White Tiger (A Shifter's Unbound Novel) (27 page)

“What, I don’t get a troop because I was tardy?” Jaycee growled. “You need me, Kendrick.”

“I know.” Kendrick studied his hot-tempered female tracker who gave him her usual belligerent look. Something had changed about her, something he’d figure out when he wasn’t so distracted. “I need you for the most important mission of all, Jaycee. To take care of Addison.”

Jaycee’s eyes widened. “Seriously? You’re launching a full-scale hunt, and you want me to play
babysitter
?”

“Jaycee’s right,” Addison said quickly to Kendrick. “You should send her out to kick Lachlan’s ass. She deserves that after he tried to snatch her.”

Kendrick knew right then he was in for an interesting time with his beautiful mate. She’d never roll over and do what Kendrick said just because he said it.

“No, she’s wrong.” Kendrick fixed Addison with his gaze, which she met. “Lachlan will know that the best way to get to me is to go after my mate and my cubs. I’m sure he’s even now gathering intelligence on who is most important to me these days. I’ve got Ben and Zander on my cubs—I want Jaycee with you.”

“Why
me
?” Jaycee argued. “Zander, as crazy as he is, could do as good a job. Better—he’s bigger and stronger than I am.”

“But he can’t follow Addison into the bathroom,” Kendrick pointed out. “Can’t watch over her while she takes a shower. I’d have to kill him if he did that.”

“Aw, come on,” Zander said from the yard. “Let a bear have some fun.”

Kendrick ignored him. “I need you on this, Jaycee. Sort it out.”

“You mean
suck it up.
” Jaycee slammed her arms over her chest. “Fine. I’ll do it. But only because
she’s
nicer to me than you are.”

Kendrick simply gave her a nod. He felt the change in dynamic between Jaycee and Addison, and again, he knew Addison was behind it. He stepped to his mate, who stood above him on the porch steps, leaned into her, and kissed the curve of her neck.

Her scent flowed around him like a meadow of sweet flowers. Kendrick wanted to sink into her and stay there forever.

When he was finished with Lachlan, he would. He would take Addison someplace safe, and not come out for days.

Kendrick raised his head, uncaring that Ben, Zander, Jaycee, and Dylan surrounded them, not even pretending not to watch. Kendrick brushed a kiss to Addison’s lips. “Goddess bless you.”

The tender moment was broken by the ring of Dylan’s cell phone. Dylan walked away to answer it, and Kendrick brushed his fingertips over Addison’s cheek, touched her parted lips.

Dylan was back in less than a minute, his expression grim. “We don’t have to worry about hunting Lachlan,” he said. He hadn’t spoken a word to whoever had called him, simply listened, grunted a syllable, and hung up. “That was Spike. He and Tiger found Lachlan.” He met Kendrick’s gaze, the bleak rage in his eyes enough to flatten a mountain. “He’s taken over the San Antonio Shiftertown.”

“H
ow many live in that Shiftertown?” Kendrick asked as Dylan headed to his pickup.

“Sixty-five.” Dylan turned back to answer, tension boiling off him. “Lots of females and cubs. I’m more or less its leader though there’s another Shifter technically in charge. A strong alpha—but I can’t find him anywhere.”

“Lachlan’s tricky,” Kendrick said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if your alpha is dead—I’m sorry.”

Dylan sent him a severe look over the roof of his pickup’s cab. “Don’t take the blame for someone else’s evil. You weaken yourself and allow him to win.”

Kendrick shared a look with him for a long moment. “You’re right,” he said. “Let’s go rip him apart.”

Dylan gave him a nod and slid into his truck, starting it up.

Kendrick returned to the porch where Addison waited with his sons. His fury with Lachlan rose. He’d found hope, a chance, and Lachlan had arrived in time to take it away from him. Knowing Lachlan, he’d planned that.

Not this time.

“Addison.” Kendrick felt the speech he was going to make to her slip away. He got himself up on the porch and pulled her into his arms, burying himself in her for a brief moment. He inhaled her scent and breathed out his mark on her.
Mine.

“Don’t you dare get hurt,” Addison was saying, her whisper warm in his ear. “You hear me?”

Kendrick eased out of the hug and cupped her face in his hands. “I killed him before—I can do it again.”

Jaycee, standing in the shadows, already taking her bodyguard duties seriously, looked worried. “Make sure you kill him all the way this time, Kendrick.”

Kendrick shot her a look. “No worries there. Addison—you’ll be well with Jaycee. Look after my sons.”

“Of course.” Addison touched his face, her hand cool. “Go get ’em, tiger.”

At her feet, both Zane and Brett burst out laughing. “Go get ’em, tiger,” they repeated in their shrill voices.

Kendrick crouched down to them. “You two take care of Addison, all right?”

“We will,” Brett said. “If Lachy and his traitors come here, we’ll wipe the floor with them.”

“Yeah,” his brother said. “We’ll go all tiger on their asses.”

