A Tiger's Destiny (Tiger Protectors Book 3) (6 page)

And his tiger wanted Sofia.

For now, the most important thing was to focus on keeping her safe. They would work out the rest later. He simply wouldn’t let her walk out of his life until he’d won her over. He could swear, from the way she’d fallen asleep peacefully beside him, there was something there for her, too.

But he didn’t want to get in trouble, falling for someone who was sheltered, who just saw him as the first hot bad boy to come along. Rich, sheltered young girls had often thought of him like that, while he saw them only as jobs.

But Sofia was different. He could tell she had struggled. Been alone. Needed him as much as he needed her.

But he told himself all of this could wait until she was safe. He had to focus on that first.

And something was bothering him as he thought about the whole situation surrounding his job. As he thought of Sofia’s godfather, a deep unease settled over him, as if his tiger were warning him of something that was very off about it all.

He went to his luggage in the kitchen and pulled out the dossier that had been given him by Ralston back at the mansion. On the front in bold letters it said “Destroy Immediately,” but Kel ignored it. He cared more about Sofia’s safety and his gut instinct than he did about some vague order from a stranger.

He rifled through the paperwork that contained the location of their stay, an inventory list, pertinent but still-vague details about Sofia, and contact information in case of emergency. There was only one photo in the small folder, a picture of Sofia with her godfather standing next to her, looking particularly smug.

The more he looked at the photo, the more suspicious he felt of her supposed guardian. Perhaps Jace or Carter knew something about this man that Kel didn’t?

He checked his watch and saw it was only barely past midnight. The three of them were all night owls, and even if he woke them, he could apologize later if needed. Right now, he just had to see if they knew anything.

Kel pulled out his smartphone and turned it on. He’d been instructed to turn it off to cut off contact from any sources that could possibly use it to trace him, but he didn’t care about that right now. He took a photo of the picture and sent it to his brothers with the simple message,
Need a hand. Have you seen either of these people before?

As he waited, he did as much research as was possible on a small phone screen, doing reverse image searches of both their faces and looking for any news articles that mentioned her godfather or the house he lived in. Five minutes later, he got a text from Jace.

J: Hey, bro, what’s up?

K: Glad to see you’re awake.

J: NP, just doing some intel work. Like always.

Kel recalled that Jace had mentioned in their last talk the shift in responsibilities he’d taken. Ever since finding a mate, the dragons had relocated him and given him less and less bounty-hunting jobs, at his request, instead leveraging his knowledge of the underworld and extensive contacts to do intelligence gathering for them.

K: Sounds fun.

J: Ha-ha. Hilarious. LMAO. You’re so funny. But seriously, what do you need, man?

K: I need to know if you and Carter have anything on the man in the photo.

As Kel waited for Jace’s reply, he reached for the bag of pistachios on the counter, taking them one at a time, shelling them silently, and discarding the shells into a tiny pile.

J: Sorry, Carter’s out of town on leave. Vacay with Amy, I think. But the guy in the photo looks familiar to me. Give me a sec.

A minute later, the bubble appeared on his phone indicating Jace was writing a reply.

J: Yeah, found it. Apparently, his name’s Aaron Felding. Suspected for a whole string of illegal activity, but the dragons haven’t brought him in because he keeps a pretty low profile as far as shifter crime lords go.

K: What about the girl?

J: Lemme check

As he waited, Kel went back into the living room to check on Sofia. Still asleep. Good. When he got back into the kitchen, before he could eat another pistachio, his phone buzzed quietly.

J: Damn, bro. How do you know this girl?

K: What do you mean? I was hired to be her bodyguard.

J: Her name and picture came up while I was snooping through some of the private communication channels that illegal dealers use to contact sellers and buyers of goods. Apparently, there’s a bounty for her that’s bigger than anything I’ve ever seen. We’re talking stupidly high.

Kel’s mind was starting to race. What the hell was going on?

K: What do you mean bounty?

J: I mean someone wants to pay top dollar for her. And from the looks of it, there’s at least more than one party interested.

K: Is Felding behind it?

J: I wasn’t able to find much about who’s behind it because the IP addresses were being routed through multiple redirects, so it’s hard to say if he’s the one who put it up or if it’s other parties willing to pay for her capture. Regardless, I’d keep an eye out. No telling what kind of people will come out of the woodwork for that kind of money.

Kel didn’t need to be told twice, though. It made sense. The security at Felding’s mansion, the people after them on the highway. This place out in the middle of nowhere.

It was clear they could trust no one now. Especially not Sofia’s supposed godfather.

K: Thanks, man, for your help. I owe you one.

