Wish Upon a Tiger: A BBW Weretiger Shifter Romance (Fountain of Love) (17 page)

It was Zee. The other two boys were standing next to me,
holding me to prevent my body from sinking into the depths.

“
Let's
get you out of there,” Zee said.

The men began to pull, but I jerked my arms and legs.

“
No.
Leave me be. Just keep my head from sliding underneath the water...”

My words became nonsense. I made sounds, half-human and
half-tiger, maybe even a few in the old tongue we only used to speak
to the spirits.

If I was going to die, I wanted to die where Jenna made
her wish. Perhaps my blood would satisfy the gods, allowing her
deepest desires to come true.

If there was a curse, I'd sacrifice myself, giving my
blood to purify hers. Tiger Tree was Jenna's future. Not a place for
Rufus, and certainly not these evil men.

“
What
is it, boss? What the hell are you trying to say?” Egil's tense
hands tightened on mine.

“
Let
me be. Just find Jenna.”

“
But
boss – “

“
No.
Find her.”

Jenna.

With Rufus dead and the siege turning our way, the rage
had gone. I bled into the water, feeling a little more of my mind
slipping away by the second.

I needed to see my love one last time.

IX: Enchanted Love (Jenna)

Tarken had me down on the table. He was busy pulling on
my nipple, making me squirm. I tried to get away from his disgusting
fingers. He tortured me with his presence, his touch, all while Jean
hummed mindlessly in the corner.

Then all hell broke loose. There was a sound like an
explosion outside the tent.

Don't touch me. If I ever get out of here, I swear
I'll –

The humming stopped. I heard gunfire, the revving of
engines. Tarken took his hand off my body – a small miracle.

Jean was at his side. They stood uncertainly near the
tent's opening, unsure whether to throw themselves into the unknown.
Shadows of guards raced past, carrying their guns.

“
Hey!
What the hell is going on out there?” Tarken's voice sounded
lonely and afraid.

I smiled. Holding onto grim hope Erik and the tigers
would find me was all I had when Tarken and his bitch were laughing
and prodding at my body.

Maybe, just maybe, hope was about to pay dividends.

My heart beat like a hummingbird's wings. I watched the
professor's face darken.

His hand dipped into his pocket. I knew he was fingering
my amulet, a precious sample of the tiger's treasure he still hoped
to steal.

“
Please
hurry, Erik. Hurry here and slay these demons,” I spoke to
myself in a small, hushed voice.

Doctor Tarken spun around and faced me, his face red and
terrible. He stomped past Jean and stopped near my face, raising a
hand.

A resounding slap tipped my whole head. Red fire brushed
my cheek. I forced myself to look up into his hateful eyes.

“
Shut
the fuck up, tiger bait. If you're hoping things fall apart, you
better just stop hoping right now. I have enough troops here to kill
your friends several times over. Don't make me regret my decision to
let you keep your cubs for my slush fund.”

“
I'll
never make you do anything, professor. My mate's plenty strong to
handle you on his own.”

Maybe the intoxicating smell of their human fear was
getting to me. I grinned and laughed, balling fists in my restraints.

Tarken stared dumbly. He bared his teeth, preparing to
strike me again. I was past caring.

The cold silence outside proved the battle wasn't going
his way. I waited for the slap, but it never came.

There was a vicious growl, and then claws flew through
the tent, shredding an opening. Tarken whipped a handgun out of his
pocket, but it was too late.

A tiger came crashing through the canvas, its orange
bulk knocking the doctor to the ground.

Erik!
I
thought.

Jean screamed and ran to the other side. The tiger
growled in Tarken's face and then slammed its head into his, knocking
him out cold.

I don't understand. The stripes on the cat's back
aren't right...

A second later, the beast shifted, becoming the man I
knew as Zee. I lifted my head in confusion as he ran over and started
to undo my straps.

“
What's
going on?” I demanded. “Where is he? Where's Erik?”

“
The
boss is...tied up right now. He's asking for you. We've secured this
place and the other boys are mopping things up as we speak. You need
to come with me. Now.”

I sat up on the table, and then reached to the floor for
Tarken's gun. My amulet had spilled out of his pocket too. I picked
it up, blushing when I realized I didn't have a pocket to stuff it
into.

I needed clothes.

Jean screamed again when I pointed the gun in her
direction.

“
Shut
up!” I roared. “I should shoot you on the spot for what
you've done to me...but if my man is hurt, then you're going to help
patch him up. You're a real doctor, right?”

She pursed her lips and nodded.

My tigress moved uncomfortably inside me. She wanted
blood, and she forced me to look from Jean to Tarken on the floor,
even while the shy human girl pleaded for mercy.

You've had your run, girl, and it's caused a lot of
trouble,
the tiger said.
Please.
Let me do my thing. Just this once.

Sighing, I passed the gun to Zee. “Keep it on her.
Don't let her move a muscle. She's nastier than she looks.”

He nodded.

I stood over Tarken, taking a sinister kind of pleasure
in having the same power he'd had over me. My human side recoiled in
horror, but at least he was out cold. Maybe he wouldn't feel a thing,
and that was mercy enough.

There was no way this bastard was getting out of here
alive.

I fell to the ground and shifted, unleashing my tigress.
I jumped and landed right on Tarken's chest. I sank my teeth into his
throat and tasted his bitter blood.

