Tiger Born

by Tressie Lockwood

  “I’m a grown woman. We do that sometimes.”

  “Deja, things are unsettled right now. I don’t want you out late. I don’t even want you out when the sun goes down, but I think you’d fight me on that. Promise.”

  She folded her arms over her chest. “No, I won’t.”

  He grunted. “Then I will assign a guard to you from sundown.”

  “What?” she shouted, but he’d gone back to his cell phone.

  “Damn it, Heath. I think—”

  “I was afraid of this. Come on. We have to go back.” He took her hand.

  “What’s going on?”

  “I told you, fights.”

  “That doesn’t tell me much.”

  He clenched the steering wheel as he drove to Siberia, tension obvious in his bearing. Deja didn’t berate him. She waited for him to share, but he remained silent. Had the shifters been picking on the humans again? Had it progressed to something more serious than yelling in the streets or damaged property? She hoped not and worried about Melanie despite how the woman had told her not to come around anymore. Of course there was also Jake. Was he okay?

  She took out her phone about to call him but paused. Heath had admitted he had just stopped himself from killing Jake, and he knew people didn’t turn off their feelings that fast. Heath might go ballistic if she sat there in his face and called another man, even though she didn’t feel that way about Jake at all. He was a friend, who could never be more. She worried her lip, trying to decide what to do.

  “Heath, it’s not a human is it? Hurt or…or…”

  He glanced at her, his jaw tight. “No, honey, it’s not one of your friends.”

  She sighed in relief and then realized he didn’t know Melanie. “Not Carter’s girlfriend?”

  His eyebrows rose, but he shook his head. “No.”

  “Whew, that’s good.”

  He took the turnoff from the highway that led to Siberia. “Listen, I’m going to take you to Dad’s.”

  “Why? I’m not going out at night, Heath. I’m not an idiot. If something’s going down, I don’t want to be in the middle of it. I know there’re people way more trained than I am to keep the peace.” She had to think of the baby and laid a hand on his arm. “You be careful, please. We’re just getting it together, aren’t we?”

  For the first time since he got the text, his face softened. “Yes, we are, and I promise I’ll be back as quickly as possible so we can enjoy the rest of our evening.”

  “Stop slinging around promises every other word. Just come back.” She wriggled her eyebrows. “I’ll have something special for you.”

  His hot gaze dropped to her cleavage. “Like what?”

  “Use your imagination. Come back soon.”

  “I will!”

  Deja laughed, and Heath gave in to her wish to go home. She kissed him and walked into the dark house. Loneliness settled over her as his truck tires squealed out of the driveway. She pulled her cell phone from her purse and dialed Jake. After three calls, he didn’t pick up, and she began to worry. No way Heath lied to her, had he?

  Before she jumped to conclusions, she hurried to the bedroom and changed into a T-shirt and jeans. She removed her makeup and put her braids in a high ponytail at the back of her head. She’d told Heath she had something special and bet he wasn’t expecting this outfit, but if he’d lied and Jake was hurt, he would not hear the end of it from her.

  Just as she was about to put sneakers on, her cell phone rang, and the display read Jake. She breathed a sigh of relief. “Jake! Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Looks like there was another attempted abduction in McAllen.”

  Deja gasped. “You’re kidding. How did you hear?”

  “Well, Carter came into the bar and said it’s closed down for the time being.”

  She frowned. “Huh? What does the bar have to do with the abduction? He doesn’t suspect you, does he?”

  Jake laughed. Good one. “No, it’s rioting. Every night, there’ve been scuffles between shifters and humans, and he says they don’t have anyone to watch me at the bar. Plus, he says with people drinking, it can get out of hand faster.”

  She shook her head. “They can’t be thinking of banning drinking in Siberia. That’s just dumb, and what are you supposed to do to make a living?”

  “He says it’s just for tonight. They have to send some people out to McAllen to investigate the almost kidnapping.”

  “Was it another child?”

  “No, a teen.”

  She went cold and shut her eyes. No, there was no way Heath wouldn’t tell her if one of his brothers had been attacked. “Do you know which teen?”

