Chapter 30.
‘Christian’
August’s rendezvous with the Don is at least an hour and a half away from the city, but Reuben cuts it down to an hour by speed alone.
It’s a large construction site for a mall in a small town, one that’s bound to generate new business for the residents, but although the structure is near completion, the deforestation around the area still has a way to go.
It is there that Reuben hesitates, on the border between the trees of the compound and the main road—as if he can sense them, hiding in the trees, like I do.
It’s a trap.
This ‘August’… I don’t know why he’s after Reuben’s family so suddenly, or why he even bothered to sell out my identity if he was going to go to war with them.
Maybe it was to confuse them—to create internal strife while simultaneously attacking them from all sides.
Whatever the case, he’s dangerous. He did too much damage in too little time.
He must have prepared this for months and to go after the Don…
to go after Reuben’s brothers and use them to draw out the rest of the family…
Whoever he is, he’s a threat. I couldn’t sit by and just watch him get away with this…
Not if I want to protect Reuben.
I land at Reuben’s feet, flapping my wings loudly so as not to jump him, but he doesn’t even flinch when I shift. Into a large black tiger up to his waist with a powerful body.
The men closest to him stagger back but there’s only excitement in Reuben’s eyes under the dim streetlight.
“Hold fire.” His command stops any panicked shots and he raises a hand for them to lower their weapons before stepping close to me, placing a hand on my head, completely unafraid.
Crazy bastard.
I could bite you in half if I wanted.
“Can you see them?” There’s a familiar grin on his face—a familiar madness that makes my tail curl and draws my gaze to the black ribbon that’s still tied messily into his hair.
I nod once, huffing through my nose, and my desire to protect him is even stronger now just by being close to him—it makes me flex my claws and paw the ground with a ready growl.
He places a hand under my maw firmly to pull my gaze up, and the way he’s looking at me, I could be convinced that I was the man, and he the tiger.
“Drag them out for me.” It is a command coated in honey.
A command said with the same tone of a man looking at his lover, deliberately low and breathy.
Ugh.
I would have done it even if you hadn’t tried to fucking seduce me.
I’m a tiger for god’s sake.
My tail lashes with new annoyance but I can’t be certain if it’s towards him or myself.
“Is that…?” Gabriel’s voice pulls us out of our—whatever the fuck that was, I still don’t know.
“He hasn’t told me his name yet.” Reuben places a hand on my head, before turning to Gabriel, “Call him Christian for now. Watch his back for me.”
“Which… part of his back needs watching exactly?” Gabriel mumbles.
Xavier smacks him over the head lightly, “Let’s go. We can clear the way.”
Strange that no one seems surprised by the fact that I’m a fucking tiger.
I was expecting a lot more… violence and denial.
I huff once, rubbing my head against Reuben’s hand inconspicuously. I don’t look back as I charge into the trees, with Xavier and Gabriel following as best they can.
My hunt is precise and deadly. The enemy thought to use the trees as cover, but I can smell them; I lead Gabriel and Xavier to their hiding place, and they’re sorely unprepared…
But who is really, to face down a tiger when they’re expecting armed men?
Before their shock has even settled, I’ve snapped their necks with my teeth.
Gabriel and Xavier shoot them down while their terror is drawn to me, and even when they’ve broken out of their shock, their courage is the first to break.
Their terror consumes them as they shoot at me blindly, screaming like children.
All their experience and their backbone, gone in an instant when faced with an unforeseen predator.
They are scattered through the trees, but we make quick work of them—at least twelve men even before we’ve entered the building.
It’s becoming more and more clear that August truly did intend for a war.
“Clear!” Gabriel signals Reuben and even from here deep within the trees Reuben’s voice can be heard, reverberating through my bones.
“Move in!”
His men scream behind him and if I could, I would fucking laugh. They’re expecting us anyway—screaming bloody murder is very much Reuben’s style.
And it is every bit the adventure I remembered watching through the screens—back when I was alone and filled with bitterness, wandering the streets with only the cold for company.
It is every bit the adventure I yearned for then.
But there is no cold this time, with Xavier and Gabriel flanking my sides, covering my back.
