West and Luka made their way back to the brush. The tiger had finally begun to stir. While waiting on the tiger to wake, they both pushed their alpha powers out. When doing this, their tigers were right beneath the surface. A step away from shifting, but it would let any enemy know that the powerful animal was close. It always confused animals so they tended to slink away, unsure of where the animals were. The hyenas stayed near the elk, choosing to ignore them instead.

“Drago captured one of the humans that had been tracking us,” Luka informed West as they entered back into the forest.

“Where are they?” West asked, pausing. This was a step in the right direction. They had known someone was following them from the moment they had left the trucks to travel by foot.

“They’re located near the vehicles. He’ll wait to hear from you,” Luka stated.

West grew excited at the thought of finally making headway in finding out who was doing the poaching and targeting the group. He knew that Drago was a specialist at getting information from the man. No matter if the guy refused to talk, Drago always had a way.

“I’ll call him on the satellite phone once we get back to the trucks.”

West stopped dead in his tracks as his ears picked up on something.

Silence.

No birds chirping, no mating calls. Nothing. The forest had drawn silent, causing his tiger to instantly take notice. Silence was never a good thing in the wild.

West’s eyes flew to Luka’s, and West knew that he recognized the silence too. They both took off running in the direction that the team had disappeared. His heart pounded in his chest as he raced forward. The silence was shattered by the single sound of gunfire, followed by another one. The repeated sounds filled the air.

An automatic weapon.

“Get to the scientists!” West yelled. Luka disappeared deeper into the trees.

West crashed through the brush toward the direction that the gunfire was coming from. His tiger slammed into his chest, begging to be let free.

Not yet.

West wanted to see who it was that would dare open fire on peaceful scientists. West’s shifter hearing picked up on muttered Russian curses. He pushed harder and finally broke through the brush, coming upon the man as he bent down to reload his weapon.

Fury burned in West’s chest as he leapt forward. Surprise crossed the gunman’s face as West swung his fist, packed full of his shifter strength. His knuckles burned as his fist connected with the man’s jaw.

The gunman’s face snapped back as he fell to the ground. West stood over the still man, breathing hard as he tried to control his tiger. His animal, enraged, clawed at his chest, not taking no for an answer. West bent over in agony as he tried to push his animal back. He gasped in pain, having never before lost control of his tiger.

The internal battle of wills was overwhelming, but it was West who won the battle. His tiger snarled as it paced beneath his skin. West straightened back to his full height, taking deep breaths before leaning over to check for a pulse on the man.

Nothing.

Blood poured out of the dead man’s mouth and onto the ground beneath him. His jaw remained open at an odd angle, unhinged. West knew that his shifter power was behind the force that killed the man with one blow. He flexed his hand, ignoring the stinging of the broken skin on his knuckles.

The animal in him was somewhat satisfied by the death. He would have preferred to play out the death a little longer, if only to gain information. West went through the dead man’s pockets, looking for any form of identification. He grabbed the duffle bag that lied next to him and found a Russian driver’s license.

Pitosin B. Semyonovich.

Who the hell was this guy? West glanced back at the still figure, pocketing the identification card in his pocket before turning back to the bag.

West continued to go through it and found it full of ammunition for the automatic rifle. A Russian newspaper article was folded in the bag, stuffed inside an inner pocket. West unfolded the paper and found a black and white photo of one Dr. Charlee Black. The article discussed her team’s trip from the United States to Russia, and the purpose of the month-long study. He pocketed the article as well.

West’s tiger let loose a deep growl with the thought that one of the scientists could be injured, or better yet, Charlee—

Charlee!

Fear crept into his chest as he took off, leaving the dead man for the scavengers to find. His tiger roared as he frantically pushed his body hard, trying to get to her. He heard shouting not too far ahead and he pushed even harder. His tiger lent his speed, allowing West to move faster. He ignored the slapping of branches and leaves against his body as he flew threw the forest.

The voices grew louder as he burst through the dense brush and onto the beaten path where the group had been waiting before they were attacked. Everyone looked to be frantic and scared, but unharmed. West, breathing hard, turned in search of Charlee.

