The Tiger's Heart (7 page)

“
Yes, now. You just said
the moon doesn’t control you. If it’s true, then do it. Or are you
a few marbles short? Maybe you need to be placed in a padded
cell?”

“
I’m not mental,” he
growled at her. For the first time in days, he let his inner tiger
spring free. He usually went for an evening run as a tiger,
allowing it the freedom it wanted. Since rescuing Bethany he had
kept it pent-up, causing it to claw at him, demanding freedom. He
pushed it down to keep Bethany safe. Letting the tiger out now felt
invigorating.

His body shifted and contorted into
the tiger form. There was no discomfort or anxiety, just relief. On
four legs he felt free. Shaking out his coat, tossing what was left
of his shredded clothes off, he padded over to Bethany, nudging her
hand with his nose.

He watched her reaction, expecting to
see horror. Her eyes lit up with excitement, instead of the panic
he had imagined.

“
No way!” Bethany lifted
her hand from the bed, gently laying it on top of his head, running
her fingers through his fur. “I always thought Dad was off his
rocker. He said things like this existed, but I never believed him.
He told me one day I would find out for myself.” She
laughed.

“
Guess he was right.” She
twined his fingers through his hair, using her nails to massage his
head. “Can you understand me when you’re like that?”

He purred, hoping that would convey
that he could.

* * *

Raja wasn’t sure how long they stayed
like that. He leaned against the bed and her fingers ran through
his fur, as she rambled on about her father’s stories. Raja smelled
Shadow in the hallway heading this way.

“
What is it?” Bethany
asked when his body went stiff.

Shadow appeared in the doorway. Raja
turned away from Bethany to face Shadow. His body stiff and ready
to protect his mate if called for.

“
I brought you a pair of
scrubs. It’s all we have down here. There’s an emergency meeting in
the conference room in ten minutes. Tabitha and her guards are on
their way.” She set the scrubs on the chair before hurrying
away.

Raja shifted, his back to Bethany.
Slipping on the scrub pants before turning to face her. He eyed the
shirt, knowing it wouldn’t fit, and left it on the chair. “I’m
sorry. I’m sure you have a ton of questions. I promise I’ll answer
them when I get back. Just don’t leave, okay?”

She nodded. “What’s going
on?”

“
I don’t know, but it is
nothing for you to worry about. You’re safe here.”

“
Tabitha, is
she…”

“
I don’t have enough time
to explain that one. Ask her.” She wore a worried look in her eyes.
As if she was worried about the men coming back for her. “Bethany,
you’re safe here.”

“
But am I safe without
you?”

“
You’re worried the others
here will attack you?” he asked, taken aback by her
reaction.

“
No. I’m wondering if
someone else would protect me like you would.” She played with the
edge of the blanket, not meeting his gaze.

He wanted to say that no one could
protect his mate as he could, but that would scare her. The Alpha
and Lieutenant’s mates were guarded and protected against all
threats. They were the Elders of the clan, but telling her this
wouldn’t ease her concerns and would only leave her with more
questions. “Tabitha is the Alpha Female; she has some of the best
guards on her at all times. Nothing will happen in this room with
the two of you here. I’ll be back soon and when I do, there’s more
we need to discuss.”

Before he could talk himself out of
it, he bent down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. The kiss
wouldn’t set the meters off, but it was enough to wash her fears
away. “I’ll be back soon.”

He reached for his weapons, strapping
the knife to his thigh. He’d carry the gun because a shoulder
holster would chafe against his shirtless body.

Tabitha entered with Adam and three
other guards. Their gazes met briefly. As she walked past him
toward the bed, she whispered low enough only a shifter would hear.
“There’s another video,” her voice full of sadness.

Shit!

Chapter
Thirteen

Raja found Ty, Felix,
Marcus and Thomas sitting at the conference table looking
shell-shocked. Connor was working on a laptop at the other end,
paying no mind to anyone else. The room was silent, the coffee sat
in front of many of them untouched.
What
was in the damn video to get to these warriors? These are men I
would trust my life with, and now they sit before me looking
defeated.

Sitting in the last chair, Jessica
Black crunched into a ball. Her body violently shaking with silent
sobs as she hugged her body close to her.

“
There’s another video,”
Ty said quietly, coming to stand next to him.

He nodded. “Tabitha said. That
bad?”

“
Worse.”

“
Have Connor put a trace
on it, and let’s get a team there. Maybe we will get lucky
again.”

Ty just stood there shaking his head.
“Connor’s tracing the place it was sent from, but we know where the
video was filmed. It’s too late.”

“
Too late?” Raja didn’t
want to believe it. Ty nodded, still not making eye contact. “I
need to see the video.”

“
It’s not
necessary.”

“
I think it is. Ty, what
aren’t you telling me?”

“
The attack was in
Virginia.” Ty ran his hand through his hair.

“
So. Just spit it out.”
Raja’s nerves were making him edgy.

“
It was Bethany family in
the video.”

His heart sank. “Are
they…?”

Ty nodded. “It’s too late.”

“
I want to see the
video.”

* * *

Rather than sit in front of the
laptop, Raja wished he could bolt to the bathroom to throw up. The
fact that he was about to watch the murder of his mate’s family
made it that much worse. He was warned that it wasn’t easy to
watch. The men he had been in battle with, who fought to protect
the compound, were shocked. What he was able to watch would haunt
him.

“
Was it sent to Tabitha
again?”

“
Jessica received it.
Someone saw her with Leo and Connor.”

He couldn’t postpone it any longer. He
slid the headphones over his ears and hit the play
button.

