”

  “What baby? Is someone having a baby?” Rocky came in, munching a lamb bone. “Hey Ra, I know this is your sacred space and all that, but Doc Farriday is on the phone and says it’s urgent. Seems Seth was beaten pretty badly in the library while Ba
rney was on his lunch break. The Doc tried calling your mobile but went straight to voice mail, so he rang the house.”

  “Oh fuck, no!” Ra scrambled to his feet and ran for his bike. “Get the others,” he yelled.

  “What the hell is going on?” Rocky asked as he easily kept up with Ra’s long legs. Ra saw Liam, Lucien, Mal and Brutus come running out of the house.

  “I can’t explain all of it now,” Ra yelled. “In a nutshell, Seth’s pregnant, I’m a bastard of the highest order and we need to get to town.”

  “If you’ve been a bastard,” Brutus grumbled, “then why do we all have to go to town. None of us have been mean to the little guy. We like him.”

  “Because Seth’s been attacked, he’s hurt and he’s not allowed to shift to heal himself or he’ll kill the baby.” Ra started his bike.

  Seconds later seven bikes roared down the driveway, peeling onto the road ignoring the speeding laws. I’m coming Seth, please be okay, please be okay. I’m sorry. I’ll never leave you alone for a second again, but please by all that’s holy, be okay.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Seth groaned as he went to move his arm. Every muscle ached and he knew without looking he was a mass of bruises. Lying on Doc Farriday’s hard bed wasn’t helping. His rabbit was agitated, wanting to come out and run. He concentrated on breathing instead of moving, trying to calm his poor animal half. The urge to shift was instinctive and he knew his animal spirit didn’t wish any harm on their unborn. But sometimes, especially in rabbits, instinct overrode common sense.

  Farriday poked his head around the door. “How are you feeling? I can give you some mild pain relief but I don’t think it will do much good.”

  “I’ll be fine. I don’t want anything.” He stifled another moan. Seth vowed as he walked away from his temporary home with Ra he was putting his unborn child first. That’s why he left. He wasn’t having his child growing up where he or she wasn’t wanted. The ache in his heart as he thought about his mate was becoming a familiar friend, one he could and would ignore for sanity’s sake.

  Farriday came into the room and checked his pulse. “Your heartbeat is still too fast. Deputy Joe is in the other room. He wants to talk to you about the attack. Are you up to it, or should I tell him to come back another time?”

  Seth sighed. “Do I have to talk to him? I’m really tired and I don’t want to even think about it. I’ve got my babies to consider. They’ll know it was Simpson and Gareth soon enough. Can’t Barney make the statement?”

  “I fucking knew it was those damn rabbits.” Farriday took a deep breath and then continued in a softer tone. “Simpson is an Alpha and should know better than to let his temper get away with him. As for Gareth, well, let’s just say that boy listens to his father far too often.” It was the doctor’s turn to sigh. “Look, Seth, far be it for me to tell you what to do, but Simpson did a dumb thing attacking you in the library. Barney has cameras all over that place and this statement is just a formality. They could have killed you and your baby if Barney hadn’t come back when he did. They should be held accountable for their crimes.”

  “Do you know what will happen to them?” Seth asked. The doctor was right, but given his hatred of confrontation, he’d rather not think about anything but how he was going to support himself and his little one.

  “That’s up to the town’s people,” Doctor Farriday smiled. “It’s okay, they haven’t had a lynching here since 1952.”

  Seth shivered, but he told the doctor to let Deputy Joe in although he asked that Farriday stay during the interview. Between Ra’s indifference, finding a new house, having to lie to people and now the beating, he was finding it hard to stop the tears rolling down his face. He hurriedly sniffed and rubbed his face while the Doctor showed Joe in.

  “Hey, Seth, how you feeling?”

  “Can the stupid questions,” Doctor Farriday snapped. “He looks like shit and feels like it too. Now let’s get this done. Seth needs his rest.”

  The deputy’s cheeks went a fetching shade of pink, but he pulled out his notebook. “I just want to ask what you were doing in the library today.”

  “I work there,” Seth said stiffly, rubbing his stomach. “I’ve worked there four years. I had some time off recently when the herd was hunting me and then mating Ra, but Barney let me start back yesterday.”

  “I see,” Joe scribbled something in his book. “That would explain why Ra wasn’t around. Now, in your own words, can you tell me what happened? Did you and Simpson have an argument about something? I’ve seen the tapes, but something must have happened beforehand to provoke the attack.”

  “I don’t argue with anyone if I can help it.” Seth closed his eyes. “I was shelving some books. Barney yelled out and said he was going to lunch at Cam’s. I’ve often looked after the library on my own and it wasn’t as though we were inundated with readers.”

