The Tiger Luna

Poachers and Explosions

Hail glanced at her, his amber eyes flashing in anxiety and he was apprehensive about her involvement. He had seen her drive and could admit that she was stupendous, but allowing her to go into battle was something entirely different. She may be confident in her abilities, but allowing her into battle went completely against all of his instincts. He was born to protect this woman and here he was allowing her to accompany him into the heat of battle. If he had his way, she would be locked in his pack house far from harm's reach, but he knew she would never allow that. The only option left to him was to keep her close so that he could protect her from her own stubbornness. He nodded for Devin to divulge his information and his Beta immediately went into business mode.

"The compound is well guarded throughout the day but there are a few shift changes and that will be our best opportunity to attack. The next shift change is actually in thirty minutes. During that time all of the guards will be in the locker room," he gestured to a room on the blueprints he had tracked down. "I've also hacked into their security measures and replaced their feed so they won't be able to track us that way.

"We can get through the gate with the least visibility here," he stated, pointing to another area of the map. "I've brought some explosives in case of emergencies and I brought thirty men instead of twenty. We need to do this under the radar, but I also did not want to underestimate them because they're humans. There must be some supernatural involved or they would not have found us so easily."

Frost scanned the map and saw a low point in the fence a little ways before where Devin had recommended. "Why don't we just jump the fence her so we don't have to make as much noise?"

He looked at her as though she had lost her mind and quickly shook his head. "The fence is electrified so we can't climb it. Therefore our safest option is to go in at the power source and cut it off."

"Sorry it slipped my mind that wolves aren't particularly known for their jumping capabilities. I figured fifteen feet would be within the big bad wolves grasp. I guess I over estimated your agility," she teased with a glimmer of mischief flashing in her eyes.

Hail had already come to recognize that look and knew exactly what his little mate was up to. She was trying to get a rise from his warriors and, judging by their offended expressions, she was succeeding. Devin puffed up at his Luna's challenge, determination flashing in his topaz eyes. "If a cat can do it, then I'm sure that my men can as well."

She grinned at his acceptance of her challenge, sure that he would not clear the fence and turned back to the blueprints. Her finger grazed a power block and she glanced up at Devin. "I assume that this is the power source for the fence?"

"As well as the holding cells for the shifters when they aren't being experimented on."

Her blood boiled at the mere mention of the torture her fellow shifters were enduring and Hail felt the rage recoil through their bond. It was enough fury to have Ragnar growling in his head and a low rumble vibrated in Frost's chest, gaining the attention of all his warriors. His mate may be tiny, but Goddess was she a fierce little feline, her eyes flashing deep sapphire. "We get them out today, all of them and anyone who stands in our way dies," her voice was sultry and gravelly as Cleopatra came to the forefront.

The warriors surrounding them looked at her in shock and appreciation. She-wolves were fiercely protective of their families, but they were not known for their bloodlust and it was evident in her eyes. She was out to return all of the misfortune that they had doled out to the shifters and she would not show mercy. Hail stared at his woman with admiration and stroked a hand down her arm to calm her. "Your wish is our command. The shifters will go free, my Siberian iris."

Devin snickered at the nickname, but was wise enough to keep his commentary suppressed. "I think now is a good time to head to our location if everyone is ready. If we shift, we can use the cover of the trees all the way to the fence."

Hail felt Frost's anxiety through the bond and turned to look at her. "What wrong, Frost?"

She glanced up at him, still not used to anyone being able to so easily read her and looked at all of the men. "I've never shifted in front of this many people. I grew up with my parents warning me that the more people who knew what I was, the more danger I would be in."

Hail growled at the reminder of how dangerous her entire life had been. He wished that she had been free to shift and roam as the members of his pack were. "You don't have anything to fear anymore, Frost. You have a pack now."

Devin felt his own wolf on edge at her words, the need to protect his Luna almost overpowering. "I will die before I allow harm to come to you, my Luna, as will any member of Ocean Moon."

