Here There Be Tigers (34 page)

“
He went willingly?”

“
Of course. He would never have hurt
me. And I made sure no one hurt him.”

“
So you’ve known Mitch since he was
a baby?”

“
And I helped him and his brothers
when other tigers picked on them, when I could. I contributed to
their fighting skills.” She smiled as if at a memory. “Speaking of
which, if you’re interested, it might not be a bad thing for you to
learn a few self-defense techniques. I can train you—I do that for
a lot of our females. Our world can be a little rough. You might
feel more comfortable if you knew how to, say, break a tiger’s
knee. Or his face.” Alexis’ grin took on a feral edge.

Nila raised her brows. “Actually, that would
make me feel better. I was so out of my depth at that cabin. I had
no idea how to help Mitch. I mean, I should at least learn how to
throw a punch without breaking my hand.” She considered the
strength and speed she’d witnessed during Mitch’s fights. “Though,
since I’m not nearly as strong as a shifter, would it do me any
good?”

“
Sure with the right training.
Winning a fight isn’t always about brute strength. Plus a lot of
our males fight on instinct, without any formal training. I could
teach you how to take them down.”

“
Thanks.” She found herself
wondering again about Alexis’ age. “How long were you a
Tracker?”

“
A little more than twelve
years.”

Nila was absolutely fascinated. She leaned
closer as she studied Alexis. If she’d been thirty-one when she
went from being Tracker to teacher and that was over twenty years
ago, Alexis was at least fifty-one years old. She didn’t look a day
over forty.

“
How long do you live?” Nila asked.
“I never thought to ask Mitch, but… I have to say, you look
phenomenal for your age.”

Alexis chuckled. “Thanks.”

“
Tigers can live on average about a
hundred and twenty to a hundred and thirty years,” Irina said.
“Most of our elders have passed that mark, though. Elizaveta won’t
admit it, but Max said he heard she was at least a hundred and
fifty. There are whispers she might be as old as a hundred and
seventy-five.”

“
Wow.” Nila could barely comprehend
living that long. The things Elizaveta must have seen… Nila wasn’t
sure if she’d want to live that long or not. But if she could do so
healthy, she could only imagine what the world would be like a
hundred years from now.

Would she live longer than average for a human?
She’d inherited so many other things from her mother. A long life
span would be a nice addition.

Though to have a chance at taking advantage of
that trait, she first had to survive her current
predicament.

The thought brought her back to the present.
She pushed the fascinating topic of tiger biology aside—she’d spent
all last night talking with Irina about tiger reproduction anyway;
that would have to do for the moment.

“
Petrov and his men would have got
your scent at the young tigers’ cabin, right?” she asked
Alexis.

“
Probably. But I’m betting they’ll
assume I’ve been left to guard Irina.”

“
It’s what most of our males would
do, given I’m pregnant and having a girl,” Irina said. “They’d
leave a strong tiger to protect me if my mate couldn’t.”

“
But we’ll have Victor with us.
Wouldn’t they consider that?”

“
Most males are so possessive of
their mates,” Alexis said, “they’re more likely to assume Max would
prefer leaving a strong female as guard. And that female would have
her own mate as backup.”

“
So you’re assuming Petrov will
think both you and Victor are with Irina and Mitch and Max are with
me?”

Alexis nodded.

“
What if they don’t? From what
everyone tells me, Petrov isn’t thinking normally for a tiger
shifter. How can you anticipate what a crazy man might or might not
assume?”

“
We can’t,” Alexis said with a
shrug.

“
Then why do this at all?” Nila
said. “Why don’t we all just run away to some far flung place and
gather a larger crowd to help?”

“
We’ll have a hard time finding more
tigers we can trust, Nila.” Alexis spoke quietly, gently, but there
was an undercurrent in her tone.

“
Because of me? What I
am?”

She nodded.

“
What happens after
Petrov?”

Alexis exchanged a look with Irina that Nila
couldn’t interpret. Finally, Alexis said, “You’ll go with Mitch to
meet the elders. And there will be discussions.”

Nila was already shaking her head before Alexis
finished. “I’m not discussing anything. I’m telling. Mitch and I
are a couple. If that doesn’t work out for some reason, there’s no
way in hell I’m having anything to do with another male tiger. I’ll
donate my blood for your research, but that’s it. I’m not going to
be a pawn in this game.”

Irina frowned and nibbled at her bottom lip.
Alexis glanced at the wall behind Nila for a long, quiet
moment.

“
I know you’ve been through a lot in
the last week or so,” Alexis said, “and that all this is a shock. I
know you’d rather leave it behind and ignore it, but you can’t
anymore.”

“
I have no intention of ignoring it.
I just don’t plan on playing into it.”

Alexis looked at her again with a gentle smile.
“You sound like me when I was younger, insisting I could do as I
pleased and wouldn’t be pressured by the community.”

“
So you understand.”

“
More than you realize. It won’t be
easy, though. You’re talking about standing against a great deal of
desperation and power. There will be a lot of pressure put on you
to ‘do your duty’ and contribute to the tigers’
survival.”

“
That’s the thing. It’s not
my
duty,” Nila pointed out. “I’m not one of you. Not fully,
anyway. There’s a reason my mother left me with my father—to keep
me out of your world. I am not going to change everything I am, my
entire life, for a community I only just found out about. And after
the reception I’ve gotten, with tigers trying to kill and rape me,
I’m not inclined to embrace the community as my own.”

Irina reached forward and gripped Nila’s knee,
giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Let’s worry about this after we
take care of the immediate problem of a crazy tiger out to get you.
You might find you like our people more when you meet the non-crazy
ones. Especially if you and Mitch…” She trailed off but raised her
brows as if expecting Nila to finish the sentence.

