Liars and Tigers (21 page)

"No," Misha
answered, pouring the basket contents on the ground and watching as the cats
eased their way toward it. She ran her hand down the length of the tigress's
back. "It's interesting that such solitary creatures find comfort in having
others who have suffered through the same ordeal, isn't it?"

"What do you
mean?" Jack asked, dumping his basket as well, stepping aside for the two
males to investigate their food.

Misha picked up a berry and
offered it to one of them. He took it gently from her hand. "Tigers are
loners. They don't live in prides like lions do. Yet these three are closely
bonded. They all suffered the same abuse and neglect at the zoo they were
in."

"They were also born
in captivity and their natural instincts were never nurtured. What are you
getting at, though?" Jack asked, watching nervously as she carefully sat
on the ground and hand fed the same male, while the other two cats gnawed on
the large chunks of meat and a chicken.

"People do the same
thing. We band together to support each other when faced with tragedy or
threats. The difference is, we do it out of selfishness and what we can get out
of it. These three did it purely out of instinct and knowing there was strength
in numbers. That's how I feel with Alex. He's stronger than I imagined and it
makes me feel safe."

"What's wrong with
that?"

"Look around you. They
have become content being in this pen as long as they have each other. I don't
want to become complacent. That scares me more than anything."

"Complacent is not a
word I would ever choose to portray you, Mish. You are too restless by nature.
So is Alex. The biggest difference between you two is that he has already
marked his territory, you have not. He will provide boundaries for you to be
safe in while still allowing you freedom."

"Will he? Are you
certain, without a doubt, that he won't try to tame me and force me to become a
common lap cat?"

"Have I ever steered
you wrong, baby?" Jack ignored the giant animals around him and reached
for her hand. "When have I ever done anything but give you the best of
what I had?"

"Never. Jack? I'm
sorry." Misha's eyes welled. "All these years I have done nothing but
push you away. You've been more of a dad to me than anyone. I've never properly
thanked you, either."

"Seeing you happy is
all the thanks I need," Jack smiled warmly. "Alex is a good man.
There is no one else I would want for my little girl."

"Oh, Jack," Misha
hugged him, "Ow!"

The tigress hissed and
flared her nostrils at Jack while slapping Misha aside with her large paw. She
lowered her head and snarled, her eyes focused on Jack's face.

"You need to get out
of here," Misha said, slowly backing toward the door and pushing Jack
behind her. "She's provoking an attack and the males are joining
her."

"Fuck," Jack
whispered, keeping eye contact with the pacing cats.

"Fuck is right. Go
slow and stay behind me. She is running on pure instinct and thinks she's
protecting me. Make no sudden movements."

"What are you
doing?" Jack panicked as Misha moved away from the door, and him.

"What I do best. Get
out."

"Misha!"

"Trust me," Misha
demanded, approaching the tigress slowly. Jack exited the enclosure, grabbed
the tranquilizer gun, and aimed it through the bars.

"You're too close. Get
away from her," he said.

"If you shoot her, the
other two will see it as a sign of aggression. Please, just stay calm,"
Misha said, offering a piece of meat to the female after lowering herself to
the ground. The tigress's tail twitched menacingly as she circled her. She
brushed her long whiskers against Misha's head, growling deeply as she pressed
her huge body closer against the woman. The two males stood to the side,
watching every move made by both the tiger and her prey.

Misha inhaled deeply and
forced her body to relax, hoping that the animal would sense her submission and
not interpret it as weakness. The tigress paused and launched herself on
Misha's back, wrapping her front paws around the woman's shoulders and shoving
her backwards to the ground. Misha squirmed as she tried to escape the rough tongue
on her face, and put her hands up to protect her delicate skin. The tigress
used her paw to flip Misha over to her stomach, sniffed her from head to toe,
and then settled her body over Misha's back. She had made her claim.

"Misha?" Alex's
voice rang through the enclosure. "Dear Lord! Misha!"

"I'm okay," Misha
answered. "She was just protecting me. She won't get off me, though."

"I'm coming in to get
you," Alex said.

"No! She smelled you
on me and might think you are a danger. Jack! Don't let him!"

Alex ignored her warnings
and entered the pen while Jack focused the tranquilizer gun on the tigress.
Alex ignored the males and walked directly up to the female.

"She is mine," he
growled, meeting the yellow eyes of the animal. The cat stared at him, twitching
her tail slowly. She rose to her feet and walked away, leaving Misha free to
stand. "Get out of here before she changes her mind," Alex ordered,
pointing to the door.

Misha rapidly obeyed and
clung to Jack while Alex slowly backed his way out, his eyes never leaving the
female. Once the door was closed, he gathered Misha in his arms and held her
tightly. She could feel him trembling.

"You saved me,"
she whispered after his lips left hers. "She took me as a prize."

"I don't know what
that means," Alex said. "I'm just grateful that you're not
hurt."

"Tigers will sometimes
hoard their prey for another meal time," Jack explained, stroking Misha's
hair. "She was either claiming Mish as a cub or as food. It's hard to
tell. Either way, it can be deadly."

"Why were you in
there? After everything we've gone through—"

"I was with her,
Alex," Jack said. "It's my fault. I hugged her and the tigress took
that as an intrusion upon her claim. I'm sorry."

"I can't believe how
you stared her down," Misha said, resting her cheek on Alex's chest.
"I didn't know you had it in you."

"Me neither, but she
was threatening what was mine," Alex said, kissing the top of her head. He
was still trembling. "Thank God you're okay."

