Page 4 of Tiger Born

With a scream, she dropped the knife and grabbed the door handle with both hands, trying to pull it closed, and pinning the tiger’s arm there as she struggled to stay out of its swiping reach. Outside the window, the face of her nightmares was there. Big dark orange head with the black stripes. He didn’t even look like a wild tiger. There were too many stripes, and his round, gold eyes held a human understanding that was terrifying.

She was screaming, and her hands were slipping from the handle, and then there was a weight over her shoulder. It was heavy. A blur of motion blasted in front of her face and the knife she’d dropped slammed into the paw.

The stranger was awake. Fire in his eyes, he told her, “Drive!” as he dragged that blade straight through the tiger’s paw. A roar sounded and the arm of the tiger flinched back, giving her room to close the door. She hit the lock and fumbled to turn on the automatic start button as something hit the side of the car hard.

“Fucking drive, lady,” the man said, his weight half on her.

“Give me space!” she yelled as she struggled to reach under him to switch the gears to drive.

He didn’t respond though because he was freaking passed out again.

“Shit!” she yelled as she maneuvered the gear shift to drive and hit the gas. The back end of her car spun out as she cranked the steering wheel hard.

There was no stopping at the front of the hospital and asking for help for this guy. He wasn’t even human. What could they do for him? It would be a spectacle, and he would pass away before they figured out what the hell to do. She could just imagine the news, the reporting, the misinformation. The statements they would want from her, and she’d only just recovered her life.

He’d saved her and she owed him. Just this once, she owed him.

“Hold on, mister,” she gritted out as she blasted out of the parking lot.

She looked in the rearview mirror, but the tiger wasn’t following them.

This stranger had maimed its paw. She’d seen what he’d done with that knife. It would be a gruesome injury and hard to walk on, much less run.

She’d always known she wasn’t safe. Not really. She’d just had this feeling all these years that the hunt wasn’t over.

She’d felt hunted the entire time, and now she was realizing that her instincts had all been right.

She glanced at the guy laying over the console, taking up her whole damn car, and knew her time was so limited. She needed to work on him quickly, and she knew just the place.

Misty needed to save him so he could answer her questions.

She needed to know everything.

Chapter Two

A knock sounded at the door, and Misty startled hard and nearly fell out of the chair.

“Y-yes?” she asked in a rush, moving to cover the stranger’s mangled body with the blanket more completely.

“Hon, do you need any food? I’ve got to head to work soon. I can cook you some eggs and toast real quick if you want me to.”

“Umm, hang on,” she murmured, making her way to the heavy door. She slid it open, blocking her Uncle Tim’s view of the dark room. “I think I’m good. I’ll make some breakfast later. Maybe when he wakes up.”

Truth be told, she still felt queasy from working on the stranger’s injuries. They were gruesome. She hadn’t gotten nauseous like this since medical school. It looked like something had tried to eat him alive. A tiger if she had to guess.

Uncle Tim arched his bushy gray eyebrows and looked over his bifocals at her. “Do you need me to call into work and stay with you?”

“No, I’m okay.”

“Are you safe?” he asked.

He’d been the only one to believe her story about the day she’d been attacked by the tiger-man. She was also pretty sure he’d figured out who this stranger was. He was a sharp man who thought outside of the box. He was also the closest thing to a father she’d ever had, and he lived close to the hospital, so she’d known from the second she’d seen the stranger’s entire face that she was bringing him here.

“Love you,” he said.

“Love you too.”

“Call me if you need anything!” Uncle Tim said as he walked down the hallway and to the stairs that would lead him from the basement to the kitchen upstairs.