Alice moaned in pain. Tabitha spoke louder so the dispatcher would hear her. “I…I don’t know. She’s my neighbor, she came banging on my door, screaming her boyfriend beat her.”
“I’m sending the police out also.”
Alice must have overheard because she whispered, “No, please. He’ll kill me.”
Not if I get to him first.
She wasn’t sure where the thought came from, violence wasn’t in her nature. But if Mike were there, she’d need an army to keep her off him. Alice was the only real friend Tabitha ever had, and even though they’d grown apart recently, she’d be damned if she’d let him get away with this. Fury ignited every cell in her body until she thought it might burn her alive.
“Shh, it’s okay. You’re going to press charges and he’ll be in jail, he won’t be able to do anything to you.” Tabitha pushed Alice’s hair off her face, holding her close. Her fingers came away with blood on them.
The dispatcher continued gathering information, and Tabitha answered every question as best she could but her mind was racing. Could Mike have followed her to finish the job he started? Will he come back later looking for her? She wanted to believe she could handle him on her own, but she knew she couldn’t. Especially not now with how sick she was.
Two paramedics rushed up the stairs, leaving no time to quiet Alice’s fears.
Tabitha spoke into her cell phone again. “Thank you, the ambulance and fire department are here.”
“You’re in good hands now,” the operator said before the line went dead.
Tabitha slipped her phone into her pocket and tried to step aside so the paramedics could take over, but Alice grabbed Tabitha’s shirt.
“Please stay. Don’t leave me.”
The blond paramedic looked from Tabitha to Alice. “She’s just going to move back a little so I can help you. She can go with you in the ambulance if you like.”
Eyes wide, Alice looked like a scared child. “Please come with me. I don’t want to be alone, he’ll find me and finish it.”
Tabitha brushed some hair off her friend’s face. “Sure, I’ll go. Now let them look you over.” After a slight hesitation, Alice nodded in agreement. While the paramedics examined her, Tabitha took the time to change out of her sweats and into a pair of jeans.
She’d just stepped out of the bathroom when the blond paramedic looked over his shoulder. “Miss, if you’re going with us, we need to go now. She’s lost a lot of blood.”
While they loaded Alice onto the stretcher and prepared to move her, Tabitha grabbed her purse and keys. She followed them down the steps and out to the waiting ambulance. With speed and precision they loaded the stretcher. As the ambulance pulled away from the curb, Alice passed out.
“Josh, call it in. The patient is unconscious, and they need to have blood standing by. She’s lost too much and will need a transfusion.” Then he turned to Tabitha. “Do you know her blood type and if she’s on any medication?”
How could all this be happening? Tabitha sat there in shock until the blond paramedic reached over and touched her arm. Recalling his inquiry, she shook her head to clear her mind.
“No, I don’t know her blood type, but she wasn’t taking anything. Maybe prenatal vitamins. She was so happy she was pregnant and didn’t want to do anything that might hurt the baby.” She looked at her friend lying so still and pale on the gurney, blood soaking her jeans. The baby.
Tears filled Tabitha’s eyes as she quivered in terror and fury. “Did she…did she lose the baby?” She already knew the answer.
He nodded. “I’m sorry.”
The rest of the trip was a blur.
Upon arriving at the hospital, she tried to stay out of the way. It wasn’t too hard since Alice was still unconscious and didn’t need her. She stood against the wall away from everyone. Her thoughts and fears kept her company as she waited to find out about her friend.
How could that good-for-nothing jerk do this?
A person doesn’t love someone if they beat them. That wasn’t love.
Lost in her thoughts, she barely noticed the blond paramedic come up to her with a police officer at his side. “Miss, Officer O’Malley would like to have a word with you, if that’s all right.”
“Yes, but I don’t know if I can be of any help.”
“Thank you, Jason. If you will excuse us.” The officer led her over to the chairs in the hallway. “What’s your name?”