"There is something I
need to do," Misha said, her voice sad. "I'll be right back."

She returned with Rodin in
her arms. Jack shook his head frantically. "No! She will kill him!"

"If she is needing a
cub, then I have to see if this works. I don't want to lose him, but he needs
to be with his own kind too."

"Mish, you don't have
to do this," Alex said, holding her arm.

"I do. It's only
right." Misha inhaled deeply and reentered the enclosure with the cub
tucked against her chest. The tigress lifted her head and sniffed the air, then
slowly rose to approach the girl. Misha placed the cub on the ground and
stepped back, holding her breath.

She watched with
trepidation as the giant female circled the cub. Rodin's ears were perked up
and he chased her long striped tail, catching it in his paws and biting down on
it playfully. The tigress plopped to her side and drew the cub against her,
grooming him with her large tongue. She snarled at the curious males until they
backed away, and then returned to licking her new baby.

"He has a new momma
now," Misha said, her eyes brimming with tears. "We need to relocate
the males right away."

"Are you going to be
all right?" Alex asked, holding her tightly.

"I'm going to miss
him. He was my baby."

"He will always be
your baby, honey. He is just with his own kind now, and that is what's best for
him."

"I know." She
broke into tears, wrapping her fingers in his shirt. "I'm being
selfish."

"You aren't selfish,
my darling, you're human. Jack? Why are you crying?"

Jack rubbed his hand across
his eyes. "Allergies."

"You haven't lost your
baby either, old man," Alex reached to hug his old friend. "We have
all just finally found a place where we fit, and that is together."

***

"How's Rodin?"
Alex asked quietly on the way home that evening.

"He acts like he's
never known I exist. The tigress won't leave him alone for a minute. I've never
seen such devotion before."

"I guess they both
needed each other. Poor Kena," he reached to stroke the head of the dog,
"no puppies and no kitty. I guess that means she gets us to herself
now."

"I don't know why this
hurt so much. I'm an expert on felids. I know better. Maybe I was hoping for
the handling position. I just don't get it."

"That can still
happen. Just because he is being raised by one of his own doesn't mean we can't
explore that opportunity."

"You're sweet, but we
both know that the minute he bonded with her, the domestic imprint was
eliminated. I couldn't take him out in public any more than I could risk taking
her. It's just sad for me, on so many levels."

"What do you
mean?"

"Besides losing Rodin
and the chance to handle him, I also realized that now I have no need to
purchase my own ranch. I wanted a place to call mine, but today, when you
risked your life to save me, I saw that the only thing I really need is
you."

"But your dream…"

"My dream was to have
a place I could call home." She looked over at Alex. "I have you and
Jack. And Kena," she smiled as the mastiff drooled on her arm. "I
have a home with my own kind. People who love me for being me."

"Sweetheart, I
understand needing a place for yourself. How about I build you a tree house?
Two story, way off the ground, with all the amenities of home."

"You would do
that?" Misha looked shocked.

"Of course. Dad loves
doing stuff like that, and Jack can help. It can be your special getaway when you
need Misha time."

"Alex Hodges, I love
you so much!"

"I do have one
condition," Alex said mischievously. "That is that you allow me to
make love to you the minute it's completed."

"Hmmm, that is a
unique way of dedicating a place. Sure," Misha giggled in agreement.

"I still intend to
mount you tonight like I said I would," Alex announced.

"You'll have to catch
me first."

"I will have no
problem in doing that. In fact, we can make a game out of it."

"I thought I was still
grounded," she said.

"You are, but given
the situation today, I think you need a good distraction."

"Well," Misha hid
a tiny smile, "you always seem to know what I need better than I do,
right?"

"I like to believe
that. Okay, here is the plan. I am going to go upstairs and take a really long
shower. In one hour, I am going to go on the hunt. The only rules are that you
have to remain on the property and in the wilderness. No hiding in the house or
the pruning sheds, okay?"

"How are you going to
find me?"

"I'm a hunter, my
love." Alex stared her down. "No one can escape me. Not even
you."

"Maybe I don't want to
escape you anymore," Misha said seductively. "For all you know, I
could be the one on the prowl…"

***

Alex scratched his head,
looking around the woods. He had lost her trail. Misha was cunning in this
special game of hide and go seek. After following a series of broken twigs and
crushed grasses, Alex stood facing the seasonal stream bed. It was still dry in
the late summer months, and studded with large boulders and rocks that she could
have followed in either direction. She had also baited him, leaving pieces of
her clothing hanging on limbs or lying across rocks. He imagined her to be
virtually naked by now, as the stack of clothing in his hands increased.

He listened to the woods.
The silence meant that the inhabitants were aware of his presence, but not
necessarily giving away Misha's location. A rush of birds east of the river bed
caught his attention, and he grinned. Sly, little beast… he turned west.

A footprint in the moss alerted
him to the direction that she had traveled, and he stealthily snuck through the
dense thickets, his ears peeled for the sound of her presence. Pausing, he
placed his hands on his waist and looked around.

The sound of crackling wood
from above made him look up. Misha pounced on top of him and bit his neck.

"Gotcha," she
said.

Alex flipped her onto the
soft ground and straddled her between his knees. "Nope. I've got
you."

"Yeah, you do. Now
what?"

"This," Alex
said, pressing his lips to hers. He scooped her in his arms, carried her to the
manicured back yard, and walked straight into the pool. Without a word, he
stripped her of the remainder of her clothing; her panties, boots and socks,
and tossed the items to the grass. His clothes joined hers and they stood
naked, holding each other, in the shallow end.