To Tempt A Tiger(32)

“Alexis? Why?”

“She’s had three cubs herself, one of them female. And because of her relationship with your fiancé, she’ll do a favor for you where she wouldn’t necessarily help me.” He paused before adding, “I know she doesn’t share my brothers’ opinion of hybrids either. She’s the only female tiger I can be sure will treat Zoe with respect and not want her dead.”

“Elizaveta won’t want her dead.”

No. The powerful elder would probably want to study Zoe, just as she’d coerced Nila into allowing medical tests. “I can’t trust any elder yet,” Vlad said aloud. “You know why.”

One of them had helped his father hunt Nila.

Vlad had been quietly investigating, but he still hadn’t uncovered which one his father had been working with—both his father and the elder were too clever to leave evidence of their connection.

There were three elders on the council who shared his father’s opinions of half breeds—Adarsh Deosthali, Chen Yuditsky and Zhang Lei. There were four others with varying opinions on the matter, most of which involved a more wait-and-see approach that didn’t necessarily represent their true feelings about hybrids. And there was one elder besides Elizaveta, Kamal Ghosh, who had become very pro-hybrid since Nila’s introduction to the community.

Elizaveta Chernikova was the only one who, from the start, wanted to find hybrids. She was the one elder who would support Zoe’s entry into tiger society without qualms. But he couldn’t contact her without raising suspicions and getting his brothers’ attention.

Until he was ready to introduce his daughter to the community, the fewer tigers who knew about Zoe, the better.

He was risking a lot just calling Nila.

“Well,” he said when more silence followed his comment. “Will you help me? Will you contact Alexis for me?”

“Of course, because we’re talking about a three-year-old baby. You knew I’d help the minute you told me how old she was.”

He smiled but tried to keep his tone neutral. “I hoped.” He gave Nila directions to the Alpine cabin to pass on to Alexis. “The sooner she can get here, the better. Zoe needs to learn to shift soon. It’s the only way to keep her pain away.” And to keep her safe.

At least, he hoped it would help keep her safe. Unlike Nila, Zoe didn’t have to enter the shifter world with only a vulnerable human form to call on. If his daughter could learn to embrace her tiger side, she’d have an advantage.

He exchanged a few more details with Nila then hung up and hoped. If Alexis didn’t get here in the next day or two, Vlad would have to start teaching Zoe himself. Rose wouldn’t stay up here, away from work and her parents, indefinitely. They had to start Zoe’s lessons now.

He headed back to the cabin, taking his time as he considered what he had to do over the next few days. When he reached the front door, he started to knock to announce his entrance but paused when he heard a strange, discordant sound. He focused on the noise. When he realized what he was hearing, fear and adrenaline shot into his blood.

Zoe was whimpering in pain.





Chapter Eight



Vlad flung open the cabin door and hurried to the living room. Rose was on the floor, holding Zoe, rocking her as the little girl’s body seemed to seize, her limbs going stiff and trembling, before she relaxed and started to cry.

Rose looked up. “I can’t get through to her. She’s hurting too much to listen to the sensory thing you taught her.”

Vlad knelt beside them. As he watched, Zoe’s limbs jerked, a spasm that looked like a human seizure, but was actually her body trying to shift. Rose gasped as colorless fur sprouted from Zoe’s arm and disappeared the next instant.

“Zoe,” Vlad said near her ear, “can you hear me? Nod if you can hear me.”

No reaction. Her jaw was tightly clenched, her eyes squeezed shut, and a fine tremor coursed across her skin. Patches of white fur sprouted along her cheeks and didn’t immediately disappear. Zoe’s ears seemed to shift on her head, moving higher and lengthening, before snapping back into place.

Vlad’s heart thumped hard. She was fighting the shift and it was fighting back. Her tiger wanted out. Panic robbed him of thought for a split second. If she would just let go, she’d be fine. But she wasn’t ready yet.

“Vlad, do something. Oh, God. Help. Please.” Rose started praying, quietly under her breath, a Catholic recitation he wasn’t familiar with.

The terror and panic in Rose’s voice forced him beyond his own fear. He took Zoe’s stiff, trembling body from her. “Go find a needle, something really sharp.”