Read Taming The Tigers for Free Online Page B

her from you.”
    Carmen let out a growl of her own at that. It was everything Malik could do to keep the smile from his face. For a woman who wasn’t quite sure they were mates, she sure objected to the idea of having her uncles save her from them.
    “Then let’s say that we lead you to one of the bridges to the cascade. We can take you there and you can tell your people that we are truly brothers in the fight against rogues and rabid humans alike.”
    “You would do that?” Wyatt asked, his expression skeptical.
    “Would you do any less for your mate?” Malik crossed his arms and stood up straighter. Even in human form, he was taller and bigger. It shocked him to think that only four men had gotten the better of him and Gable. Perhaps, he would ask them to train his men. They would need to know the modern way to fight. Obviously, their ancient ways of brawn over brain were not going to cut it in the modern human world.
    “Who is this enemy who has you on the run?” Mitch followed Malik’s lead, crossed his arms and widened his stance. “If you tell me it’s a human, we’re out of here and Carmen is coming with us. We won’t trust our niece to two men who can’t protect her from a human threat.”
    Carmen sighed, glared at her uncle for a moment and held out her hand. “Give me your keys. We can’t leave the car sitting in the road all night. Someone’s bound to drive up and think we’re having a gang war, or something.” She wiggled her fingers, her impatience evident. “I’ll move your car while you guys measure your dicks.”
    Wyatt nodded to two of the men who accompanied them before they each moved to one of the SUVs and climbed behind the wheel.
    Malik shoved his hand into his pocket, dug out his keys and handed them to her before turning his attention back to her uncles as she walked back to the car.
    “At least one is a hit man we know only as Kitrick.”
    Carmen’s uncles shared a glance that spoke volumes.
    “What... you know him?” Malik hoped they could give them some insight on the man.
    “If it’s the guy we think it is, we trained the son of a bitch.” Wyatt rubbed the back of his neck. “But don’t worry. We didn’t teach him everything.”
    “God damn it! He’s a fucking shifter?” If Kitrick was a shifter, that would explain a few things—like how the bastard managed his hit and runs. “That would explain a lot.”
    “No. He’s not a shifter. He’s human. He’s just damned good. The man rarely even leaves a scent behind.”
    “That’s not possible.” Malik shook his head. “Everyone leaves a scent.”
    “That isn’t always true,” Wyatt said with a shake of his head. “A number of years ago, there were a series of murders involving women, shifter and human alike. The perpetrator of the crimes had devised a way to cover his scent. Perhaps Kitrick also knows the trick.”
    “I’ve never even heard of that before.” Malik glanced at Gabe. “Have you?”
    “No, but many things have changed since we sequestered ourselves behind the veil.”
    The people of Paradise also hid behind a veil, but they also associated with the rest of the world. How they managed it, was anyone’s guess. The security of pulling off something on that scale would be a logistical nightmare.
    “True,” Malik agreed with a nod. Many things have happened, including the advancement of technology to the point where their people could walk among humans during Halloween and at what the humans called COS Play conventions.
    The people now embrace the idea that a man could shift his shape into that of an animal, and still be a good man.
    Over a hundred years ago, people would have run from them or hunted them down and killed every one of them, which, incidentally, had been why the Caspian shamans had created the cascade in the first place.
    “So... how do we stop him?” Malik watched as Carmen approached her uncles and gave each one of them a hug.
    “We keep him from getting to Carmen.