White Tiger (A Shifter's Unbound Novel) (23 page)

“Her name’s Addie,” Bree said quickly. “She’s a friend of mine. She’s new.”

“Great. You bring her in just in time to see me get my ass handed to me.” For a defeated Shifter, he was full of energy and fire. “Did you see that crazy polar bear heal me? Gives me the creeps, but hell, I can walk five minutes after I break my ankle. Hey, we should pit him against Tiger, see what happens.”

“Tiger doesn’t fight in the fight clubs,” Bree said. “Everyone knows that.”

“Yeah, well, maybe he could make an exception. I could win a pile of cash knowing Tiger could wipe the floor with him.”

Zander got to his feet and limped away, at the moment not looking as though he could wipe the floor with anyone.

Broderick let him go. “Where’s Seamus?”

Bree shrugged. “Around. I wanted to show my friend some fun. My brother decided to tag along and keep us safe.”

Broderick gave Remy a sympathetic look. “Good luck with that. Shifters here are wild tonight. Some vibe in the air I can’t place. But that’s East Texas Shifters for you.”

Broderick didn’t stay to exchange more pleasantries. He clapped Remy on the shoulder, then walked away, calling a challenge to another Shifter. His body was tight, and most female heads turned as he went by.

“Who exactly are we looking for?” Bree whispered to Addie. “And how are we supposed to find them?”

Addie wasn’t certain. Ben had described the Shifters he’d spied on, but the description could apply to any number here. Shifters fit a certain body type, and tatts and buzz-cut hair seemed to be popular.

Addie had never tried spying before, but being a waitress had been good training. People didn’t pay attention to a server—they’d natter on about family secrets, real estate deals, bank deposits, their own extramarital affairs, their
struggles to get a brother out of prison, without ever noticing that Addie heard every word as she refilled their glasses. The listeners of the world, she’d realized, could amass an amazing amount of knowledge.

Bree and Addie, with Remy, moved through the crowd, Addie trying not to obviously watch anyone specific. Another match started between the tatt-covered Shifter Addie had seen in the San Antonio parking lot and another, more rangy Shifter.

The crowd loved it, their frenzied screams heightening every time one of the Shifters landed a blow.

“Spike,” Bree said into Addie’s ear over the noise. “The one with the tatts. He’s a favorite—a champion.”

Addie couldn’t see much of the fight through the mass of bodies around the ring, but the surge and ebb of the crowd’s roar told her when Spike got in a good hit and when he took one.

She also knew when Kendrick arrived.

Addie didn’t see him, not even a glimpse, but she knew with her whole being that Kendrick was there. Her body flushed, her need to turn around and search for him strong.

She knew that if she looked, she’d betray herself and him, but not looking was tough. She had no idea what the hell Kendrick was doing there when they were supposed to be practicing stealth, but she suddenly felt much better.

With the focus of the crowds on the fight, any covert activity would happen around the edges, where no one was looking, Addie reasoned. She slipped through the mass of Shifters and humans, walking nonchalantly toward the end of the arena as though doing nothing more covert than looking for the bathroom.

So it was that she saw a shadow detach itself from the scrub just outside the arena, move to Kendrick, and Kendrick turn and walk away with the man the shadow belonged to.

K
endrick could barely breathe, could barely think as he followed the man in the hoodie away from the noise of the fights. When Ben had described seeing this person talking to the Feline Shifter he’d eavesdropped on in the bar, Kendrick hadn’t had any idea who it could be.

He did now.

Kendrick followed him through the brush until they came to more open ground. Stars sprawled, thick and white, above them, across the moonless sky.

“Kendrick Shaughnessy,” the man said. “You’re still alive.”

“And I thought you dead long ago,” Kendrick said, making his tone not betray the rage that filled him. “I remember killing you.”

“I survived.” The man shrugged. “Barely.”

