Midnight Wolf (Shifters Unbound #11)(75)
“Ben thought I could help,” Tiger answered. “What he said was that you would not have called him if the problem had been ordinary and easy. He has alerted Zander as well. The three of us are strong, we have special abilities, and we can protect you.”
“You’ll be protecting us from other Shifters, not just Shifter Bureau,” Angus said. “Can you do that? Even against Dylan?”
“Especially against Dylan,” Tiger said without changing expression. “I will guard you to your rendezvous, and stay until you decide what to do.”
“Why would you?” Tamsin asked. “We’re asking you to act against Shifters from your own Shiftertown, ones who help you. Why would you do this for us? Not saying I’m not grateful. I seriously am. But why are you choosing our side?”
Tiger gave her one of his assessing looks that said he’d understood everything about her after only one glance. “Ben and Zander told me about you, Tamsin Calloway. They are concerned for you and want you to be well. And Angus has become my friend.”
He spoke as though there was no doubt. “Thank you,” Angus said warmly.
Tamsin slid off the bed and went to Tiger. “I’d like you to be my friend too,” she said. She carefully put her arms around him and pulled him into a Shifter embrace. “Sorry I screamed when I first saw you.”
“I am frightening.” Tiger rested his hand on Tamsin’s shoulder, the strength of it unnerving. “That is what my mate tells me. Then she laughs.” His face softened. “Carly has a wonderful laugh.”
Tamsin released him and straightened up, giving him a grin. “Sounds like someone has it bad. Don’t worry, Tiger. We’ll get this wrapped up, and you can go home to your mate.”
“And my cub.”
“And your cub. Give them both a kiss for me.”
Tiger sent her a solemn look. “I will.”
Tiger asked no more questions. He refused the offer of a bed in the RV for the night and departed, saying he would guard them.
In the morning, he joined Angus and Tamsin as they made their way to the tent for breakfast. Dante welcomed him and accepted Tiger’s offer to be a security guard for the day.
Tiger started this job after breakfast and proved to be very good at it. He stopped six shoplifters and prevented a preteen girl from being lured from her parents, nearly killing the predator in the process. Tiger dragged the man off by the neck to lock him into a porta-potty until the police arrived.
Tiger stayed out of sight when the police came to fetch the man, and then resumed his duties, finding two lost dogs and catching a little boy who started to fall from the carousel, restoring him to his panicked parents.
At the end of the day, Dante tried to offer Tiger a permanent job, but he declined. Tiger helped break down the carnival on Monday, and rode in Angus’s RV on Tuesday down the straight ribbon of the I-40 toward Albuquerque.
In that city in New Mexico, they finally found autumn. In southern Louisiana and across Texas, the weather had been hot, but once they reached Albuquerque’s altitude, in the shadow of its big mountain range, the air was crisp, the mornings cool.
Ben met them in a restaurant in the old town, a street thronged with tourists among low adobe buildings. The restaurant served Mexican food with Hatch chiles—the famous chiles of New Mexico that spawned a yearly festival—and handmade tortillas, and it was packed. Ben already had a table and was chatting and being friendly with the waitress. A pitcher of beer and two bowls of salsa waited on the table to go with the mountain of fresh tortilla chips.
“These are awesome,” Ben said, waving at the bowls of salsa. He lifted a chip coated in green sauce. “This one is like eating fire. The red one is slightly milder but still very tasty. Hi, Tamsin, sweetheart. I see you haven’t ditched him yet.”
Ben stood up and gave Tamsin a hug, then a careful one to Ciaran.
“Tiger.” Ben gave him a cordial nod. “Don’t ask him how his cub is, anyone. We don’t have enough time for the answer.” He grinned at Tiger, who looked nonplussed. “Now, then, this place is so noisy no one will be able to hear what we say. What can I do for you?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
They sat down, Tamsin and Ciaran reaching eagerly for the chips.
“Not sure.” Angus didn’t want to talk about specifics in the middle of a restaurant with other customers three feet away.
“I get you,” Ben said. “Let’s enjoy the food and then adjourn someplace more private.”
Tamsin sat close to Ben, their shoulders and elbows touching as they munched chips. “How’s the house?” she asked him.
“Great. I watched Shifter Bureau goons trying to find it—cars creeping slowly back and forth on the nearby roads, but the house kept itself hidden. And me inside it.”
Haider must have sent people to search from the point they’d gone off the GPS the night Angus had captured Tamsin. If the house didn’t want to be found, then the searchers wouldn’t be able to pinpoint it.
“How did you get out?” Tamsin asked. “I assume they left someone in the area to watch. Did they follow you?” She didn’t sound unduly worried, only curious.
Ben shook his head. “I’m very good at sneaking around. No one sees me if I don’t want them to. Anyway, they don’t know to look for me. I’m just a random dude.”