Read Online The Tiger's Baby: A Paranormal Pregnancy Romance by Jade White - Free Book Online
Authors: Jade White
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wasn’t at Oso when I said I’d be, I haven’t been completely honest with you. You asked me what it was like to grow up here, as the only Shifter of my kind. That’s not entirely true. I wasn’t lying when I said I’m the only Shifter in Nelson now… but it wasn’t always like that.”
“I don’t understand,” she said, putting the tea down. Some of the color had returned to her cheeks, and even Nancy had crawled out of her favorite hiding place and settled herself on the other side of the couch, purring.
“When I was younger, I was…” Rodney tried to search for the word, and reluctantly continued, “…I guess, I was a delinquent. I never knew my father or mother, but another Shifter took me in, an old Tiger named Craven. He took all of us in, my brothers and me, other Tigers and Panthers that had been abandoned, or had run away from home. We all had different stories; it didn’t matter. Craven was like a father to us, taught us how to survive.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me any of this?” she shook her head.
“I didn’t want to scare you. And it’s not who I am anymore, I thought I’d put it in my past, where it belonged,” he shrugged, aware that it wasn’t really an excuse. “We settled here, or rather on the north shore. Craven had a farm there, and we all did our chores. It was a good life, but rough… especially for me, being one of the younger ones. But Craven protected me from the others – he liked me, because I was smart, clever. I could figure things out better than the others. We spent hours every day in Form, running up and down the paths behind the house, sometimes going for a week at a time, hunting when we needed to. It was… it was liberating, Kristen, to be able to be a Tiger, in Form, for days at a time. I loved it.
“Then one day Craven died. It wasn’t really a surprise to us. He’d been sick for a long time, and for us, death wasn’t a particularly foreign concept. But it meant we were alone, all of us. One of my brothers, the oldest of us, Theo, took over. We all followed him without thinking about it.”
She could see that it was taking a toll on Rodney to recount his story, and touched his cheek. His eyes were still distant, reliving a memory he had been avoiding for too many years. He put an arm on her shoulder and struggled through the rest of his narrative.
“We stole from surrounding houses, things we needed. It was easy to break in, and easy to break out, especially for us. When we were hungry, we’d terrorize the town, and there was nothing they could do to stop us. They brought in animal control officers, as if they could contend with Shifters. We were fools, all of us… for following Theo,” he said, “but it only got worse. He ordered us to kill the livestock from the surrounding area – we needed meat, and he wanted to make the farmers afraid of us. They’d always shunned us anyway, and he wanted revenge. But one day, things got out of hand. I was off on a raiding expedition, and didn’t learn the facts until later.
“Theo had tried to attack one of the banks in town. A security officer had pulled a weapon on him, and fired. The bullet had only grazed Theo, and he could have run away, no harm done… but he was always angry, always temperamental. The security officer didn’t have a chance, he bled out from a dozen wounds on his chest.”
“Rodney, my god,” Kristen said, bringing a hand to her mouth.
“After that, I saw Theo for who he truly was – I knew I had to get out. But he wanted to control us. Still, the police were now getting suspicious and he knew we couldn’t stay at the farm. He took the others north, but I chose to stay… I couldn’t be a part of his gang, not after that day.”
“That’s why you became a paramedic,” she said solemnly.
He nodded. “I know it can never make up for what I’ve done but-”
Kristen reached out and touched his cheek, and the towel fell away from her body. Her left breast
“I don’t understand,” she said, putting the tea down. Some of the color had returned to her cheeks, and even Nancy had crawled out of her favorite hiding place and settled herself on the other side of the couch, purring.
“When I was younger, I was…” Rodney tried to search for the word, and reluctantly continued, “…I guess, I was a delinquent. I never knew my father or mother, but another Shifter took me in, an old Tiger named Craven. He took all of us in, my brothers and me, other Tigers and Panthers that had been abandoned, or had run away from home. We all had different stories; it didn’t matter. Craven was like a father to us, taught us how to survive.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me any of this?” she shook her head.
“I didn’t want to scare you. And it’s not who I am anymore, I thought I’d put it in my past, where it belonged,” he shrugged, aware that it wasn’t really an excuse. “We settled here, or rather on the north shore. Craven had a farm there, and we all did our chores. It was a good life, but rough… especially for me, being one of the younger ones. But Craven protected me from the others – he liked me, because I was smart, clever. I could figure things out better than the others. We spent hours every day in Form, running up and down the paths behind the house, sometimes going for a week at a time, hunting when we needed to. It was… it was liberating, Kristen, to be able to be a Tiger, in Form, for days at a time. I loved it.
“Then one day Craven died. It wasn’t really a surprise to us. He’d been sick for a long time, and for us, death wasn’t a particularly foreign concept. But it meant we were alone, all of us. One of my brothers, the oldest of us, Theo, took over. We all followed him without thinking about it.”
She could see that it was taking a toll on Rodney to recount his story, and touched his cheek. His eyes were still distant, reliving a memory he had been avoiding for too many years. He put an arm on her shoulder and struggled through the rest of his narrative.
“We stole from surrounding houses, things we needed. It was easy to break in, and easy to break out, especially for us. When we were hungry, we’d terrorize the town, and there was nothing they could do to stop us. They brought in animal control officers, as if they could contend with Shifters. We were fools, all of us… for following Theo,” he said, “but it only got worse. He ordered us to kill the livestock from the surrounding area – we needed meat, and he wanted to make the farmers afraid of us. They’d always shunned us anyway, and he wanted revenge. But one day, things got out of hand. I was off on a raiding expedition, and didn’t learn the facts until later.
“Theo had tried to attack one of the banks in town. A security officer had pulled a weapon on him, and fired. The bullet had only grazed Theo, and he could have run away, no harm done… but he was always angry, always temperamental. The security officer didn’t have a chance, he bled out from a dozen wounds on his chest.”
“Rodney, my god,” Kristen said, bringing a hand to her mouth.
“After that, I saw Theo for who he truly was – I knew I had to get out. But he wanted to control us. Still, the police were now getting suspicious and he knew we couldn’t stay at the farm. He took the others north, but I chose to stay… I couldn’t be a part of his gang, not after that day.”
“That’s why you became a paramedic,” she said solemnly.
He nodded. “I know it can never make up for what I’ve done but-”
Kristen reached out and touched his cheek, and the towel fell away from her body. Her left breast
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