Free The Tiger's Heart by Marissa Dobson Page A

fear reeked off her, filled the room and
grabbed his tiger’s attention. “I’m sorry, Bethany.” He moved back
to the bed and took her hand in his. “I shouldn’t have said that,
sweetie.”
    “ He tortured her,” she
whispered with tears in her eyes again.
    He crawled into bed next to her. “I’m
sorry, love. I won’t let anything happened to you,” he whispered,
holding her close. He kissed the top of her head.
    “ My baby sister…oh poor
Jamie,” she cried as Raja held her.
    * * *
    Raja pressed his cell to his ear. He
slipped out of the room as Bethany lay in bed sleeping. He had to
talk to Connor.
    “ Connor, could you come to
my quarters? I need to speak with you.” Raja closed the bedroom
door behind him.
    When Connor agreed, he
ended the call and clipped the phone back on his jeans. He booted
up his laptop setting on the coffee table before making his way to
the kitchen for another cup of coffee. Coffee won’t sustain me much longer. I’m going to need to get
some sleep soon if I’m going to be of any use to Bethany and the
clan.
    He poured the coffee he’d turned on
earlier when they returned, knowing it would be a long night, in
his mug. The aroma gave his mind the jerk it needed but wasn’t
enough to keep his eye more than half open.
    He stood, mug in hand, looking out
onto the compound. A few of the clan children were having a
snowball fight in the courtyard of main building. The fluffy white
snow flew through the air, as children dived out of the way,
laughing. Finding Bethany had made him more aware of what a
dangerous time it was for tiger shifters. He had the obligation to
protect not only the clan members but more importantly Tabitha and
now Bethany.
    His senses were open to allow him to
smell the wolf, Connor, coming down the hall. He didn’t want
Connor’s knock to wake Bethany. Rest was the best thing for her,
and it gave him time to deal with Connor. If anyone could find her
uncle, it was Connor.
    Coffee in hand, Raja opened the door.
“Thank you for coming. Can I offer you some coffee?”
    “ No, thanks.” Connor, a
true computer geek with his light brown hair messy from running his
hand through it, his ruffled dress shirt and jeans looked as if he
slept in it, stood there looking ill at ease.
    “ Come sit down,” Raja
said, moving away from the door toward the sitting area. “I have a
task for you.”
    “ Whatever I can do to
help.” Connor took a seat on one of the chairs.
    “ My mate, Bethany, has an
uncle. We believe he either is a key to all of this or is in
danger. We need you to locate him.”
    Connor nodded. “I remember he was
mentioned in the video. I never heard Pierce mention anything about
him. Do you think he could have been the one who bit
Pierce?”
    “ It’s unlikely. Rogue
shifters are normally the ones at fault. The uncle doesn’t seem
like a rogue, but my guess is he might know who did it.”
    “ I understand. What
information do we have to go on?”
    “ Very little,
unfortunately. Bethany hasn’t seen the man since she was a child.
Her father said he was a loner and had a cabin in North Dakota. His
name is James Thompson.”
    “ I’ll get to work and let
you know when I find anything.” Connor stood.
    Raja nodded, too tired to stand, his
eyes now heavier than before he had the coffee. He set the mug down
as Connor shut the door. Resting his head on the back of the couch,
he let his eyes close.
    Bethany’s hotel room. When
the call comes in, I’ll have Shadow go to the hotel and get
Bethany’s things. Check out and we will make it look like she’s
going to Virginia. Maybe Pierce will fall for the trap and the West
Virginia clan can catch him.
    He hit Ty’s number and told him the
plan. He could contact Lukas’s brother Jinx and start putting
things in motion.

Chapter
Seventeen
    The sun shining through the curtains
woke Raja. He found himself tightly holding Bethany, his gun
digging into his side, and still in the same clothes from the