The Tiger's Heart (22 page)

“
It does, but there are
more guards here to protect everyone. We’ll raise the security
level and keep everyone on call. It’s the best chance to keep
everyone safe if Shadow’s vision is true. Splitting our guards
between two places will make us weaker.”

“
Okay, Felix, Shadow I
want you to take the guest rooms. I want you in the main building
with us. Even with other guards on our mates, I want you within
seconds away from them. If there’s an attack, I want the women
guarded together if it’s safe enough to move one of them. This will
allow for more guards on them.” Ty closed the curtain before facing
them again. “Tabitha and Bethany’s training starts tonight. I want
them well versed in shooting a gun. I have started Tabitha’s hand
to hand training but if there’s an attack, their best chance is
weapons that allow them to keep their distances.”

“
Give us about an hour to
debrief the others then meet us back here to go to the firing
range.” Raja rose from his kneeling position in front of Shadow but
still eyed her cautiously. “Are you okay now?”

“
I’m fine.” Shadow stood
and followed Felix out, leaving Raja and Ty alone.

“
I’ll let you have the
honor of telling Tabitha and Bethany. After all, you’re Alpha
here.” Raja caught Ty’s evil eye as he opened the office
door.

Chapter
Thirty-Four

The shooting range turned out better
than Raja could ever expect. Bethany’s father taught her how to
shoot a gun, and she was a decent shot. Tabitha wasn’t too bad
either for someone who only held a gun once before, and that was
only since becoming Ty’s mate.

“
You’ve both done very
well. I want you both to keep the guns with you. If you want
shoulder and thigh holsters, we can get them for you. Even with
your guards, I want you armed in case something happens. Once
Victor arrives, Pierce might decide to attack.” Raja grabbed a box
of bullets off the shelf.

“
Raja, Connor found
something. He’s requesting you join them in the conference room.”
Felix came to stand closer to the group instead of watching the
area with Shadow and Styx.

“
I’ll tend to it. Bethany,
go with Ty, Tabitha and the guards. I’ll come for you at Ty’s when
I can.” He slid his reloaded gun back into his holster, kissed
Bethany and jogged toward the main compound.

Please let this be a break
we need. I hate feeling Bethany’s panic. Tabitha and Bethany have
been through enough recently—they don’t need more
stress.

After pulling the conference room door
open, he found the room full of anxiety and all eyes trained on
him. “What’s going on?”

“
We can’t let the meeting
Victor has scheduled happen,” Connor announced, plugging the
projector into the computer to allow whatever was on the screen to
appear on the wall.

“
Why? What did you
find?”

“
The man is Victor’s
father. He heads a small terrorist group of shifters in Russia.
That’s where the money is coming from. From what I can find is this
meeting is to discuss joining their forces, making both of them
more treacherous than before.” Connor displayed a table with
numbers on the wall. “This tracks each transition back to the
organization Victor’s father heads. Victor Senior arrives tomorrow
evening. My suggestion would be to have the team take down Victor
tonight and get them out of San Francisco.”

“
Great job. I’ll deal with
Adam and the team. Marcus, gather any guard not on duty in the
ballroom, meeting in thirty minutes. Either Ty or I will brief
everyone. Anyone on duty will be noticed following the briefing.
From this moment on everyone is on high alert and on call at all
times. Thomas, you help him. Connor and Lukas, I want you both
working on Robin, as I’m concerned this will put her in more
jeopardy.”

* * *

Raja spent the next fifteen minutes
filling in Ty, Felix, Shadow and Styx on what Connor found. “Adam
and the team need to take Victor down tonight. We can’t leave this
to chance any longer. If Victor Senior gets there before he’s
detained, it could meet a full-on assault.”

“
I agree. Contact Adam and
I’ll brief the guards.” Ty turned to the women. “You’ll stay here
with guards.”

“
Ty, with Victor soon to
be on the grounds. I’d like Tora’s family to take the final guest
room here in the main building. If Marcus is called away, it leaves
Tora and Scarlet easy targets.”

