West glanced back at the group to make sure everyone was accounted for. Today would be the last leg of their extended stay in the wild. They would be returning back to the main sanctuary. They were running low on supplies, and it was time for Charlee and the biologists to touch base with the ecologists and senior researchers. According to the group, there was plenty of information that needed to be discussed.

Today, they would try for one more tiger, then they would head back. After the scare yesterday with the man in the woods, and Alf’s records going missing, the entire group knew not to separate. Each member wore their weapons on them somewhere they could access them easily if need be. There was no telling if they would run across a wild animal or a mysterious human.

They didn’t need to go far from the trucks this time. There were a few direct paths that they could walk that led away from where they parked the trucks. They were following the multiple sets of tracks of different animals.

His tiger was currently pleased that Charlee chose them. His animal was calmer and satisfied. Hell, West was satisfied with the urgency of their lovemaking from this morning. He wanted to shout to the world for all to hear when he climaxed, but knew that because they were in such open accommodations, he had to remain as quiet as a mouse in church. He couldn’t wait to get Charlee back to the States. He planned to lock her up in his bedroom for two whole weeks. She would scream his name until she no longer had a voice. His pants drew stiff with all of the thoughts that burned in his mind. He glanced back and found her eyes on him. She smiled slightly as she gripped her shotgun in her hand.

He drew his attention back to the mission at hand—finding another tiger to insert the microchip into. West paused and bent down to study the ground. Familiar tracks were embedded in the dry mud.

Tiger tracks.

“We’re going in the right direction,” he announced, standing up. “There are a few different tracks that I can see. It looks like wild boars have passed this way. A hungry tiger is probably following them.”

Everyone nodded as they prepared. West’s eyes caught Luka’s and he knew that something was wrong. Luka casually signaled for them to go on, but he was staying behind. West nodded and motioned for everyone to continue.

The forest began to thin out and West held up a hand, signaling for everyone to pause. He moved forward and parted the dense brush so that he could see. He was surprised to find that the area opened to a few acres of flat land that was full of elk mulling around. Off in the distance, West’s eyes caught sight of a tiger keeping his body low to the ground as he slowly approached the elk herd.

The tiger was in complete hunter’s mode. West knew that feeling all too well. His tiger loved the thrill of the hunt. He had to push down his tiger who wanted to join in. West quickly closed the brush and turned back to the group.

“We have a tiger on the hunt. There’s a herd of elk out there,” he said.

“Elk? Really?” Charlee said, moving up from the middle of the group. “We either do this now and risk setting off an elk stampede, or we wait until he makes his kill, then we get him.”

“We are not going to have time,” Dr. Skobo announced. “We might as well wait and let the cat eat first before we knock him out. “

“But if we wait until after the kill, we run the risk of scavengers coming and interrupting us as we tag him. That could prevent us from getting the information that we need,” Dr. Zhang advised the group.

“Dr. Zhang is right.” West nodded. “If we wait until after, we’ll need to at least wait until he moves away from the carcass so that scavengers can just have the rest and leave us be.”

A loud commotion filled the air, letting them know that the decision was out of their hands. West flew back to the brush and moved the leaves, watching as the tiger moved. Everyone rushed over so that they could watch nature in action. The slight sounds of cameras clicking filled the air as everyone was captivated by the sight of the tiger weeding out his prey.

Not a word was said as they all watched the tiger run along with the elk. West knew that the tiger was testing the herd and trying to determine the young, weak, and older elks.

Quickly, the tiger identified his prey. A larger elk, who was slower than the others, somehow separated from the herd. The group of elks continued on as the lone elk seemed dazed and confused that it was alone. The tiger instantly sped up with his body angled, and headed straight for its target. Its powerful strides ate up the distance. In what seemed to move in slow motion, but actually spanned a few seconds, the tiger pounced on the elk’s back.

The elk released a cry as it fell to the ground. Its legs kicked out as the tiger dodged them, and flew to the elk’s neck. It latched onto its throat and they all waited as they watched nature play out.

“Wow,” Charlee breathed from beside West. Murmurs of agreement floated through the air. “Too bad for the elk, but that was just beautiful.”

“I second that,” Malena agreed as she adjusted her backpack.

Luka slowly crept back into the group. None of them had even realized he had been missing. The look in his eyes let West know that he found something. West itched to pull him aside to find out what was going on, but knew that would alert the humans.