  “I don’t know her.”

  “Her?”

  “Yeah. I don’t have any more details. Carter didn’t seem all that interested in talking to me. I had the feeling he didn’t care if I was attacked or not, but he was just following orders.”

  “I’m sorry, Jake. I’m sure things will get back to normal tomorrow. If not, I’ll stop by, and we can commiserate together being poor and jobless.”

  He chuckled halfheartedly. “Okay, talk to you tomorrow.”

  Deja paced the house, waiting for Heath to come home. The hour grew later and later. A million times, she looked at her phone, wondering if she should call him or at least send him a text, but if he was in the middle of something serious, she didn’t want to be the one to distract him. Huffing and dropping onto her bed, she peered toward the closet. Maybe she should shower and change into the sexy nightie she’d intended to wear for him. She’d bought it the last time she went shopping on the off chance they spent a night together without fighting. After a few minutes of debating, she decided to wait and see.

  The clock struck midnight, and she lay down across the bed, yawning. Maybe if she shut her eyes for a little while, time would pass, and he would come back. She yawned again and felt herself slipping off to dreamland. The next time she opened her eyes, it was to the sound of banging on the front door. By the time she identified the sound, Ward had wrenched her bedroom door open, calling her name. Deja rolled over and sat up rubbing her eyes. Good thing she hadn’t changed or he would have seen.

  “What’s going on? Why are you here?” she demanded and looked at her cell. “Six. Wait, six a.m.? Where’s Heath?” She jumped to her feet, but Ward approached her, hands held out as if he needed to calm an animal about to go on a rampage.

  “Easy, Deja. We’re going to find him. What I need you to do is go to my house and stay with Coreen and the boys.”

  She glared at him, taking a step back, but there was nowhere to go with the nightstand behind her. “What do you mean you’ll find him? I thought Heath was with you last night.”

  “We had a few different incidents, so we separated. One of our young ones was attacked—”

  “I know about that, but she’s safe. What about Heath?”

  He stilled. “Who told you?”

  “Jake did.”

  “Jake said—”

  “Damn it, to hell with Jake!” She rushed up to Ward and took hold of his shirt in her fists. “You better explain to me what happened and why you think Heath is missing right now!”

  He started to turn away. “We’ll discuss more on the way—”

  “We’ll discuss it now, or I’m not leaving this room.”

  He stared her down for a few minutes and then blew out a breath of resignation. Behind him, Deja spotted Joe and a few of his other men. She had the feeling if she resisted, they’d force her over to Ward’s house, and that worried her even more. Why would Ward need to bring a small army to make sure she was okay, and where the hell was Heath? Her insides churned, and, of course, because it was morning, she felt the beginnings of morning sickness. She ignored the call of the bathroom to toss up whatever food she hadn’t digested the night before to hear what Ward had to say.

  He walked over to the bedroom door. “Everybody outside!”

  They all grunted but moved in an in
stant to obey. On top of the order, he closed the bedroom door, and Deja sank down on the bed because her legs refused to hold her any longer. Ward faced her, and his gaze swept her from head to foot. She couldn’t fathom from his expression what he thought, but she’d glimpsed worry before he hid it away. Everyone knew Ward’s devotion to Heath because he was the son of the woman Ward still loved to this day.

  “Last night, we got a couple of calls, reports on planned abductions.”

  “And you didn’t think it was a trap?”

  He glared at her. “Of course we did, but one turned out to be real, a fifteen-year-old tiger-born girl visiting McAllen with her friends.”

  Deja’s eyes widened. “They’re allowed to go to the city alone?”

  “No, they aren’t.” He ground his teeth. “The friends called in a panic. It so happens I had a couple men there. They were able to track the girl and ki…take care of the abductors.”

  “You were going to say kill! Ever heard of questioning people, Ward?”

  “Of course I have,” he roared. “I’m not a fool. Nor am I merciless. There was a fight. The humans were apparently given orders to take someone back dead or alive. Damn it, one situation is handled, and then another rises. On our side, we cannot afford to let anyone get away to give out our location.”

