by Ariel Marie
“I need to pee,” Charlee announced to Malena softly. “Will you be my buddy?”
“You sure West isn’t your buddy?” Malena asked with a raised eyebrow. Ever since Charlee had made the move, Malena had found all kinds of ways to make fun of her. She turned, feeling West’s eyes on her. She mouthed the word ‘pee’ and pointed to the woods. He nodded his head and went back to his conversation with Luka.
“Oh, cut it out.” Charlee swatted her on the arm. They quickly ran over to the tent she shared with West to grab her biodegradable toilet tissue and headed into the woods. They decided not to go too far.
“This should be fine,” Charlee announced, finding a spot that would block the view of her squatting. She finally got over everyone knowing that her and West were officially an item. Having one of the guys catch her urinating would be another ball of wax. That would be hard to get over.
“What do you think really happened to Alf’s work?” Malena asked as she turned her back to give Charlee privacy.
“I don’t know. It’s weird though. Who would steal his work? We all have access to the information that we’ve been collecting.” Charlee quickly unbuttoned her pants and bent down to do her business. She closed her eyes with relief at the chance to finally be able to empty her bladder.
“Do you think someone is trying to sabotage our trip?”
“Something’s going on,” Charlee said, finishing her business. She stood, zipping her pants back up. She looked down to check that her stream didn’t hit her pants.
Nothing.
That was one of things that she missed about civilization. Toilets. Satisfied, she stood up straight to leave and saw a human figure standing a few yards away.
She let loose a scream, backing up quickly toward Malena. The figure was tall and bulky. In the shadows, the only thing she could tell was that it must be a man.
“What—” Malena’s eyes widened as she gasped. Charlee ran toward her friend, not looking back, her supplies forgotten as they both took off running toward the campground.
Charlee’s heart pounded in her chest as she ran. Luckily, still wearing her boots, she was able to get a good grip in the dirt and mud as she ran. Two figures ran toward them as they broke through the trees.
West and Luka.
“What is it?” he demanded, grabbing her by her shoulders.
“A man,” she gasped, pointing in the direction from which they had just come from.
“Stay with the others,” he shouted before taking off into the trees, Luka right behind him.
“Everything okay?” Dr. Zhang rushed toward them, concern on his face.
“Someone’s in the woods,” Malena began to explain as they walked to the center of their camp.
Charlee darted off toward her tent. West and Luka had run off into the woods without any weapons. If it was a poacher, they would almost surely have a gun on them.
She dove in and rustled for her backpack. Her hand met the cool hard steel handle of her small handgun. She dug farther, looking for her flashlight. She exited the tent, brandishing her handgun and flashlight. She took the safety off and jogged back toward the trees.
“Charlee!” Malena shouted. “He said for us to stay with the others.”
She ignored her friend as she entered back into the woods, this time armed. She wanted to kick herself for not taking her gun with her the first time. They had just had a powwow about safety, and her and Malena went straight into the woods unarmed. This time she was ready, and whoever was in the woods had better watch out.
Charlee tried to slow her breathing down as she slowly crept through the dense forest. She kept the gun aimed in front of her with her flashlight providing a small line of light. She could hear voices off in the distance. Not sure if it was West and Luka, she kept her weapon trained in front of her. She pushed down her nerves and blew out a deep breath. She tried to imagine that this was a hunting trip, like the ones she would take with her family. It was almost the same. She was in search of her target.
Hunting.
Charlee had done it plenty of times and knew to keep her wits about her and her aim steady. Her father’s voice echoed in her head, as if he were walking with her.
Hold steady.
She came to an area where the trees thinned out. She stepped out of the brush, the moonlight providing extra light. She looked around and lowered her gun.
“West,” she breathed, relaxing as he spun around.
“I thought I told you to stay with the others,” he snapped. There was a wild look in his eyes that she had never seen before.
Something wasn’t right. She looked around and saw no signs of Luka.
“Where’s Luka?” she asked, her heart rate increasing as she waited for his answer. Her grip tightened on the handle of the weapon. It provided a slight comfort, but she needed West to answer her question.
“Go back to the camp,” he urged as he slowly stepped to her.
“I came to help.” Her nerves began to build as he didn’t answer her questions. “You guys took off so fast, and without any weapons. Poachers carry guns.”
“Charlee, please, just—”
Her eyes darted behind him as the brush to his right parted and out stepped a massive tiger.
“West, watch out!” she screamed, taking aim. His head snapped around toward the tiger and back to her.
“Charlee, no!” West yelled, dashing in front of the tiger.
Her finger paused on the trigger as confusion set in. Why would West be dashing in front of a wild tiger? And why wasn’t the tiger attacking him?
What in the hell was going on?
She froze in place, unsure of what to do. Her mouth dropped open as the tiger came and stood beside West. She slowly lowered her gun, but refused to take her finger off the trigger.
“What is going on?” she whispered, stepping back, unable to look away from the tiger.
