Page 13 of Awakening Storm

“I’m not sure if this will work, but here’s hoping.” She crossed her fingers, held them up, and smiled. “Dillion? What do ya think? I get an A, huh?” she asked into the camera as her hair did a bouncy swish.

Aidan groaned in appreciation as he sat back on his haunches and waited. He really didn’t have enough human contact, he thought. That must be the reason for the anxious flutter against his ribs.

While the clams cooked, she hummed to herself as she tried to fold the Mylar blanket without much success. Myriad emotions from frustration to acceptance crossed her face as she struggled with the noisy material. Finally, she thrust the disheveled bundle aside.

She turned to the camera and pointed at the blanket. “Just a side note, those arenotmeant to be folded back up.” She shrugged, walking back to the fire. “I’ll just be using it again tonight anyway.”

She grabbed a pair of sticks and used them to lift the clams from the fire. Next she reached inside her backpack and pulled out a canteen of water. “This is the last of the water I was provided. I’ll have to find a fresh water source today and replenish it.”

Aidan liked the way she talked to the camera. He was getting to know her, just as her audience was. Too bad it had to all end soon.

Taking a couple of other rocks with her, Rhianna sat near the fire. She tried to lift one of the clams, only to shake her fingers and hiss in a breath of air. “Whoa. Hot.”

Aidan stood, stretching out his front paws and back, as she picked up her knife and stared at it. He wondered if she really knew how to use it without cutting off her fingers. He paced. Dammit, he had no confidence in a woman wielding a knife with such uncertainty.

With an abrupt glint of light off the blade, the sudden image of his mother surfaced in his memory. His mum had been an expert in the kitchen. It had been so so long since she’d been alive. She had been a solid Scottish woman with long curly hair, which she usually braided into a plait and wound on top of her head.

He sighed. No, perhaps his appraisal of this woman was wrong.

Assessing the problem, she searched the area, coming back with a rock to use as a cutting board. She knelt and pressed the edge of the blade on one of the clams, trying to pry it open. The clam rolled to the side, and the knife nicked the rock with achink. She tried again. And again. And again.

On the fifth attempt, the tip of the blade held and split the clam. “Finally,” she said with a relieved exhale. She grinned down at Takeshi. “I did it.”

Her look of satisfaction was contagious, and he was happy for her. Unfortunately, her delight would dissolve in a minute when he showed himself. What would it hurt to allow her to savor her victory for a moment, though?

As he watched, he tamped down the mushy feeling inside that threatened to weaken him. Ignoring the sensation, he drew himself taller and assumed his full tiger stance, which proved to be at least twice the size of an average tiger given his Guardian influences. Navigating from within the brush, he advanced toward her in slow, controlled steps.

Her head snapped up as he came into view, and she screamed. She scrambled to her feet. The look of fear in her eyes as her jaw fell open made his chest hurt—precisely where he’d experienced that warm flurry of sensation moments earlier. However, his feelings didn’t matter. He had to get her to leave in order to save her life. To that end, he roared at her, flashing his teeth in a long, forceful exhale.

She jumped. And he could hear her heart pounding faster, wildly out of control. Her eyes widened as she stared at him, frozen in place. Takeshi darted between them and snarled, baring his teeth.

Oh great. The pup was standing up to his owner to protect Rhianna.

She slowly backed up to the backpack and dug inside. She pulled out a gun, pointed it at him, and disengaged the safety. Her hands trembled as she aimed, her jaw set in clear determination. Then she walked sideways, watching him the entire time.

Aidan continued to progress, narrowing the distance between them. Her gaze shot to the camera, which he belatedly realized was still filming. He couldn’t decide if that was good or bad. He hoped when her friends saw the footage, they’d come to her rescue. He only hoped they would leave it at that and let him be.

“Go away,” she said to him as he neared.

Her weight shifted. She was going to shoot!

As the bullet flew from the gun, he jumped high and to the side. Even with his evasive action, the shot hit his thigh, eliciting a fiery pain just above his knee.

He heard her quick steps, muffled by the thud of his paws against the earth as he landed. She dashed over to the camera and unhooked it from the stand. With a flick of her wrist, she aimed the camera at him.

She mumbled, her words rapid-fire, “You’re going to ruin everything. Go back to your den. Just go.”

He had no idea what she meant or why she was reacting so oddly, but the only thing he was going to ruin was her chance at being kidnapped—and possiblykilled—by Theodora.

Rhianna brushed the back of her hand at him and then froze, as if waiting for him to comply. He didn’t, of course.

He stalked forward, ignoring the pain in his leg. She went on alert and eased backward. The rhythm they set was like a sophisticated dance, testing each other’s resolve. She pulled her shoulders back and took a formidable stance. He had the feeling she wouldn’t back down easily, and when they reached a large tree, she slid behind it.

Was she trying to hide, just hoping he would go away? If he were an average tiger, he would have sunk his teeth into her by now. He roared, then paused, thinking she was holding her breath, that she was standing perfectly still and listening for his movements the same way he was listening for hers. Expelling tension along with the air in his lungs, he decided to give her a chance—one chance—to call her team to get her the hell out of here. And if she didn’t...well, the consequences would be entirely her fault.

With that thought, a stabbing pain shot up his leg into his back. The bullet must have struck a nerve. The agony was so intense, he dropped to the ground and immediately returned to his human form.

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