His tiger slammed into his chest at the sight of Charlee on the ground, leaning back against a tree with Luka pressing a blood-soaked rag to her arm. His tiger wanted to rush back to the dead gunman and rip him to shreds for harming Charlee. But instead, he rushed to her side, falling to his knees. Malena’s sobs filled the air as she turned away, walking over to the others.

“Charlee,” he murmured. His hand shook slightly as he gently pushed her hair away from her pale face. Her pain-filled eyes opened and turned to him.

“West. You’re okay,” she sighed, a small smile gracing her lips. Her eyes closed again as pain racked her body. West shot Luka a hard look. Luka nodded his understanding of West’s message.

Be careful.

“I’m here.” He motioned for Luka to remove the cloth so that they could see the wound.

“It went clean through,” Luka murmured, leaning close to examine Charlee’s arm.

“What happened to the shooter?” she asked, grimacing as she shifted.

“He’s been taken care of,” West said, keeping his voice low where she and Luka were the only ones to hear. Her eyes snapped open at his announcement.

“Is that why your hand is bruised and bloodied?” she whispered.

“Don’t worry about me,” he said, ignoring her observation. His hand would heal soon due to his shifter genes. In about an hour, it would be just a light bruising, and by nightfall, there would be no evidence that his fist had killed a human.

“Hold this so I can get the first-aid kit out of my bag,” Luka barked out, switching positions with West.

West hated causing her any bit of pain, but they had to stop the bleeding. One centimeter to the left and the bullet would have hit her brachial artery. Hitting an artery would have meant more blood and she would have bled to death before getting her back to the main sanctuary.

“Here, this has a bio agent that will help plug the hole,” Luka said, turning back to them.

West moved out the way to allow his friend to work. Creating wonders that could save people’s lives was Luka’s specialty. West knew that this agent was something that Luka had just got approval for, for use in the field in the armed forces.

“Luka will fix you up good,” West murmured, grabbing her hand. She squeezed hard as Luka began to clean the area. West glanced around and nodded to the other team members. Everyone was accounted for. Shook up, but otherwise alive and unharmed.

“Did you get anything out of him before you took care of him?” Luka asked in a low voice.

“No, but I got his identification card in my pocket. There was nothing but ammo in his bag.”

“So this was planned,” Luka stipulated.

“But why?” she hissed as he began wrapping gauze around her bicep.

“I think they’re after you,” West admitted.

“Me? But why?” she cried out. West motioned for her to keep her voice down. He didn’t want to attract the others. He didn’t want anyone to know his theory yet. Hell, he was still trying to piece it together himself.

Poachers wanted tiger’s pelts and bones. A famous biologist and her team coming to help save the animals by fighting for stricter laws to protect the animals would mean that the poachers would lose a lot of money.

Tons.

Enough that they would be willing to kill for it. West refused to let that happen. Charlee meant too much to him. She had crawled in and took up space in his heart, and right now, he didn’t want her to leave. He didn’t even want to know what his future would be without her.

“Don’t worry about it now,” he murmured, running a finger down her face. He couldn’t resist touching her. His tiger, now calmed, still didn’t like the fact that she was injured. He wanted to nuzzle her and rub up against her, just to check her out for himself, but West pushed him back.

Not today, but soon, he promised his animal.

“Okay, I think that should hold. We should drive straight to the sanctuary so that we can have someone else take a look,” Luka suggested.

“Thank you, Luka,” she whispered, tears flowing down her cheeks. West tried to wipe them away, but they continued to flow.

“You’re welcome. Last thing, let’s make you a sling so that we can keep that arm up.”

West and Luka made a makeshift sling to keep her arm elevated and close to her body. West helped her stand, bringing her body against his so that she could get her bearings.

“Dizzy?” he asked. She nodded as she leaned into him.

“Here,” Malena offered, pulling a water bottle out of her backpack. He took the bottle and helped Charlee take a few sips before handing it back to Malena. Charlee swayed a little as she tried to stand on her own. He bent down and scooped her up into his arms and turned to the group.

“Okay, everyone. Let’s make it back to the trucks. Eyes open, guns out. We’re all accounted for, so shoot first and ask questions later.”