“Tabitha Leigh.” She perched on the chair, straightening and peering into Alice’s room.
When Officer O’Malley looked up from his notebook, his face was stone-cold and blank. A true cop’s face. “Miss Leigh, what happened this morning?”
She tried not to cry as she thought back to how she got dragged into this. “When I woke up, Alice was pounding on my door begging me to help her. She told me her boyfriend did this.”
“What’s her boyfriend’s name? Why would he do this?”
“I don’t know him. Alice refers to him only as Mike. It was…it was because she’s pregnant.” Her voice broke, and she bit her lip to keep from breaking down. “He told her he doesn’t want children and since he doesn’t want them, he believes he can’t have them, so she must have cheated.” She looked down at the tissue in her hands, then rocked forward, taking a deep shuddering breath.
“Is she sure this is his baby?”
She couldn’t control the tears running down her face. It was unbelievable he had the nerve to ask when her friend was in there dying. “She said it was, but I wasn’t there.” She looked up, glaring at him. “I don’t know who she’s sleeping with, but I’ve known her for years. She’s more honest and trustworthy than anyone I’ve met. She wouldn’t tell him it was his child if she wasn’t sure. She wouldn’t cheat when she’s in a committed relationship.” Her voice rose with irritation. She wanted to be with her friend, not sitting here answering the officer’s questions.
“We’re going to have to question the boyfriend. Do you know where I might be able to find Mike?”
“No.” With that, she was done with his interrogation. She stood and walked back to Alice’s room. She wouldn’t sit there listening to him. He was like all the other people in her life who put all the blame on her, people she couldn’t trust, people who didn’t trust her. Well, Alice wasn’t going to take the blame this time. There was nothing she could do to make him believe the story if he wanted to doubt it.
“Miss Leigh, I might need to ask you a few more questions later,” her interrogator called after her.
Without turning to look at him, Tabitha snapped a terse reply. “You know where to find me, but I don’t think I’ll be of any help.”
Hours passed in a blur with Tabitha glued to Alice’s bedside, not wanting to leave in case she woke up. When Alice woke she’d need the comfort of a friend, and someone to hold her hand as she cried over the child she’d lost. Darkness fell and her eyes were growing heavy when Alice finally woke.
“Thanks.” Her voice was hoarse.
Tabitha jumped to her feet, a sudden surge of energy rushing through her, and poured a glass of water from the pitcher the nurse had brought in a little while ago. She carefully handed it to Alice, tenderly wrapping her fingers around the glass. Her hands were shaking.
“There’s no need for thanks. If you need anything, I’m here. I’ll stay as long as you need me.”
Alice tried to sit up to take a drink. She winced from the pain but managed to force her body into a reclined position. “I feel awful. Tell me what you know. Will the baby be all right?”
“I’ll get the doctor.” Tabitha stood and walked toward the door.
“That bastard killed my baby, didn’t he?” Alice shrieked, shuddering, tears flowing down her bruised cheeks.
Her heart broke for her friend. She wanted to do something to make things better, but she couldn’t. She went to her and held her close. With her arms wrapped around Alice, she reached for the call button, and it wasn’t long before Doctor Robe
rts rushed in.
Alice was almost hysterical, leaving the doctor with no choice but to give her a sedative to help her sleep. As she closed her eyes, Tabitha laid her back down on the bed, gently squeezing her hand.
Doctor Roberts narrowed his eyes, frowning. “I thought I gave you instructions to page a doctor and not to tell her she lost the baby.”
She whipped her head around so fast, she couldn’t believe it was still attached to her body. “I didn’t tell her anything. When I wouldn’t answer her question and I tried to get a doctor, she freaked out. There was nothing I could do. She just knew. Mothers know these things.”
Doctor Roberts looked from her to the nurse. “Why is it the family and friends always think they know what’s best for the patient and disregard the doctor’s orders?” With that, he stormed out of the room.
They’re all the same. No one believes what I have to say.