  “Funny, I’m thinking our location is already compromised.”

  He stared her into silence. “With so many fights among ourselves, all of my men were occupied last night. I had to send Heath to check out the second call. He never reported back.”

  “You sent him alone?” She struggled to her feet.

  “He is stronger than any of the others put together.”

  “I know you’re proud of him, and that might be true, but he should have had backup.”

  “It was on the way.”

  She pushed her feet into her sneakers without socks. “Whatever. I’m going to look for him.”

  “You’re not.”

  “Don’t try to stop me, Ward. I’m his mate. I’m going to find him.”

  “Oh, so now you acknowledge it?”

  She had been heading past him toward the door, but he grabbed her arm. She wrenched free. “Don’t even go there with me. This is your fault. You dragged him into working with you, knowing he didn’t like it. Even still, you made all the dumb decisions…”

  “You will not disrespect me!”

  Deja wavered, almost ready to fall to her knees, but Ward held her up. She blinked at first at the shock in his expression and then at the apologetic air. Gently, he led her to the bed and pushed on her shoulders to make her sit down.

  He stooped in front of her, still holding her in place. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… I’m worried about him too, Deja, and I know you love him.” He sighed, dropping his head. When he looked up into her face, his expression displayed resignation. “You can’t go, honey. You will stay with Coreen and the boys. I’m taking a group out to look for Heath. We will find him.”

  Deja clenched her hands into fists, and a shudder hit her so hard, she had to take deep breaths not to throw up. “I remember what it was like in one of those places. If they take him there and hurt him…I don’t know… Oh, goodness, please, Dad, find him!”

  Pleasure lit his eyes, and he smiled. “I will. You just take care of yourself and…” He dropped his gaze to her belly.

  She gave a small squeak of surprise. “How did you… Oh, that wave of power.”

  “I didn’t mean to do it. It does come in handy to give me a sense of locations of my people and their state. Not miles away, if that’s what you’re about to ask.”

  She shook her head. “Heath.”

  He stood and patted her shoulder. “He won’t know until you tell him. Now, let’s go. Okay?”

  She followed him from the room having no choice. For now, she would go to Ward’s house and bide her time. All the while, she prayed that any second Heath would call or come home to keep his promise. Something deep inside feared she would never see him again.

  Chapter Thirteen

  A day had passed, and Deja was still holed up in Ward’s house. Coreen hadn’t said anything about suspecting Deja of being pregnant, but that was the least of either of their worries. As Ward assured her, he’d taken a group of his best men to search for Heath. What pissed her off beyond reason was that the skank Tina had gotten to go along. She wondered how that was fair. How did a woman who had clear designs on Heath get to search for him but his own mate did not?

  Deja would have blown this damn place long before now if she could have, but Ward had left the house surrounded by a few of his men. All were big and burly. She might be ten times stronger than the average human, but her ability did not come close to a male shifter.

  She swore and strode for the millionth time over to the front window to peer out. A small group of men leaned on pickups and smoked cigars. They flicked ashes and used butts on the ground, and she gritted her teeth. She’d tried going out her bedroom window only to be caught and brought back within minutes. How humiliating.

  On top of being held prisoner, she hadn’t been allowed any visitors, so even though she talked to Jake on the phone, he couldn’t come by. Nor could anyone else. She’d had it with Aaron’s and Abel’s complaints that they weren’t permitted to see their friends, but she understood how they felt.

  “I can’t take this anymore,” she shouted.

  Coreen came from the kitchen holding a plate of cookies. Abel and Aaron jumped at them and would have eaten every one if Coreen didn’t smack their hands. She approached Deja. “I know you’re worried, sweetie, but you just have to trust Ward and the others.”

  Deja rolled her eyes. “Yeah, like he trusts us locking us in here?”

  “It’s for our own good.”

  “It’s for your own good,” she snapped. “I should be the one saving my mate, not that skank.”

