Page 8 of The Tiger's Secret Baby (Savage Shifters Special Ops 4)

“Let me walk you out,” I said.

She looked at me and smiled, that coldness returning to her face. She narrowed her emerald eyes and said, “I’m sure I can find the door. Thanks.”

Ember turned and walked out without another word.

I watched her go, not knowing what to say or do. When I turned back toward the men, they were looking at everything but me.

This was going to be a very long case.

3

Ember

Istopped off at the store and bought the ingredients for some ice-cream sundaes. The kids had been through a lot, and they were all troopers. They deserved a small reward.

When I got to the ranch, everyone was busy working on rebuilding the barn, even the youngest ones.

“Magnar! You have quite the construction crew going on here,” I said.

He smiled at the praise. “I figure we could make it better than ever.”

“You know, insurance would have paid to have people come out and rebuild it for us,” I told him.

“You told us never to let people do for us what we can do for ourselves,” he shot back.

“Are you using my own words against me?”

“Yes, Ma’am. Besides, we care more, so we’ll do a better job. Plus, they would build a basic barn. We can make additions and make it bigger, using the money from the insurance for supplies.”

“Well, Sir, it seems as though you have everything under control. I will leave the barn building to your capable hands,” I said.

I went into the kitchen to put up the ice-cream, thinking about Magnar. He is somewhere around nineteen now. I do not push kids out of the house when they turn eighteen. They can stay as long as they want, as long as they pull their weight.

Besides, Magnar was more special to me than the other kids. He said that he considered me to be his mom and Rose his true sister. He also felt as though he had to be my protector. As he put it, I was a mere human, and he could protect me better than I could protect myself in some ways.

I had to agree with him. I was unable to roast someone alive with my breath, even with garlic and onions.

The freezer was tight with food since I had just gone shopping a couple of days ago. It took me a few minutes to find a spot for the ice cream. I had just closed the freezer door when I heard a lot of noise outside.

This was not good news.

As I feared, Alan Duggers was standing outside talking to Magnar.

“Looks like you’re doing a fine job here, Sonny. Maybe you should go to work for me,” Duggers told Magnar.

“Perhaps you should go to …” Magnar hissed.

“Magnar,” I said sharply. I shook my head at him, and he clamped his lips shut, although I could have sworn that I saw a couple of wisps of smoke escaping from his lips.

I turned back to Duggers and told him that he was not welcome on my property, and he needed to leave.

He ignored my demand. Instead, he looked at the burned ruins of the old barn. “Looks like you had a bit of trouble out here,” he said. “I don’t think you’re safe out here all alone with just these young’uns. You really need to go to a safe place. I can give you enough money where you can buy more land, fence it in, and have an even bigger house.”

By now, the children had gathered behind me. I knew that they were itching to shift and tackle him. Some of them had not learned to harness their emotions yet. The only reason that Duggers was still breathing was out of respect for me. They knew that I did not want them fighting, and certainly not using their shifter skills against a mundane human unless that mundane was actively dangerous at the moment.

“I asked you nicely,” I said through clenched teeth. “Get. Off. My. Land. Now.”

He stepped closer to me, and I could smell his nasty, fetid breath. “Or what? As I said, you are all by yourself with a bunch of brats.”

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