Here There Be Tigers (41 page)

“
Six months hardly seems enough.” He
heard the growl in his voice but couldn’t stop it. In reality, he’d
been afraid the two men wouldn’t be held accountable at all. As the
elders did see fit to punish them, he wanted the punishment to fit
the crime.

“
I think the elders made a deal with
the men when I wasn’t around and that got the sentence lowered.
They didn’t come out and tell me, but I got the impression it had
something to do with the first group of Trackers, and why they
never caught up with Petrov.”

Mitch nodded. That made sense even if he still
hated the minimal punishment. “What of Petrov’s sons?”

“
You were right. Because they
weren’t there when you all showed up to rescue me, and Joseph and
Stephen aren’t throwing them under the bus, they’re being let off
the hook.”

“
At least two of them still want you
dead.”

“
And unless they actually try
killing me, there’s nothing the elders can do. An exact quote from
your grandmother.”

“
Does she expect you to be bait, to
draw them out?” Mitch’s temper rose and his grip on Nila’s
shoulders tightened. He forced himself to calm down. She was still
sniffling after her cry. He didn’t want to make matters worse by
losing control. She hadn’t really relaxed into his embrace yet and
that distance was bothering him more than her report on the
meeting.

“
Elizaveta didn’t come right out and
say she wanted to use me as bait, but of course if they do try
finishing what their father started, Elizaveta won’t object to
bringing them in.”

“
Except that you could end up
dead.”

“
Yes, well…” She turned her head
away from him and swallowed audibly. “Anyway, after the crimes and
punishments part of the session ended, we went on to discuss
my…status in the community.”

Mitch realized he was holding his breath again.
He let it out quietly. “And?”

“
And that was a difficult
conversation,” she said. “Some of the elders… They don’t like me,
like what I represent. They tried to hide it but not very
hard.”

He nodded but realized she couldn’t see him
with her head turned away so said, “Alexis mentioned that might be
the case.”

“
Well, she was right. At least three
of the nine would prefer I didn’t exist. Besides your grandmother,
there was only one other elder who outwardly supported my entry
into your community. The others took a more wait-and-see
attitude.”

“
What did you say to all
that?”

She faced him then and smiled a little. “I said
they could shove their community up their collective asses. I
didn’t need it or them. They needed me. And if they didn’t want me
that suited me just fine.”

He barked out a laugh. Unable to resist, he
kissed her. She pulled back before he could do more than take a
brief taste.

“
But they weren’t prepared to wash
their hands of me the way I was with them. Every one of them—some
very reluctantly—admitted that they need to at least know how I was
possible. To do that, they need me alive and cooperative.” She
snorted at that. “So we compromised. I cooperate with their
scientists—give blood, let them run the necessary tests to see if I
can procreate with a tiger, let them do genetic panels on me—the
works—and they provide me with the necessary backing to discourage
those who think like Petrov from coming after me again.”

“
What does that involve?” His heart
thumped hard in his chest, and he wasn’t sure whether it was relief
or fear beating at his system.

“
Technically, I’ll be part of the
community. Harming me would mean being met with the same punishment
as hurting any female tiger. The elders themselves will be named my
‘family’ for the purposes of status and protection. Their
power—Elizaveta’s specifically—will cover me.”

“
So you’ll be safe? No one would
dare hurt you.” He hadn’t expected the elders to give her the full
force of their collective protection. He’d expected them to force
her into a mating that would give her the necessary status. “This
means you don’t have to mate with a tiger to be safe.”

“
Nope. I can do as I please. Though
I’m not entirely sure that’ll stop Petrov’s sons. But Elizaveta
seemed to think it would be enough.”

She sounded so bitter he wanted to hug her
closer. Given what she’d just said and how she’d been reacting to
him all day, he no longer knew if he had the right. “Did they…did
they ask you to consider a tiger mate?”

She stood and crossed to the window, looking
out at the manicured lawn behind the huge complex. Mitch felt his
limbs growing heavy and the ache in his chest intensified. Dread
stopped him from saying more, from going to her even though he
wanted to touch her more than he wanted to breathe. He briefly
closed his eyes, prepared for the heartbreak he knew was
coming.

“
They did,” she said, not facing
him. “Just like you thought they would. If it turns out I can
produce tiger children, they encouraged me to consider a husband
among the men in the community. They even had a list of potentials.
Ones likely to carry compatible genetic traits to make
breeding
easier.” She snarled the last. “They have all these
charts, tracing the various lineages. Did you know they suspect a
few of the tiger lines may have the right genetic configuration to
interbreed with humans? But they’re worried all the children
produced by such unions would be human unless the humans also
carried certain traits.”

“
A human like you?”

“
More so me than any other human
lineage they’ve uncovered.”

“
I’m not on that list, am I?” He
didn’t want to dance around the topic anymore. If she was leaving
him, he wanted to hear it now, get it over with so he could let his
world shatter in privacy.

“
No, you weren’t on the list. Most
of them didn’t even consider you a contender. Exactly as you warned
me.”

“
How will you…? You can’t run so
what did they decide would be the best way for you to select a
mate?”

She waved a hand in the air, beside her head.
“They went on and on about the best way to be ‘fair’ in my mating,
how the males could compete for me without actually having a Mate
Run. They’re considering the option Gregory supported. Do you
believe that? Going back to formalized fights. Winner takes all.”
Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Stupid.”