And there is no insufferable loneliness clouding my heart as we sprint into enemy territory in a bid to protect what’s ours.
In a bid to protect my second home.
The three of us are the first to enter the building, tearing through like a storm that can’t be stopped—
And straight into the line of fire, by a handful of men on the upper floor.
“Fucking hell—”
Before Gabriel’s thoughts have fully made it past his lips, I’ve shifted again. This time into a large black hawk. I make my body as big as I can, extending my wings and releasing a loud screech that grants us at least a few more moments, until the enemy masters their shock.
I rise into the air, grabbing Xavier and Gabriel into each talon before taking off towards the upper floor. They both spit and scream curses beneath me, but still, they manage to fire off shots at the enemy, cutting down at least a handful before they can return fire.
By the time the enemy gathers their bearings, it is too late.
I shield Xavier and Gabriel with my wings before dropping them onto the first floor. They’re still spitting curses, but they are quick to adapt; they roll and take cover masterfully, firing well-placed shots into the enemy line.
I return to my smaller form, into the tiger with terrifying claws and teeth, and my paws haven’t even touched the floor properly before I’m sprinting forward, roaring my newly discovered war cry.
It is a one-sided massacre, yet more men trickle in from the rooms on this level. Reuben’s voice carries from the ground and by the sounds of gunfire, I know he’s dealing with even more of them.
Let it not be said we were underestimated.
There are only three enemies left when I realize I’ve gotten too far from Gabriel and Xavier. When the fight has placed them out of my sight.
And when I find myself staring down the barrel of a shotgun.
My bloodlust extinguishes like a candle, gone out by the gentlest breeze, and suddenly, the sound of gunfire and fighting is much too far.
I don’t even hear when the shotgun fires.
The bullet pierces my leg, driving a roar of pain from my lips. I’ve been caught off-guard, thrust into a memory that should have nothing to do with this moment.
I hear Reuben’s voice somewhere far away. Gabriel’s. Xavier’s.
But the man before me takes up the entire world—his face blends with all my nightmares.
With the face of Geoffrey Nash.
Suddenly, I’m there in that room, watching a hole tear through Christian Adler’s chest.
Suddenly, I’m there again, losing my home, staring down the barrel of the shotgun.
The world is slow. My ears flatten to my head as fear hammers through my chest—a fear that shouldn’t make sense.
I stumble—limp—from the new wound in my leg and the next shot whizzes too close to my eye. It tears past my shoulder, grazing my fur and drawing a hiss from my jaws.
The gunshot is powerful, but it’s that sound.
That sound of the shot in the air—it chokes me.
It is the reliving of the night that started my hell, as someone I shouldn’t have tried to be.
Yet, it is also the reliving of the night that led me to Reuben.
My fear is something I can’t control—something I know can’t possibly be real, yet still I can’t take a single step forward. I cower as I back away slowly, but when he raises the gun, my eyes widen—
Because I know the next shot will hit.
It will take everything away from me.
Xavier yells as he wrestles the barrel of the gun away and the shot goes wide.
He hits the man—whose face is no longer blending together with Geoffrey Nash—and shoots him twice in the head.
“What’s wrong with him?” He snaps at Gabriel, who runs towards me to take a look at my wound.
I retreat into the wall and hiss before he can come near, forcing him to stop where he is and raise his hands in surrender.
Xavier walks towards me, shotgun still in hand and I growl, hairs standing on end—ready to pounce if he gets too close.
“It’s the gun,” Gabriel notices it quickly. “It’s freaking him out. Drop it quickly.”
Xavier doesn’t hesitate. He dismantles the gun in seconds; all its parts fall to the floor, and suddenly it feels like I can fucking breathe.
I shift into a man because I can’t control the trembling. I feel like I might lash out and hurt them if I don’t.
I also feel… tired. Like I’ve pushed myself too much.
This didn’t happen when I went after the Lesters…
The bird. Creating that much mass must have been too much for me.
Gabriel puts a jacket over me, to cover my nudity—people really are prudes no matter the time and place—but I don’t have time to thank him. I grab the gun at his side to shoot two men behind Xavier. Two headshots that put them down instantly.