“
Agreed. Deal with Adam
then see to Tora. Inform her that if there’s an attack on the
compound and if safe to move within the main building, she should
find Tabitha and Bethany. She’ll be safe with them,” Ty had his
hand on the door handle when he turned around to face Raja who
already had his cell phone out and was dialing Adam’s number. “Tell
Adam in the medical kit Doc sent him with there a strong muscle
relaxer that’s used on our kind. I want Victor sedated for
transport.”

Raja nodded, hitting the call button.
“Are you somewhere private?” he asked Adam as his voice filled the
line.

“
Good. The Russian is his
father, Victor Senior. He heads a shifter terrorist group in
Russia. Victor needs detained tonight. We want him sedated and
brought bound and blindfolded back to the compound. Do you need
more men?”
I pray not. There might not be
enough time to get more men there.
“Great.
Contact me when the job’s done. Stay safe.”

He hit the end button before clipping
the phone back on his jeans. “I need to go see to Tora.”

* * *

Bethany watched Raja leave
and closed her eyes.
What the hell was I
thinking to get involved in all of this? All I wanted was a quiet
life.

“
Bethany, you okay?”
Tabitha laid her hand on her leg.

“
Okay? No, I’m not okay.”
Tears wetted her eyes as she ran her hand across her face. “How do
you deal with this?”

“
With our men running off?
The guards? The danger?”

“
All of it. Don’t you
worry about, Ty? Aren’t you scared that you’re going to be the next
to die?” Bethany snapped the ponytail holder off her wrist and
pulled her hair back in a messy ponytail, just to get it out of her
face.

“
I always worry about Ty,
as well as Raja and the rest of the clan members. I don’t want to
see anyone else die because of this. Pierce has taken too many
lives as it is. I deal by realizing that it has to be done. If not
Pierce is out there with a free killing pass. I can’t live with
that. I’ll do whatever I can to see him pay for what happened to
our parents, Jamie, and countless other victims. There’s danger but
there’s danger everywhere. You could walk outside and a bus hits
you. I’d rather live my life to the fullest with the man I love
then cower in fear.”

“
But we are cowering
behind the guards.”

“
I don’t see it as
cowering. We have a job to do for the tigers. We have to be kept
safe until the job is complete.”

“
That might be fine enough
for you. You’re their Queen. Me, on the other hand, I’m no one.”
Bethany leaned her head back, resting it on the back of the
couch.

“
That’s where you’re
wrong, Bethany. Without you we could never do what the future holds
for us.”

“
What?”

“
After I came back to the
clan, the book you’ve already seen told us that Raja had to find
his mate before we could start the process of bringing the tigers
together. You’re part of this destiny as much as the rest of us.
You’ll play a key point in this. Don’t doubt that you’re meant to
be here or that Raja would give his life for you.” Tabitha squeezed
her leg.

“
That’s the problem. I
don’t want him to give his life for me. I don’t want to live
without him.”

Shadow moved from the window, coming
around the couch to squat near Bethany. “I’m sure Raja has told you
of my gift. That I know things, mates, the future, pasts. I can
tell you there’s nothing to worry about. Nothing is going to happen
to Raja. You’ll be together for many years. One way to protect your
mates, don’t fight them on your guards. They want to keep you safe.
You are their top priority, but they also have other things they
must worry about. If they know you’ll listen to your guards and
we’ll keep you safe, it will allow them to focus on whatever task
is at hand.”

* * *

As expected Tora fought Raja—she
didn’t want to leave her cabin, until Marcus returned from the
briefing and put his foot down. “I agree with Raja that it’s a
precaution that we should take. Now go pack what you need for
yourself and Scarlet. You have twenty minutes. I won’t have you and
Scarlet alone as a target when I’m needed to defend the compound.
At least in the main building you’ll be safe. There will be more
guards there.”