“Charlee!” West called her name sharply, gaining her attention. She glanced back at him as he slowly approached her with his hands in the air. “Baby, look at me. There are some things we need to talk about. This wasn’t how I wanted to tell you.”
“Tell me what?” she asked, shaking her head. “Why is that tiger not attacking us? It’s just standing there like it knows you.”
“Because he does,” West admitted. She gasped, and her eyes wandered back to the tiger who just stood there and stared at them.
“Stop moving,” she warned, her voice growing stronger. She raised her gun and pointed it at West. “I mean it. Stay back.”
“You’re not going to shoot me,” West pointed out, taking another step toward her. “Do you trust me?”
“Tell me what’s going on,” she pleaded. “Stop moving!”
He came forward and pressed his chest to the barrel of her gun, gently covering her hand with his.
“Put the gun down, Charlee,” he demanded. She stared into his eyes and was torn. Her heart softened. His eyes told it all. He wouldn’t hurt her.
She lowered the gun.
He released a deep breath and crushed her to him, his large hands gripping the back of her neck.
“I wish we had more time,” he murmured in her ear.
“What’s going on? You’re scaring me.” She pulled away from him and looked at the tiger.
“I was going to tell you, but I guess there’s no time like the present.” He sighed as he backed up from her. He began to strip his clothes off.
“What the hell are you doing?” she cried out, confusion mounting as she watched him remove his underwear before falling to all fours on the ground. Her eyes grew wide as she watched fur burst forth on his skin. His body drew longer and transitioned into that of a tiger.
If she hadn’t see it with her own eyes, she would have sworn that she was crazy.
Maybe she was.
Maybe this was a dream and she was in a coma somewhere. She must have fell back there when she ran from the dark figure.
She shook her head in disbeli
ef and began backing up, away from West, or what she thought was West. She paused as the scientist in her pushed forth.
How was this possible?
She slowly walked forward, toward West. Her heart slammed against her chest as she stood in front of the beautiful animal. Its intelligent eyes stared back at her. Her free hand reached up slowly, itching to touch the massive head. As if sensing her hesitation, the animal turned its head and pushed it into her hand.
Charlee gasped at the feel of the tiger’s dense fur beneath her fingers. Its chest rumbled as she ran her fingers across it’s head and gave a little scratch behind its ears. She chuckled as it pushed against her hand again. It was like a house cat who loved having its ears scratched and head rubbed.
“West?” she whispered his name. The cat looked at her, then it really hit her. Her lover had just transformed into a massive tiger. “Is it really you?”
The tiger released a chuff as it nodded its head.
“How is this possible?” she asked in disbelief, using both of her hands to rub his head.
“We were born this way.” Luka’s voice appeared from behind her.
Her head snapped in the direction of his voice, finding him emerging from the trees. She took note that he said we.
“This is…how do you…I mean…” she couldn’t formulate a single question. Her mind was racing with every question she could possibly think of as West walked away.
“He got away,” Luka announced to the tigers.
“Go ahead and go back. Charlee and I need to talk.” West’s voice appeared from behind her. She turned and found his naked human form standing close to her. She watched the tiger hop back into the brush, and Luka disappeared into the trees.
Her eyes turned back to West and she swallowed hard. His eyes searched for something in hers. She didn’t even know where to start, so she just waited.
19
West stared down at Charlee. Her wide eyes gave way to her confusion and fear. Hell, he didn’t blame her. This was not the way he had planned to tell her about his tiger. He just didn’t have a choice. He’d seen her in action with a gun and knew that her aim was perfect. He couldn’t risk her shooting Drago. The bullet wouldn’t have killed him, but he would have been one pissed off security specialist. West would have had to pay his friend a heavy tip for the taking of a bullet.
“We need to talk,” he breathed, running his fingers through his hair. Charlee jerked her head in a nod. He grabbed his clothes and began to dress. He wasn’t sure how to begin, but he figured he would just start from the beginning. “I was born this way.”
“That’s not possible,” she whispered, shaking her head.
“Well, I hate to break it to you, Doctor, but it is.”
“But how have we not known? Scientists would—”
“Would have studied my people under a microscope. Humans have a funny way of trying to eradicate something they don’t understand. It’s best that humans don’t know about shifters.” He shook his head sadly. His parents had drilled it into his head as a kid that humans could never know. Every shifter knew the dangers of what could happen if the humans found out that they were not the only ones inhabiting the Earth. It would lead to pure chaos.
“So what? Shifters just hide from everyone?” she asked.
“No. There are all types of shifters, and they live everyday lives, just like humans. They attend college, have careers, settle down and have families. There’s only one difference between a human and a shifter.” He stepped toward her slowly. His tiger was pleased that she didn’t flinch as he reached for her. He needed to touch her. He knew that he and his tiger would not be able to handle it if she shunned them.
“So, do humans and shifters get married?” she asked as his fingers gently brushed her hair from her face. He tucked the strands behind her ear and nodded.
“And procreate too.” Her eyes widened, and he could see her mind running wild.
“And the children?”