He pushed back the hood of his jacket. The entire left side of his face was a scarred mess, left over from when Kendrick had raked it with his giant tiger claws.

“And now you hunt me?” Kendrick asked him, keeping his voice mild.

“Not necessarily,” the man said. “I came here at the
behest of Shifters who needed me. Shifters who were tired of
you
.”

Only Lachlan McGregor, a half-human, half-Lupine Shifter would use a word like
behest
. He’d always been full of himself. And seriously evil.

What he was doing alive, Kendrick had no idea. The man had died—Kendrick had sworn that. Nearly twenty years ago, Kendrick and his group had killed Lachlan and breathed a sigh of relief to be rid of him.

Kendrick would simply have to kill him again.

“You ordered Shifters to fire bullets at me,” Kendrick said, maintaining the conversational tone. “Me and my
cubs
.”

“No, I didn’t. You know me better than that,” Lachlan answered, derisive. “The shooting was Ivan’s choice.” He scowled, his gray eyes filled with hatred. “Why did you kill Ivan? He was one of yours.”

“Because he was bent on hurting my cubs.” Kendrick moved carefully to a fighting stance, readying himself to shift if he had to.

Half Shifters weren’t necessarily weaker than full-blood ones. A half Shifter basically was a person who could shape-shift and had formidable Shifter strength, but who could easily blend in with humans. Half Shifters could pass for human and live among them without humans knowing any better. But Shifters knew. The scent was unmistakable.

“You’re saying
my
Shifters sent for you?” Kendrick asked. Lachlan had come at their
behest
. “Which of them?”

“Ivan for one.” Lachlan’s mouth was partly scarred over—he couldn’t move it well, and his words slurred a bit. Both his eyes were intact—bright, intense gray—though his left was surrounded by a shapeless mass of skin. “And others. They’re tired of you always promising them paradise and never delivering.”

Kendrick didn’t rise to the bait. It was an old, old argument between the two—which style of leadership would keep the Shifters safe?

“If you haven’t been dead, where have you been for twenty years?” Kendrick asked.

“Living.” Lachlan shrugged. “Staying with humans who took care of me. I owed them my life. That is, until they tried to turn me in to Shifter Bureau. Then I killed them, and left.”

Kendrick paused while more rage seeped through him. Lachlan could have made up the story to rile Kendrick, but he didn’t think so. Lachlan had approved of the old-style Shifter existence, where threats were dealt with only by violence.

Kendrick gave him a wintry smile. “And you decided coming here was your best idea? Now I can kill you again.”

“You couldn’t do it the first time, Guardian.” Lachlan moved his gaze to Kendrick’s left shoulder. “Where’s your sword? Don’t tell me you left home without it.”

“A friend is holding it for me,” Kendrick said. He’d passed it to Zander on the way in. “He knows where to find me.”

Lachlan grinned, his face pulling. “Rules of the fight club say no deaths.”

“We’re not at the fight club,” Kendrick pointed out. “We’re in a field outside it.”

“True. So, what, you’re going to kill an unarmed, injured man?”

“Yes,” Kendrick said, and struck.

His pummeling fists found purchase in Lachlan’s face and chest, but Lachlan brought his hands around to chop into Kendrick’s middle, the man as strong as ever.

Kendrick punched him again, feeling his body start to shift before he told it to, his clothes stretching, tearing. He’d tossed Lachlan off the leadership throne for a reason, and there was nothing to say twenty years had changed the man.

Kendrick heard a rustling in the brush and grasses, and suddenly the field held twenty more Shifters, rising from the shadows.

They were Kendrick’s Shifters—at least, they had been. Now they regarded Kendrick with anger in their eyes, their stances shouting that Lachlan had their loyalty now.

Kendrick noted the Feline, moving closest to Lachlan, who must be the Shifter Ben had overheard making plans in the bar. Figured. The Feline had been one of Lachlan’s favorites.

They were all against Kendrick at this moment, ready to kill him.