J: No prob, anytime. Oh, and Amber says hi and says save her some pistachios.

Kel chuckled to himself, grateful to have brothers willing to lend a helping hand and happy for them and their mates. As he turned off his phone and went back to the living room to lie down on the blanket next to Sofia, his mind formed a plan.

They were getting out of here tomorrow.

He was taking his mate somewhere safe.

S
ofia awoke
the next morning to sun streaming through the cracks in the old blinds. On her face, she could feel the chilly morning air but could also feel the warmth of the blazing fire in the fireplace next to her. She sat up and stretched, more rested and relaxed than she’d been perhaps in a very long time.

Somehow, despite the insane day yesterday, she’d been able to sleep without nightmares or horrific recollections from her past.

She probably had Kel to thank for that.

Sofia looked around and saw only the blanket next to the couch. A moment later, she heard footsteps and turned to see him coming up to her with a plate of eggs and bacon.

“Breakfast for the sleeping beauty,” he said, smiling, but she could sense an underlying tension in him.

“Thank you,” she replied, taking the plate along with a cup of orange juice, but not eating yet.

“How did you sleep?”

“Really well, thanks,” she said, watching him as he came around the couch and sat at the end of it.

“Who can blame you? Last night was pretty hot,” he said, grinning deviously for a moment.

Sofia felt herself blush upon remembering his huge body over her, pleasuring her. Remembering the things he did with his hands and with his mouth…

Her jaguar was purring again, and she could feel her body warming just at the thought of last night. She took a big bite of eggs and chased it with a large gulp of orange juice, hoping to cool her head.

His blue eyes were glowing in contentment, and he looked gorgeous in the morning, his light blond hair perfectly tousled. This man was altogether too much of everything.

After she’d eaten a little more while Kel watched patiently, she could sense the tension coming back into the room.

“Sofia, there’s something I need to talk to you about,” he said, his tone serious now.

Sofia could feel her body clench. Just those words alone brought so many memories to the surface. But she pushed it back, knowing Kel wasn’t going to be bringing her bad news.

She could trust him.

“Last night, I did some thinking about this whole setup. Your godfather sending us away, the men who came after us, all of it.”

Sofia just nodded and listened.

“I spoke with my brother. He knows a lot about what goes on in the underworld. Apparently, someone is offering a huge bounty for your capture, Sofia.”

“Why?” she asked robotically. But she already knew why.

She just didn’t think it would come to this. And she didn’t want it to happen now, when things were actually going well for once.

“I don’t know. All I know is there are a lot of people out there looking for you, and I don’t trust your godfather one bit. Apparently, his name his Aaron Felding, and he already has a history of criminal activity. But I imagine that comes as no surprise to you,” Kel said, watching her to gauge her reaction.

It wasn’t. And despite having been plucked from destitution by this mysterious man, she had no reason to trust him, no familial yearnings toward him. When her parents were gone, she knew they’d been the only two people on the face of the planet she could trust.

That was until Kel had come along.

“So what do we do?” Sofia asked.

“I think we need to get out of here. Run to someplace safe. There were a few containers of spare gasoline in the shed. That coupled with the half-full tank we have means we can probably travel a full day without stopping if needed.”

Run. It’s what her parents had done for years, taking her with them, trying to escape some inescapable force they never told her about, but were always on the lookout for. Something that caught up to them.

But now, as an adult, it felt different. She was no longer a child, forced about by the decisions of adults. She could make her own choices. And as long as Kel was with her, she felt she could do anything.

They understood each other. He might not know it, but they were both different from anyone around them and had a lot in common. She couldn’t believe how much freer he’d made her feel in such a short time, but she felt after a life of difficulty, it was only fair something, or someone, had come easily.

“So where do we go?” she asked. “I’m assuming anywhere we try to hide, he could track us.”

“I’m still thinking that one out,” he said, popping a pistachio in his mouth. “I have a few ideas. But I figure we’re better off on the road than as sitting ducks here in this house.”

Sofia agreed. “When do we leave?”

“As soon as possible. I’ve already loaded most of the stuff into the SUV just in case you said yes, along with a few extra things from this place that could be of use.”

“Great. I’ll go get dressed and we’ll head out.”

Sofia got up and headed to the bathroom to get ready, a mixture of excitement and fear roiling inside her. She tried to get dressed quickly, but just as she was pulling on her jeans, she heard a loud warbling coming from the living room. She quickly threw on her shirt and jacket, leaving her pajamas behind, and rushed back into the main area of the house.

Inside was Kel, looking at a small screen in his hand as he pulled out the gun he’d used yesterday from a backpack.

