A Tigers Stripes Never Change

Chapter 9

Andy

“NO!” I screamed as I saw the dart fly past her as she lunged away. Rage splintered what was left of my sanity. “I’M GOING TO KILL YOU! YOU’VE RUINED EVERYTHING! EVERYTHING!” Ever since I found her in the woods she has caused nothing but trouble and now threatening to destroy my life’s work; my destiny.

With the last shred of control I had, I pulled my shorts off and crouched down. I started to shift and felt my beast take over. He was enraged and I was going to let him have full control. My bones moved quickly and fur blossomed out of my skin. When I lifted my head, I saw her dragging her mate further back into the woods. As she quickly undressed herself and prepared to shift, I noticed that they were both wearing my clothes. Thieves! On top of everything else, they’ve been in my cabin!

I charged at her with blind fury. She turned towards me and lunged; shifting into her tiger midair and struck me in the chest. I fell over as she landed to the side on her feet. My legs struggled at first to catch my weight, but I steadied. She snapped at my leg and missed. I turned to face her head on. She stared at me with cold eyes. I charged at her; aiming for her neck, but she dipped under me at the last second and knocked me off my feet again. As I rolled back to my feet, she turned and swiped her paw across my side. Her claws ripped the skin and I roared in pain, then collapsed to my feet again.

This wasn’t going to work; she was too strong even with me at my strongest. As much as I wanted to destroy her, I wanted that strength for myself too. I wanted her genes. She stood at a distance from me; keeping one eye on me and the other on her mate. I thought about my options. Clearly she didn’t want to hurt me as she had tried to get me to come quietly and turn myself in. Unless that was just a ruse to get me to back down so she could kill me herself. But even now, Im down on the ground hurt. She could’ve tried to attack me already to end it. But she’s waiting for me to make the next move.

Slowly, I got to my feet. She watched me carefully, moving slightly to block my view of her mate. He laid unconscious on the ground from the dart. We stared each other down. Then I slowly walked away to the spot I had shifted. She followed a few steps as I entered the woods; unsure of what I was planning. I stopped beside my clothes and bent my head down as I shifted. I grabbed my shorts and pulled them on. Three long pink lines puckered up on my side from where her claws sliced me. My shifter healing was working well. I slipped on my sneakers and picked up the hunting knife and tucked it into the waistband of my shorts behind my back.

“Truce,” I called and stepped forward with my hands up. I stopped a few feet from the white tiger watching with weary eyes. “Look, I’m sorry okay. I didn’t intend on hurting anyone when this started. I really tried to save them. But no matter what I did it couldn’t. I know it’s horrible of me and there’s no excuse for it. Maybe I should I let you kill me.”

Her eyes flashed a little when I said that. “I just wanted to be a shifter. I wanted to be special like you. I never felt comfortable in my own skin until I shifted for the first time. I felt so free like it was natural to walk on four legs. Maybe I didn’t go about it the right way, but there had been a cosmic mix up. I wasn’t born in the same body as I should have been. Your mate is right, I am a freak; a monster.”

The white tiger stared at me. I tried my best to keep my face sad and solemn. I needed her to believe I was going to go willingly. If I could get her to shift back, I’d have a better chance of getting close to her. After a few seconds, she slowly backed up to where she had shifted and gathered her clothes. She laid down beside the unconscious man and shifted into her human form. She quickly slipped my clothes back on her. She tried to cover up as best she can, but I got a glimpse of her soft supple breasts. When she was fully clothed, she stopped to check on her mate again before standing in front of me several feet away.

“How do I know you’re serious?” She said as she folded her arms in front of her. “And just know that just because I haven’t ripped your face off yet doesn’t mean I won’t. Dead or alive, either way this ends.”

“I understand,” I said. I took a step forward and she growled menacingly at me. “And I don’t blame you for not trusting me, I’ve given you no reason too. But I can tell you’re a good person, Cat.”

“Nova,” she said shifting uncomfortably. “My name is Nova, I got my memory back.”

I smiled at her. I had already known that. I had listened to her revelation earlier as I hid in the woods. I also know that nobody knows she’s here. Not that it wouldn’t take her agency long to figure it out. That was a bit of a surprise to; I hadn’t realized I was being investigated.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about that,” I lied. “I didn’t expect to find you in the woods. Kind of a wrong place wrong time type deal. It wasn’t my intention to hurt you, I was trying to get you away from this place.”