  Coreen smiled, and Deja huffed. An odd scuffling outside caught her attention, and she turned back to the window. Her mouth fell open and eyes widened. Jake stood shaking like a leaf over several unconscious men. What the hell?

  She ran to the door and wrenched it open. “Jake, what did you do?”

  He held up a flask and an empty plate with a weak smile. “Imagine how desperate you feel when you haven’t been allowed to drink for a few days, and I didn’t have to be a good cook to throw together a box cake. A little something added to help them sleep for a while. Are you coming?”

  “Hell, yes!”

  She didn’t look back or acknowledge Coreen’s shout as she scrambled across the driveway. Jake headed to his car, but she wrenched open the door to one of the pickup trucks. Without surprise, she found the keys in the ignition and hopped in. “You coming, Jake?”

  “But my car…”

  She gunned the engine, and Jake groaned then got in the other side. They peeled out of the driveway and onto the road, kicking up dirt, which had settled in a light layer over the asphalt. With the windows rolled all the way down, the wind whipped about their heads. Deja only sped up, not caring about anything other than putting enough distance between herself and Ward’s men so she’d have a good start at finding Heath. “What made you decide to help me?” she called over to Jake.

  When she glanced at him, she found his cheeks red, and his hands clenched on his legs. “No reason.”

  She laughed and reached across to touch his hand. “Thank you so much. You’re a great friend. You never abandoned me, even with all the mess that’s going on, and even with how Heath hurt you. I appreciate that, and I’m sorry.”

  He twisted away toward the window, and she knew he was embarrassed. She let him be. After a few moments, he sat up straighter. “Hey, wait, stop by my house first.”

  She frowned. “Why? I thought you said you were going with me.”

  “I am. I need to get something.”

  She shrugged and did as he asked, but when she waited behind him as he unlocked the door to the bar and then followed him throu
gh to the back stairs that lead up to his place, her patience wound tight to the point of snapping. All thought of shouting that he needed to hurry the hell up left her mind when he pulled two guns from a case in the back of his bedroom closet, along with a few boxes of bullets.

  “Whoa, buddy, anything you want to tell me?”

  To her surprise, he glared at her as he stood tucking one in the back of his waistband. “I don’t have claws.”

  “Point taken.”

  Jake checked that the other gun was loaded and stuffed it into a jacket pocket. “I got this.”

  She laughed. “Okay. I trust you.”

  After they were back in the truck, she drove out of Siberia and stopped at the edge of town to sniff around. Heath’s scent mingled as usual with a number of others, but she didn’t think it was recent. The next place she stopped was outside McAllen. Here her lover’s scent was stronger. She glanced around. Cars whizzed by, a few heads turning in their direction.

  “I need to get off the road into a less populated area,” she commented.

  “On it.” Jake hopped out of the truck and came around to her. He spread a map over the hood of the truck and squinted his eyes against the sun as he studied it. “How about here? It’s not too far, and you can shift.”

  She looked at him, noting the seriousness of his tone. If Jake could get over his fear of shifters, he could have a job protecting the town. At the least, he could go on missions to take down Spiderweb. They never fought against shifters, only humans, so it was no more dangerous for him to get involved than the rest of them.

  Rather than voice her new respect for her friend, she climbed into the truck, and they pulled out. Some minutes later, they turned onto a narrow, dirt road, which stretched between a line of trees on both sides. Deja scanned the area and sniffed the air. No one appeared to be nearby. She stopped and turned off the truck’s engine.

  “Watch yourself, Jake. I’m going to shift and explore a little bit.”

  He nodded.

  She began removing her clothes and tossing them into the truck. She felt Jake’s eyes on her, but he must be used to seeing shifters naked. Few had much shame about their bodies, and since one either removed clothes or had the tiger rip them off, one got over modesty. She shifted quickly and padded out into the trees. She’d run a good half mile before she began picking up familiar scents. Ward and his men were all there, and then she breathed in Heath, and her heart ached. She sniffed around a little more and whined. A step behind her caught her attention, but she’d already known Jake followed her.