Kendrick suppressed his shift, rose to his full height, and swept his gaze over the Shifters. A few wouldn’t meet his eyes. Others did. They’d be the ones he’d have to take down first.

“You won’t settle this one-on-one?” Kendrick asked Lachlan, disgust filling his voice. “Oh, yeah, the last time we did that, I kicked your ass.”

“This time, you’ll just be dead,” Lachlan said. “Take him.”

The Shifters surged forward, but none of them, Kendrick saw, wanted to risk being first to encounter him. In a few seconds, though, the group would decide to jump him at once, and that would be the end of him.

Kendrick didn’t like the hollow feeling in his stomach this betrayal gave him. At the same time, strength ran through his limbs, fury begetting energy. He snarled.

His snarl was echoed by another throaty tiger snarl that came from behind Kendrick. Kendrick held his ground, and the line of Shifters edged back, the scent of sudden fear clogging the air.

Tiger, in his tiger form, stalked forward and halted next to Kendrick. His body was stiff, still, his golden eyes on Lachlan.

Behind him came an enormous black-maned lion, whose eyes were just as golden and just as hard. The Shifters edged back again, except Lachlan, who only looked on in contempt.

Kendrick knew Dimitri was behind him as well, though he didn’t turn his head to look. And Seamus. No Jaycee, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t circling around to try to attack the Shifters from behind.

“So, the party’s out here now?” Zander’s voice rang across the field as he strode toward them. He flung off his duster and drew the Sword of the Guardian, the blade flashing. Starlight rushed up and down the runes on the silver. “Hey Kendrick, does this thing work? I mean for making Shifters bleed? I know—let’s find out.”

Zander swung the sword at a Lupine. The Lupine jumped out of the way. “Fucking crazy
bear
.”

“That’s right, dog breath,” Zander said. “I’m completely off my nut. You can never be sure what I’ll do.”

Zander’s voice sounded a little hollow, though. He was staring at Lachlan, his face fixed.

“Enough,” Kendrick said with a low growl. “You can’t win here, Lachlan. Take your children home. I’ll meet you another day.”

“That you will. Without your backup. I heard you had Dylan Morrissey in your pocket. Or maybe your pants.” Lachlan’s words ended in a sneering growl, but the Shifters who backed him were too nervous to laugh.

“Go,” Kendrick said evenly, “before I let the polar bear rip off your head.”

Lachlan had no fear of Zander or of Kendrick, or even Dylan, Kendrick noted. Lachlan reserved that fear for Tiger, who hadn’t moved his gaze from him.

Lachlan growled low in his Lupine throat, and his Shifters changed stances from ready to fight to watchful. They surrounded Lachlan protectively, which was a bit sickening.

“I’ll be seeing you,” Lachlan said softly. “Maybe sooner than you think. Better look for your girl. I think she’s in trouble.”

Kendrick’s gut clenched, and it was all he could do to keep from swinging around and searching for Addison. Lachlan, knowing this, laughed softly and walked away into the empty land, his Shifters fading with him.

As soon as they were gone, Kendrick moved from standstill to run, the others coming behind him.

He saw, as soon as he hit the arena, that when Lachlan had said
girl
, he hadn’t meant Addison. He’d meant Jaycee, who was being dragged away by several Shifters, unnoticed by the rest of the locals, who were intent upon the fight by their champion, Spike.

*   *   *

A
ddie turned her head in time to see Jaycee in a sharp altercation with two Shifters who’d kept to the edge of the crowd. Jaycee leaned to them and snarled at them, the two males backing up a step.

That didn’t stop a third Shifter coming up behind her and grabbing her.

Jaycee whirled, her Feline speed snaking her away from the Shifter who’d snagged her, but the other two stepped in, one slapped a hood over her head, and all three dragged her away.

Instead of fighting, Jaycee went limp. Addie couldn’t tell why—either the bag contained an anesthetic, or maybe she was lying low for reasons of her own.

