“It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?” Charlee murmured to Malena as they both stood starstruck by the beauty of the lush surroundings.

“Yes, it is,” Malena whispered.

Together they stood on the open balcony of the building that was the entranceway to the sanctuary. From where they stood, leaning against the stone banisters, they could see for miles the beautiful landscape. It was the perfect backdrop, showcasing the undisturbed nature.

Today, before leaving to go into the tiger’s natural habitat, they would convene with the Russian officials and the teams that were brought in for this study. The meeting would be starting in a few minutes.

Charlee sighed, not wanting to leave her spot on the balcony.

“Let’s go,” Charlee said, tapping her friend on the shoulder.

“Do we really have to?” Malena whined. “I could stay here all day and watch nature.”

“It’s a magnificent sight, isn’t it, Dr. Black?” a heavily Russian accented voice greeted them as they walked back to the boardroom.

Charlee was certainly impressed. How could anyone get any meetings done with a view like that? The large boardroom, with one complete wall made of impeccable glass windows displaying the beautiful scenery, housed a magnificent oak table in the center with sturdy leather chairs surrounding it. On each end of the room, large plasma televisions were mounted on the walls.

“It is, Mr. Yakovich.” Charlee smiled as she stopped in front of Tryndin Yakovich, the Russian government official that would be leading the meeting this morning.

He was dressed in a perfectly tailored dark suit. He was a nice looking older man, who appeared to take good care of himself. The sly smile that graced his lips, and the way his eyes seemed to devour Charlee, made her stomach queasy. But she didn’t let it sway her from being professional. She was used to working with men during her career, which was a mostly male-driven profession. She stood up taller and didn’t shy away from him. She could deal with him like she had all the other chauvinistic males before him.

“I’m sure it will be even more beautiful in person,” Malena said with a nod of her head.

“Oh, it is.” He nodded. “Everyone on this mission should be considered lucky. Humans are normally not allowed out in the sanctuary. We try to keep it as natural as can be so that the tigers and other wild animals can live in the most natural habitat that we could create.”

“What you all have done here is amazing,” Charlee said. “And by the looks of it, not cheap either. It must have taken years, and lots of money to accomplish something like this.”

“We’ve been lucky that our government understands the importance of maintaining the eco system and preserving the Amur tigers. We want to do everything we can to ensure that they do not go extinct.”

People began to file into the boardroom as he continued to speak. Charlee’s eyes began to wander around the room, taking in the rest of her team, as well as Dr. Zhang and his team, and a few others that she was unfamiliar with.

“I believe we better have a seat. It looks like everyone is here,” Charlee said as she excused herself, pulling Malena behind her.

“He was going to talk our ears off,” Malena murmured as they slid into their chairs where they had left their belongings.

“I figured.” Charlee nodded, then smiled at Alton and Jim as they settled into their chairs. Alf had been assigned to go ahead with the rest of the team and assist with getting their camp set up.

Another gentleman walked up to Tryndin and whispered something in his ear. Curiosity got the best of Charlee, and she strained to hear what they were talking about. But, unfortunately, she didn’t speak Russian and was clueless on what they were whispering about so passionately.

Worry began to fill her chest. After the events on the train, she was left feeling a little uneasy. She had never been involved in a shoot-out before, much less been shot at. Since the train, everything seemed to calm down. The Russian government had assured them that their security would be tightened and they would have no worries.

Once they left the train station and drove the hour to Kovodsk, everything had been smooth sailing. They were even lucky with the accommodations the previous night. They stayed in a small bed and breakfast that was not luxurious by any standards, but it was clean, and the people were very hospitable.

“Is something wrong, gentlemen?” Jim asked from his seat.

“Everything is fine.” Tryndin nodded as the other gentlemen walked out of the room. “Let’s get on with the meeting, shall we?” He moved to the head of the table. Charlee and Malena both opened up their notebooks in order to take notes.

“That was weird,” Malena leaned over and whispered. Charlee nodded as Tryndin began.

“I’m not quite sure if you all know each other. I would like to start off with introductions, if you don’t mind going around the table and introducing yourselves.” Tryndin motioned to the gentleman sitting to his right as he took his seat at the head of the table.

“Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Kovodsk. My name is Dr. Lev Ilyich, and I am one of the local ecologist for the sanctuary.”

Charlee murmured a greeting along with everyone else as the next man introduced himself as Dr. Velimir Igorevich, the local senior researcher. They had made it halfway through the room before the doors burst open to the conference room. Charlee jumped as the door banged against the wall. Her heart pounded in her chest as her eyes flew to the door to see who was causing all the commotion.

Weston Rogavac.

A very pissed off Weston Rogavac.

“I know you knew that I was here, Tryndin,” Weston snapped, his glowering eyes locked on the Russian official as he stalked into the room.

The two men who were with him before, trailed behind him. Charlee’s eyes widened as she took in the power that he displayed. The official jumped from his seat, almost knocking the chair over. His face flushed red as he began to spew words in his native language.