Kendrick gathered his boys to him, his heart aching. If he didn’t return . . .

No good thinking like that. Kendrick would take care of the problem and come on home.

He hugged both boys tightly and set them on their feet. “Tell you what—when I come back we’ll have a big cookout, Texas style, and pie. Lots and lots of pie.”

“Yay!” Both boys said. “We’ll help Addie make pies,” Brett said. “Even the apple one you like.” He made a face.

Kendrick hugged them once more then let them go. They’d focus on the celebration, not the danger.

“Robbie.”

Robbie, who’d hung back from Kendrick and his blood sons, now came forward. He was old enough to understand the kind of danger Kendrick faced and the consequences. He also understood that because he wasn’t Kendrick’s
biological son, his position would be precarious if Kendrick died or was too hurt in the fight to resume leadership.

“Addison will take care of you,” he said. “No matter what. She’s my mate. So will Zander. Understand?”

Robbie listened, gray eyes round, and nodded. Robbie was so serious, having been forced to grow up too quickly. Kendrick vowed that he’d make a place where Robbie, the orphan he’d come to love, could be a cub, and play and run without worry.

Kendrick hugged Robbie and nuzzled his cheek. Robbie nuzzled him back, his body shaking, but he gave Kendrick a nod when they released each other, letting Kendrick know he’d be strong.

Kendrick unfolded to his feet again. Addison was watching him, understanding what it cost him to leave his cubs behind to go into battle. She also understood that the battle was necessary.

Kendrick slid his hand to the back of her neck and kissed her. “Goddess keep you,” he said, his heart full.

Addison rose on tiptoes and put her lips to his ear. “I love you too, Kendrick.”

The shock that jolted through Kendrick nearly knocked him off his feet. He blinked down at her, pulling away, and Addison slanted him a wicked smile.

“
That’s
distracted you from your tearful good-byes,” she said. “Go kick ass, Kendrick. I’ll keep the coffeepot warm for you.”

Kendrick growled, his heart pumping, triumph taking the place of rage. He crushed another kiss to her lips, turned, and leapt from the steps. His heart raced and was light at the same time.

He swung around and raised his arm at his Shifters, who were hurriedly getting into or onto vehicles, ready to depart.

“To me, my friends! Let’s get him!”

His warriors whooped, men and women alike taking up the battle cry.

Kendrick climbed onto his motorcycle, settled the sword on his back, and waved his arm, signaling his Shifters to
follow. He shot down the drive in the wake of Dylan’s white pickup, and headed east, into the summer sun.

*   *   *

T
he San Antonio Shiftertown lay outside the city a little to the east and south. A few years ago, so Dylan had said, it had been run by a Shifter doing diabolical things—that Shifter had been killed by Dylan’s son. The human government couldn’t let a Shiftertown be leader-less, so they appointed a Shifter they thought they could control. That Shifter was loyal to Dylan first, however, and Dylan still wielded almost total power here.

The San Antonio Shiftertown was more or less in the middle of nowhere, among flat, dry land. A hand-painted sign said, “Welcome to Shiftertown,” with the numbers after it crossed out, new ones put in over the crosses. “Population sixty-five Shifters, twenty-two horses, seven dogs, and twenty cats.”

Everything was silent and deserted. The air was still, not even a breeze to stir the heat. Even in May, this far south in Texas afternoons could climb into the three-digit temperatures.

Kendrick had dispersed his Shifters to come at the town on all sides. They were to look for signs of resistance and capture those Shifters. No killing. The Shifters with Lachlan were still under Kendrick’s protection.

Kendrick and Dylan had parked their vehicles at the entrance to the town and now walked in via the main road, not hiding their approach. A series of long, low houses surrounded the main streets, huddled together under the sun. Trees had been planted, mature now, the only things giving shade in this empty place.

Tiger and Spike, a Feline Shifter with body-covering tattoos, met them under one of these trees.

“He’s holed up in the leader’s house,” Spike said without preliminary, his voice deep and strong. “I wanted to go in, but Tiger insisted we wait for you.”

“He’s strong,” Tiger said in his slow way. “And cornered. If we break in, he will kill.”

Kendrick knew the truth of that. Lachlan was certain to have hostages, possibly the entire population of this little town, with him. The leader’s house wasn’t very large at first glance, but looks were deceiving.

Tiger gave Kendrick his golden stare. “He wants you.”

“No kidding.” Kendrick studied the leader’s house, which didn’t look much different from those around it.

“He will do everything in his power to have you,” Tiger went on.

“I know.” Kendrick scanned the road, noting his own Shifters filling the shadows beside walls, under trees, ready, waiting. “I’d like to do this without too much bloodshed.”

“That would be best,” Dylan said calmly. “Humans won’t mind their own business if a bunch of Shifters get killed.”

Dylan wasn’t only worried about the human police’s reaction, Kendrick knew. Dylan shared Kendrick’s need to take care of those in his realm. Though Dylan had conceded leadership of the Austin Shiftertown to his oldest son and “retired,” he was still a leader at heart. The hierarchy of office was one thing; a Shifter’s protective instinct was another.

