The Tiger's Heart (4 page)

He slapped her hard across the face.
“Don’t think I’m going to let you pass out from the pain. That
would be getting off easy. I enjoy the smell of your pain.” He
leaned close, breathing in her scent. “Oh, there will be a lot more
pain in your future,” the lust apparent in his voice.

Tears flowed freely down her face, her
body shook from fear and pain, as she silently begged for her
life.

* * *

Raja moved into position, able to see
into the cabin’s window as the pipe slammed onto her knee. He had
to stifle a roar or let the captor know he had company. A surprise
attack would be the only way to get Bethany out alive.

There was no time to call Ty, as he
promised. He unclipped his cell from his belt and sent a text
message to him.

One man with her. I’m
going in. No time for backup.

He scoped out the area, preparing his
plan. The girl wouldn’t be able to walk, which meant he would have
to carry her. If others arrived, he wouldn’t be able to defend them
and carry her. He’d had to make sure the captor wasn’t able to call
for backup.

Taking a few deep, calming breaths, he
relaxed his body. Fighting on two legs required him to have control
over his body. He holstered his gun, preferring to use a knife when
it came to hand-to-hand combat.

Bethany, I’m coming for
you.
Creeping up to the side of the cabin,
he leaned back, lifted his leg and kicked the door in.

“
What the
fuck?”

Raja tipped his head back and roared,
“Get away from her.” When he didn’t move, Raja lunched at the other
man, taking the captor away from Bethany. The man tumbled across
the room, so he gripped the man’s jacket to make sure he didn’t get
away.

He slammed him into the back wall,
bouncing the man’s head off the logs. “I warned you.”

A citrus smell filled the
room, catching Raja’s attention, drawing him in.
What is that?
With no
time to deal with it now, he kept his attention on the man before
him.

“
What do you want?” The
captor leaned heavily against the wall, out of breath.

“
Your life. But first tell
me who hired you.”

“
Hired me?” The captor
played stupid as if Raja couldn’t smell the lie on him.

“
Tell me who hired you and
I’ll kill you quickly. Play games with me and I’ll draw it out for
hours, maybe days. Now who hired you?” Raja slammed the man against
the wall again, hoping to make his point clear.

“
It was a friend of a
friend who needed me to keep the girl here until they got something
they were after.”

“
Name?” Raja was barely
holding on to his temper. Any more games and there was no hope
left. The one thing that was keeping him in check was the woman. He
could smell her barely hanging on to consciousness behind
him.

“
The friend said it was
for a man named Pierce, but I never met him.” His voice cracked
with fear. “Please, man, I wasn’t going to hurt her.”

“
You already hurt her!” In
a blink of an eye, Raja grabbed his knife from his thigh and slit
the guy’s throat.

* * *

She watched the scene play out before
her as if she was watching a movie. None of it seemed real until
her captor slid to the floor with a heavy plop, his throat a large
gaping wound. She wanted to scream, to beg for her life, but all
she could do was hope it would end quickly.

“
Bethany.”

The man with long black hair called to
her as she tried to scoot away. The pain became unbearable, making
moving impossible as blackness started to fill her
vision.

“
Please…” she whispered,
tears making it hard to speak, her throat raw and
closing.

He wiped the knife on his black jeans
before sliding it back in the case. “I’m not here to hurt
you.”

As everything went black, she prayed
to live.

Chapter Seven

Raja looked down at
Bethany’s still form with the same longing Ty spoke of after
finding Tabitha. The citrus smell was stronger the closer he got to
her.
She can’t be…my mate.

Knowing he needed to get
them to a safe location, he grabbed the blanket off the nearby
couch and wrapped it around her. Her knee was badly injured, but
there was no way to be gentle and still carry her.
Good thing she’s unconscious.

He grabbed his cell and
sent Ty another message so a team didn’t show up after he
left.
Girl’s badly injured but alive. Back
soon. Have Doc ready.

He lifted her into his arms, ready to
make the short trek to his SUV waiting on a side road on the other
side of the mountain. The sooner he could get her back to the
compound and seen by the doctor, the more chance they might be able
to save her knee.

What a time to find my
mate.
Life was dangerous for the Alaskan
Tigers now, and adding a human to the mix with no training to
protect herself seemed wrong
.

Even in her unconscious state, he
could still feel her pain, and it was grinding into him. He would
have given anything to end the pain for her.

A moan escaped her lips, and he sped
up, hoping to make it to the SUV before she woke. No such luck. She
cried out in pain. The fear of him rolling off her body slammed
into him like waves on a beach.

“
Shhh, Bethany. I promise
I’m not going to hurt you. I’m trying to get you help. We’re almost
there. Just bear with me a little bit longer.”

“
Who are you? How did you
know he kidnapped me?” Her teeth ground together to keep from
screaming.

“
I’m Raja. He set the
video message to us.”

“
Us?”

“
It’s a long story. Don’t
worry about it now. Just focus on your breathing. I can see the
SUV. Almost there. I have a doctor waiting on standby.”

“
You’re taking me to a
hospital?”

“
Something like
that.”

“
Please, I just want to go
home,” she whined.

“
We’ll deal with that, but
first we need to deal with your knee.”

The sun was sinking low on the horizon
as he laid her across the back seat. He grabbed the bag with
supplies. “This is going to hurt, but you need to keep your knee
elevated.” He slipped the bag under her leg before heading around
to the driver’s side.

* * *

At the compound, Doctor Jacobs was
waiting in his medical suite in the main building along with
Tabitha, Ty and Felix. Raja carried Bethany in and laid her on the
bed.

