Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Phoenix had found himself in prison. A cage, to be precise. For animals, which technically applied to him at the moment. Better than being shot. However, in his current state, he lacked the ability to escape. His paws couldn’t exactly manipulate the latch keeping the door shut.
Annoying. Especially since the woman—whose scent tantalized—left.
Now what? How long would he be stuck in the cage?
Did he need to worry about them noticing he wasn’t exactly a normal tiger?
Adding to his worry, his rumbly tummy growled in discontent.
What wouldn’t he do for a cheeseburger right now?
The woman returned with the most disgusting offering instead. Ground beef he wouldn’t feed to his worst enemy. Gross. His refusal to eat led to the woman leaving him again, which only increased his annoyance and hangry mood.
The next time the woman entered, she didn’t do so alone. A man followed her inside, brandishing a knife. The threat to her wellbeing roused a different kind of ire because Phoenix wanted to protect but couldn’t while stuck in the cage—until, in desperation, she opened it.
Rather than race for freedom, Phoenix pounced the asshole scaring the woman.
He could have simply incapacitated the guy, but instead, ensured he’d never hurt anyone else again.
Some people had a soft-on-crime attitude.
Not Phoenix. Part of the reason he’d joined the military was because he wanted to make a difference.
To be the positive against the negative in the world.
Turned out the whole good-and-evil thing could be subjective.
Ridding the world of an asshole wasn’t the only reason Phoenix chewed a hole in the guy’s flesh, though. He needed to return to his man shape and, since he wasn’t injured in the short-lived scuffle, had to resort to a different method.
Blood.
A mouthful of it and, poof, he instantly reverted and, in doing so, couldn’t help but hear the general: "What kind of pussy can’t handle blood? Do you realize how useless this makes him? Who wants a therianthrope that loses his shape whenever he gets violent?”
The doctors couldn’t figure out why the taste of blood affected Phoenix, and it didn’t have to be fresh, either.
Raw meat with enough ichor left could even trigger the change.
Oddly enough, raw fish didn’t trigger the shift while in his tiger shape, and as a man, he could still eat a rare steak without issue.
All that to explain why he now stood naked in front of the hot chick who stared wide-eyed. He held out his hands, trying to look as harmless as a six-foot-plus naked man covered in blood who’d just been a tiger could look. “Please don’t scream. I can explain.”
In accented English, she said, “You are harimau jadian.”
“Not sure what that means.”
“You are a weretiger,” she stated.
His turn to have his eyes turn into saucers. “You know of my kind.”
“Not exactly, but there are legends,” she murmured. Her gaze went to the body on the floor. “I wonder if that’s why he was sent to kill you.”
“Wait, he was here for me, not you?”
She nodded. “He said someone hired him to murder you.”
“I don’t suppose he told you who or why?” Because he’d only just arrived. Surely the general hadn’t already found him.
Her wild headshake sent her red locks swinging. “He said nothing about who hired, only that he was offered a large sum.”
Worrisome. Not even here a day and already being targeted.
“Thanks for letting me out of the cage to defend myself.”
“I did it more for me,” she admitted.
His lips quirked. “Guess that worked out for both of us, then.”
“Not really. How am I supposed to explain the body?” Her lips pursed as she regarded the dead body.
“This is a zoo, right?” At her nod, he added, “We could toss the body into one of the carnivore pens. Let them tear it apart so it looks like a misadventure.” Not met five minutes ago and he’d already asked her to help him cover up a murder.
He expected her to refuse or even go into hysterics.
To his surprise, while her lips flattened, she nodded. “We can feed the body to the crocs; they’re not too far from here. However, I’ll need help to carry him.”
“You don’t have to get your hands messy. I’ll do it, but first, I don’t suppose you have some clothes I can borrow.” While not usually a shy man, it did feel awkward to be standing around in the buff.
“I’m afraid I don’t have anything here. I could go see if the office has something.”
Let her leave? What if she went running and told people about him? He needed time to escape before she blabbed about his secret.
With that worry infecting his mind, Phoenix’s gaze went to the dead body.
Shorter than him and unbathed, still, a man couldn’t walk around bare-assed.
With a grimace, Phoenix quickly stripped the trousers from the corpse and put them on.
The pants wanted to fall down, the waist being larger than his, while the legs were too short, ending a few inches above the ankles.
The blood-stained shirt he left alone, as well as the shoes, which wouldn’t fit.
