“She’s not used to hiding. She won’t have thought to cover her tracks.”
As they crossed the stream and headed up the opposite embankment, following the faint trail of cub imprints in the snow, Rose said, “Can you feel any other tigers? Besides the other Trackers?”
“Hard to tell because some of them are just at the edge of my ability to sense them, but I’m pretty sure the tigers left in the area are all Trackers. They’re heading in this direction now.”
They hunted through the underbrush, careful of their steps as they followed Zoe’s trail. She could move as fast as any shifter cub, but she was scared and alone. Vlad didn’t want to rush and miss signs that she’d doubled back or gone to ground to hide.
The other Trackers were in the area now. Vlad could sense them moving through the underbrush, careful and quiet so they wouldn’t spook Zoe. Her scent got stronger as the breeze shifted. Vlad changed direction to follow it.
“You know,” he said, “once she learns how to stalk and hide properly, she’ll be really hard to find. Since tigers can’t sense her, if she learns how to disguise her trail, she’ll be able to outsmart any who come looking for her.”
“Some comfort in that, I guess. If I call to her, will she hear me?”
“Probably. Her scent is getting stronger. She’s close.”
“Zoe,” Rose shouted. “It’s Mommy. Can you hear me? Come on back, baby. You’re safe now. The bad men are gone.”
In the distance, Vlad heard a rustling in the snow. He paused. “Keep calling. I think that’s her.”
“Zoe!”
One of the Trackers was closer to the location where Vlad had heard her. He waited, listening as the Tracker edged toward her. A moment later, the hiss and tiny roar of a tiger cub split the night, along with the growling whine of a hurt adult tiger.
Vlad tried not to laugh. “Hurry. This way. She’s attacking the Tracker. We’d better go rescue him.”
“That’s my girl,” Rose said as they took off at a trot toward to sounds of a scuffle.
When they found the source of the noise, Vlad released a breath and for the first time since Zoe had gone missing, he started to relax. The sight of his daughter in all her tiger cub glory hissing and swatting at an animal five times her size made him proud. The Tracker sat a few feet away, licking his front leg just above his paw. Little dots of blood colored the white and russet fur around his wound.
“Zoe,” Rose called as she set her rifle on the ground.
The cub spun to face her, paused, then launched through the air with such speed Vlad couldn’t react fast enough to catch her. To his amazement, though, Rose caught the white and orange blur securely and without being barreled over. He blinked. Damn, but her reflexes were quick for a human.
“Oof.” She chuckled and cuddled Zoe close. “Oh, baby, I’m so glad to see you. Are you okay? The bad men didn’t hurt you, did they?”
Zoe licked her face, then settled her head on her mom’s shoulder, hugging her as best she could in her tiger body.
Rose hugged her back. “I’m so sorry that happened, baby. Don’t worry. Mommy and Daddy are taking care of the bad people. We’ll make sure this never happens again. You’re safe now. You did very good, going tiger and biting the bad man. That was very brave of you.”
Vlad held perfectly still as Rose continued to coo reassurances to her daughter. She’d called him “Daddy” to Zoe. He was certain she’d done it by accident. And the slip would mean a lot of questions once Zoe returned to her human form. But the fact that Rose had referred to them as a family, as parents that would protect their daughter, made his heart pound hard.
He was so stunned and overwhelmed by the moment, he didn’t realize the Tracker had shifted back to human form until he spoke.
“Feisty daughter you’ve got there,” he said wryly. “She got me good.”
Vlad laughed and leaned over to pick up Rose’s abandoned rifle. “You okay?”
The man waved his previously wounded forearm. “All healed.” He glanced around as the other Trackers—six in total—joined them, coming from different directions. “It’s late and cold out here. We’ve gone too far from the cars to try and get you all back tonight. The Mate Run cabin is just a few minutes hike up that way.” He nodded behind him, a direction a little farther west. “Stay there tonight and we’ll head back out tomorrow morning.” He motioned to the six surrounding tigers. “We’ll sweep the area, make sure it’s clear, and then keep watch. You’ll be safe.”