If there were a time that Charlee wished she could speak Russian, it would be now.

“It was not necessary for you to be here,” Tryndin insisted, speaking in Russian.

West was pissed that the Russian government tried to hide the meeting by telling them the wrong time.

“I don’t need an excuse to come to the sanctuary,” West snapped in his family’s native tongue. His tiger paced back and forth beneath his skin. It wanted to swipe its heavy paw at the official, to wipe away the disrespectful look that crossed the man’s face. How dare the Russian official try to insinuate that he was not needed.

He didn’t have to have an excuse to be there. The Rogavac family donated a hefty sum of money to ensure that the sanctuary would have everything it needed to get off and running. Therefore, he had every right to be there.

“You can’t just barge in on a private meeting—”

West held up his hand to cut the Russian official off. He could feel Luka and Drago behind him, as they too were pissed at the additional information that they had learned this morning. West had received an email with information about the latest poacher’s kill. A couple of men had been arrested two days ago by the local authorities, due to the discovery of a dead cat in the back of their truck. The information was kept from the public.

Another innocent tiger killed for his bones and skin.

“I can do what I want. It seems to me that poaching has been increasing since the sanctuary was opened. The purpose of the sanctuary was to provide a safe refuge for tigers.” West moved to an empty chair across from Charlee. His eyes briefly met hers to find shock written across her face.

“We are working on the poacher problem,” Tryndin sputtered as Luka and Drago placed themselves around the room.

“Well, work harder,” West demanded, sending a hard glare in the official’s direction. “My men and I are here to stay, and we’re going on this expedition. It’s time that I personally inspect this sanctuary that my family helped pay for.”

Tryndin paused, his mouth pressed into a hard line, as if holding back further words. West eyed the man, daring him to say more. He knew he had the official literally by the balls.

If his family ceased the monetary donations that they gave every year, the sanctuary would suffer. Tryndin, a human, didn’t understand the real reason the Rogavac’s donated so much money. Not that they would actually let the tigers suffer, but if it was on the table that they would pull from being a heavy contributor to one of Russia’s beloved gems, that would certainly come under scrutiny in the public, therefore castrating Mr. Tryndin Yakovich.

“Very well,” Tryndin conceded as he switched back to English. “Please excuse us for the interruption. We are lucky to have Mr. Weston Rogavac joining us. Let’s move on with the meeting, shall we?”

West nodded to everyone around the room. His eyes again found their way to Charlee’s wide ones. He softened slightly as he gazed into her hazel eyes. She sent a small smile his way before turning back to Tryndin as he began his presentation.

Tryndin went on to speak on the history of the sanctuary and all that it offered. West, familiar with the history, took the time to study the room, watching as they took notes and asked questions. Each researcher and scientist were brilliant and at the peak of their careers. West’s eyes made their way back to Charlee and discreetly took her in.

His tiger pushed against his chest. He wanted the sexy wildlife biologist. Everything about her was downright sexy, and he ached to have her. From her thick, dark hair that hung in waves around her shoulders, covering her creamy tan skin, dropping down to her full breasts and thick hips that he knew called for him.

His tiger wanted to nuzzle her neck and breathe in her scent again. It was a scent that was addictive. In the train, his cat literally purred as it surrounded him.

“How many cats have been tagged?” Charlee’s voice broke through West’s thoughts.

“About five or so. As I’m sure you all know, it is difficult to catch a glimpse of a tiger in it’s natural habitat. One of the goals for this mission would be to tag a few more,” Dr. Nardin Skobo, the Russian wildlife biologist, disclosed to the room.

“I’m glad you brought up the mention of tagging,” Luka interrupted, standing from his chair. He walked over to the computer that controlled the massive television displays.

West nodded his head to his longtime friend, knowing that Luka would inform the room of the latest technology that they had brought with them. Luka, a biomedical engineer, was a genius. He had developed a microchip that would change the way that any animal could be tracked.

“At Rogavac Industries, our focus is always advancing technologies that will be efficient. We have come up with a microchip that has just been approved for active use in tracking animals in the wild.” Luka brought up his presentation on the screens for the room to view. He began describing how the microchip would not only work as a GPS to track where the tigers were, but could also share information about the tiger, such as vital signs, and if the tiger was ill or injured, it would send an alert to the scientists so that they could track it down to assess it in person.

“Wow,” Charlee breathed out, just as Luka finished his impromptu presentation. “That certainly would make the life of a wildlife biologist easier. According to your information, if a tiger dies in the wild, we would be notified almost in real time, and that would allow us to obtain the body and study it.”

“Exactly,” Luka said with a nod. Excitement filled the room as murmurs and chatter increased.

“I think this is great,” Dr. Zhang commented. “This will also help us with our research. One of the latest projects we are working on is trying to understand why some of the Amurs are migrating from Russia to China.”

“Exactly.” Dr. York nodded in agreement. “This will help us determine if something is wrong in the ecosystem.”

“Well, gentlemen, I think we have all the information we need,” Charlee announced to the room as she stood. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to get into the wild.”