The Tiger's Heart

The Tiger’s Heart

Alaskan Tigers Series: Book
Two

By Marissa Dobson

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Sunshine Press
Martinsburg, West Virginia

The Tiger’s Heart
Copyright ©2013, Marissa Dobson
Edited by Em Petrova

ISBN: 978-0-9886684-3-0

All rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
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permission of the author.

www.marissadobson.com

Dedication

To Thomas—my wonderful
husband.

Blurb:

When the Lieutenant of the Alaskan
Tigers Raja Harrison rescues Bethany from the hands of kidnappers
he gets more than he bargains for. It was supposed to be an easy
rescue, instead he finds the injured Bethany—and his mate. For
years he’s avoided the mating topic, believing his job is too
dangerous to risk another. But now Bethany threatens to risk that
fragile control he’s once had.

A rouge shifter wants Bethany Thompson
and is determined to destroy all she holds dear, along with the
tiger shifter population. When she’s kidnapped, beaten and forced
into the world of shifters, her whole world is turned upside down.
The shifter problems now are her problems as her family secret
comes to light.

Can Raja and Bethany join focuses with
the other elders of the Alaskan Tigers to bring down the rouge
shifter? Or will the rouge destroy all Raja serves to
protect?

Chapter One

The table was cluttered with papers
and maps, and their search for Pierce was underway. Information was
slowly trickling in. They had men following up on leads, searching
known vacations spots for Pierce and his gang. Most of the leads
turned out to be dead ends, but still they followed up with
everything, as the one lead they didn’t pursue would be the key to
finding the rogue shifters.

The anxiety of the situation ate away
at Raja’s gut, while Ty’s shown on his face. They seemed no closer
to finding Pierce, yet they could feel his men were in the
mountains watching them. His assassin teams were stalking the area,
waiting for them. With the danger surrounding rarely did anyone
leave the compound, especially not the women and
children.

“
Raja, stop pacing. You’re
going to wear a hole in my favorite rug,” Tabitha teased, watching
him over her coffee mug as he paced the study.

He smiled, unable to help
it. Tabitha always had a way of lightening the mood.
When I find my mate I hope she is able to make me
smile the way Tabitha can. This woman has been through so much, yet
she still is more concerned about the people around her than
herself.

“
You know I’m good for
another one.” He couldn’t sit still. The hairs on the back of his
neck stood at attention with the knowledge that something wasn’t
right. He could feel in his soul that something was going to
happen. Pierce would make a move before long, but what would that
move be?

“
I received word before
coming over that Leo and Connor arrived in California and were on
their way to locate Pierce’s sister. It’s extremely unlikely that
he’s there, but maybe she’ll be able to tell us something.” He ran
his hand over the windowsill. Outside looked like a winter
wonderland. Everything was covered in a thick, white snow, with
even more snow forecast for the next few days.

“
Keep me apprised on the
situation. I want them back within seventy-two hours, or we send in
another team. We don’t have the time to waste on this,” Ty said,
looking up from his e-tablet, where he was reading the reports from
the teams trying to track Pierce and his clan. Teams were all over
the country, yet no one had seen hide or hair of Pierce and his
men. It wasn’t surprising that Pierce knew they were searching for
him, but they didn’t expect Pierce to run and hide. Maybe the fact
that his days were numbered, for the murder and attacks on other
tiger shifters, had him scared.

Raja nodded, still gazing out the
window.

“
I need to go speak with
some of the guards. Raja, could you look after Tabby until I get
back? I don’t want to leave her alone in case there’s another
attack.”

“
Sure.”

“
Thank you.” Ty rose,
kissing her on the cheek as he did. “I shouldn’t be long,
love.”

Once they were alone Raja heard
Tabitha’s chair push back from the table, her sock-covered feet
padding toward him.

“
Raja, are you okay?” She
laid her hand on his back as if she could give him the comfort she
was able to give Ty. Unfortunately, it only worked on a mate, but
the caring gesture touched him.

“
I’m fine. You have enough
to worry about; there is no need to be concerned about me. I’m
fine.” Even he could hear the uncertainty in his voice—there was no
doubt she could.

“
I don’t believe you. If
you ever need to talk, I’m here. It will go no further than
us.”

“
Mates don’t keep things
from each other.” The reservation was thick in his
voice.

“
To help a friend in need
I would do what needs to be done. Raja, I haven’t known you very
long, but I consider you a part of my family and can see your
pain.” She ran her hand over his back.

“
Thank you, but everything
is fine with me. It’s you I’m worried about. I can feel something
bad is coming.” He wasn’t being entirely honest. There was
something bothering him, but he couldn’t put his finger on it, let
alone put it into words to tell his Queen.

“
We’ll get through it. We
know Pierce is still out there and after me. He has a larger
following then we guessed. I know it’s your job as our Lieutenant
to worry, but we’ll get through this.”

The invisible ear bud allowing him
contact with command central and the ground teams sprang to life.
“Breach. We have a breach at the main gate. All available units
respond.”

“
Shit. Where’s
Felix?”