Frost's eyes flashed with power and she smiled cunningly at Hail's Beta. "How sweet, precious puppy, but I can protect myself," she rumbled and shifted before their eyes without even removing or ripping her clothing. It simply disappeared and in it's place stood the most gorgeous shifter Hail had ever laid eyes on. Cleopatra stood a good four feet tall at the head and had pristine snow white fur with pale gray stripes just a few shades lighter. Her eyes stood out as bright sapphire jewels against her ivory fur and he could not stop himself from reach out to stroke the silky fur. Do you like what you see, mate, Cleopatra purred in his mind.

Ragnar did not wait for Hail to respond, simply shoved to the surface and forced the shift in his excitement to meet his mate. He stepped forward, towering over his little tiger and nuzzled his snout in her neck. She proceeded to slide her head down his neck, under his chest and then twined through his legs in an utterly feline move, her tail curling around his front leg. She came out from underneath him just at his front haunch, her head level with his throat and met his eyes. Ragnar licked her snout and a grumble echoed in his chest. Mate is more than perfect. I've been waiting for an eternity just to meet you and I never thought I'd convince this lug head not to reject you on sight.

Cleopatra flicked her long tail under his chin and nuzzled the fur under his throat. I understand the sentiment My stubborn human was convinced a mate would only bring her eventual pain that I kept silent until we were already in bed. I had to let her think the entire attraction was on her part of it never would have happened.

Devin's wolf, Samson, pushed the edges of Ragnar's mind with a mind link and he begrudgingly gave up his conversation. We need to get to the gap in the fence to get in undetected.

Leave it to me, Cleopatra's voice rang in their heads and they both glanced at her in surprise. It was unheard of for others to be able to mind link within a pack they were not part of. She did not give them time to process their shock before disappearing into the dense Everglade underbrush. She disappeared into the swampy terrain expertly as though she were born to these swamps and they all jumped to follow suit. Thirty wolves shifting with the tearing of clothes and all bolted into the trees after their Luna with Ragnar in the lead.

It was terrifying how completely she had disappeared into her surrounding and Ragnar never caught a glimpse of her. If it hadn't been for her enchanting hibiscus and sea salt scent, he would have doubted she was here. He actually lost her scent for a moment only to realize his sly mate's scent was drifting down from the canopy. She had effectively hidden herself in the leaves and he could sense how far ahead she was.

Cleopatra's nimble paws clung to the mossy tree limbs expertly and she could already see the fence looming ahead. She made one more mighty leap to the bald cypress across from her current perch and then eyed the distance to the fence. She was still a good fifteen feet away from the fifteen foot tall fence so she backed towards the trees trunk. She pushed away from the trunk and launched herself from the branch, landing agilely a yard on the other side. She launched at the power source, pulling on her magic and dug into the wiring with flaming paws. She noted the flammable sign on the building and bolted the twenty or so yards back to her entrance to await the wolves.

Ragnar's giant black wolf with light gray paws and a crescent moon on his forehead was the first to appear. His mighty paws pounded the soft Earth and he cleared the top of the fence easily. The rest of the wolves began to follow and finally only Devin was left to assure the others got through safely. Just as he was gearing up to jump, the powerhouse exploded with an ear shattering boom and he jerked in that direction. His paws caught the top of the fence, he somersaulted, landing on his rear haunches with a thud and Cleopatra let out a humored chuff.

He yipped at her in playful annoyance and then tipped his head in the direction they needed to go. All of the wolves fell in step with him and the graceful cat was surrounded on all sides by the giant warriors. It did not escape her notice that all of the wolves crowded around her and kept her shielded from potential witnesses. When they reached the side door, Cleopatra shouldered her way to the front and pulled on her magic. The giant door bent away from the frame and left a giant hole big enough for even a werebear to fit through. Are you fellas coming?

