New Species 03 Valiant (10 page)

metal under her back.

Her ribs and head hurt. She also fought to breathe

with their combined weight compressing her lungs. The

horn kept honking behind them and it seemed to go on

forever. The men holding her down were swearing when

the ride turned really rough after the driver seemed to

leave the road, driving over what Tammy guessed was

grass from the way she could feel the ass end of the

vehicle sliding and how bumpy and violently it moved.

The sound of a horn grew fainter. She realized her

attackers were smart enough to go off road since the

pastor’s car wouldn’t be able to.

Tammy nearly passed out from the pain when a loud

grinding noise came from the truck and it slowed until it

came to a stop. A man yelled curses from the cab. The

men holding her down eased their hold. Tammy kneed

one of them in the stomach hard. He made a horrible

retching noise and she clawed her hand across the arm of

the other man who tried to grip her thigh. Her nails dug

into soft flesh until he screamed, jerking away.

Tammy fought with her fists and legs to get away

from her captors. She managed to do enough damage

that they winced away. She sat up and lunged in the

other direction. Her fingers gripped the side of the truck.

Desperation and terror made her find the strength to

drag her body up until she fell out of the back of the

truck and hit the dirt on her side. She lay there for a

second, in pain, but stumbled to her feet when the cab

door near her squeaked open.

She was able to make out the heavily wooded area

that surrounded her with the help of the moon. She ran

for the dark, dense tree line, hoped she could hide there,

and knew it would be her only chance to lose the

bastards. She barely made it to the trees when she heard

them shout at her. It encouraged her to run faster and

fear motivated her to press on while ignoring the pain in

her side.

Someone panted heavily behind her, closing the

distance, and the urge to scream gripped her hard. They

were gaining on her. She dodged a dark shape and

hoped they’d hit what she’d avoided. Instead something

slammed into her back. It sent her sprawling hard into

the leafy dirt and a heavy, painful weight pinned her

down. Pain ripped through her with an intensity that

made everything go black.

* * * * *

“Valiant?” Tiger yelled again.

Valiant walked out of his house, approached the gate

and stopped. He glared at his friend. “Is there a reason

you’re bellowing at me at two in the morning? I was

sleeping.”

Tiger looked grim. “We got a call a few minutes ago

from the local sheriff. They need our help.”

Valiant narrowed his eyes in anger. “You know

humans aren’t my favorite. Go help them if you wish to

do so. Why are you bothering me?”

Tiger bit his lip. “You need to remain calm, all right?”

Valiant’s gut tightened. Tiger would only warn him if

whatever he had to say would make him angry. “Why?

A re more humans planning to attack us? Do you need

me to patrol the Wild Zone? Have they breached the

walls? I’m not patrolling outside with the human security.

I’ll just kill the intruders if they come here.”

Tiger hesitated. “A human woman has been

kidnapped from the town and there is a witness. The guy

who saw her taken followed the truck but lost it when her

kidnappers drove into the woods where the witness’s car

couldn’t follow. He used a cell phone to call for help but

it’s a small town. It took the cops a few minutes to get to

where he’d lost them. They found the truck but not the

woman. Four men took her and fled into the woods. The

local law enforcement doesn’t have immediate access to

tracking animals. They’d have to wait for daylight and it

may be too late for her by that time. The sheriff thought

of us. A few of our officers are heading there with me to

help and I thought you would want to go with us.”

Valiant hated the idea of any woman at the mercy of

human males. They were unstable and mean. “I’m sorry

for that female but I still don’t understand why you came

here. You’re wasting time by talking to me if you plan to

search for her. You should go after her instead.”

“To make matters worse, when the sheriff and his

deputies found the truck, they searched it, looking to

identify the owner. They realized these guys are

members of one of those anti-New Species extremist

groups. They had some flyers inside the truck that

pointed to that conclusion.” Tiger hesitated. “They took

Tammy.”

Shock tore through Valiant. “My Tammy?”

Tiger nodded grimly. “Yeah. Your Tammy. I thought

you’d want to help find her.” He paused. “I figured you’d

still remember her scent well enough to be able to track

her faster.”

A roar erupted from Valiant. Rage gripped him at the

thought of males attacking his Tammy. Hate groups

killed humans who associated with Species. Her beautiful

face surfaced in his mind instantly. He panted, going

insane a little at the thought of what they’d do to her and

he struggled to think.

Tiger flinched. “I take it you’re coming?”

Valiant spun around and sprinted for his home. “Let

me get a few things,” he snarled loudly. “Do not leave

without me. I’m going to tear them apart with my bare

hands if they have harmed her in any way.”

“I figured!” Tiger yelled.

Valiant stormed back outside a few minutes later.

Tiger noticed the shoes Valiant had donned and glanced

at his thigh. He didn’t say a word about the wicked-

looking knife strapped to it, but instead just climbed into

the Jeep. Valiant jumped into the passenger seat. Tiger

waved an arm in the air to signal the two other vehicles

behind them to follow.

“I’m going to kill them if they hurt her,” Valiant

swore.

Tiger bit his lip. “Remember, we’re not going to be

on Reservation. Their law might have a problem with

that but they did kidnap a woman. Keep in mind that

their law is going to come down harshly on them when

we capture them. I want to make sure you realize that.