Addie scooted out of the arena and hurried after the Shifters and Jaycee. Kendrick and his crew were nowhere in sight.
Great
, just when she needed them.

Addie quickened her pace until she caught up to the Shifters. She pasted on a big, loopy grin, and stumbled against the Shifter who brought up the rear.

“Hey,” she slurred, pretending to be a groupie long past drunk. “Where y’all going? Another party? Can I come?”

The Shifter, gray-eyed, snarled. “Out of the way, sweetheart.”

“Aw, come on, tell me.” Addie slid away from him and banged hard into Jaycee, loosening the others’ hold on her. “Hey, what’s wrong with her? Whatever she’s on, can I have some?”

The lead Shifter swung around. “Shit, get rid of her.”

One of the Shifters shoved the limp Jaycee onto his partner and swung a quick fist at Addie, a blow meant to knock her out.

Addie ducked swiftly but still was caught with a clip on her cheek. She staggered back and fell, then scrambled out of the way as a lion bounded past her and landed on two of the Shifters.

Addie rolled aside, narrowly missing getting kicked by fighting men. A hand reached down to help her up—Dimitri, looking grim.

Tiger and Seamus landed on the Shifter still standing. Kendrick pushed through the melee and lifted Jaycee. He held her as gently as he would a cub, carefully easing the bag from her head. He cradled Jaycee with unflagging strength but his gaze went straight to Addie.

“Thank you,” he said.

Addie barely heard his words over the crowd’s roar that went up over at Spike’s match. The Shifters, on the ground, whimpered.

The lion shifted quickly, becoming a tall, dark-haired man Addie had never seen before. He had hard blue eyes and gray at his temples. “Kendrick,” he said, and pointed.

From all sides of the arena, Shifters were converging on them, ones without Collars. They came from the darkness beyond the ring as well, surrounding them in a thick circle, homing in on Kendrick holding Jaycee.

Zander stepped in front of Kendrick, the big silver sword his hands. Dimitri, the bandage off his wrist now, flanked Kendrick’s other side.

“Wait,” Kendrick said, voice steely. He drew himself up, still holding Jaycee. When he spoke, his words carried. “Are you with Lachlan?”

The male Shifter in the front, one with golden brown eyes like Jaycee’s, said, “Hell, no.”

Kendrick acknowledged this with a nod. “Help me take her home, then.”

Addie heard murmuring like a ripple of water. At the far side of the arena, Collared Shifters were celebrating their champion’s latest victory. On this side, the un-Collared Shifters converged on Kendrick. Addie watched in amazement as they flowed toward him, hands reaching for him, expressions relaxing when they neared him.

Kendrick was mobbed, but no one pressed against him or hurt him, or Jaycee. They merely touched him, then moved aside so others could, keeping him the nucleus of their circle.

Dimitri took Jaycee from Kendrick, holding her gently against his chest, his face as he looked down at her telling Addie everything.

Kendrick stretched out his arms and welcomed his Shifters to him.

*   *   *

T
he Shifters followed Kendrick home. They came in trucks and old cars, on motorcycles, or stuffed ten and more into vehicles meant to hold four at most. They followed Kendrick
and Addie and his trackers out into the empty lands of South Texas and to Charlie’s old ranch.

Kendrick hadn’t the heart to tell them to stay away for a little longer. He knew he’d been away from them too long, letting them fend for themselves. Not entirely his fault, but even so, it was time to become a family again. And so, Kendrick led his clan home.

Charlie waited on the front porch with Ben and the cubs. Charlie planted his hands on his hips.

“Now, this is a big ranch, but no way do I have enough bedrooms for all of them.”

“Shifters are resourceful,” Kendrick said as he left his motorcycle and came up the steps. “You have a barn, lots of fields, and a basement that’s bigger than it first appears. They’ll manage. I was thinking of buying the place from you anyway.”