The black-eyed man snapped off his gloves and laughed. “Nice try, girl. If there had been anyone looking for you, they would have showed up by now. Good luck with the tiger.”
He walked away but Geordie lingered, watching me as I struggled to find a position where I could breathe without feeling like passing out. It was totally dark outside except for the security lights around the vet building, the parking lot, and along the paths that wound through the main area. I’d been inside that kitchen for hours. It felt a hell of a lot longer. Like eternity.
Geordie glared at me, then turned and stormed after the black-eyed man. I distantly heard them talking about where they’d get dinner and whether they should get takeout before or after cleaning up the kitchen. My stomach turned over as I gazed at the star-dappled sky.
Metal clanged against metal as they opened the door to the tiger’s den and released him into the enclosure. I strained to hear the hush-hush of his paws through the grass and stones of the enclosure, since my eyes were too blurry to focus. Maybe it wasn’t the closest alligator to the boat that would sink me. The closest tiger was far more dangerous.
It almost made me smile. Dodge should have updated his expression to account for more dangerous predators. My head rested against the cold, rough surface of the rock. I watched the tiger stalk the perimeter of the enclosure, wary of a new addition to his territory, and hoped he took a long, long time to decide to eat me. Maybe the pack would find me. I struggled to stay conscious and listened to Dodge tell me all the things we still had to do together.
Chapter 35
Dodge
They ran. The wind cut through his fur and made his eyes water, competing with the pain of broken ribs and slowly-healing wounds in his chest and sides. Dodge’s wolf side lengthened their stride. Silas paced next to him, silent and intense, and they didn’t have to speak in order to communicate. It was one of the significant benefits of being in their wolf forms. They could share images and sometimes simple thoughts mind-to-mind, so the pack could hunt as a pack.
Dodge focused on the road ahead. Evershaw and the others scoured the city for Persephone, the detective and her partner started arresting all of Bridger’s associates, and yet no one headed to the animal sanctuary. They already knew where Bridger went to dispose of problems. It only made sense that the loan-shark would get rid of Persephone there. He found his way through the city as the sun set. They’d kept him sedated and tied up for too long after he’d been shot. Dodge growled a curse for Evershaw’s dickishness. The bastard kept him from his mate. If Persephone was gone before Dodge got to her, he’d hold it against Evershaw for the rest of their lives.
Which wouldn’t be long for Dodge, since a future without Persephone was an empty wasteland of nothingness.
Silas growled as they approached the sanctuary. Bright lights illuminated some patches of the enclosures and cluster of buildings where he’d found Persephone last time. Dodge slowed and paced through the shadows, searching for a hint of Persephone’s scent in the air, and cocked his ear as male voices reached them from the buildings. The wolf stalked when Dodge just wanted to charge in and fuck them all up. The wolf knew better.
Silas slipped off to one side so they could maneuver around the buildings to cut off the escape routes for the men. Dodge’s hackles raised as he recognized at least two of the voices from the night when he watched them dismember the bodies. And then... the wind shifted and a door opened and the air carried a thread of scent to him. Persephone. Followed closely by blood and fear and tears.
Blood.
Her blood.Herblood.
Too close, a tiger roared.
The wolf bolted into the buildings, searching for the bastards who’d hurt Persephone. He needed to find her. He had to find her before they did anything else to her.
Even though he would lose his mind if he found her and she wasn’t... If she was...
The wolf pushed aside the thought. She was fine. They would find her.
A man screamed, though it cut off quickly, and Silas growled. Men shouted, boots pounded the ground, and rifles cocked. Dodge charged into the melee that Silas instigated, and collided with the fat prick who smelled faintly of Persephone’s blood. There were drops of it on his pants and shirt. He’dhurther.
Everything blurred in a red rage. There were only teeth and throats and blood. All their blood.
It didn’t take long before bodies littered the yard outside the buildings, occasionally twitching but never going to rise again. He shook his head and scented the air, searching for Persephone. She had to be close.
Sounds from the tiger’s cage drew his attention immediately. The tiger grumbled and gave soft roars or growls. Either way, the wolf knew it meant hunger and hunting. Reacting to the blood, maybe, or to something in its cage. Silas started moving the second after Dodge did, charging toward the enclosure.
The tiger prowled through the grass, its attention on something that lay in a heap on the far side of the enclosure. Dodge lowered his head and sniffed the grass, his chest constricting with dread. Persephone was inside the enclosure, covered in blood. Too weak to move.
All sense left him. His thoughts splintered as sheer terror almost overwhelmed him and the wolf at the same time. His mate. His mate was in there.
Silas bolted to the other side of the cage as Dodge fixated on Persephone and the tiger that paced closer, one silent paw at a time.
Chapter 36
Percy
Itried to talk, even though my lips cracked and pain ignited in my cheeks. The tiger kept moving around the enclosure. I heard him circling closer, chuffing and making other curious tiger noises. I wished I’d spent more time with him, talking to him, feeding him treats. Not that that would have saved me if he was really hungry and I looked like a pile of raw hamburger.
My voice cracked as I whispered, “It’s just me, handsome boy. Just your friend Percy. You don’t want to eat me, do you?”
I would have laughed, it was so ridiculous.