“I don’t believe that,” she said. “I also do not accept your apology. What did you do with the other shifters, Andy?”

“I can take you to them if you want,” I said. I took another step closer. Nova didn’t growl this time but backed up. She looked down at the unconscious man at her feet.

“How long will he be out?” She asked.

“Couple of hours,” I replied and walked closer while she was distracted. “He’ll be fine though, it was just a tranq dart.”

She looked up to see me closer than before. She backed up again, standing directly in front of Jack by the tree. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at me, a snarl smeared her pretty face. There was no way she’d be able to shift and attack me without hurting him in this position.

“Back up,” she growled at me.

“Don’t you want to see where the others are?” I asked. “I can show you.”

“I said back up!” She yelled. I could see the terror rising inside her. I couldn’t help the smile stretch bigger.

“What will you do if I don’t?” I asked. “You can’t shift. You’ll hurt him. You don’t have any weapons. You’re all alone in the woods. And nobody knows you’re here.”

I watched her swallow hard as my words sunk in. Her blue green eyes focused on me. They were cold and hard. No emotion filled them. Not even that little bit of terror I had sparked.

“And what about you, Andrew?” She snapped at me in a cold harsh tone. My jaw clenched at the sound of my name. “You can’t shift either. I can attack and kill you before you’re even fully formed into that abomination. Because you’re not a true shifter.”

Her words sparked the anger I had barely contained as she spat the last words at me. My beast shoved at me to get to her; fur sprouted out of my skin but I held him back. I reached behind me for the knife in my waistbands and gripped the handle. In that moment I totally gave up on trying to keep her as a test subject. I could tell she’d just fight me every step of the way. At least with the male unconscious I’d still have one.

“I’ve had just about enough of you,” I hissed at her. “You have single handedly nearly destroyed my work. My dreams are in jeopardy and I’m not about to let some little b***h come in and take it from me!”

I pulled the knife from behind me back and held it to my side. Her eyes widened when she saw the blade and swallowed hard. She nervously glanced around her; trying to find something to defend herself against me.

“Take it easy Andy,” she said anxiously.

“Oh it’s back to Andy? What about Andrew? Or what was that other thing?” I sneered. “Oh right, abomination.”

I took a step forward. Nova dropped into a crouch over the sleeping Jack. Her eyes darted between the knife in my outstretched hand and my face. I tossed the blade to my other hand and caught it. Her body twitched in anticipation. I tossed it back and forth again. Her lips curled over her extending teeth.

“I’m going to kill you first,” I told her. “I wanted to keep you for my experiments but you’re just too much of a liability. Jack will be good enough. But don’t worry, you’ll be with each other in the end. I’ll dump your bodies next to each other.”

A snarl and roar ripped through the air. The snarl came from Nova, but who roared? As I turned to look in the direction, I saw a huge silver beast flying through the air at me. We collided and I flew back; smashing into a tree. The silver beast stood on my chest, claws digging to my muscles and his huge fangs inches from throat. He roared deafeningly in my face.

Nova

I thought for sure I was going to die here in the forest when I saw Andy pull the large knife from behind his back. I had no weapons on me and I was extremely pissed at myself for letting him trick me into shifting back and cornering me. My blood boiled as he talked about killing me first and then Jack; he blamed me for destroying his dreams. I snarled at him in anticipation, just attack already so I can counter and drive you back away from my fallen mate!

A ferocious roar ripped through the air as Andy came forward. I knew that roar! I looked up and saw my father’s silver bodied tiger leap through the trees and land directly onto Andy. Tears filled my eyes as I watched him. His coat was always the most magnificent with silver hair and almost white stripes.  His blue eyes were focused on Andy and I knew he was within seconds of killing him. I know I should’ve let him, but I thought about the missing shifters.

“Daddy! Don’t kill him!” I cried out. The silver tiger had slashed Andy across the chest with his claws; leaving 3 long gashes.  “We need to know what he’s done with the others!”

