Here There Be Tigers (14 page)

“
No, but I do have better senses
than other people. I’m strong for my size. I have really good
instincts…most of the time. But is that part of being half tiger or
just me?”

He shrugged. “I’d guess because you’re half
tiger, but I really don’t know for sure. The scientists my
grandmother has working on human-tiger theory and the legend might
know. They’ll want to meet you.”

She frowned. “I’m not going to be someone’s
science experiment.”

The growl in her tone made him raise his
brows.

“
I’m serious, Mitch.”

“
I believe you. But my grandmother
will want you to…help in their research.”

“
How?”

“
Provide blood samples. Submit to
medical tests…” He hesitated to say more, given Nila’s mood. How
would she feel about the fact that his grandmother wanted her to
mate with a tiger, to try and produce more tigers?

“
She wants to know if I can have
tiger children? I’ve guessed that part already.”

He sighed. “She’s…hopeful. But Anaya gave birth
to a human, so despite my grandmother’s hope, matings between
acceptable human-tiger shifter pairings might only result in
humans, and that won’t save us.”

She set her fork on her plate and stared at the
fireplace. As she absorbed the information, he couldn’t stop
himself from studying her expression.

“
So, outside of me,” she finally
continued, “have you found the descendants of this couple? Do they
exist or was I just some sort of freak anomaly?”

“
The researchers have found some
genes in the mitochondrial DNA that might trace back, and
genealogical research has led them to believe they’ve found one
possible line of descendants—if the couple came from India. The
couple’s origin is still debated, though, so India could be a false
lead. Fact is, it’s been impossible to say if any of their findings
carried much merit because, until you were born, they’d found no
evidence of another human-tiger mating. There are a few elders
who’ve been pressuring my grandmother to stop her research because
of this. With you…” He let the implications hang in the
air.

“
The supposed line of possible
descendants…are they tigers or human?”

“
Both.”

She nodded, still staring at the fireplace.
“The fact that I’m not a shapeshifter is bad, isn’t it?”

“
Not necessarily. You’re an only
child. If Anaya and Leo had other children, one of them might have
been a shapeshifter.”

She turned back and faced him. “What exactly
does Elizaveta expect from me? Specifically.”

He swallowed and set his plate aside. He didn’t
want to tell her this part, to admit that she’d be offered her
choice of any tiger male she wanted, but she deserved the truth.
“Those like her will want you to consider taking a tiger mate, a
husband. They’ll encourage you to have as many children as possible
from that pairing.”

“
What if I don’t want to have
children?”

The question startled him. Of all the possible
problems with this situation, that hadn’t crossed his mind. “Don’t
you?”

She shrugged. “Actually, I do want kids, one
day, but not now. Not any time in the near future.” She glanced
down at her plate, then set it on the coffee table, her eggs only
half-finished. “What if I can’t conceive with a tiger shifter? I
mean, just because Anaya was able to, doesn’t mean I can. And I
doubt one of your males will want to be stuck with a human who
can’t give him children in the end.”

The fact she was even discussing mating with a
tiger should have given him some relief. The conversation had just
the opposite effect. His muscles tensed with some unnamed emotion
and his chest tightened uncomfortably. “Our scientists have been
working on DNA and blood tests they hope will help them determine
ahead of time if a mating will be successful. Anaya’s DNA was the
only they’ve had from a proven mating between the two species to
work from, though. Just the fact tigers and humans can procreate
will be worth the risk to many of our males. They have so few other
options.”

She nodded but her gaze was distant. “And then
there are the tigers like Petrov who want me dead so I don’t
destroy tiger bloodlines?”

“
Yes.”

“
Where do you fall in all this?” she
asked, shifting to hold his gaze.

“
I wasn’t sure. I’ve never
subscribed to Petrov’s extreme beliefs, but I didn’t really believe
the legend either. I thought it was a fairytale, like so many
others did for so long.” He held his palms up in a kind of
surrender. “But you exist. I can’t deny the possibilities
anymore.”

“
Do you think it’s a blessing or a
curse?”

Without looking away and without hesitating, he
said, “Blessing.”

Nila was a blessing, even if he still wasn’t
sure how he felt about his grandmother’s research. What he knew
without any qualms whatsoever was that Nila was going to be
important to his people. She was hope, possibility, and no matter
what happened, he considered her a miracle.

CHAPTER
THIRTEEN

Nila wanted desperately to stop this
conversation again, to go back to blissfully imagining all the
wicked things she’d do with a naked Mitch and ignoring all the
implications of her birthright. But she told herself she would face
the full story now. She couldn’t afford her ignorance any
more.

Holy hell, did she want it, though.

“
Okay,” she said, “so, Elizaveta is
expecting me to take a tiger shifter husband.”

“
She’ll want you to, but you have a
choice. She would never force you into a relationship you didn’t
want.”

“
She couldn’t even if she wanted
to,” Nila said sharply. She bit her bottom lip to keep quiet for a
few breaths. She was having a hard time controlling the chaos of
her emotions and she was going to take out her temper on Mitch if
she wasn’t careful. She softened her tone when she said, “I
obviously can’t do a Mate Run. Does she intend on trotting out all
the eligible males and let me pick my favorite, like a weird
preternatural The Bachelorette?”

Mitch wouldn’t meet her gaze. “I don’t have any
idea what she intends. Introducing you to some of the important,
unmated males is probably on her list of ways to coerce you into
doing what she wants.”

“
You’re making your grandmother
sound very manipulative.”

