The Tiger's Heart by Marissa Dobson Page A

allowing his fangs to extend before biting a chunk out
of the young girl’s neck. She squirmed, fighting against the ropes
to get away, desperate to save herself. He bent out of camera
range. Coming up, he spit two of her fingers across the
table.
    He pushed the chair back enough to
give a full view of the girl. He ran his hands, claws replacing
fingers, across the girl’s stomach. “I’m going to gut you and bathe
in your blood.”
    Tears welled in the girl’s eyes, as
she looked at the camera. Her eyes begging for mercy that would
never come.
    His claws broke the girl’s skin. Blood
gushed out, covering her legs before landing on the floor. Her eyes
closed, and her breath became shallow.
    “ She won’t get off that
easy.” He reached behind him, pulling out a bag with small white
tubes in it. Cracking one open, he ran it under the girl’s nose.
“Smelling salts,” he said with a laugh.
    The torture of the girl went on for
what seemed like hours, but in reality were only minutes. Raja sat
there the fact that he was too late and there was nothing he could
do to save his mate’s family weighing heavily on his
shoulders.
    The video drew him back when Pierce’s
voice filled the earphones again. “I wish I had more time to play
with you, Momma. Nevertheless, you suffered enough watching your
little girl die. Know this, I’ll hunt Bethany down and do the same
to her.”
    The woman looked defeated. All the
fight was gone from her. Raja could see she was having a hard time
breathing, as the knife in her chest must have punctured a
lung.
    He sliced the woman’s throat, spraying
blood across the camera lens. The woman slumped in her chair as
Pierce picked up the camera and tried to wipe it off.
    “ Dear sister of mine. You
have betrayed me. Going to the ones I despise the most. Know I’ll
find you too. I might not make you suffer, after all, you’re
family, but your life will still be over. Tell me, was it worth
it?”
    With that, the video ended. Raja
leaned back in his chair and roared. The walls shook, and through
the window he saw snow fall from the roof.

Chapter
Fourteen
    Hours later the conference room was
empty except for Raja and Ty. Felix had left moments before to join
Tabitha with Bethany, leaving the men alone.
    “ Do you want Tabitha and
me to stay when you tell Bethany?”
    “ No. I’ll do it alone. Her
father used to tell her stories of shifters, but I don’t think she
knows they were part of her family.”
    “ If she does, she might be
able to give us an idea of who he’ll target next. I have the West
Virginia tiger clan looking into possible relatives and
connections, but it will take time.”
    “ I’ll see what I can
find.”
    “ Raja, I know what you’re
thinking and the answer is no.” Raja stared at Ty until he
continued. “You can’t sit there and tell me you’re not thinking of
going after Pierce yourself.”
    “ I want to be on the team
that takes him down.”
    “ No.”
    “ What do you mean
no?”
    “ Just what I said. You are
too valuable to the clan. Tabitha and Bethany would never forgive
me if I let something happened to you. If he attacks the compound
or us then yes, you’ll be expected to fight but as my Lieutenant,
you aren’t on the front lines any longer. Especially on this
one.”
    Raja growled. He couldn’t believe his
ears.
    “ Growl all you want. Face
it, you’re mated now. Our numbers are too low to toss away a mated
couple.”
    “ Don’t give me that
crap.”
    “ You wouldn’t support my
decision to go into the front lines either, and the whole reason
he’s targeting us is because my mate could be the end of the
tigers.”
    “ You are the Alpha. You’re
not supposed to be in battle,” Raja snarled, getting to his
feet.
    “ You’re my Lieutenant.
Just as valuable to the clan. Without you and Bethany, Tabitha
cannot complete her mission to bring all the tigers together. You
being mated was one of the steps the book mentioned that needed to
be