  “Uh huh.” Seth opened his eyes to see Joe scribbling furiously.

  “Old man Trotter brought back a pile of old history books about the town. He’s fascinated with those things. They’re usually locked away in the archives. I got the key from the front desk, took the books and went to the back of the library where the archives are kept. I just got the door open when I felt a hard thump on the back of my head and I fell over.”

  “So, you didn’t see who hit you?” Joe asked.

  Seth frowned. “I didn’t see who hit me the first time, no Deputy. But I got a crystal-clear look at both faces when Simpson picked me up by my hair and punched me in the face while Gareth started in on my ribs. I doubled over to protect my stomach and when Simpson dropped me back on the ground I was clearly able to see whose boots were kicking me.”

  “Did you say anything? Give them any reason to keep hitting you?”

  “Did you have a double order of thick with your eggs for breakfast?” Doctor Farriday stood up. “This man gets carried in here, covered in bruises. He needed six stitches on his arm where a steel cap ripped it open; he has three fractured ribs and a lump on his head the size of a grapefruit and you’re trying to make this out to be his fault?”

  “I didn’t say anything,” Seth interrupted quickly. From the doctor’s heated look and Joe’s discomfort, he could see the two men coming to blows. “Simpson kept saying stuff like I was an embarrassment to decent rabbits everywhere; claimed I’d decimated his herd because of my stupidity and that I was using my innocent looks to sucker everyone into feeling sorry for me. I think Gareth kept trying to back off, but then Simpson would yell at him to stop being a pussy and he’d kick me again.”

  “So why did they stop? Did you hit them at all?” Joe glanced over at Farriday as if scared he’d get another blasting.

  “Barney forgot his wallet. He came back; they heard the door buzzer and jumped out a window. Barney must have heard me whimper or something and found me. He carried me here. And for the record, I’ve never hit anyone in my life.”

  Seth wanted Joe to go. He had to find a way to get home. His flat was small but it was on the other side of town and with the bruising on his legs and the pain where his chest was taped up, he didn’t think he’d get very far.

  “I’ve documented the injuries for your report, Deputy,” Doctor Farriday said. “Photos and a full outline on the care Seth needed when he was brought in and will need in the coming month to six weeks.”

  “Month to six weeks?” The deputy frowned. “I appreciate you not shifting until I had a chance to see the extent of your injuries, Seth, but there’s no reason you can’t shift now. The townspeople won’t need to see how badly you’ve been hurt to make a judgment on this, especially as the doc took photographs. It might sound mean, but that’s why the sheriff isn’t treating this as a big deal. No shifter requires a month to heal from anything short of a shot to the head.”

  Farriday opened his mouth and then closed it again, looking at Seth. Seth appreciated his discretion, but people around town were going to know soon enough. He’d already told Barney but swore
the big cat to secrecy.

  “I’m pregnant, Deputy. I won’t be able to shift until after my child or children are born. It has nothing to do with your investigation or the townspeople and for the record, this attack is a big deal to me. I didn’t expect to spend most of my pregnancy barely able to move. If this has damaged my child in any way I will sue the fucking herd for everything they’ve got.”

  Joe sagged against the nearest wall and as Seth tried to calm his burst of anger, he wondered if everyone he met would have the same reaction. Even Barney looked a little pale when Seth told him and Seth always believed his boss could take anything in his stride.

  “I’ve got to get Simpson and Gareth into lock-up,” Joe said, his voice shaky. “When Ra hears about this, they’ll be mincemeat.”

  “Ra won’t…” but that was all Seth had the chance to say; suddenly there were shouts and the sound of overturned furniture coming from the waiting room before Ra came bursting in. A three-day scruff marred his dirty face; his jeans were covered in something that looked like soot and his t-shirt had seen better days. Seth had never seen a more wonderful sight.

  But then the crushing pain of the last four days hit him like a sledgehammer and he winced as Ra got nearer. Ra saw it and immediately stopped. “Seth, I’m so fucking sorry,” the big man said falling to his knees. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I never meant for you to think I didn’t want you or the baby. I never meant to hurt you by staying away. I’m just a fucking idiot…the news threw me, that’s all. It was completely unexpected and tigers don’t do family well. But I promise you, I swear on my life, I will never leave your side again and I will always treat you as the most amazing, special person you are. Come back home with me again, please. Let me take care of you. The boys all miss you; they want to help us with the little one. I know you got an apartment, but please, come home with me where you belong. Please tell me you’re okay, that the baby is okay and that you forgive me.”