Page 32 of The Tiger's Secret Baby (Savage Shifters Special Ops 4)

15

Ember

My kids were nervous and excited, at the same time. They knew that this was a fight to save their home. Not a single one of them didn’t understand that something could go wrong. They had all had a rough life before they came to me, so they were tough and way mature beyond their years.

Looking into some of their eyes, I could see old souls and wisdom learned from lives past. I had faith in them. I was scared to death, though, because these were my babies, I didn’t care if one was nineteen and two others were eighteen. They were my babies.

Elise and I would be staying back. Rainey had returned from her mission, and would also be standing guard at the house with us.

Rainey hugged me tight when she first saw me. Our friendship was renewed as though there hadn’t been a lapse of ten years. She had been just as devastated when Lucian left as I was when Damian left. We had to find ourselves before we could reach out to each other.

Late in the afternoon, everyone shifted and headed off to their spots. Fear gripped my heart. If any of my kids were hurt, I would personally rip out Duggers’ throat. That wasn’t an empty threat. That was a heartfelt promise.

All of them headed off in their beautiful shifter forms. Their heads were held high. I knew that they were proud to be defending their homes. They were proud to be able to bring out their true identities and be themselves. They were also proud that they had mastered their training well, because none of the men would have allowed any person to go out if the men had a single ounce of doubt about their abilities.

I watched them head out and had to suppress the urge to go out and hug them. Those with tails swished them around. Rose’s tail wagged like a cat about to pounce on an unsuspecting mouse.

Rainey, Elise, and I waited anxiously. It seemed like time stood still as we waited to see how this evenings events played out. We knew in our hearts that our side would be victorious. Yet, we were still frightened, because we didn’t want anyone to get hurt.

I knew that we would have been in the way, because we certainly weren’t as strong, fast, or agile as the shifters were, but I wished that I could be out there. I hated waiting. I also hated feeling like I was left behind because I wouldn’t have been able to help.

After what seemed like hours, even though it was more like forty five minutes, I heard a loud roar coming from the back of the farm, and a man scream. I was not ashamed to say that I giggled. That’s what he deserved to be evil enough to be a gun for hire to attack a bunch of kids.

The giggle was also a nervous release that at least we weren’t in “waiting mode” any more. Very soon, good or bad, we would know something, and this whole situation will be over.

Soon, there were roars, growls, and screams coming from all over the place. Elise, Rainey, and I stood on the porch, with our rifles, enjoying the sound show, because we knew that meant that we were winning.

However, we froze when we heard rustling in the bushes next to us. A man in dark clothes burst through. The three of us held up our rifles, and I yelled, “Stop. Identify yourself.”

“My name is Joseph. You guys need to run. There is a dragon in those woods chasing me,” he panted, his eyes wide with fright.

He looked startled when we just started laughing at him.

I looked at Rainey and Elise. “Did you hear what he said? He thinks that he saw a dragon. I wonder what kind of LSD experiments he’s been participating in.”

“I’m not high. There really is a dragon out there,” he insisted.

“Sure, there is,” Rainey said. “However, you really are trespassing on private land. Lay down on the ground with your hands behind your back. You are under arrest.”

Elise and I kept our rifles trained on him as he complied. He was whimpering and blabbing about how the dragon was going to roast him and eat him.

Rainey looked at us and shrugged her shoulders. “I’m certain that our dragons and other friends know that they aren’t supposed to eat these pathetic humans, don’t they?”

I laughed. “They know they aren’t supposed to eat them. No one told them not to rip their hearts out though.”

With that the man squealed.

“Just lay there until the sheriff gets here,” Rainey said.

In about fifteen minutes, all roaring, growling, and screaming stopped. I could hear sirens racing up the road.

Sheriff Davenport got out of the first car. He saw the man lying on the ground, handcuffed. He looked at the three of us and raised his eyebrows.

I just shrugged my shoulders. We hadn’t even roughed him up a little bit. We just restrained him. One of the deputies put him in the back seat of a car.

“Where are the rest of them?” he asked.

“I can show you, Sir,” came Magnar’s deep voice from the woods. He had a broad smile on his face. My baby boy was, indeed, all grown up. I was proud and heart broken at the same time.

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