“
What the hell happened to
her?” Doctor Jacobs hollered, looking on the poor girl.

She had definitely seen better days.
Her left eye was starting to swell shut, she had a busted lip,
bruises coving her body and not to mention what happened to her
knee.

Raja growled, making the doctor take a
step back. Everyone stared at him, as if he was a rabid dog they
were afraid to go near.

“
Shit! She’s your mate,”
Ty said, the first to figure it out. “I can smell it all over
you.”

Raja didn’t say anything. There was no
use denying it, but he wasn’t ready to admit it. He was having a
hard time coming to terms with it himself.

“
Out,” Doc
ordered.

“
What?”

“
You heard me. If you’re
her mate, I want you out of here.”

“
Being her mate should
give me more reason to stay,” Raja growled, stepping closer to
Bethany in a protective stance.

“
Raja, the doctor’s right.
Being her mate will only make this harder for you. We can’t delay
treatment any longer. I’ll stay with her and when she wakes up,
I’ll make sure you’re here.” Tabitha stepped closer to him and
Bethany.

“
There’s no choice in the
matter. I’m ordering you out. You won’t risk this girl for your
stubbornness. I would hope you would do the same for me if it was
Tabitha lying in that bed.” The sympathy was thick in Ty’s
voice.

“
I’ll be right outside and
I want to know the minute she wakes up.” Raja stalked out the door,
his heart breaking with each step.

Chapter Eight

“
Raja.” Tabitha gently
rubbed his arm to wake him.

“
Hum,” he mumbled, slowly
coming awake to find himself lying on a couch in the clinic area.
“Bethany?”

“
She’s out of surgery and
resting comfortably. I thought you might want to be with her when
she wakes up.”

He shot up, desperate to be with her.
His insides felt like they were being torn apart just by being away
from her.

“
Raja,” Tabitha said,
laying a hand on his arm, “just don’t overexcite her. Give her time
to recover before you scare her with the mate thing. She’s been
through a lot.”

He nodded, knowing that she was right,
but it was going to be damn hard to keep it from her. His touch
would be unlike anything she’d felt before, bringing the questions
that he didn’t want to answer. Yet he couldn’t stop himself from
touching her for long.

“
One last thing. Doc says
if you stress her out, you’ll be removed. She just had surgery and
needs to rest. Don’t make it any harder on her.”

“
I can handle my own
mate,” Raja growled at her. He ran his hand through his hair. “I’m
sorry, Tabitha. I’m just not used to this possessive
attitude.”

“
Adjusting to the mating
is the hardest part, but it will happen. Go be with your mate. I’ll
be back later to check on her. Being surrounded by big burly men
can intimidate a girl. I’m sure a friendly woman’s face would help
her relax.”

“
Thank you.” He smiled at
her before turning to head in the direction of the private
rooms.

* * *

Bethany’s still form looked so small
and fragile in the large bed. Her face was as white as the blanket
that covered her. He sat in the chair next to the bed, wrapped her
hand in his and lowered his head.

My mate.
He loved how that flowed through his mind.
Will she accept me once she finds out what I am?
Can I claim my rightful spot with her when I know the danger that
will put her in? If not, am I strong enough to walk away from
her?

The questions circling his head
plagued him. He knew the answers to two out of three. He wasn’t
strong enough to walk away from her, no matter the danger it would
put her in. He would protect her with his life. Could he convince
Bethany that she was meant for him and they belonged together? Now
that was another story entirely.

It hit him like a bear at full speed
what Ty was going through with Tabitha. The constant fear that he
could be the reason that his mate was in danger weighed heavy in
the pit of his stomach.

“
Bethany, believe in me
and I’ll make you the happiest woman alive. I’ll protect you with
my life. Don’t turn away from me when you find out what I really
am,” Raja whispered. Bringing her knuckles to his lips, he placed a
timid kiss there.

* * *

Raja paced the small room, feeling
like a caged tiger. The walls growing closer with each passing hour
that Bethany lay unconscious. The nurse assured him it was nothing
to worry about that it was just the drugs from surgery. That did
nothing to calm the raging tiger inside of him. His mate was
injured and there was nothing he could do but sit by and
wait.

Waiting wasn’t something he handled
well. He needed action. Sitting by the sidelines wasn’t something
he was used to or enjoyed.

A soft moan came from the
bed. He looked but she didn’t seem to have moved.
Now I’m hearing things because I want it to
happen.
The sound came again.

In two quick strides, Raja was at the
bedside, her hand in his. “Bethany, you’re safe. Come on, open your
eyes.”

Moaning again, her eyelids fluttered
as if she were desperate to see her surroundings.

“
Come on, sweetie. That’s
it.”

“
Where am I?” Her voice
was rough. She struggled to take in her surroundings.

The room they sat in was more like a
bedroom than a hospital. Shifters healed fast, so medical attention
was only required at a minimal level. When they crafted the
building, they wanted it to feel like home, not a hospital. They
didn’t have a large medical staff, but they had what was needed,
including Doc, and could take care of anything including performing
surgeries.

“
You’re somewhere safe.
That’s what matters.”

“
This isn’t a hospital.”
Her eyes held terror again. Her hair laid scattered over the
pillow, making him want to lean in close again for a better smell
of the citrus that encircled her.

“
Bethany, trust me. You’re
safe. You just had surgery and shouldn’t overdo it. Rest. I promise
I’ll be here by your side when you wake up. Nothing will happen to
you.”