Dylan was joined by a younger man who shared his looks—dark hair, blue eyes, Irish accent—and this man carried a sword. His son, Sean, the Guardian of the Austin Shifters.

Sean gave Kendrick a nod, an exchange among equals. “You know, Dad,” Sean said, “We’ll have to expose a lot of secrets to Shifters we don’t know to pry this Lachy out.”

Kendrick sent him a wry look. “Lachlan will have no trouble exposing them for you. Don’t worry, I and my Shifters can keep our mouths shut.”

Sean gave Kendrick a smile that was tight but genuine. “I thought you would. We all have secrets.”

“Tell me about it,” Kendrick said under his breath.

Sean’s eyes warmed and Kendrick knew he and this Guardian could be friends.

“How do you want to do this?” Dylan asked Kendrick. “You know the man best.”

“I once thought I did,” Kendrick answered. “I’m not so certain now.” He looked around, having thought about this
a lot while he’d ridden out here, though he’d waited to make his final assessment until he saw the lay of the land.

“I go in,” he went on. “Lachlan will have taken hostages, and he won’t hesitate to kill if we do an all-out attack. I walk in and talk to him. If he wants me, he can let the others go to have me.”

“And doesn’t that sound like suicide?” Sean asked. “Are ye mad?”

Kendrick gave him a wintry smile. “I didn’t say I would walk in alone.” He turned to the Shifter at his side. “How about it, Tiger? Are you up for some cunning? Tigers together?”

Tiger’s eyes flickered, moving the slightest bit from side to side as though he were running through scenarios and choosing the best one.

His eyes stilled, and he gave Kendrick a nod. “Tigers together.”

“Besides, you’ll know your way around,” Kendrick said. “Dylan—here’s what I want to do.”

*   *   *

“Y
ou know where white tigers come from, don’t you?” Ben asked from where he lazed on the porch swing.

The laziness was feigned, Addie knew. Everyone on the porch—Ben, Zander, Jaycee, Robbie—was tense. The exceptions were Zane and Brett, who played as tiger cubs, content and unafraid.

“It’s a genetics thing, isn’t it?” Addie asked.

She’d had Charlie make up a big batch of iced tea, and she served it, pretending this was simply a fine summer morning to lounge outside. Never mind that her mouth was dry, no matter how much tea she poured into it, and her heartbeat wouldn’t calm. Kendrick might die today, and Addie couldn’t do a damned thing about it. She’d had to ask Charlie to make the tea or she’d have thrown the glass pitcher, ice, and tea across the room.

The tiger cubs did stop scampering and sat down to listen to Ben. Ben skimmed his hand, hanging down from the swing, across the porch’s board floor.

“White tigers were bred especially for the Fae princes,”
he said. “Most Fae princes are arrogant s.o.b.s, and they competed with each other to own the most unique Shifters. Any unusual strain, like snow leopards and black panthers, were prized, but the white tigers were prized most of all. It was so rare that a white tiger bred true that any prince who had one could boast he owned something unmatched.”

“That’s awful,” Addie said. “And I don’t even know what a Fae prince is.”

Zander answered. “Total bastards. Fae made the Shifters centuries ago, with breeding and magic. I don’t want to know how—it was probably pretty disgusting. I have to say, they did a good job, because all these years later, we’re still here, we can cross-breed, we can have cubs with humans. We’re stronger than ever.”

“The princes were the worst—
are
the worst,” Ben said. “The warriors and generals at least understand the cost of what they achieve and can think with their brains. If they don’t, they’re dead. The princes are products of inbreeding and cushy living. They never leave their pristine palaces except to go on overly elaborate hunts. They
invented
glamping.”

Addie thought about Kendrick, his strength, his surety. “How did the white tigers feel about being prizes for these princes?”

Ben snorted a laugh. “Let’s just say that when the Shifters as a whole decided to fight back, the white tigers were in place, nicely close to the princes. A lot of princes lost their lives at that time. Of course, unfortunately, so did most of the white tigers. They sacrificed themselves to start the Shifter-Fae War. That’s why there are so few white tigers now.”

“Kendrick is unique,” Addie said, thinking of his rare flashes of smile, his emotion-filled green eyes. So were his cubs, who were watching Ben with all seriousness.

“Unique,” Zander said with a laugh. “That’s one word for him.”

The man had been lying flat on his back across the top step of the porch, and now he sat up. “I have to confess something. It’s kinda burning a hole in my chest.”

“What?” Addie’s alarm returned.

Zander, his braids swinging on either side of his face, looked ashamed and chagrined. “Dylan was totally right,” he said. “I was the Shifter healer who found Lachlan. I’d been traveling around, seeing the world, and I came across a mostly dead Shifter. I had no idea who he was, or why he was half dead, so I took him back to my hideout, and I healed him.”