While Andy sobbed, the silver tiger turned so fast it was a blur and I heard a loud crunch and Andy screamed out louder than ever.  The tiger moved away from him and I saw his feet were bent at strange angles, blood oozed out of teeth marks from both ankles. My dad had broken them with one bite.

The silver tiger trotted to me and nuzzled against me. He purred for a second before growling low and dangerously. I stroked his ears and his face as I looked into his eyes. They were normally a sky blue but today they were dark and furious. I saw them soften just ever so slightly as he stared at me. He leaned in and poked me with his nose then poked me all over as he assessed me for any damage. I couldn’t help but giggle when does this. He huffed a chuckle at me.

We both looked over at Andy as he howled in pain in the ground. He tried to touch his ankles but thee gashes in his chest would reopen as they tried to heal and bleed again. He will live but it’s gonna take a while to heal from that. And if his feet heal in the position they’re in now, he won’t be able to walk at all. He will likely have to re-brake them and set them properly. And even then he probably won’t ever walk right again.

I walked over to the large knife Andy dropped when my father barreled into him and picked it up. It had a huge 8 inch blade complete with serrated tip and blood holes. A knife like this could easily kill a human and seriously damage a shifter. I carried it over to the whimpering man against the tree covered in blood. He looked at me with fear in his eyes and I stared back blankly. I lifted the knife up in front of him. He began to shake with fear.

“I-I-I’m sorry!” Andy blubbered at me. “Please don’t kill me!”

“Tell me where they are,” I said coldly.

 Andy shook his head and I immediately punched him in the face with hand holding the blade. The added weight broke his nose; gushing blood down his lips and chin. I put the tip of the blade under his chin and pushed his head up.

“Where are they?” I asked again.

 Andy swallowed hard; trying not to move his head down on the tip of the knife. He stared at me silently. I raised an eyebrow at him and slid the blade tip from his chin to his throat.

“I’m not f*****g around, Andy,” I said. “You f****d up big time and I’m not even talking about what you’ve been doing the past 8 years. You drugged me, chased me through the forest, you’ve lied to me, tied up and drugged my mate, and tried to kill me three times! Do you think I’m going to let you walk out of here alive?”

“Yes,” boomed a voice from the trees. It was deep and rich, slightly accented. It was full of authority.

I looked up from my crouched position in front of Andy. I saw a tall man emerge along with four others. They were dressed in black suits. Even though the sun was almost completely set, two of them wore sunglasses. I recognized them all as agents I’ve known my whole life and worked with for the past 7 years.

“Nova!” The only female agent said and came to stand beside of me. “Sweetie, put that knife down and come with me.”

I looked back at Andy. He had his eyes closed, tears streamed down his face through the blood and dirt. I lowered the knife from his throat and dropped it to my side. Jamie, the female agent, immediately picked it up and handed it to one of the other men then returned to me. She wrapped her arms around me and held me tight.

“We have been going crazy! What were you thinking?” She chided me. She helped me to my feet and tried to pull me in the direction of the others.

“Wait,” I said and stepped out of her embrace. “I need to check on my mate.”

I hurried over to the tree where my mate laid. His eyes were still closed, his face smooth and relaxed in his sleep. I knelt down beside him and leaned in front of his face. I felt his breath on my cheek and saw his chest rise and fall. I smoothed the hair on his head and stroked his cheek.

“Nova,” the tall man called for my attention. I looked up at him, my hands still stroking Jacks hair. “Why did you come here without informing anyone? Do you have any idea how much danger you’ve put yourself in? Not to mention risking our investigation?”

I hung my head. “I’m sorry sir,” I said sadly. “I will accept whatever my consequences will be.”

“We will discuss it later,” he said firmly. “But I’m very glad to see you. I look forward to meeting your mate when he wakes up. James, do you have a change of clothes?” He turned his attention for silver tiger. He had come to lay beside me while I sat with Jack. The tiger nodded and went off into the woods.

Shortly, after a tall, muscular man with silver hair and blue eyes strode out from the woods. He wore jeans, a long sleeved flannel shirt and his usual white and black baseball hat. He shook our boss’s hand as he passed on his way back to me. I looked back down at Jack as my father approached and stood over me.

“Nova Abigail Carter,” he said in his deep voice. “What in the hell were you thinking?”