“What’s going on?” Sofia asked, the warbling silencing with a click of a button on the thing in Kel’s hand.

“That’s the perimeter sensor. It looks like we have company,” he said, his voice cool and serious like yesterday. He was no longer the goofy, playful, surprisingly soulful Kel she’d started to know. He was all business now.

Seeing it again turned her on a little.

Right before the fear of capture or death kicked in, making her adrenaline rush.

“They’re coming down the road now. Two cars looks like. Probably hoping to get the drop on us this early in the morning. Follow me,” he said, grabbing her suitcase, tossing the backpack and the gun around his shoulder, and walking down the hallway past the bathroom and toward what looked like a back door.

Sofia followed as he went outside to the back of the house and walked toward the small shed where their disheveled Escalade was parked. Not far in the distance, she could see two vehicles coming down the dirt road that led up to the house.

They were almost on top of them now.

“Get in the car and wait here. I’m going to pick a few of them off, try to disable their cars, and then we’ll make a run for it,” he said, grabbing what looked like a spare ammo clip from the door and placing a pistol on the seat next to her. “Just in case,” he said, his voice devoid of fear or hesitation.

With that, Kel closed the car door and disappeared out of the shed.

Outside, she could hear the two cars pull up to the house, not far from it by her guess. She could hear the doors open and men mutter between themselves as she imagined them approaching the house in her mind’s eye.

A second later, the sound of all hell breaking loose erupted. Shot after shot was fired, followed by yelling and cursing and someone barking orders as hundreds of rounds filled the air in the empty valley surrounding what was supposed to have been their safe house.

And with each bullet she heard, her heart leapt with fear that something had happened to Kel. She knew he was a tiger, but she also knew the men sending people after her knew that as well, and they would be prepared for it.

More guns went off, followed by the sound of an explosion that shook the shed. For a split second, Sofia was afraid the small wooden structure was going to collapse around her, the force of the explosion so great.

Had Kel been caught in that blast? Was he hurt? Did he need her help?

For a moment that felt like eternity, she debated whether or not to run outside and go against Kel’s orders. She could hear what sounded like the whole house burning, roaring flames that drowned out the few remaining voices from the men that had come.

She didn’t know what she’d do if something happened to Kel.

She couldn’t bear to lose someone she cared about again.

Unable to wait any longer, Sofia unbuckled her seatbelt and unlocked the car door. But before she could open it, the driver door flung open. Sofia whirled around and picked up the pistol at her side, fearing the worst, when she was greeted by the sight of Kel.

His clothes were a little singed and his face was slightly darkened with smoke, but he otherwise looked all right. In fact, he actually looked a little satisfied.

“Where are you going?” he asked jokingly, tossing his gun into the backseat and hopping in with one smooth motion.

“I was… I thought you…” Sofia replied, stunned as Kel started the car and put it in gear.

“Thought something had happened to me? Thanks for the sentiment, but I’m the one here to protect
you
,” he said, shifting the car into drive. He floored the gas pedal, and the heavy SUV lurched forward, crashing through the old wooden doors and splintering them into hundreds of pieces. As they burst into the clearing, Sofia got a quick glimpse of the uproar that had happened outside.

Two black cars were parked about twenty yards from the house. One had two of its tires blown out, and the other had flames coming from the engine compartment. Around the space between the cars and the house were men lying motionless on the ground or nursing injuries. And the house that had once been an old, abandoned ranch home was ablaze in fire that would probably consume the structure in minutes.

As afraid as she’d been for Kel’s safety, she realized he’d probably gotten through a lot tougher situations than this.

Why had she worried in the first place?

He was probably the most capable person she’d ever known. For once, she could relax, knowing someone else would take care of things. It was an amazing feeling.

“So where are we going?” Sofia asked as the SUV sped down the dirt road, headed for the interstate.

Kel paused for a moment, his countenance turning serious again, as if needing to swallow the words before he could say them.

“There’s only one place that’s truly safe, for the time being…” he said, his words hanging in the air solemnly. “We need the help of the dragons on this.”

Sofia’s breath caught. “Dragons?” She’d never met, or even seen, a dragon before. Part of her still couldn’t believe they were in fact real. And if they were, the prospect of them being as terrible as all the rumors she’d heard growing up gave her a chill.

“It’s okay,” Kel said. “Just trust me.”

She did but still felt tense at the thought of encountering a new situation. Kel seemed to sense her trepidation and put a hand over hers in her lap. His touch was warm and soothing and strong, reminding her of how careful he was around her, in spite of the unending strength he displayed.

As her fear faded and they turned onto the highway, Sofia wondered what was going to happen.

What were dragons like in person?