Xavier’s eyes are wide as he whirls around, aware now of how close he brushed with death.
“This is the second time you’ve done that,” Gabriel snatches the gun out of my hands with a glare and my panic—that insensible terror—has receded enough that I’m able to shrug through panting breaths.
“Second time you’ve left yourself open.”
He clicks his teeth, “Still cheeky.”
“Still slow,” I retort without missing a beat and he watches me for a moment. There’s no hostility in his eyes as he reaches his hand out, to help me stand.
For once, I can’t find the bite to tell him fuck off.
His grip on my arm is firm as he helps me to his feet, and even though I know he has questions, I can’t find them in his eyes. He’s just… watching, curiosity filtering through his expression, as though he’s seeing me for a second time.
I tie his jacket around my waist for now, at least until I can snag a dead guy’s pants, but when I look up, my gaze meets Xavier’s.
The bad blood between us suddenly seems… distant. Separated by the wrong choices we both made along the way. Because of Reuben… we’re still woven tightly together.
Maybe that’s why I finally notice his hesitation, in the way he purses his lips and the way his eyes are shadowed.
As though he remembers and regrets the things he did.
Like how I regret shifting into Christian Adler that night.
We both ended up taking the most painful routes towards our goals… I’m sure if I hadn’t overreached, I’d still have found myself at the Taiga estate, driven by curiosity of what could have been… instead of trying to take it from someone else.
“Thanks.” The words leave my lips first.
A truce.
Because he ran for me when I faced down the barrel of the shotgun.
He covered my back while we ran into enemy territory.
Xavier’s expression is complex as he walks towards me—as he stops beside me to put his fist on my chest.
And whatever it is between us, mends at least two stitches deeper.
“Thanks.” He repeats the words back to me, hiding behind his hair.
But the words are heavy and warm.
“Never expected you to be afraid of shotguns, cookie man.” He raises a brow.
“Have to keep you on your toes somehow,” I reply nonchalantly but I know there’s a warmth in my eyes. “It’d be boring otherwise.”
Gabriel swings his arm around my neck and everything inside me squirms immediately, pulling me out of the moment.
Too much, too soon.
“So is this your face?” He asks with an obnoxious grin.
“Still working on it,” I mumble. I’d tried for a shorter hairstyle, wild white curls that fall short above my neck and across my face. I… like how it frames my blue eyes… and I like blue eyes because of Christian.
Anyhow, I made myself shorter, just a bit smaller, so even Gabriel has an inch on me now but I kept the muscle and the lean body so I can move around better; I deduced my strengths are more geared toward agility and not power from the fight with Olsen.
Brute strength may not be my style.
“You have a thing for pretty faces, then?”
I give Gabriel a deadpan stare, “No one wants an ugly face. I know you’d change yours if you could.”
The comment earns me a smack on the head, until Reuben’s voice is slicing through us.
“Xavier!”
Our heads whip towards him and his team, who’ve now reached the second floor, but there are still enemies trickling in from deep inside the building.
How much money does August have exactly?
“We’re going on ahead!” Reuben shouts over the sound of new gunfire. He’s separated six men from the team to take with him to the upper levels, along with Ms. Taiga and I dislike that it might not be enough.
“We’ve got it covered!” Xavier yells.
Reuben’s eyes are on me, and even from this distance, I know there are things he wants to say.
We’re the only people to exist in a world where time is the one thing we don’t have… yet I can read his lips from here.
‘Don’t go anywhere, baby.’
When he turns away I’m convinced I’m not breathing at all—it feels like my heart will burst out of my chest completely if it beats any harder or faster in my ears.
A pants hits me in my face, making me slit my eyes at Xavier, the rude bastard.
“Lovebirds,” he mutters. “Get your head back in. Let’s finish this so we can follow and back him up.”
I’ll forgive him this time, since I agree.
“Let’s teach them what happens when they fuck with us,” Gabriel’s promise is dark as he loads one of his guns, and when he throws it to me, my bloodlust alights once more.
‘Don’t go anywhere, baby.’
I can hear it in Reuben’s voice almost as though he said it in my ears.
And suddenly, the notion of ending this is a whole lot sweeter.