“
You don’t think that will
work?”

“
I think the very idea they thought
I’d go along with that bullshit proves just how delusional they all
are.” She finally turned and faced him. “Even your grandmother
thought some sort of competition or combat would be the best way to
get me a mate.”

“
What did you say?”

“
Again, that they could stuff their
list up their collective asses. I would not be
given
to a
man who won me in combat.”

Because he could picture her telling them just
that, he smiled a little. But his heart wasn’t in it.

“
They actually said to me there were
worse things than arranged marriages. Do you believe that shit?
What century is this? What country?”

“
So you won’t take a tiger mate,
then? You don’t need one anymore to keep you safe.”

She scowled at him but stayed by the window.
“You were nearly killed. More than once. Because of me.”

“
And you nearly died because I
couldn’t protect you.”

“
No. Because a crazy man came after
me. No one can plan against crazy.” She looked away and shook her
head. “The problem is, even with the elders’ backing, there are
still crazy tigers out there.” She met his gaze and her expression
was fierce. “I do not want you to spend your life having to fight
and kill for me. I love you, Mitch. I can’t ask you to live that
way. I’d rather be alone.”

Her word sunk in slowly, taking time for his
brain to process. He’d been preparing for her to leave him, to tell
him his love wasn’t enough, that hers wasn’t enough. She didn’t
need him now. She didn’t need a mate at all.

But…she loved him. She loved him enough she was
trying to protect
him
.

He rose slowly from the bed, approaching her as
one did a wild animal on the verge of bolting. “I’d rather be with
you,” he said when he was near enough to touch. He cupped her
cheeks in his hands, relieved when she didn’t pull away. “If we’d
met differently, if your introduction to the tigers had happened
without all the death threats, or if we were both just ordinary
humans, I would still want to be with you. I would always, always
happily fight, kill, and even die for you.”

She started shaking her head, but he stilled
her movements and set his mouth gently against hers. “No matter
what the future holds, Nila De Luca, the one thing I’m sure of is
that I want you by my side. I love you. And nothing you can say
will scare me away. If you don’t want me, if you can’t see a future
with me, tell me so and I’ll let you go. I’ll hate it, but I
will.”

Tears dripped down her cheeks and pooled on the
top of his hands.

“
But don’t send me away because
you’re scared for me. I’m not afraid of a fight. The only thing
that scares me is not being allowed to love you.”

“
Mitch,” she sniffed and gripped his
wrists. “Life with me will make you miserable.”

“
Life without you would be
miserable. With you, nothing else matters.”

“
You’ll resent me one
day.”

He stared her right in the eyes. “Never. Nila,
loving someone means you’re willing to fight and die for them. That
you’ll be there with them no matter what life throws at you. Bring
it on. Together, we’ll be strong enough to face any
future.”

“
Even if it’s a dangerous one? Even
if, despite the elders’ backing, crazy people keep coming after
us?”

“
Even if. No more
running.”

“
I do love you, Mitch. Enough to
fight and kill and die for you.”

“
Then we’re agreed. And the elders
can deal with it.”

She finally smiled, an expression both soft and
mischievous. “That’s what I told them.”

He frowned.

“
I told you before, you’re my
choice. The only man for me. I told them the same
thing.”

“
How did they react to
that?”

“
By more talking! Do those people
ever shut up?”

He chuckled, then he laughed, then he let loose
a whoop of joy. “I love you so damned much, Nila.” Picking her up
in his arms, he spun her in a circle before setting her feet on the
ground and kissing her with every ounce of love he had.

Finally, finally, she returned his kiss, her
fingers tangling in his hair as she melted into him.

He eased slowly back so he could watch her
expression as he said, “Stay with me.”

“
Yes.”

“
Marry me.”

She grinned. “Yes.”

He kissed her again, hard and fierce. “I didn’t
think you’d agree to marry me so soon,” he said when he could drag
his mouth away from hers.

“
I surprised myself, too.” She made
a face. “We should probably have a long-ish engagement.”

“
You pick the date. I’ll be there.”
If it were up to him, he’d marry her tomorrow, but if Nila wanted
time, he’d give her time. He’d give her anything.

“
My grandmother will be thrilled,”
she said.

“
And your father?”

“
Will come around. Grandma Rossa’s
already working on him.” She cupped Mitch’s face as her expression
turned serious again. “You may be giving up the chance to have
kids. We don’t know yet if I can have children with
you.”

“
If you want children, we’ll adopt.
I want you and whatever will make you happy.”

She hugged him close. “You make me
happy.”

“
I intend to keep making you happy
for the rest of our lives.” Then he kissed her and carried her to
bed to show her just how happy they would be.

THANK YOU

Thank you so much for reading book #3 in the
Tiger Shifters series. I hope you enjoyed Nila and Mitch's story,
and the introduction of the first human(ish) heroine.

Whether you enjoyed HERE THERE BE TIGERS or
not, posting an honest review somewhere online is very useful for
helping other readers find books they’ll like. If you take the time
out of your busy schedule to post a review of this book, thank you
very much. If you don’t have the time, I still thank you very much
for reading all the way to The End.

For more on the Tiger Shifters please visit my
website:
http://www.katsimons.com

For an excerpt from the next book in the
series, HER TIGER TO TAKE, please turn the page.

HER TIGER TO TAKE

(Tiger Shifters, Book Four)

CHAPTER ONE