Nothing was very sporting about killing an unconscious
man. But then, nothing he'd done had been fair.

The professor jerked beneath my paws several times and
went completely limp. Jean whimpered pathetically behind me, watching
as a sharp red pool poured out around the dead professor, painting
the canvass floor dark red.

I couldn't believe I'd done it. And I couldn't believe
how good it felt either, how quickly the killing shut up my human
misgivings and satisfied the tiger.

This is justice. The kind human and tiger alike can
understand.

“
Jenna,
we need to go,” Zee said softly.

I turned, shifted, and got up, brushing stray blood off
my hands. I ripped the spare clothes they kept on a hook for me down
and quickly dressed. Jeans and a sweater felt like fine swag after
being naked for so long.

Then we moved, all three of us, quickly through the
shattered encampment.

I didn't even wince at the dead men and battered
machinery in the snow. In the distance, smoke was rising, just like a
proper battlefield.

When I saw the two men I recognized dead around the
fountain, I screamed. Rufus' torn body floated face up in the water,
and the other pale figure had been cut to pieces on the ground.

“
Zee,
please tell me that's not – “

“
No.
Erik's in the pool. Over there.” He pointed to the place where
Egil and Christian stood, holding tight to the big arms draped across
the fountain's border.

When I saw him, my heart flipped. Erik was almost as
ghostly white as the dead men around him. Raging blood sizzled in my
veins as I ran forward.

“
Bring
her up here! He needs help!” I screamed behind me.

I pushed through his comrades until I gripped his hand.
It was ice cold, as frigid as the wintry pool he was in.

“
Erik!
We need to get you out of there. You're going to freeze to death.”

Slowly, he blinked, and then opened his eyes. When he
saw me, he smiled. Amazing how his masculine beauty came through,
even with blood around his temple.

“
It's
too late for that, little wildcat. I'm just glad to see you again.”
He grunted, squeezing my hand, like it took all his strength to do
it.

“
I'm
sorry, I'm sorry...I never should've ran. I wouldn't have done it,
Erik, if I knew half of what I know now.”

Why? Why does he have to find out this way?

The stone faces carved into the mountain above the
fountain looked on the awful scene. They gazed at Erik and I with
grim indifference, manifestations of cruel gods.

My hearing faded as hot blood rushed to my face. I
looked deeper into the pool and saw the horrible gashes on his sides.
His cuts slowly fed the crimson spool spreading around him.

“
You
can't...you can't go!” I stammered, choking back tears. “You're
going to have cubs. They'll need you, Erik. Tiger Tree needs you.
I
need
you.”

Despite the horrific pain criss-crossing his face, his
sweet smile got bigger, brighter. A tiny splash of color returned to
his lips.

“
Ah,
Jenna. The past is the past. I don't blame you for any of this. I
want to free you...show you there's nothing to be worried about.”

“
No,
no, no...help him!” I screamed behind me.

I shot Zee and Jean a deadly glare. The doctor looked
stiff and dead. Her bird-like eyes peered deep into the waters,
eyeing his wounds.

She shrugged. “There's nothing I can do. He
wouldn't have a good chance with wounds like that under any
circumstances. Let alone being out here in the cold, without a blood
supply to make him whole.”

She stopped just on the
edge of saying
I'm sorry,
and
I was glad she didn't. If she had, I would've torn the gun from Zee's
hands and shot her on the spot.

“
Jenna!”
Erik grunted. “Stay with me. Let me feel you in these last
moments. Promise me you'll live well. Promise!”

I couldn't look away from him. Next to me, Christian's
voice cracked in a sob. He jerked away from the rest of us to hide
his tears.

“
I
promise,” I whispered, summoning all my strength.

My fingers laced tight between his. I shared my warmth
with him, wishing like hell I could share my life.

If I couldn't, then I wouldn't dare deny my love's last
living request. No woman would.

“
There's
something else,” he whispered. “Make another wish, Jenna.
The gods are generous when there's a sacrifice involved.”

Weeping, I clasped his big hand in both of mine.
Something made me reach into my jeans and pull out the amulet.

Next to Erik, it didn't seem precious at all. It was
just cold metal and bone, a dull trinket I'd attached a stupid
sentimental value to when what really mattered was right in front of
me, fading from this world with every breath.

I closed my eyes, trying not to scream at the way his
grip slowly lessened. I wished with all my might. I hoped and prayed
hard, wishing to fulfill his final wish.

Before, on the first gentle walk we'd taken here, I made
a selfish wish. It was all about me, my very human need for love and
acceptance, and a crazy desire to be claimed by the rugged tiger
who'd invited me into his home.

The gods had granted that wish, and then they'd served
up more tragedy than I could swallow.

I would've taken it back in a heartbeat if it meant
undoing this.

My mind was splitting apart at the realization Erik was
dying.

If he wanted me to wish right here, right now, then I
was going to make it crazy. I pinched my eyelids so hard it hurt,
holding in fresh tears. I focused like a mad woman, wishing he'd live
to love me and make a life with his cubs, no matter how much the
bloody, awful writing was inscribed on the walls.

“
I
love you, Erik,” I whispered.

He'd lost his grip. With a single splash, he fell back
into the pool.