by Aubrey Rose
When I was on the ground, I shifted, letting my bear take me swiftly and safely out into the evening darkness. The bear had a sick feeling in his gut, troubled by the way I'd had to tap human lies to gain Shane's cooperation.
It's okay, I thought with a growl. You know there's no way we're giving Laura up.
This time tomorrow, Shane's gonna realize it isn't an option and fucking accept the new way, or else we'll be locked in war after all.
Shane needed to get his eyes pried wide open. There was no way he'd take Laura away, and the only thing that mattered now was how quick and easy he'd accept that as truth.
I thought about it all the way to Denali. Brush crumpled underneath my feet. I paused near a stream to scratch at a fallen tree in frustration.
The negotiations proved what I already knew about tigers. I couldn't tell him how much I loved her, how we were fated mates linked. The conniving old SOB would never accept something so simple.
Words wouldn't do when it came to Laura and me. I had to show him my strength, my love, my devotion to his daughter.
And the best way to do that was to get her to tell him herself.
Somewhere, far beneath his ruthless orange fur, I suspected there was a tiger who cared deeply about his flesh and blood. Laura was the only chance I had to get through to him, tiger-to-tiger and father-to-daughter.
But if things went sour, better that it happened on my turf. If he didn't accept what the gods had decreed by bringing us together, then he wouldn't be hauling her back to his prissy town while I was alive. I'd die to keep her.
My bear roared his agreement. My baby, my little tiger, belonged to me now. No one else.
A big spring moon was rising over the mountains when I reached Denali's outskirts. There was a shadow on the horizon, coming right toward me.
Probably one of the night crew out on patrol. They all should've been expecting my return. Before I left, I gave Jacob my orders to tell the boys I'd be home soon while he kept Denali safe.
I approached the figure. Didn't stop, even when he raised his rifle. Steam hissed out my black leathery nostrils.
Really? This fucking idiot thinks I'm a real grizzly? I swear, if this is Cuddy fucking around again, I'll tear him a new hide...
It was Cuddy. But he didn't recognize me, even when I stood on both my legs and screamed as loud as I could. His cold eyes kept the rifle trained on me.
Then he spoke, erasing my confusion “I know it's you, Alpha. I'm going to need you to put your bear to sleep and come with me.”
This stupid flunkey had my attention. I wondered why I ever admitted him to the security crew at all, other than the fact that he was young, male, and able-bodied.
Shame the clan didn't have a lot of options there these days.
“Put the gun down!” I growled, rising from the ground, a man again. “What's gotten into you? I need to see Jacob now.”
I grabbed the rifle by the barrel. My eyes widened when he pushed back, aiming it right at my face.
“There's live ammo in here, Alpha. Please – don't make me shoot. I need you to come with me. Elder council's orders.”
Suddenly, the night had grown a lot colder, and twice as dark.
My bear was pissed before. It was a raging furry cauldron now, seething to rip into this disobedient beta.
I wasn't a fucking idiot, though.
What choice did I have? I followed the man with the rifle into the village. My bear went wild, ramming his head against my mental barrier to get out, begging to rip Cuddy's incompetent head off.
No. I have to find out what the hell's happened here.
We walked on, past the town hall where I expected him to stop, way beyond my own cabin. I saw my house from a distance. All the lights were off. Place looked frigid and deserted, and I didn't like it one bit.
Gods! If any of these idiots had overreacted and done something to Laura while I was gone, I swore I'd –
“In here, Alpha. I need you to settle in until morning. The Elders will see you then...they're asleep right now, as you know.”
Cuddy opened the wooden door leading into the long cabin. I recognized how worn it was, even though it had been reinforced with metal slabs, just like the iron bars across the windows.
“You're putting me under arrest?” I laughed, anger ripping at my chest.
“No, not officially. Nothing's been decided yet. The Elders will talk to you tomorrow and decide whether or not you're really a threat to–“
I couldn't take it anymore. My bear tore his way out of me so fast my bones rearranged themselves with a sickening snap. I threw myself at him, savoring the scream as he fell to the ground.