Couldn’t you just maim them a little and let them live? It

would be bad press to return these humans in pieces to

their law enforcement.”

Valiant growled. “It depends on if they hurt her or

not.”

“That sounds fair enough to me.” Tiger punched the

gas.

* * * * *

White-haired Sheriff Cooper, who appeared to be in

his midfifties, gaped openly as at the four New Species

who climbed out of three Jeeps. Tiger had told Valiant

the human’s name on the way there and warned him to

try to be polite. Valiant had snarled.

He just wanted to find Tammy. He didn’t give a

damn about impressions they made or if Justice wanted

them to be nice. Tiger seemed to think it was a big deal

that humans would ask them for help, a first step to

acceptance by the town, but Valiant figured they were

just desperate enough to ask anyone for aid.

His gaze darted to the other three Species. Tiger,

Brass and Rider wore their uniforms. The sheriff seemed

to fixate on Valiant the most and fear widened the

human’s eyes. It could be because he didn’t wear a

uniform, instead sporting jeans and a gray sweater he’d

tossed on when Tiger’s presence had awoken him. He

met the sheriff’s direct gaze and realized the human

seemed unable to look away from his face. He resisted

baring his teeth to really put on a show. Obviously it

wasn’t the jeans that put the guy off as much as his facial

features.

The human seemed to get a grip on his fear and

stepped closer to them as they approached. He cleared

his throat and held his hand out to Tiger, who had taken

the lead to meet with the group of humans waiting at the

side of the road. “I’m Sheriff Greg Cooper and these are

my deputies. Thank you for coming. You got here very

quickly and we deeply appreciate it.”

Tiger stopped near the human and shook his hand.

“I’m Tiger. These are my men.” He released the guy’s

hand to point. “That’s Brass, Rider and Valiant. We’re

glad to be of service, Sheriff Cooper. Has anything

changed since you called us?”

Sheriff Cooper shook his head. “No. I don’t know

how this could happen. I’ve known Tammy Shasta since

she moved here when she was just eight years old and I

don’t know anyone who’d want to hurt her. She’s a nice

little gal. Our pastor is the one who witnessed those men

snatch her and he followed them out this way. The truck

they used to abduct her broke down about a mile from

this road. They tore out the oil pan and the engine seized

up. Those men are strangers to this area because Pastor

Thomas knows everyone who lives out this way and they

aren’t anyone he recognized.”

Tiger nodded. “We’ll take it from here. You’re more

than welcome to come with us if you want. We can track

anything between us two cats and the two canines.”

“I insist on it,” the sheriff stated as he gave them all a

nervous glance, seeming unsure about not being there to

watch whatever they did. “I’ve seen a lot of things in my

life and when we find Tammy, I have a bad feeling that if

she’s still alive, she might want to see a familiar face. I

can’t think of why four men would grab a pretty woman

unless it’s for the worst. I have an ambulance on standby

if they didn’t just rape and kill her flat out.” He paused,

frowning. “Two cats and two canines?”

Valiant snarled and startled all the humans around

him as they backed away fearfully, their gazes locked on

him. If any of the humans had put their hands on

Tammy sexually he’d tear their fingers off. He’d rip their

arms from the sockets while they screamed and then

proceed to beat them with the their own limbs. He’d—

Tiger spoke, ending his violent plotting. He flashed a

warning look Valiant’s way, silently conveying that he

needed to keep a leash on his rage. “Valiant and I are

feline species while Brass and Rider are canines.”

“Oh.” The sheriff seemed at a loss for words.

Valiant’s irritation couldn’t be contained. Tiger

wanted to play polite with the humans but he just wanted

to hear what the sheriff knew to help him track Tammy.

He hated wasting time. He lifted his lip to flash fangs at

Tiger, conveying a silent message of his own. He wasn’t

patient and the bullshit needed to stop. A gasp from the

humans made him glare at Sheriff Cooper, who stumbled

backward, his gaze horrified, and stared at his mouth.

“A re those…”

“A re those…”

“Teeth,” Tiger acknowledged. “Don’t worry about

Valiant. He’s just very angry that the woman was taken

and wants to go after her right now.”

The sheriff finally glanced at Tiger. “I sent somebody

to her car at the bar where she was grabbed to see if he

could find something of hers that would have her scent. I

know when we use hounds they need something from

the victim. My deputy should return with it at any time.

He radioed in that he has her jacket.”

Tiger pointed to Valiant. “That won’t be necessary.

We’ve both met her. She did a catering job at Reservation

and they’ve become friends. That’s why he’s here. He

spent more time around her than I did. He’s very familiar

with her scent. He’ll have an easier time tracking her.”

The sheriff shot a horrified glance Valiant’s way.

“Well, I guess that’s good. That means you fellas know

what a nice gal she is and that we’ve got to find her

before the kidnappers have time to really hurt her.”

“I’m going after her,” Valiant snarled, done listening

to them waste time when Tammy needed him. “You

stand here bullshitting. I’m getting her back.” He took off

toward the woods at a run.

“Damn, he can move fast.” The sheriff sounded

amazed. “I won’t be able to keep up. Just go. Find

Tammy. They have an hour lead.”

Tiger snarled. “Wait up, Valiant. I’m right behind

you.”

Valiant eyes adjusted to the darkness and followed