“
Ty gave him the morning
off since we were meeting with you and wouldn’t be leaving our
quarters.” Tabitha joined him at the window. “Go. I’ll be
fine.”

“
Like hell I will. You
have to be protected.” She had her own transmitter, allowing her to
know what was happening, and he could feel her fear spilling off
her.

“
Raja, stay where you are.
Felix is on his way. I’m proceeding toward the main gate,” Ty’s
voice came through the transmitter.

“
Be safe,” Tabitha
whispered.

“
Tabitha, come away from
the window. Everyone always forgets about the windows. You feel
safe and secure inside the houses, while the sharpshooter is just
waiting. Waiting for you to walk past the window.”

He could feel her reluctance but his
job was to keep her safe, not allow her to stand in front of the
window for a glimpse of what might be happening. Unlike the other
guards, his vow wasn’t made because she was their Female Alpha or
because she was the Queen of the Tigers. No, his vow was made for
Ty. Ty had saved his ass more than once, and the best way to show
his appreciation for it was to keep Ty’s mate safe.

Chapter Two

Two knocks then a pause followed, but
one more let him know Felix was on the other side of the door. He
was the Captain of Tabitha’s guards and had a key to the quarters.
The knock was a warning not to shoot him.

“
Things are contained
now,” Felix said, sliding the lock back into place.

“
What was the
breach?”

“
It sounds like a news
crew.”

“
A what?” Tabitha
questioned.

“
A news crew, here to
interview you.”

Tabitha continued to stare at him as
if he’d grown two heads.

He continued, “About your friend,
Alice’s, murder.”

“
Oh just what we need,
news crews. Get rid of them. I want nothing to do with the whole
mess.”

“
Ty’s working on it. He
explained that this is private property and they have no right to
step foot on it. He’ll get rid of them. In the meantime, just sit
tight.”

News crews, who would have
guessed?
He chuckled to himself as he
watched the exchange.

A roar shook the walls, echoing in the
small space, jerking him out of his amusement. “Tabitha, calm
yourself. Your body isn’t ready for this yet. Don’t force it.” The
energy that she was putting off would make anyone in the room shift
if they weren’t careful. It vibrated along one’s skin, sending a
prickling sensation through a person.

“
Ty, we need you back
here. Now!” Raja hollered hitting the button on his ear
transmitter. “Tabitha, Ty’s on his way. Just keep it together a few
more minutes. Come on. You can do this.” Roars echoed from the
other side of the door, leaving them with the knowledge that any
shifter not strong enough to fight was shifting.
I hope that they got the reporters to leave
before they saw tigers roaming the grounds.

“
I’m on my way.
Situation?” Ty’s voice crackled through the ear bud.

Raja’s answer was cut off by the growl
coming from Tabitha.

“
Felix, unlock the door
for Ty. We don’t need anything slowing him down. He’s the only one
who can help her now. How did I not see this coming?”

There was no time for Raja to question
his actions but he filed it away for something he would need to
deal with later. Now he had to deal with the situation at hand. If
Tabitha shifted before the transition was complete, it would be
painful and harder for her to control.

Ty came running through the door. They
exchanged a brief look as Ty slid to a halt next to his mate, and
Felix closed and locked the door behind him.

“
Mate, you’re not ready
for this.” She didn’t seem to hear him. Her body was shaking.
Roaring, she sent another wave of magic through the
area.

“
What the hell happened?”
Ty eyed Raja.

“
Take her anger from her.
We can deal with why this happened later. If you don’t stop her,
this could kill her. I’ve seen this happen before. Without their
mate there’s nothing that could be done. Help your
mate.”

Ty reached toward his mate, to bring
her into his arms. Growls vibrated the room, causing pictures to
fall off the wall. His arms tighten around Tabitha’s thin frame.
His growls coursed with hers until they both fell into an exhausted
heap on the floor.

“
Now what the hell
happened?” Ty’s voice was hoarse from all the roaring.

“
We’re not really sure. I
was explaining the situation at the main gate when she started…”
Felix explained.

“
It wasn’t their fault,”
Tabitha spoke softly, her eyes closed, leaning heavily on her mate.
It was clear she was exhausted. “Felix mentioned the reporters and
it brought back Alice’s murder and everything that happened in
Pittsburgh. My emotions got out of control, and I couldn’t seem to
do anything about it.”

“
Emotions are haywire when
you go through the change.” He kissed her forehead. “I’m going to
put my mate to bed, and then we need to discuss the reporters and
keeping them away from the compound. Felix, deal with the guards
that have shifted. Not all of them are strong enough to shift back,
so find replacements.” With that he rose, lifted his mate in his
arms and stalked out of the room.

Chapter Three

Raja helped himself to
another mug of coffee while he waited for Ty. Felix was off dealing
with the guards, giving him a moment of peace to evaluate the
situation.
I should have been paying more
attention to Tabitha’s emotions. Allowing her to get that close to
a shift without seeing it first was a fault I won’t overlook
again.

Ty strolled back into the kitchen,
looking as if he should have been sleeping next to his mate. His
body didn’t glide as it normally did. Instead it seemed sluggish.
He ran a hand through his long, dark hair and yawned.