His rifle discharged, blasting out into the night. Cuddy fumbled with the gun. My chance to swipe with one paw, knocking it several feet away.
“Oh, Gods! Have mercy, sir! I was only following orders.”
I was about to tear into him when there was a noise. A ferocious beating on one of the windows, someone hitting it so hard from inside it rattled the thick glass as well as the prison bars.
With my bear's sharp eyes, I could just make out Jacob's lean face, complete with its five o'clock shadow through the dusty glass. It was his fear that really hit me.
Something fucking awful had happened in there.
I shifted, hopping over Cuddy to grab the rifle. I gave him a swift kick in the ribs to make sure he'd stay down, and ripped his camo cloak off before heading inside. The keys to prison were in the pocket, and it hugged my big frame something fierce.
Jacob was crouched on the floor when I stepped inside. There was one – no, two – bodies laying there.
One of them was female. I smelled Laura's scent, mingled with strong fear, even before I ran over and saw her pale, unconscious body.
“Gods! Oh, baby, no, no, no.” I slammed the rifle on the floor and scooped her up.
She was cold, but her body temperature wasn't low enough to be dead. A small consolation.
I looked up, eyes so hot and inflamed with mad rage it felt like they'd burst out of my skull. Even Jacob's face pissed me off, though he'd been trying to help.
“You didn't protect her! What's wrong with my mate? Answer me!”
“Found her like this when I came for my shift a little while ago, sir. It's...it's a long story. Hannah's been sticking her snout where it doesn't belong, and she got Laura sent here by the Elders. Typical kangaroo court. They'd already made their decision before they sent Cuddy and Greg around to collect us at your place...”
He kept talking, but I wasn't fucking listening. I had my ear pressed tight to Laura's plush chest. She was breathing slowly, breath almost as glacial as her heartbeat.
“Fuck!” I roared, pounding my fists on the ground.
I noticed the other body laying there for the first time. The doctor's. Things just went from bad to nightmarish.
“What's Reed doing here? We can't even bring her to a doctor!”
“I'm not sure, sir. There's a spot on her arm, like someone was drawing blood.”
I snatched at her beautiful skin, drawing her sleeve up so I could see. My lieutenant was right. A small trickle of dried blood ran to her wrists, stopping at a puncture neatly in her elbow's underside.
“We have to wake him first,” I growled. “Need his help, assuming the fuck isn't the reason she's out cold in the first place.”
I felt into the cloak's deep pockets. Hoped the idiot outside had left me a canteen, a pen, something to stir Reed's senses – if he wasn't further gone than Laura here.
Shit. No luck.
“Get out there and drag our friend in here. Need to see if he's got anything clipped on his belt.”
I tossed Jacob the keys. He came back a second later, dragging Cuddy's groaning body. My kick hadn't knocked him out, but it had left him paralyzed in pain for awhile. He was wearing a belt and not much else.
Cuddy whined again as Jacob tore it off him. “Here!”
I caught the little metal cylinder he
threw me. Popping the cap, I took a good whiff. Whatever was in the half-full canteen didn't smell like water.
“Hooch. Some really strong hooch. It'll have to do...”
I poured the cold water all over Reed's forehead, slapping him across the face. Each blow was a little harder than the last.
“Come on, you bastard. Wake up.” Tried to hide the desperation in my voice from my second in command. It wasn't easy.
Reed smacked his lips. He groaned and sat up. His bear gave him the strength to grab my hand and push it away, annoyed and confused.
“Alpha?” He jerked awake, cradling his head. “Where...where's Hannah?”
Hannah. That bitch's name caused fire and brimstone to seethe up inside me. I grabbed Reed by his white lapels and shook him so hard the crooked spectacles perched on his nose bounced.
“Hannah's the last bear in the world I give a shit about right now. I need you to wake the fuck up and help Laura! She's dying!”
He snorted. Then he took one look at my curvy tigress and winced when he saw how pale she was.