Tabitha sank down into the chair by Alice’s bed and wept.
The nurse who’d brought the pitcher hung back after the doctor left. “Miss, she’s going to sleep through the night. Why don’t you go home and get a good night’s rest? We’ll take care of her. When you come back in the morning, she’ll be awake and she’ll need you then.”
“Maybe you’re right. Could I leave my number and if anything changes, you can give me a call?”
The nurse nodded and handed her a pen and paper.
She wrote her number on it and handed it back. As the nurse walked out, Tabitha leaned over the bed. “Alice, I’m going home to sleep. I’ll be back in the morning. You rest, and we’ll figure something out tomorrow.” Knowing there was nothing more she could do, she kissed her friend’s forehead before grabbing her purse to leave.
Stepping out of the hospital, the cool evening air of October enveloped her with a sweet scent, foretelling rain was on the horizon. Freshly fallen leaves crunched under her steps, and danced along the pavement while the moon hung overhead lighting the way. To save some money, Tabitha decided to walk home. It was only a few blocks and Pittsburgh was a beautiful city with lots of different shops and so many lights. If the crime rate wasn’t so high, it would be the perfect city to live in. As it was, a young woman walking on the streets at night alone had to worry about being mugged or raped. She kept her hand inside her coat where she kept her cell phone and a can of pepper spray.
The walk home gave her time to think about Alice and how things had turned out for her. Tabitha suspected Mike had hit her before, but when she’d confronted her, Alice denied it. Her friend wouldn’t listen, and now she was almost killed as a result.
She could have died! Tabitha’s anger boiled close to the surface and threatened to overtake her. She didn’t understand it, but lately she was more emotional than usual. Could it be because of the flu she’d caught?
When she reached out to open the door to the apartment building, she found the lock broken. That was nothing new. Every time it was replaced, a few days later it was bashed in again. One day the landlord was going to get tired of fixing it and leave it broken. Having that extra lock on the main door made her feel a little safer. With the lock, the only people who could get in were residents or someone buzzed in.
She was more tired than usual, so the fifteen stairs up to her apartment felt like climbing Mount Everest. At the top, she got her door open. Not bothering to turn on a light, she slumped, eyes closed, onto the sofa—and onto a man.
Chapter Three
Tabitha shrieked and jumped up when she felt the solid body against hers. “Who the hell are you?”
“Don’t scream, Tabitha.” A deep voice called to her as the table lamp flicked on. “You didn’t meet me tonight. I wanted to make sure you were all right. When I arrived, there was blood in the hall, your door was open, and when I stepped inside I found more blood in the entryway. I called the hospitals, and they had no listings under your name, so I stayed here to see if you would return.”
While he spoke, she noticed his body. He was an imposing figure, even sitting. He must have been two hundred and twenty pounds, all of it muscle, with arms nearly the size of her thigh. He reminded her of one of the biker guys who came into the restaurant. His chin-length black hair and broad shoulders gave him a menacing look. The only thing that hinted he might have a softer side was his spectacular ocean blue eyes.
“Back up. How do you know my name?”
“Didn’t you get the note I left on your door yesterday? My name is Ty Reynolds. I was a friend of your father’s.” He sat there on the sofa watching her, careful not to move as if worried he’d scare her.
Shock must have shown on her face, because before she could say anything, he added, “I’m not here to hurt you. If I wanted to hurt you, I would have done so already. I made a promise to your father that when you were old enough, I would tell you everything, and I would do everything I could to protect you.”
“I don’t care who you are. I want you out of my apartment.” She walked over to her door and opened it. “Please leave.”
He frowned, glancing down at the blood stains on the floor. “You’re uninjured but there’s the question of the blood. What happened here?”