As he crouched to lift the body onto his shoulders, the woman, who’d been silent while he partially dressed, said, “You are American?”
“Canadian, actually.”
“How did you end up on that ship?” she asked. “Were you abducted?”
“I smuggled myself aboard.”
“Why?” she exclaimed, sounding startled.
“Because I’m looking for answers.” He stared right at her as he added, “And I do believe, seeing as how you recognized what I am, that you might be able to help me find them.”
“I doubt that. You are the first weretiger I’ve met.”
“But you know of them.”
“I’ve heard stories,” the woman corrected as she led him outside the building. She glanced left and right as if she could actually spot anyone who might be spying. She couldn’t. Luckily, he scented and heard no one nearby.
“I’d like to hear those stories,” he stated as he followed her quick steps.
“You travelled all this way for legends?” She whirled to address him as she spoke.
“I didn’t know what else to do. My condition isn’t exactly common.”
She made a noise. “You don’t say.” She waved to the waist-high wall behind her that overlooked a sunken marshy area. “You can dispose of the body here in the crocodile pen.”
Phoenix happily dumped the corpse, which landed with a splash in the brackish-smelling water. The intrusion immediately led to some reptiles coasting over for a peek and then some thrashing of excitement. Hopefully they’d rend the flesh thoroughly enough to mask the tiger bite to the neck.
“Now that we’ve taken care of the body, we should probably go somewhere else before more hired thugs arrive,” he suggested.
“You think more will come?” She cast him a startled glance.
“I’d count on it. We should be away from here before that happens.”
Her brow arched. “We? Seems to me I’d be safer being nowhere close to you.”
“Agreed, and I promise I’ll disappear from your life soon as I hear more about the weretiger legends.”
She chewed her bottom lip. “I’m not the one you should talk to.”
“Then who?”
“My grandmother.”
“Can you take me to her?”
The woman frowned. “It’s late.”
“Please. This is important.”
“She doesn’t speak much English.”
“But you can translate.” Phoenix hated being so pushy, but he’d come here for answers. Would this grandmother have knowledge not found on the internet? Only one way to find out.
The woman sighed. “Is there any point arguing?”
“If you really don’t want me to meet your grandmother, then I’ll leave, but aren’t you the least bit curious?”
Her lips twitched. “Yes and no. I’m not looking forward to Nenek being smug that she was right about your existence.”
“You don’t believe in legends?”
“I didn’t until today,” she admitted.
“If it helps, I didn’t think it possible either, until it happened to me.”
Her spine straightened. “You weren’t always able to change into a tiger?”
He shook his head. “No, which is why I have so many questions.”
“As do I, but here isn’t the place. We should go before the security guards come across us,” she murmured as she headed off at a brisk pace.
Phoenix easily kept pace. “I take it you work at the zoo?”
“I do.”
“How are you going to explain I’m no longer in my cage?”
“I won’t. If anyone asks, I last saw you when I dropped off the cow femurs.”
“You won’t get in trouble?”
“Doubtful. Most likely they will assume whoever had a tiger smuggled into the country came to fetch you, which will explain the blood on the floor.”
A simple yet brilliant lie.
“I’m Phoenix, by the way.”
“Nadirah.”
“Nice to meet you.”
She snorted. “I don’t know if I can say the same.”
“Sorry about that guy. In my defense, I had no idea anyone would come after me. I can’t believe anyone knew where to find me.”
“You were on the news,” she stated. “It’s unusual for tigers to be smuggled into the country.”
“That would explain it. Davidson must have seen the footage,” he muttered.
“Who is this Davidson?”
“The general behind the project that changed me into a therianthrope.”
“What is a…” Her nose wrinkled, the English word obviously not one she’d learned.
“Shapeshifter. I’m part of a top-secret military project.” Phoenix saw no reason to obfuscate. Besides, the woman deserved the truth, given what happened earlier.
“Someone made you into a weretiger?” She didn’t hide her skepticism.
“Yup. Not a pleasant process, either. Zero stars. Do not recommend,” he joked.
“If you were created, then why the interest in legends?” They reached the monkey pavilion, and she paused.
“Because I want to learn more about my condition. How I can control it or, even better, rid myself of it.”
“I don’t think the old stories can help with that.”
“Maybe not, but perhaps they can give me clues about how to find other tiger shifters who might have the answers.”