Reed went into doctor mode, checking her vitals as best he could with one hand. “This isn't good...she's lost a lot of blood. Pulse is erratic.”
“Do something!” I growled, lowering my face to his.
He looked at me and shook his head. “I'm going to need to get her to my clinic.”
Jacob shook his head. “Not sure that's a good idea, Alpha. Haven't even briefed you yet...we're gonna have a hell of a time creeping through town if anybody sees us.”
“We'll deal with that later. She needs his help! That's all that matters. I don't give a fuck about Hannah, the Elders, or the rat we've got laid out on the ground.”
I pointed to Cuddy and he groaned.
“We need to move.” I pushed the doctor aside, scooping Laura into my arms. “Let's go. I'll fight to protect your clinic with my life, if I have to.”
Slowly, Jacob nodded. He knew I meant business when I picked up the rifle and gave it a good jerk.
“Well? How is she?” I slapped Reed on the shoulders hard.
He jerked, clearly annoyed, but the doctor knew his place. I wasn't feeling much need to keep a lid on my strength just then either.
“Pulse has stabilized. I'm concerned she won't wake up on her own. She's at a very dangerous place right now. Losing blood is just about the worst thing a shifter can suffer.”
“That's it? You're telling me you can't fix this?” I asked, gritting my teeth. Had an ugly feeling I wouldn't like the answer.
My bear was fuming, and so was I. All I wanted was for Laura to sit up and open her pretty eyes. I was so fucking worried I hadn't thought about how much I'd rip Hannah limb from limb, plus whoever else had hurt her.
“That's all I can tell you.” Reed stood straight and turned to face me. “I'll tell you what she needs: a blood transfusion from one of her own kind. Has to be tiger blood, I'm afraid. No bear or human has anything that'll match her blood type.”
“Gods!” I pounded the empty table next to him. “Won't she make more on her own?”
“Less than a fifty-fifty chance. Way less, actually. You know how shifters heal several times faster than humans?”
I grudgingly nodded. Wasn't real interested in his science. I wanted him to fix my girl, and I wanted it done now.
“Well, that ability doesn't just disappear when there's major blood loss. The whole body shuts down. Don't ask me how many bears I've seen fall into a coma and never come out of it when they're brought all torn up, too late to get new blood into them. For tigers, the very same is true.”
I let out a growl. “She'll die if she doesn't have tiger blood?”
“Yes, Alpha. And there's something else too...”
My head was spinning like a carousel. I wanted to roar at the moon, break things, tear flesh and blood apart.
My only hope was Shane and his crew showing up in time to do something. Without the tigers finding themselves on the receiving end of bear soldiers, of course.
There was way more at stake than clans butting heads in Laura. If they ended up dead, captured, or worse...
Fuck! I kept forgetting we were fugitives ourselves. My girl was being kept in prison, the same place asshole Cuddy tried to take me.
“Sir, there's one more thing you should know about her condition...” Reed tugged on my sleeve like a little kid.
I whipped around, snarling. The wiry doctor in front of me wasn't completely innocent himself.
Was this his confession?
He hadn't told me why we'd found him passed out on the floor next to my mate. Worse, I had a feeling I might instantly kill the only man who could save my mate once he spilled the bitter truth.
“What?”
“It's not just the blood loss that's preventing her body from optimal healing.” He adjusted his glasses, taking his sweet time. I had a feeling whatever he was about to say was bound to piss me off.
“Spit it out!” I roared. “I don't have time for this shit.”
“Laura's pregnant.”
My vision tunneled. If I were a weaker man, I would've fainted on the spot, knocked out instantly by those insane words. They kicked up a storm in my brain so violent I saw stars.
“A hybrid pregnancy is very difficult in the best condition. In hers, it's a huge threat to the cubs and their mother. I barely know how to deal with this, to be quite honest. All I know is if we don't get some tiger blood into her – and soon – you're going to lose this tiger and your half-blood offspring.”
He couldn't do it. Stupid, smartass Reed just couldn't stop the righteous twitch in his lips, eyeing me with contempt.