“Alice.” A lump formed in her throat as she fought back tears. The single word came out softer than she intended, as if it was a reminder to herself of the terror that had played out only hours before. Alice—dear protective Alice—would’ve had a fit if she knew Tabitha was alone with a man who’d broken into her apartment. “She’s a friend of mine. It’s her blood, but that’s none of your business. Now leave.” Tears stung the back of her eyes. She refused to weep. She was tough, she’d been through awful things. But this sickness, whatever it was, heightened her emotions and made her want to fall apart. What’s happening to me? She’d been asking that a lot lately.
“Listen, Tabitha, I know you’re scared, but you need to hear what I have to say. Please just give me ten minutes.”
“You broke into my apartment and now you want me to listen to you? I don’t want anything to do with you.”
He made no attempt to move toward the door. “I know you’re not feeling like yourself. You’re running a fever of a hundred and one. No matter what you take, it won’t break. You can’t sleep. Your body hurts and you’re sore. You feel like your body’s doing things it hasn’t before. You’re faster, you can smell and see better. If you read my note, just holding the paper would have eased the symptoms. I can help you if you will just listen to me.”
His words shocked her enough to pause. “How do you know all of this?”
“Because you’re a tiger shapeshifter.”
A what? A wave of lightheadedness fell over her as she dropped her hand away from the door handle.
He’d said it with such ease she almost thought she’d heard him wrong. Tabitha stared at him in disbelief for a moment as her vision narrowed and black dots danced before her eyes. Inky blackness consumed her as she collapsed.
When she came to, she was on her sofa with a wet wash rag on her forehead. This meant he’d placed her carefully on the cushions and tended to her—a total stranger. It wasn’t something she expected from a man his size. He appeared more likely to throw someone across a bar than attend to a fainting woman.
She tried to scoot away from him but there was nowhere to go on the sofa. His very size made the place feel small. “I thought it might have been a nightmare,” she muttered.
“It’s not. I’m real, and everything I have told you is the truth.” He handed her a glass of water.
“How do you know about my fever and other symptoms?”
“All shifters have the same signs when they’re going through the change. If you were among your clan, it would be less intense but still there.”
“This stuff is only in books and movies. It doesn’t happen in real life.” Tabitha took the glass with a shaky hand, struggling to steady it as she raised it to her parched lips.
He perched on the sofa next to her. The heat from his body warmed her even as
the cool water slid down her throat.
He brushed a strand of her hair away from her face, leaving a trail of fire on her skin. “I know it’s hard to believe. Trust me, I had a hard time believing it at first also. When I needed someone to drill home what was happening to me it was your father who was there. Like you I was a foster care child. Alone and scared…if it wasn’t for your father I wouldn’t have made it. Tabitha, you’re going to need my help. I don’t want to scare you, but if you don’t have the help of an Elder during this time, the chance of your death is higher. I know you have no reason to trust me, but please let me help you.”
“Were my parents’ tigers too?” She began to wonder if that was why her eyes changed from hazel to fiery orange when she was angry, or why she purred when she slept as a child. It had gotten so bad she was sent home from a sleepover when she was seven for scaring the other children.
“I don’t believe your mother was, though I never met her. But I know your father was. All the gene needs is for one parent to be a shifter.” He knelt beside her, covering the cloth with his hand and pressing the coolness firmly against her skin.
“You said you promised my father you would help me and protect me. Why would he make you promise that? You don’t even know me.” Her hands were still shaking as she set the glass aside.
“Your father was receiving death threats. He knew there was a possibility he wouldn’t live until you were old enough for him to explain your heritage. He asked me to take care of you if he didn’t make it.”
Could this be real? She sat up fully, her heart racing, her palms sweaty. She might have forced him to leave if she wasn’t interested in learning more about her parents. “Why would someone want to kill my father?”
“Your father was the leader of the tigers, his clan’s Alpha. Someone from another clan wanted to take over our group, he challenged your father, but lost. Still, he wouldn’t give up. After that challenge the death threats began, and before he could take care of the tiger behind the threats, he was killed.”
Alaskan Tigers Box Set 1 Page 2