Nila huffed out a breath. “Yes, yes, I’m
insanely in love with the man.” She made a face. “Which makes all
my protests a moot point, because I’ve already played into
Elizaveta’s hands. If Mitch and I stay together, I will have done
exactly as Elizaveta wanted and mated with a tiger
male.”

Nila put her forehead into her hand for a brief
moment. When she looked back at the two women, she frowned at their
suspiciously pleased smiles. “But I’m not running off and having
children right away. Mitch and I might not even be able to. I’ve
never tried for kids before. I don’t even know if I could with a
human man, nonetheless with a shifter. Don’t get your hopes
up.”

Alexis raised her hands in surrender. “Fair
enough. Victor waited a long time for me, and we still managed to
work things out. I’m sure things will work out with you and
Mitch.”

The mention of Alexis’ mate reminded Nila of
something. “Does Victor ever speak? I’m not sure I’ve heard his
voice since I met him.”

“
You wouldn’t have. He was severely
injured when he was a cub. He hasn’t been able to speak
since.”

“
How do you two communicate?” Nila
asked.

“
We use sign language. He’s not deaf
so I can just talk, too, if I’m feeling the need to ramble out
loud.” A sly smile lifted Alexis’ lips. “But a lot of things don’t
require words.”

Nila grinned, but before she could indulge her
nosiness further, the door opened and the men joined
them.

She caught Mitch’s attention the instant he
walked in.

He held her gaze, determination clear in every
strong line of his face. “We’re ready. It’s time.”

CHAPTER
THIRTY-THREE

Nila glanced back at Irina, frowning. “You sure
you’re okay?”

They weren’t even an hour out from the motel,
and Irina looked pale. They still had at least three or four more
hours of driving through the back woods to reach the hotel where
they would rendezvous with the others after Petrov was caught. Nila
wasn’t entirely sure Irina would make that drive without a few
stops.

“
I’m fine,” the pregnant woman said
with a shake of her head. “Just a little nauseated. The movement of
the car on these curvy roads isn’t agreeing with Her
Highness.”

“
We should stop, then, give you a
break.”

“
Not yet. Let’s get farther away
from the motel first. Just in case.”

The hotel they were heading for was in the
opposite direction of Max’s cabin, and required they leave the
motel going a completely different route to the direction the
others took. They were all counting on the very obvious trail
Alexis had left with Nila’s scent to disguise their
movements.

Nila still didn’t like this. She hated being
separated from Mitch. For more than a week, she’d put her life in
his hands, and despite everything, he’d done a fine job of keeping
her alive. She’d grown used to having him around. Now, she felt
exposed without him. Not entirely defenseless—Victor had a handgun
under her seat as well as his own, both easy to reach in an
emergency. But still… Mitch made her feel steady, and able to deal
with this world she’d been thrown into, despite the fact that she
was way out of her depth.

She hated that she might have to use a gun
again. The last time had been bad enough. She was certain she’d
have issues to deal with when this was all over, though what she’d
tell a therapist that wouldn’t get her arrested or locked away, she
had no idea. She never did find out if she’d actually killed one of
those men who’d chased her and Mitch from John’s cabin. Just a
couple of days ago? Had that been so recent? So damned much had
happened since then, she’d never really had a chance to process the
fact she’d had to shoot another living being.

And here she was with the very real possibility
she might have to do so again.

Only if their plan went wrong, she reminded
herself as she stared out the window at the passing trees. If
everything went the way it was supposed to, she’d never even have
to see Petrov or his people again.

She refused to think about the future after
that, and the fact she was still officially stuck in this world she
wanted nothing to do with. Nothing beyond Mitch, that was. As she
let her gaze blur on the passing greenery, she wondered if she’d
feel differently if her introduction to the tiger shifters hadn’t
been so fraught with danger. If no one had come to kill her and
she’d been gently introduced to this species, would she be more
comfortable stepping into their world?

Reluctantly, she had to admit she probably
would. Under her fear and anger there was a lot of curiosity, both
personal and scientific. If she’d been given the chance to meet
with people not intent on killing her, she’d be full of questions
and eager to help solve their problem with their female population.
As a vet, preventing an entire species from going extinct was
fundamental to her world view and lined up perfectly to what she’d
spent her life doing. She had skills and knowledge to bring to the
challenge the tiger shifters faced. She could help beyond the mere
fact of her biology.

The question was could she get past this first
introduction, to a place of mere curiosity and willingness to help?
Or would she always be angry and afraid? Resentful of the position
they’d put her in?

With a quiet, masked sigh, she accepted she
couldn’t answer those questions yet. Not while she was still on the
run. Not while she still had to face the elders and insist she
would have no other tiger but Mitch. The possibility that the
interfering bastards might try to keep her and Mitch apart still
hung between them. What would they do if his governing body forbade
him to be with her?

For her part, she’d give his elders the finger
and run away with him. But could he do that to his own
grandmother?

She hoped so. Because she was so desperately in
love with the man, imaging her life without him was grim. He’d said
she’d be given a choice, and they wouldn’t try forcing her hand.
She held on to that with all her might, determined to make her
choices for herself, no matter what.

If they didn’t try interfering with her
decision, she would get over her resentment. In time. Maybe she
could find it in her to help their scientists in the effort to save
the species. From the moment she took up her career, her goals
revolved around helping big cat species survive and prosper—whether
in zoos and sanctuaries or in the wild. When she looked at it from
that perspective, how could she not do everything in her power to
help these tigers?