A family room came into view, the sun
shining in the windows, illuminating the photographs. Bethany at
graduation in her cap and gown, standing next to people he assumed
was her parents. Another of her and her sister at an amusement
park. The camera scrolled through the pictures that lined the
fireplace mantel, stopping at each of them for a brief
moment.

“
Bethany’s happy family,
or so it would seem. Do you think anyone ever told the girls their
uncle is a raving lunatic? I doubt it, but tonight it will all
become known. Tonight the family will have to face the beast their
uncle created,” a voice cut in.

The camera shut off for a moment
before turning on again to show three people sitting down at the
dinner table.

“
This will be the last
meal they enjoy as a family. Tonight their life will end as mine
did all those years ago. Poor Bethany will be begging for me to
kill her when I find her.”

The camera cut out again, only to come
back to show the father’s throat slit and the women tied to the
kitchen chairs. The forgotten food scattered across the clean
kitchen floor.

“
The man wasn’t worth my
time. Tonight is about the women. They will suffer, begging for me
to kill them before they finish serving their purpose and I finish
them.”

The camera was set on the table as he
went to the young girl. Sniffing her neck, he whispered, “How good
you smell. I’m going to enjoy you.”

The mother tried to scream through her
gag. It sounded as if she was begging for her daughter’s life.
Pierce didn’t care—he grabbed a Bowie knife lying on the table and
threw it at her. It found its home buried deep in her chest, below
her breast.

“
The fear pouring off your
body smells so good. I’m going to enjoy this.” Pierce’s face
contorted, allowing his fangs to extend before biting a chunk out
of the young girl’s neck. She squirmed, fighting against the ropes
to get away, desperate to save herself. He bent out of camera
range. Coming up, he spit two of her fingers across the
table.

He pushed the chair back enough to
give a full view of the girl. He ran his hands, claws replacing
fingers, across the girl’s stomach. “I’m going to gut you and bathe
in your blood.”

Tears welled in the girl’s eyes, as
she looked at the camera. Her eyes begging for mercy that would
never come.

His claws broke the girl’s skin. Blood
gushed out, covering her legs before landing on the floor. Her eyes
closed, and her breath became shallow.

“
She won’t get off that
easy.” He reached behind him, pulling out a bag with small white
tubes in it. Cracking one open, he ran it under the girl’s nose.
“Smelling salts,” he said with a laugh.

The torture of the girl went on for
what seemed like hours, but in reality were only minutes. Raja sat
there the fact that he was too late and there was nothing he could
do to save his mate’s family weighing heavily on his
shoulders.

The video drew him back when Pierce’s
voice filled the earphones again. “I wish I had more time to play
with you, Momma. Nevertheless, you suffered enough watching your
little girl die. Know this, I’ll hunt Bethany down and do the same
to her.”

The woman looked defeated. All the
fight was gone from her. Raja could see she was having a hard time
breathing, as the knife in her chest must have punctured a
lung.

He sliced the woman’s throat, spraying
blood across the camera lens. The woman slumped in her chair as
Pierce picked up the camera and tried to wipe it off.

“
Dear sister of mine. You
have betrayed me. Going to the ones I despise the most. Know I’ll
find you too. I might not make you suffer, after all, you’re
family, but your life will still be over. Tell me, was it worth
it?”

With that, the video ended. Raja
leaned back in his chair and roared. The walls shook, and through
the window he saw snow fall from the roof.

Chapter
Fourteen

Hours later the conference room was
empty except for Raja and Ty. Felix had left moments before to join
Tabitha with Bethany, leaving the men alone.

“
Do you want Tabitha and
me to stay when you tell Bethany?”

“
No. I’ll do it alone. Her
father used to tell her stories of shifters, but I don’t think she
knows they were part of her family.”

“
If she does, she might be
able to give us an idea of who he’ll target next. I have the West
Virginia tiger clan looking into possible relatives and
connections, but it will take time.”

“
I’ll see what I can
find.”

“
Raja, I know what you’re
thinking and the answer is no.” Raja stared at Ty until he
continued. “You can’t sit there and tell me you’re not thinking of
going after Pierce yourself.”

“
I want to be on the team
that takes him down.”

“
No.”

“
What do you mean
no?”

“
Just what I said. You are
too valuable to the clan. Tabitha and Bethany would never forgive
me if I let something happened to you. If he attacks the compound
or us then yes, you’ll be expected to fight but as my Lieutenant,
you aren’t on the front lines any longer. Especially on this
one.”

Raja growled. He couldn’t believe his
ears.

“
Growl all you want. Face
it, you’re mated now. Our numbers are too low to toss away a mated
couple.”

“
Don’t give me that
crap.”

“
You wouldn’t support my
decision to go into the front lines either, and the whole reason
he’s targeting us is because my mate could be the end of the
tigers.”

“
You are the Alpha. You’re
not supposed to be in battle,” Raja snarled, getting to his
feet.

“
You’re my Lieutenant.
Just as valuable to the clan. Without you and Bethany, Tabitha
cannot complete her mission to bring all the tigers together. You
being mated was one of the steps the book mentioned that needed to
be completed.”

Raja was in a battle that
he wouldn’t win. Unless he wanted to fight Ty for dominance, which
he did not intend to do.
There has to be a
way around it without bringing Pierce to the compound.

“
Why didn’t you tell
me?”

“
Tell you that you had to
mate for things to go forward? Seriously? You would have fought the
mating at every crossroads. You said you wanted nothing to do with
a mate. Now, my friend, you have no choice. Your mate is downstairs
waiting for you.”

“
I’m not sure she’ll be
ready to accept me after I give her the news of her family,” Raja
said, raking his hands through his hair to calm his
nerves.