West and Luka stood guard while they all worked on the tiger. So far, this was the biggest tiger they had captured. Silence filled the air as each person did the job that they were assigned. This time, they didn’t have time.

Charlee was able to shoot the tiger with the tranquilizer as it was jogging back to the brush, but it was still a couple hundred feet from its kill. It had been an easy shot. The tiger’s belly was full from its meal. The scavengers would be coming soon, and they did not want to be caught by a sleeping tiger. The hyenas and buzzards would not be friendly, and chances were high that the hyenas would attack.

Charlee quickly examined the tiger’s teeth and mouth, finding them to be in perfect shape. It’s massive fangs displayed how dangerous it would be if it woke up with them still working on it. This was an impressive male Amur tiger. His body was in shape, and there were no signs of physical injuries to him. It was absolutely breathtaking, but Charlee did not have the time to admire him.

“You need to hurry,” West advised with his back to them. They both held weapons in their hands so they wouldn’t be taken by surprise by any of the wild animals in the area.

“I can’t get the chip to register,” Alf stated, frustration lining his voice.

“What’s the screen saying?” Luka asked, turning his head toward them. Alf blew out a deep breath as he tapped the screen. Luka gave him verbal instructions to help him get the chip registered.

Charlee scrambled as she wrote down her measurements. She began packing up her supplies as her ears picked up on West letting loose a string of curses. Her head whipped around to see the first hyena making its way toward the dead elk.

“It’s time to go,” West snapped to the group, just as Alf confirmed that the chip was showing on the tablet.

Everyone scrambled to grab their bags as Luka and West began stalking toward them. Charlee’s eyes widened as two more hyenas came out of the brush on the other side of the clearing.

“What are we going to do about the tiger?” Charlee asked as she stood. They couldn’t just leave the tiger alone while the hyenas were with the carcass. The hyenas would see it as another opportunity for a meal on an unconscious tiger.

“You all go hide in the brush. Luka and I will handle the hyenas,” he instructed, motioning for them to get moving. Charlee peeked around him and could see that the hyenas were taking notice of them as they attacked the fresh carcass. More of the hyenas appeared, going straight for the carcass.

She glanced back down at the slumbering tiger, knowing that it would be out for at least another twenty minutes or so before it would start coming out of its drug-induced sleep. There was no way that they would be able to move seven hundred pounds of dead weight. It would take all of them, and looking over at the carcass, they didn’t have much time.

West glanced back and cursed. “Get moving now!” he snapped. The group began to jog toward the trees. Charlee turned, but saw that West and Luka hadn’t budged from their spots near the tiger.

“Aren’t you guys coming?” she asked, pushing her hair from her face.

“We can’t leave him unprotected. Go with the others. We’ll be fine,” West assured her as he came to stand in front of her.

“Looks like their whole pack is now at the elk’s body,” Luka announced over his shoulder.

“It’ll be fine. The hyenas won’t attack when they see that there are other tigers in the neighborhood,” he murmured against her temple. “Take everyone a little deeper into the woods. Just go about a few hundred feet and wait for us.”

“Are you going to shift?” she asked. She wanted to see his tiger again.

“No, but they’ll know that our animals are close.” He turned and pushed her toward the brush where Malena and the others waited. She jogged to the brush, clueless as to what West and Luka had planned.

“Come on, “ she instructed as she motioned for everyone to follow her. “West said for us to move back in the brush. They’ll come as soon as the tiger looks as if it’s waking.”

“What is so special about them that the hyena’s will not attack?” Dr. Skobo snapped.

“I don’t know.” She threw her hands in the air. “Maybe the guns that they have in their hands.”

“Let’s just do as Mr. Rogavac asked,” Alf encouraged. “He hasn’t led us wrong yet.”

They stuck together as they made it a little deeper into the forest before finding a good place to rest. Charlee couldn’t concentrate on the conversations that were softly going on around her as her imagination began to race. What was West and Luka doing in order to keep the scavengers away from the tiger? Would they be okay? Would they have to shift and defend the large unconscious tiger?

Charlee sighed as she leaned back against the tree she had sat down in front of. It shouldn’t take the tiger that much longer before it would begin to awaken. She glanced down at her watch and saw that not that much time had passed.

“It’s very brave of them to stay and guard the tiger,” Malena said as she sat next to Charlee.

Charlee ached to tell her friend West and Luka’s secret, but knew that it was not her place to divulge that information. Her and Malena had been best friends for so long, and this would be the first true secret that she would have to withhold from her friend.

“That they are,” she murmured.