Page 31 of The Tiger's Secret Baby (Savage Shifters Special Ops 4)

They all listened to every single thing we said. They asked intelligent questions. When we quizzed them, they were able to explain the concepts back to us in their own words showing us that they understood exactly what we wanted them to know.

We divided the kids into four groups.

Some of the kids struggled with controlling their shifting. They shifted arbitrarily. They tended to shift to their animal form when they were upset or angry. Then, they would shift back in their regular form. Because this was the hardest aspect of shifter life to control, Gage would work with these kids. He had experience with this anyway, since he had taught his cubs how to control their shifting.

The second group were those who controlled when they shifted, but didn’t know what to do after that. They didn’t know what their strengths and weaknesses were, or how to use them. Lucian worked with them.

I worked with the kids on how to control other magical abilities that accompanied their shifting abilities, like mirage magic, that kept the mundane people from seeing the truth. Mundane people aren’t comfortable with seeing a bear walking down the street in their neighborhood. Mirage magic can trick people’s minds into thinking the bear is just a large chow chow dog. However, in this case, we wanted the invading men to know that they were seeing dragons, jaguars, and other creatures they hadn’t expected. Frightened men didn’t think well on their feet.

Rose, a ten year old tiger shifter, was in my group. I noticed her watching me closely. Her eyes followed every move I made. She listened intently to every word I spoke. She aced the lessons the first time every time. She was extremely intelligent and gifted. I figured the attention she gave me was because she was also a tiger shifter.

However, there was still something familiar about her. It drove me crazy that I couldn’t put my finger on it. Normally, I was extremely quick to put two and two together. However, this time, it seems that there was a wall in my brain that kept me from figuring out this puzzle. It was driving me crazy.

Jared worked with strategy and tactical skills. He was an expert at this. He could outthink and outmaneuver most people. It was almost like he could crawl into people’s brains and know what they were thinking, feeling, and planning.

All of the kids worked with Jared and me, since some of them didn’t need Gage and Lucian to teach them those skills. Once all their kids had graduated, they started working with us.

We made our plan, which were simple. We knew what night they would be coming in. We would be hiding in the bushes, in the trees, and in several other places. We would be stationed several feet apart. With the incredible hearing capabilities of the shifters, we would know when anyone came near.

Then, we would start herding toward a central location. We spent an entire day digging a huge pit. It was ten feet deep, and six feet by six feet wide. We didn’t want to bring in a tractor to dig the hole because the tractor would disturb the trees, bushes, and other vegetation, which would expose our trap.

It didn’t take as long as one might expect though, with thirty people working hard. Even the regular staff at the home helped out. Not only could the cook whip up a mean lasagna, she could also wield a shovel better than a lot of men. I wouldn’t want to make her mad.

That night, Ember and Elise went to town to buy a bunch of pizzas and sodas for everyone.

They must have been followed, because when they got back, Ember was so angry, she was practically foaming at the mouth. Apparently, Duggers “happened” to be at the same pizza shop picking up pizzas. He asked her if she had thought over his offer. When she told him what exactly he could do with his offer, he said that it was a shame that she valued her pride and land over the safety of her kids.

Elise asked Duggers if he was threatening the kids. Duggers said he would never do that, but that on unsafe land like they were living on, who knew what kind of accidents could happen out there.

Duggers then smiled. When Ember tried to pay for the pizzas and drinks, the cashier said that they had already been paid for by the gentleman who they were just talking to.

“That was no gentleman,” Ember had growled.

The cashier looked stunned, and Ember apologized to her.

At first, Ember didn’t want to take the pizzas. However, Elise convinced her that it would be stupid to let them go to waste. Plus, it’s the least that Duggers could do for being a pain in the butt.

The kids enjoyed the pizza, and although they understood that the situation was dangerous and they took it very seriously, they were also excited. They had learned so much about themselves in the last few days.

I would have to talk to the guys about coming out on a regular basis so we could work with the kids. Ember did a fabulous job with everything else, but it just wasn’t possible for a mundane person to teach kids how to use their shifter magic.

The next day, we had a run through. We had some of our extra pretending that they were bad guys. The only thing we told the “bad guys” was that they were supposed to get onto the land and make it to the barn and the house so they could burn it down.

The kids and their partners were stationed in their designated spots.

When the time came, the “bad guys” started coming onto the property. They had powerful water guns that could shoot water pretty far to stimulate the real guns that the thugs would have.

The exercise went really well. As soon as they made it across the property line, different creatures emerged out of hiding. They showed their teeth and they growled loudly, letting the individual know that they meant business. Each bad guy was flanked, so even if he was to shoot at one, the other would jump them.

We had taught the kids to watch the movements of the individual crossing into the territory. They were told to watch the hands and the eyes, as well as other body movements to see if the person was intending to use the gun and on whom. The target would evade, while the other would attack.

Only one “bad guy” got through our net and made it to the main house. However, he was taken out by the team that was waiting there. The rest of the guys were rounded up and forced into the pit.

One of the kids got hit in the shoulder with a water gun. While the wound would be painful, it wasn’t fatal.

The kids were very pleased with their performance. However, Gage warned them not to get cocky and over confident. They had to focus on their tasks and the extreme danger, or it would not turn out as well.

Later on, Magnar and a couple other of the older kids asked about joining the security team or the military. We talked to them about that, pleased that we could help them focus their goals for their futures.

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