We both paused and looked over as a ruckus kicked up somewhere near the buildings. Men screamed and shouted, and growling cut through the night.
The tiger trotted over to the fence to investigate, his head lifting to scent the air, and I pushed myself into a sitting position. I wouldn’t have much time to make it to the door to the enclosure, but I wasn’t moving very fast. Trying to run or crawl would no doubt catch the tiger’s attention. The screams faded into nothingness, and a new, eerie silence rocked the sanctuary. The tiger remained frozen in a half-crouch in the middle of the open space, scanning the fence for danger or temptation.
I didn’t dare close my eyes, in case I woke up and it had all been a hallucination. Maybe I hadn’t bullshitted Geordie as much as I’d thought, and Dodge’s pack actually came to find me. Hoping hurt too much, but I wasn’t about to look a gift wolf in the mouth. While the tiger was distracted, I started the long, inching trek to the doors. If I could just get behind the gate, I could eventually get to a phone and call for help. All my attention went to the gate. I could make it. I was strong enough to do it, and I wasn’t going to let Dodge down. He’d died trying to help me, so it was time for me to help myself. Tears burned my eyes but I ignored them, along with the pain in my hands and knees as I dragged myself along.
I would make it. I would survive.
Chapter 37
Dodge
Dodge didn’t break stride as he raced toward the massive fence that surrounded the tiger enclosure. Silas growled and charged at the other side of the enclosure, drawing the tiger’s attention, as Dodge launched himself up and then over the fence, clawing desperately to get over the top. The barbed wire along the top pulled at his fur but he ignored the tickle of pain as he landed hard on the ground and absorbed the shock into his already sore chest and shoulders.
He wasn’t healing fast enough; the gunshots had taken their toll. He’d need a week of rest and a shitload of protein to recover fully. He wouldn’t have that luxury until he knew that Persephone was safe. Dodge kept his eyes locked on where she lay, only a few feet from the massive rock the tiger probably used as a perch. It looked like she’d moved a bit since the first time he saw her, when she’d been plastered against the rock and unmoving.
He took that as a good sign, but that didn’t mean he could afford to revel in the small victory. Dodge slunk through the enclosure, keeping a wary eye on the tiger as it stalked and charged at Silas’s antics. He reached Persephone and pressed his nose to her hair, inhaling so deeply it ignited new pain in his chest, and he closed his eyes in fury. She smelled of fear and pain and blood, and grievous wounds covered most of her visible skin. They’d hit her in the face, too, until her cheeks and jaw and eyes were swollen and dark with bruises.
He growled and she tensed, fighting back to consciousness, and dragged her arms up to shield her face. “You’re a handsome boy, just don’t eat me. Don’t eat me. I’ll bring you so many treats.”
Dodge cocked his head, trying to understand, then realized she thought he was the tiger, showing up to finish her off. He grumbled and nudged her with his nose, whining and wishing she could walk. He fought with the wolf for control of their body, but the stubborn bastard wasn’t giving up. Their mate wasn’t safe yet; the wolf wasn’t about to give up and shift to the weak human body until they had Persephone safely tucked away, or the tiger was dead.
The man side of him gave up on shifting. Instead, the wolf gently took a scrap of her clothing in his teeth and started dragging her across the enclosure. Persephone forced her eyes open and shivered. “What - who are you?”
He grumbled and moved faster, not liking that the tiger had looked back to see what moved in its territory. Dodge fixed the big cat with a predator’s glare, hoping the feline got the message that Dodge wasn’t an easy meal and wouldn’t let Persephone be any kind of meal. Silas snapped and snarled as he charged the fence and slammed into the chain-link, drawing the tiger’s attention back to him. It bought Dodge enough time to haul Persephone all the way to the small door that let humans into and out of the enclosure. There was a double door, so if he could just get her behind one fence, they would be safe from the prowling feline.
Except the damn thing was locked. He nosed it and clawed at it and slammed his shoulder into it, making the whole fence shake, but the chain and padlock remained in place. He growled and paced, furious. He didn’t dare leave her alone and the fucking wolf wouldn’t let them shift. Not that his bare hands would have been much help against a heavy-duty padlock.
Persephone stirred when he growled, and she reached a hand out to touch his side. “Don’t hurt him.”
He crouched next to her, nosing closer, and tried to make reassuring noises. Who the hell was she talking to?
She groaned but kept patting his leg. “I don’t know who you are, but please don’t hurt the tiger. It’s not his fault. They starved him. He’s just a tiger. He doesn’t know. Please don’t kill him.”
And damn him if a tear didn’t slide down her cheek.
Dodge licked her cheek and held tight to the warm feeling she ignited in his chest. She was too good for him by far, to be injured and afraid and still wanting to save someone else. He thought he couldn’t love her more than he already did, but Persephone proved him wrong. His heart wasn’t big enough for her. He’d spend the rest of his life trying to make up the difference.
He nudged her closer to the fence so he could lay down between her and the tiger, trying to keep her warm and out of shock with his body heat. He wanted to reassure her, to tell her what happened and that help was on the way, but the wolf wasn’t convinced. The tiger wouldn’t be distracted for long. Dodge concentrated enough to convince Silas to take off, to get the pack. Not that he’d be able to shift and ask for help, but the other wolves would know. They would follow him back to the sanctuary and then they’d be able to help Persephone.
Dodge licked her hand again and she sighed, her voice wobbling. “I’m so sorry about Dodge. It’s all my fault. He’d still be alive if I – if I...”
She trailed off and a small sob escaped. He studied her, nosing her cheek until she forced her eyes open, and his whole world fell apart. She thought he’d been killed. Thought he was dead. She cried for him, blamed herself... He wished he could have killed the bastards who’d hurt her a few extra times, just to make it count. He’d tell her as soon as he could.
He kept his attention on the tiger and hoped that Silas ran like the fucking wind. He didn’t want to kill the tiger, but he’d fight to his last breath to keep her safe.
Chapter 38
Percy
Ifelt really cold. Cold and numb, although it was a relief to not feel quite so much pain. The giant wolf who lay next to me radiated heat like a furnace; his fur was rough and thick against my unbroken fingers. For a second I’d thought his hazel eyes looked like Dodge’s, but that didn’t make sense. I’d seen the man shoot Dodge, and Dodge fell to the ground in a puddle of blood. He hadn’t moved. Just laid there in silence.
He was dead. I was just making things up to try and feel better.
I saw the wolf fly over the chain-link fence to get into the tiger enclosure, so maybe he really was a hallucination. I was pretty sure even shapeshifter wolves didn’t fly.
It was probably just wishful thinking as I hoped the pack wanted to save me. I’d even thought I recognized another wolf running around the outside of the enclosure as the one who’d chased me that very first morning when I met Deirdre and Evershaw. Silas. The crazy one who had been cursed by the evil sorcerer and was stuck somewhere between a man and a wolf. I snorted a laugh, though it made my head ache, at the absurdity of the previous few days. Evil sorcerers and men who changed into wolves.
The one next to me grumbled and tried to edge closer, but he froze when I grunted with pain. The tiger grew closer, slinking low to the ground like he meant to charge and attack. The wolf tensed, too, and I whispered again that it wasn’t the tiger’s fault. I felt awful knowing they’d starved the poor cat for days before they dragged me in there. The tiger had already suffered enough in a circus and a roadside zoo. It wasn’t his fault.
