“Why unfortunately?” Carly asked.
“Because he sees Tiger as his ticket to promotion and a way out of the Shifter Bureau attachment. If he’s found a new weapon—a person who can move with stealth and survive enemy fire—he’ll be a hero. He’s the one who wants Tiger found, imprisoned, and tested, and he wants to breed more of him.”
“Breed.” Tiger’s word held anger.
“Yep. Breed. You heard me.”
“He would take the cubs.” The rage in Tiger’s voice was fierce.
“And have people cut into your brain and maybe shoot you full of holes again to see how fast you can heal.”
“He must not touch the cubs.” Tiger pulled Carly closer, his arm as strong as iron.
“That’s why I’m driving you away,” Walker said. “I’ll face my court-martial like a man.”
Carly thought about everything Tiger had told her Walker had told him. Every single person she’d met wanted to control or use Tiger in some way—even Liam, talking about putting a real Collar on him. And now they were trusting Walker not to take them right back to his commander.
Tiger didn’t seem worried, though. And because Tiger had been right about pretty much everything since she’d met him, Carly decided she would need to trust him. Not that she had much choice right now.
Walker and Tiger fell silent as Walker navigated the dark streets out of town. Carly leaned against Tiger, worn out and worried, but warmed by Tiger and his arm around her.
Walker drove them a long way west, where Tiger had never been. When he’d come to Austin, Tiger had been flown in a private cargo plane by a man named Marlo, a friend to Shifters in the Las Vegas Shiftertown.
Flying had been an interesting experience. Tiger had seen mountains rippling below him, then flatlands neatly sectioned into fields, and precise circles of green Marlo said came from circular irrigation systems. Those had dissolved into squares of brown dust with narrow roads that ended in dots. Oil wells, Marlo had said in answer to Tiger’s questions, pumping the veins of West Texas.
This drive took them farther south and west, ever west. By the time the sun came up behind them, they were in a wide plain of nothing. Brown land with tufts of brown grasses and scrub stretched as far as Tiger could see, the green hills of Austin and the river country far behind. The sky was clear overhead, not a cloud in it, and already the temperature was climbing.
Tiger didn’t mind. He looked from horizon to horizon, drinking it in. He loved seeing anything new, loved the amazing variety of the world.
Carly lay against his side, sleeping, her feet tucked up on the seat. The mate bond that connected them shimmered in the sunlight. Carly couldn’t see it, but Tiger knew she could feel it.
Another bond stretched between the two of them and the new life inside Carly. Tiger let out a protective growl. The Shifter Bureau could never get his cubs.
Tiger would not let his cubs—anyone’s cubs, for that matter—live through the hell he had. No cages, no needles, no shocks, no experiments. He might die trying to save them, but that didn’t matter. He would make sure his cub would live and grow up like the other cubs in Shiftertown—safe, protected, happy.
As the sun climbed, Carly woke and stretched. She gave Tiger a quick kiss on his cheek, then rummaged in the cooler Walker had brought and pulled out a bottle of water, droplets of moisture clinging to it. Carly offered it to Walker and to Tiger, who both declined, then she opened the bottle herself and drank.
Tiger watched her lips purse over the bottle’s mouth, her throat move in her swallow, her eyes close as the cool water slid over her tongue. Tiger clenched his fist and made himself only watch, not touch.
Carly waved her hand in front of her face. “I bet it’s already ninety out there. Been a while since this truck’s AC has had a tune-up, I’m guessing.”
“Probably,” Walker said. “Open the window.”
“I might. When I’m hot enough to put up with swallowing half the dust of Texas.”
Tiger hadn’t noticed the temperature, but Carly was perspiring. He’d never had to worry about another person before. If he let her stay with him, would she be cool enough where they ended up? Or warm enough? Safe enough? Comfortable? Happy? Would their cub be?
Carly rested her head on his shoulder again. “You look like you’re thinking deep thoughts.”
“I want to take care of you,” Tiger said. “Hoping I know how.”
Carly patted his arm. “Don’t you worry about that. I’m very good at taking care of myself. I’ve had a pretty good sleep, Walker. I can drive when you need a rest.”
“Thanks,” Walker said. “I’ll take you up on that in a little while.”
“I’m not tired,” Tiger said.
“Mmm.” Carly slanted a glance up at him. “You know how to drive?”
He hesitated. “Connor was teaching me.”
“I see.” Another pat, this one on his chest, and she left her hand there. “I think Walker and I should handle it.”
Tiger liked that she didn’t move her hand from over his heart. She leaned her head on his shoulder, continuing to drink the water, her tongue coming out to wipe it from her lips.
Tiger leaned to kiss her, licking the moisture from her mouth. She smiled when they broke apart, and the need inside Tiger threatened to choke him.
They drove on. Tiger checked behind them constantly, as did Walker. No cars followed, no flashing lights appeared, and no police vehicle they passed, waiting for speeders, paid them any attention. Walker drove calmly, not going too fast but also not being overly cautious, which would also attract attention. The man would make a good Shifter.
Carly insisted on stopping at a rest area where she could use the bathroom, countering the two males’ annoyed stares by saying she didn’t have outdoor plumbing and couldn’t pop behind the nearest bush. Not that there were many out here anyway, and she had no intention of getting foot-long stickers in her privates.
Tiger hated every second she was out of his sight in the restroom. He didn’t relax until she came out, purse over her shoulder, and walked briskly again to the SUV.
Carly took over driving then, competently steering onto the freeway. Walker rode in front with her, both he and Carly wanting Tiger to stay in the back. He was too big and too conspicuous, Walker said, even if he hid his multicolored hair under the baseball cap.
“Will you really be court-martialed?” Carly asked Walker. “Are you—what’s the term—AWOL?”
“No, I had some leave coming. I won’t be AWOL for a week. But unless I can convince whoever tries me that Sheldon is a cruel bastard and endangered people’s lives, they might decide to make an example of me.”
“I’m sorry.” Carly sounded sad. “You shouldn’t have gotten dragged into this.”
“Doesn’t matter. I believe in doing what I think is right.” Walker shrugged bulky shoulders. “I’ve had a good run.”
“You can’t be much older than I am.”
“You grow up fast doing what I do.”
As Tiger listened, a recently learned emotion welled up inside him, one he’d never experienced in the research lab. Tiger had felt something like it for Iona when he finally realized she meant to release him from the research building and let him go, and again for Liam for taking him in and giving him a home. He felt it also for Connor for trying to teach Tiger how to live in the world. Now for Walker for helping at a cost to himself.
Tiger had a word now to put to the feeling: gratitude.
“Take this exit,” Walker told Carly as a green sign loomed up. “No more easy freeway.”
Carly smoothly steered off the road and followed Walker’s instructions to turn left onto the empty, narrow road at the end of the ramp. This road, a little rougher, no shoulder beyond the white stripe at its edge, stretched straight and long southward, going as far as Tiger could see.