God. Sage had never thought of it that way. “I guess that’s true. What about your parents?”

Feral glanced at Gunner and then off to the river. “They were both killed during a massive forest fire. They were trying to save some elders and ended up stuck and surrounded by the flames.”

“Oh no,” she shook her head, giving him a caring hug. “I’m sorry, Feral.”

He cleared his throat. “It’s okay. They got a lot of the pride out and me and my sister were off in college so we had no idea.”

She squeezed him tighter. “That’s awful. At least I got to say goodbye.”

He looked at her and nodded. “We had a good relationship. I told them I cared every time we spoke. My father wasn’t into emotions but he was proud of me for going to his alma matter, so his last words were that I was making him proud and that he loved me. Those words were the reason I didn’t quit school those last few months, even though I wanted to.”

“I’m sure he’s extra proud knowing how rough that was for you,” she told him.

“Oh,” Gunner interjected. “His parents are probably ecstatic that he stayed, that he kept the ski lodge going, and that he’s found you.”

Her eyes widened. “Me? Really?”

Gunner nodded and smiled. “Aunt Vicky wanted grandchildren and hoped he’d find his mate in time. I’m sure she’d be happy to know he has.”

“That’s really sweet. I can only hope you’re right.” She smiled. The forest grew thicker as they took the last few hundred yards to their destination.

“We’re here,” she told them. “As you can see, it definite—” A loud growl stopped her mid-sentence. She glanced around, unsure what was going on.

“Get out of here,” Feral pushed her behind him, toward the path they’d just come down. “Go, now!”

She ran out about fifty feet and stopped to watch from behind a tree. Sending a quick text to the sheriff, asking him to hurry over, that there was an emergency, she watched from where she was as three tigers came out from farther down the path.

Feral and Gunner tore out of their clothes. They shifted and the fight started right away. One guy was on Gunner and the others were on Feral. She glanced up the path. The sheriff might not get there in time. She’d cleaned her mother’s shotgun since the last time Feral had been attacked and kept it handy.

Decision made, she ran up to the cabin, grabbed the shotgun and shoved a handful of ammo in her pocket. As she was about to walk out, the hunting knife she’d hung by the door caught her attention. She slipped it into the waistband of her pants and rushed out. She darted down the path again, only to stop when she saw there was blood flowing.

One tiger clawed at Feral’s side while the other bit one of his front legs. He tried to shake them, but was obviously having a difficult time. Gunner was going one on one with the tiger clawing at his back. He shook him off and then bit hard on the other animal’s snout.

Feral slammed his side into a tree and was able to get one of the tigers off him. The other tiger was drawing lots of blood from his side. She aimed at the tiger hurting Feral the most. She shot, the pellets hitting the side of the enemy tiger and she shot again. The tiger went down.

There was little movement and the animal attempted to crawl away as she reloaded the shotgun, but didn’t get far before collapsing. Feral and the second tiger fought hard one-on-one as did Gunner and the other.

She shot the guy on Feral and hit him by the tail. The tiger yelped and howled in pain. The one that was focused on Gunner suddenly glanced at her and charged. She had to shoot quickly because he came fast.

The tiger was slow enough for Gunner to tackle it. She reloaded and shot it again. The tiger roared in anger and took off into the forest. The one she’d hit in the hind quarters took off after it.

She rushed forward and watched Feral’s bloody tiger shift into his human body. He glanced at her and then swatted at his leg before staggering as if drunk and falling back.

She screamed and ran forward. Someone yelled behind her. It was Tyson and Savage.

Sage got down next to Feral, fear tearing through her chest, leaving her a shaky mess. She glanced at his leg where a dart lay embedded in his thigh. One quick pull and it was out.

“Let me see that,” Gunner rushed over, slipping into his torn jeans and covering his private parts as much as possible.

“We’ll get the other two,” Tyson and Savage told them, shifting and rushing off into the forest.

“I know this,” Gunner said, his features dark with fear. “The scent. It’s bad. This is a poison.”

She gasped, her throat closing from the anxiety. There was no way she could let him die of poisoning. “Like…like snake poison?”

He nodded sharply. “Something like that. He’ll die if it doesn’t come out. It travels slowly, so it is probably still in his leg. Fuck!” He growled, started pacing and then glanced at his leg again. “I can cut his leg off. The poison is probably still not far enough to cause that much damage. But his tiger went into a coma immediately.”

“Oh god.” Her heart thudded so hard, she could barely hear herself think. What could she do? Then, the answer came to her. Pulling out her hunting knife, she gave Feral’s thigh a deep cut at the point the dart had entered. Her throat convulsed as blood spilled from the deep wound.

It was crazy and she’d probably kill herself in the process, but she wouldn’t allow him to go without trying.

Her life had been at a standstill without Feral. Now that she’d found him, she couldn’t imagine not being with him. Dear god, she loved him. And she’d do anything to make sure he lived. Even if it killed her.

Without wasting any more time, she dropped to her knees to put her face level with his thigh and squeezed the area infected with the poison and sucked it out. She spit as well as let the cut bleed. The process went on until she felt herself become faint. The last thing she saw before passing out was Sav and Tyson returning, bloodied.