After Tora stormed out of the room,
leaving them alone, Marcus turned to Raja. “Taber will be landing
in ten minutes. Ty’s meeting him at the landing field. I’m sure you
would rather be there. Also Adam’s team will move in on Victor
within the hour.”

“
Appreciated. Get her
moving. I want her in the main building long before Victor is
detained.”

After leaving Tora’s
cabin, he pulled out his cell phone to text Shadow.
Moving to the landing strip. Taber’s due in.
Adam’s moving on Victor within the hour.

Chapter
Thirty-Five

“
Taber, this is my mate
Bethany and Ty’s mate Tabitha. Ladies, Taber is a Kodiak bear
shifter. He’s been generous enough to come look intimidating while
we interrogate Victor.”

“
Wow,” Tabitha and Bethany
both quietly whispered.

“
I know my size can be
daunting, but I promise you unless provoked, I’m a big teddy bear.
Ty, Raja and I go back many years. I’m just here to help.” Taber
stood almost seven-foot-three, every part of his body was toned and
tight. His massive frame made people shy away at first glance but
not Tabitha and Bethany—they stared at him with open
mouths.

“
I’m sorry.” Bethany
blinked a few times. She looked as if she wanted to pinch herself
to make sure she was truly awake. “I just never…”

“
Don’t worry, Bethany, I
get that reaction a lot.”

“
I didn’t mean to be
impolite.”

“
I understand. Raja tells
me shifters are new to you, so I’m sure I came as a surprise. I
hope you won’t hold my size against me.”

“
I should apologize as
well,” Tabitha said, coming to senses.

“
Now that we have the
stares and apologies out of the way, maybe we can move on.” Raja
laughed, watching the women react to Taber. “Bethany, Taber is
going to bunk in our guest room since the main guest accommodations
are full. I hope you don’t mind.”

“
No, that’s fine. I hope
you’ll find it suitable.”

“
Where’s Ty?” Tabitha
looked to the door as if expecting him to be only moments behind
Raja and Taber.

“
He went with Milo and
Thomas to check on the cabin we’ll be using. He’ll be back shortly.
When he gets back, we’re going to have some downtime. Anyone who
wants to catch some sleep before shit hits the fan better do it.
Adam’s team is taking down Victor within the hour. If all goes well
within the next six hours, they should be here.” Fatigue was
beginning to make itself know to Raja as he dropped to the couch
like a ton of bricks. Too much stress, long hours and not enough
sleep finally was catching up to him.

“
You want some coffee?”
Tabitha asked.

“
No thanks.” He rubbed his
eyes with his thumb and forefinger before squeezing the bridge of
his nose. “I’m going to try to catch a few winks once Ty’s back.
Tabitha, while Ty and I are questioning Victor, Felix and Thomas
will be guarding you. Shadow and Styx will be with you, Bethany. If
anything changes, the guards will bring Bethany here, unless this
area is compromised. We decided this since Ty’s quarters overlook
the main area of the compound, giving the guards a chance to see
out, and because it’s more protected. Marcus will remain with Tora
unless he’s needed. They’re just down the hall in one of the guest
rooms.”

He went over the strategy while they
waited for Ty. They agreed to keep the women and the guards abreast
on the situations. Being informed allowed them to be ready if and
when something happened.

Raja’s cell vibrated as he
looked up to see Ty and Thomas entering.
Moving on him. Will contact once he’s in custody.

* * *

Raja lay on top of the covers next to
Bethany, dozing. Bethany was in a deep sleep next to him but her
grip on him was firm. He could feel her uneasiness and knew she was
fearful of losing him. She’d lost so much already and was scared
she would lose him as she’d lost the rest of her family.

How am I supposed to
alleviate her concerns when anything could happen? I’ve never been
naive enough to think I didn’t put my life on the line. As the
Lieutenant of the Alaska Tigers it’s my job to put myself after the
members of the clan and to protect Ty and Tabitha at all cost.
Having a mate that was frightened because of my position was the
reason I avoided mating. Oh Bethany, I wish I could take your fears
away, to promise I’ll always be here for you.