I peeked up at him, saw his furious expression, and looked back down again. I really wish Jack was awake right now. I reached down and held his hand.

“I’m sorry,” I said. It barely louder than a whisper. “I don’t know how to explain it though. I knew I had to come here. Something in my gut said I had too, but I wasn’t sure if it was anything.”

“It was something alright! You could’ve gotten yourself killed!”

“But she saved her mate,” Jamie spoke up. I looked at her with gratitude and nodded, squeezing Jacks hand. “Maybe that’s why she felt she needed to come here so urgently.”

My dad looked down at the man on the ground. His face was unreadable as multiple emotions flitted across his face;  anger to surprise, concern to wonderment, and then all went back to angry as he fixed his gaze back to me. I looked around me instead of at him. Two of the agents stood guard over a bleeding, whimpering Andy. My dad and Jamie stood beside me and Jack. Our boss, Samson and the other agent were discussing something with each other and pointing around the woods.

“We should get him up and out of here,” Samson said nodding at Andy. “He’s going to need medical attention. What’s wrong with him?” He pointed at Jack

“Andy tried to shoot me with a tranq gun, Jack knocked me out of the way and got hit in the back. But before that he had been drugged and held in a shack.”

“Mike, Chad,” Samson directed the men standing over Andy. “Pick him up and get him to the hospital.”

The two hulking men immediately moved to Andy and picked him up off the ground. He screamed in agony as he tried to walk. The gashes in his chest and side from where my father and I had clawed him were now angry pink lines and almost healed. But his feet had healed wrong like I knew would happen. His toes pointed out at an almost 90 degree angle. The two man grabbed him roughly under the arms and started to drag him away from the tree. He tried to pull out of their grip, fear and pain twisting his face. Samson walked over to Andy and slapped him hard across the face.

“You are now in the custody of SCA. You will be taken to our medical facility to be screened and treated for you injuries.” Samson spoke firmly with authority. He was the kind of man that when he spoke, you listened to what he had to say and obeyed him. “At that time you will be read your rights and be taken into our custody for your crimes against shifters. Do you understand?”

Andy didn’t seem capable of talking. He kept his mouth firmly close; his lips pressed tightly together to keep from screaming out. He nodded at Samson and the agents continued to half carry and half force him to walk through the forest. Even though disappeared quickly into the trees, we could heard Andy’s random shouts of pain as they descended.

Samson turned back to the four of us by the tree and walked over to us. He looked down at me and Jack, his brown eyes studying everything he saw. He offered me his hand so I could stand. I took it and got to me feet. He stopped to check me over for injuries then pulled me into him to hug me tight. I felt him sigh and he patted my head in a fatherly way.

“You had us scared out of our minds, Nova,” he said. “You disappeared without a trace. You’re fathers been an absolute mess trying to find you.”

Guilt washed over me again, leaving me feel heavy and ashamed. I didn’t mean to worry them. I really just thought it would be a quick in and out mission. I’ve done dozens of info gathering missions like this; granted I usually didn’t go alone and someone knew where I was.

“I’m so sorry,” I said again. “I didn’t think it was gonna turn out like this. We were stuck in our investigation and I just wanted to find something out that we could use. I had no intentions of getting involved or making contact. I didn’t mean to jeopardize the case.”

“We will be fine,” Samson said. “He assaulted and attacked a SCA agent. You rescued a shifter who would’ve met the same fate as the others. He will be charged for his crimes and he will never be able to hurt another shifter again. But please, no more stunts like this! You’re fathers been a very bad mood since you’ve been gone. Completely insufferable!”

I laughed and pulled back from Samson’s hug to look at my dad. He looked unashamed and nodded at me.

“Yup,” my dad said. “Damn lucky I didn’t come in with helicopters and guns blazing!”

I laughed again and crossed to my dad to hug him tightly. He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed. I felt his shoulders sag and heard a little sniffle. I squeezed him back tighter, tears falling down my cheeks. I felt so bad for worrying them all. We were all a family in our agency. We took care of each other and looked out for each other.

“I promise to never do this again,” I said; my words muffled by his shirt, but I knew they could all hear me.

“Good,” my dad said squeezing so tight I could barely breathe. “Let’s get you home now.”