My bear went mad. Thick fur bristled on my arms and legs. The tight camo cloak got even tighter, ready to bust at the seams.
With a bear's roar, I lifted him off the table, holding him high in the air until his face was next to mine.
“I should fucking kill you on the spot. Do you want to die here with her, Reed? Tell me!” In one push, we were across the room. He gurgled as I slammed his frail body into the wall.
Reed's eyes were bristling with bear heat too. His survival instinct kicked on to shift and defend himself, but I'd snap his neck before his grizzly teeth appeared.
“Don't...you want to save her...don't you?” he gasped. Only encouraged my fingers to press deeper in his throat.
“What the fuck were you doing in the cabin? Why did you help Hannah take my girl's blood?”
He coughed. It was hard as hell to loosen my grip and let him speak, but I did.
“I'm sorry, Alpha. I'm so sorry, James. She blackmailed me...something real bad. I wouldn't have let her do it if I knew she was going to hurt her. Please, sir, you have to believe me!”
Hot steam poured out my nostrils. Our faces were only inches apart. My fingers dug into his throat, one easy flick away from sending him into permanent darkness.
“Tried to stop her. Hannah took too much – too much blood! She was the one who hit me on the head and finished the procedure herself.” Tears ran down his red cheeks. “I get it. Kill me if you have to. I deserve as much. I'm supposed to be a healer. All I've done is bring pain to everyone...”
His words were so, so tempting. At the last second, I pulled my bear back, and spun away from him.
He hit the floor with a loud groan. “Sorry, sorry, sorry...”
Reed babbled like an idiot. I turned around and slapped him hard across the face, instantly cutting off his words.
“You'll live. You keep Laura safe and I'll get you the fucking blood. Jacob's gonna make sure you don't move a muscle away from this table. Won't let you make any more mistakes, Reed. If I can't help my girl, then I'll murder the ones who killed her. Hannah, Cuddy, Greg...everyone.”
“You mean...?”
He trailed off. I wasn't about to indulge his shit. He was under house arrest now.
Didn't matter we were almost prisoners ourselves, or even that I only had myself and one other guy to do it.
Where the hell was he? Jacob wasn't anywhere to be found.
I stepped toward the door, hair prickling on the back of my neck. My bear rumbled, all his senses on edge, and not just from the mind blowing chat with Reed.
A father...you're going to be a father...Gods almighty!
My head was still spinning when I pushed open the door and peered out. Jacob was at the bottom of the clinic's stairs, holding the rifle we'd captured from Cuddy.
At least half a dozen others surrounded him, guns drawn, all aimed at him. Three of those guns shifted, moving to me.
I recognized Greg's face through the camo hood wrapped around his head. Slowly, I stepped down the stairs, taking my place next to Jacob.
“Stand back! Lay down your weapons and throw your hands up!” Greg shouted.
I wasn't gonna be a prisoner again. My feet moved, my bear at the ready.
Forward, forward. None of these insubordinate fucks are gonna push me around.
Didn't stop until the nose of his rifle was just an inch from my chest.
“I mean it, Alpha – give it up! Elder council's orders. Stand down or we will use lethal force.” His voice was shaking.
I wrapped one hand around the rifle's nose. His finger perched near the trigger, shaking just as bad as the rest of him. Greg had been a bastard I hadn't fully trusted, just like Cuddy, but he balked at shooting me, the man he'd taken orders from the last three years, straight through the heart.
“You stand down,” I said coldly. “All of you. The Elders are working with bad information. They've been tricked. I went to Tiger Bay and returned to bring peace. If you shoot me, you'll kill whole families. Don't go marching blindly into war, boys. Take me to meet with the council before this clan gets into a storm you can't imagine.”
Greg's cohorts slowly dropped their rifles. He froze, still shaking, without lowering the barrel.
“Can't let you do that. You're a criminal now, James. I will shoot you if you don't give up and let us take you into custody. I have my orders...” He looked desperately from side to side. “We all do!”