“More than likely, they will be shifters. About ninety-eight percent of children born to mixed races will inherit the shifter gene. It tends to be the dominant one.” He chuckled at the array of facial expressions that swept across her face.
“So that’s why this sanctuary means so much to you,” she acknowledged, grabbing hold of his hand, entwining their fingers together. She stepped closer to him, tilting her head back.
“Yes, this place means everything to me. We have to prevent tigers from becoming extinct.” His eyes gazed off in the distance. His heart clenched with the thought of losing the Amur tigers, or any tigers for that matter.
“Can real tigers tell the difference from shifters?”
He barked out a laugh and drew her close in a hug. Confusion lined her face as she pulled back.
“What did I say?”
“Real tigers? I promise you, my dear, that my tiger is real.” He feigned hurt, holding his chest. His tiger stood at attention and pushed at his chest. It demanded to be free again, just to prove to her that he was certainly real.
“Oh,” she breathed, lowering her eyes in embarrassment. “I didn’t mean any disrespect.”
“None taken. My tiger is wanting to get out again to prove to you that he’s most certainly real,” West said. He pushed his tiger back in an attempt to calm it down. It whined, but settled down.
“You can speak to it?”
“We’re one in the same. When I’m in my human form, he’s just in the background. Sometimes he likes to let the alpha in him come to the surface, but I’m always in control. Even when I’m in my animal form, I’m right there with him,” he explained to her.
“I won’t tell anyone,” she promised. “I mean it. What you said about scientists is right. They would ruin everything that your people have worked so hard to accomplish. It would literally be a circus.”
“Thank you,” he replied.
They drew quiet, and he didn’t know what else to say. He didn’t want to rush any decisions from her, but he just had to know.
Would she accept him as he was?
“I guess we better get back to the camp,” she stated, squeezing his hand with hers. He glanced down at their entwined fingers and felt a little spark of hope for them.
“Yes, I’m sure they’re probably worried with you jetting off into the woods, guns blazing,” he noted with a dry chuckle. They began making their way back to the campground.
“What?” she scoffed. “I thought I was coming to rescue you, but here you are, a big bad tiger.”
“But seriously, you shouldn’t have come back into the woods,” he warned, pulling to a stop. He turned her to him, needing her to look at him. He didn’t know what he would do should something happen to her. “Promise me, next time I give you an order to stay put, you will.”
“Hopefully, there won’t be a next time,” she joked, but he didn’t crack a smile. He was serious. His animal grumbled with the thought of her not listening and something happening to her.
“I mean it. I don’t want you in any danger. I can handle it. Promise me, Charlee,” he pleaded.
He had never begged for anything in his life before. As one of the wealthiest tiger families, he had everything in the world that he could ask for, but for her safety, he would. Just in the short time he had gotten to know her, she had found a way into his heart.
He needed her.
He would do whatever he must to protect her.
“Okay,” she whispered, staring up at him with her large eyes.
Satisfied, they continued onward to the camp.
“Charlee!” Malena exclaimed, running over and snatching Charlee up into a bear hug. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine,” Charlee assured her as they began to talk softly amongst each other.
West’s eyes met Luka’s as he came forward with the rest of the group.
“I was just telling everyone how the guy got away,” Luka informed him. West was confident that Luka didn’t tell them any more information t
han was needed.
“This just goes to show that we need to take this seriously,” West announced. “We’re in the middle of nowhere, and the only way we can keep each other safe is to have one another’s backs. Let’s get a good night’s rest, and remember to partner up.”
The groups began to disperse, and West wasn’t sure if Charlee was going to come with him or go back to her tent that she had shared with Malena originally. His tiger let out a whine as he turned to walk toward his tent. It tried to get him to change direction and walk back to Charlee.
It’ll be all right, he murmured to his tiger. He didn’t know who he was trying to convince, him or the tiger.
“West! Wait for me,” Charlee called out.
He turned to find her jogging to him as Malena headed to her tent. His heart sped up as he watched Charlee get closer to him. This was it. She would break off what they had and be done with him. He barked out a laugh in his head at the thought.
The infamous West Rogavac had fallen for a woman.
He knew the guys would ride him hard if he ever mentioned the thoughts and doubts that raced through his mind.
“Hey,” she murmured as she stopped in front of him, leaving just the two of them in the middle of the campground. The nervous look in her eyes had his heart speeding up. He braced himself as he waited for her to speak. “I meant to ask you, can you show me what it means to be a tiger in bed?”
Charlee’s breaths came fast and hard as she settled her sweaty body against West’s. Her body tingled in the afterglow of their lovemaking.
West was definitely a tiger in bed.
A whimsical smile lingered on her lips as she thought back to his facial expression when she had ran over to him. His shoulders had drooped slightly when he turned to walk back to his tent. Her heart swelled with his disappointment that he tried to hide.
But she saw it.
She had come to terms with him being a tiger shifter before they had made it back to the camp. She could literally feel the nervous vibes pouring off him as they made the journey back to join the others. She considered herself a modern scientist and knew that it would be ignorant of her to assume that they were the only ones walking the Earth.