“
She can be when she wants to be.
She learned a lot under Stalin.”

“
She wasn’t still in Russia during
the war, was she?”

“
She and her family moved to Zurich
just after the end of the war. My father immigrated to the US in
the sixties. My grandmother followed after my grandfather died in
‘67. She still keeps a place in Russia and travels back and forth a
lot, mostly for business.”

Nila was very tempted to follow the digression
away from the topic at hand—his family history was fascinating—but
she forced herself to ask more questions. “What if I don’t want
anything to do with the tigers? What if I want my normal life back
and all this other business to go away?”

Still without looking at her, Mitch said, “It’s
too late. The community knows about you. There’s no going back.
Even if you don’t want a tiger mate, even if you refuse to deal
with us, tigers will continue coming after you. The males willing
to mate with a human will try seducing you. Those who think you’re
a liability will try killing you.”

“
Are you telling me I’m going to be
on the run for the rest of my life? That even after Petrov gets
brought before your elders, others will still be gunning for me?”
Panic and disbelief overwhelmed all other emotion in that moment.
She did not intend to spend the rest of her life running from these
crazy people.

“
If you don’t take a tiger mate,
then yes, you will probably continue to be in danger.”

“
What the hell good would a tiger
mate do me?”

“
Offer you his protection and the
protection of his family, his wealth. If you choose a powerful
enough male, you’ll be safe.”

“
Are you powerful enough?” The
question was out of her mouth before she knew she was going to ask
it and the minute she spoke the words she wanted to take them back.
The last thing she wanted Mitch to think was she intended to
pressure him into a relationship just to keep her safe. She didn’t
know what he wanted for his future, and for that matter, she had no
idea what she wanted for her own future, but she did know she would
never force him into anything he didn’t want. “Sorry, forget I
asked that. It was rude.”

“
I’m not powerful enough,” he said,
ignoring her apology. He finally met her gaze, his expression oddly
blank. “My grandmother is an elder and she is influential. But my
immediate family…our position is…we don’t have enough power for me
to be an option.”

That pronouncement left her cold and depressed,
and she wasn’t entirely sure why. It wasn’t like she was in love
with Mitch. She wanted him, wanted him more than she’d ever wanted
another man in her life. But she didn’t do long term relationships,
and she didn’t intend to marry or have children any time soon. She
had bigger things to worry about.

She was not going to be forced into anything
because of someone else’s agenda, especially not marriage and
children. This was her life they were talking about. She’d always
had full control over her choices and decisions. She owned her
mistakes and her successes in equal measure. She was
not
giving over control of her life to anyone. She was
not
choosing a husband because someone else said she should or because
he could keep her out of trouble.

She
decided who she committed herself
to.

The fact that Mitch took himself out of the
running pissed her off, and an instant later, the reaction
embarrassed her. To be mad that he didn’t want to saddle himself
with a human was ridiculous.

“
Is there any way for me to avoid
any of this?” she said. “Anything at all that will stop the crazy
tigers from trying to kill me?”

“
A DNA test might prove you can’t
have children with a tiger. That would help a little.”

“
But?”

“
But your mere existence is
offensive to some. They’re the ones you’ll have to worry
about.”

She launched off the couch and started pacing
the room. “I’m stuck? No matter what I do, you’re telling me my
life is no longer my own?”

“
It’s still your own. You’ll just
have to make some adjustments.”

“
And my grandmother? And my dad?
What happens with them? I can’t have psychotic tigers trying to get
to me through them. This cannot continue.”

“
Then I suggest you choose a very
powerful tiger mate.”

She stopped in mid-circuit to stare at him. “I
can’t believe you just said that to me.” Was he really telling her
to choose a husband based on political influence and strength? What
the hell century was this? “I thought I could deal with this, but…I
need to go for a walk.” His sardonic expression did not help her
mood. She narrowed her gaze. “What?”

“
Just stay close to the cabin so I
can hear you if you need me.”

With a firm nod, she stalked to the bedroom,
dressed, put on her shoes, then stomped back out the front door,
all without looking at Mitch again.

She couldn’t believe the situation she was in,
through no fault of her own, just because she existed.

And the one man in this entire mess she
actually did want to be with had just told her he was not an
option.

Mitch waited in the cabin, quiet and still,
listening to her stomp around muttering to herself. He couldn’t
blame her. She was in a terrible position through no fault of her
own. At least she was staying near.

He’d almost stopped breathing when she’d asked
him if he was powerful enough to be her mate. By all that was holy,
he wanted to be. Physically, he was strong enough. That’s why he
was here. He had plenty of money now, too, since his father had
left him and his brother’s everything when he moved to South
America a few years ago.

But among the tigers, he was at the lowest end
of the social spectrum. So, despite his physical strength and
money, Mitch simply didn’t have the social and political power to
keep the crazier tigers from coming after Nila. He’d known from the
beginning he couldn’t have her.

She had broached the possibility, though, and
he was having a very hard time remembering he couldn’t just take
her, the rest of his people be damned. Being alone with her was
painfully difficult. He sure as hell hoped the Trackers caught
Petrov soon.

Nila returned ten minutes after she’d left, her
face flushed, her hair mussed, but her breathing steady and even.
She gestured at the kitchen counter where he’d left the new
disposable cellphone they’d picked up in Baltimore. “What did your
grandmother say when you called her?”

Understanding her need to change gears, he
said, “The Trackers almost had Petrov in Baltimore. Using humans is
complicating things for him, making him easier to find. But he got
away.”