Ragnar stared at her for a brief moment before he stepped through the door and tossed a glance back at her. We need to have a conversation about what exactly you are, little mate. You're no simple shifter.

She fluttered her eyes at him with innocence and followed him through. Her aura immediately went from playful to down to business and there was a murderous intent in her stealthy movement. The warriors surrounding her were all in awe of the warrior the goddess had blessed them with as a Luna. She wasn't simply pretty, she moved with a stealth that even they could not match and she moved with the lethal grace of a practiced hunter.

She was shocked that her little explosion had not set off some sort of alarms, but she thanked the goddess for small blessings. There was pale emergency lighting along the ceiling, flashing the hallway in a garish yellow. There were doors lining both sides of the hall and it seemed as though it went on forever, but there was no shifter scents yet. They continued down the hall and after a few moments, sirens blared overhead, but she couldn't be bothered to care at the time.

Cleopatra lifted her muzzle, inhaling deeply and scented something that she had never thought she would smell again. The smell of leather and peppermint invaded her nose, missing the smell of pipe tobacco, but still one that she would never forget. She finally pinpointed the direction it was coming from and leapt over the heads of the wolves surrounding her. They let out concerned yips, but she was in auto pilot and would not cease until she found the location where the scent was kept. She followed the faint smell until she reached a door near the end and plowed through it.

Leather and peppermint permeated the room and in the corner was a cage only big enough for a tiger to barely fit. She was motionless for a moment as she stared at the dirt and blood covered tiger that didn't appear to have ever been white. Huge paws supported a massive head that sported a scarab on the middle of his forehead, exactly the same as her own. Cleopatra felt Frost pushing to the front and immediately allowed her to take control, appearing still fully clothed unlike any other shifter. She was silent on her approach to the cage and dropped to her knees, her fingers sinking into the scarab marking on his forehead. The massive tiger didn't so much as flinch, but she could hear him breathing. "Papa?"

The massive head shifted at her softly spoken plea, emerald green meeting ocean blue and he chuffed in recognition. She could see him struggling to move within the small confines and she tore the lock from it's post, hissing as the silver stung her flesh. She could also smell Dieffenbachia, dumb plant, on him and realized why he seemed so weak. It was poisonous to felines, but only caused mild symptoms in most cases, but poachers had made use of the knowledge. They invented a highly potent serum that when injected into feline shifter was similar to wolfsbane, but instead locked them in their shifted form.

She had no way of possibly knowing how much he had been injected with or how long he would be trapped as a massive cat. None of that mattered though as she threw her arms around him and buried her face in the dirty fur at his neck. He bent his head to lick her cheek with his prickly tongue and she heard a loud growl behind her. Ragnar had just found her and was not happy at her being wrapped around another male. Her father did not ease the situation when he lifted his head and let out a menacing hiss which Ragnar took as a challenge. "Both of you knock it off. We don't have time for this. Papa, my mate. Mate, Papa. now let's get our asses in gear and get everyone the f**k out of here!"

Ragnar stared at her in confusion since she had said her parents were both dead, but he quickly recovered. Is your father able to walk? The warriors are currently busy releasing the other shifters at the moment.

Her father struggled to stand as his limbs buckled beneath him and she caught him with the weight of her own body. She supported his substantial weight with her own slight form and locked eyes with him. "Do you think you can do this on your own?"

His eyes locked with her own in shame and he dropped his head. "I'm afraid not. The poachers have pumped me so full of Deiffenbachia that I can barely keep my eyes open, much less function."

Fury flashed through her veins and she wanted to kill every single poacher alive. Are all of the shifters out safely? Once Ragnar gave her the affirmative, she pushed her father to his feet and headed for the exit. Once she had her family safely out of the building, she would return to make sure that it ceased to exist. All of the poachers present died today and that was the only thought in her mind.

Author's Note: Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love to know what anyone thinks. Thanks for reading. Blessed be until next time.