Page 83 of Easy, Tiger

"Understood. Go."

Pocketing the radio, I break into a dead run, trusting Owen to do what he's always done, keep the enclave moving unseen.

The ridge opens up through the trees ahead, wind-scoured granite rising above the treeline in a natural amphitheater. The two figures stand out immediately, silhouetted against the gray sky near the edge of the cliff. Nico stands behind Halsey, one arm wrapped around her shoulders, the other aiming a pistol to her temple.

A crude bandage wraps a flesh wound on his left bicep, blood soaking the fabric—a hasty field dressing applied under duress rather than skill. The bullet only grazed him, and his clasp on the pistol remains rock-steady despite it. Across the distance, Halsey stands defiant against any hint of fear, her face radiating a fierce determination and an unspoken, heavy apology.

"That's far enough." Nico's voice projects easily across the open stone. "Hands where I can see them."

Raising my arms, I take inventory of the scene. Thirty yards of open ground between us. No cover except scattered boulders. Wind gusting hard enough to affect a rifle shot but not a pistol at close range.

"Let her go. You want me, not her."

"Actually, I want both of you. But mostly, I want irrefutable proof." Nico taps a small, blinking body-cam strapped to his tactical vest. "My buyers want a recorded transition of the Alpha." The barrel of the pistol grinds slightly against Halsey's temple, and she flinches. "Shift."

"This doesn't have to go anywhere crazy." I keep my hands raised, my voice level. "You already have what you need. Let her go, and we can talk this through like reasonable men."

"You heard me. Transform right here, right now into my camera. I want to record it happen."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I lie, keeping my posture non-threatening.

"Don't give me that shit." He clamps down harder on Halsey, and she gasps. "I watched your little friend turn into a tiger and back again not an hour ago. I know exactly what you are, and I know exactly what she means to you. The question is how much."

The wind picks up, sending snow devils spiraling across the granite. Everything I've spent my life protecting, every secret the enclave has died to keep, balanced against the woman who chose to save my life beside a creek months ago.

"Nolan." Halsey's words pierce the wind, level despite the gun at her head. "Don't do this for me."

"Touching. But I'm afraid the choice isn't yours." Nico's finger moves to the trigger. "Ten seconds, Maren. Shift, or I put a bullet through her brain right now. Makes no difference to me either way. Dead or alive, she's already served her purpose."

Meeting her stare across the distance, I recognize the same fierce protectiveness that made her risk everything for a wounded animal she'd never seen before. She saved me once unaware of what I was. Now it's my turn.

"You want your recorded proof?" I call out, my hands moving to the zipper of my jacket. "I have to take my clothes off, or the shift will shred them. And I'm putting them back on right after so I don't freeze to death out here. Don't get trigger-happy."

"Strip fast," Nico barks, adjusting the angle of his body-cam. "You have five seconds before she dies."

I tear off my jacket, shirt, boots, and jeans in rapid succession, leaving them in a pile. The cold hits my bare skin like knives.

"Nolan, no!"

Letting the shift take me, bones lengthen and muscles expand, human consciousness sliding sideways as tiger instincts flood through me. Within seconds, I stand on four legs, a six-hundred-pound apex predator, zeroing in on the man aiming a gun at my mate. A low, vibrating growl builds in my chest, shaking the snow around my massive paws.

Nico's face transforms, a sickening wave of absolute triumph wiping away the pain from his wounded arm. "Beautiful. The ultimate prize." He jams the pistol punishingly hard into Halsey's temple. "Now shift back slowly. Because my finger is twitching, and if you try to close that gap as a tiger, she dies before you even leave the ground. Back to human now."

A furious snarl rips from my throat, but I have no choice. The shift back to human form leaves me exposed, naked, and shaking, the cold biting into my skin with renewed intensity. Never breaking eye contact, I reach for my clothes, yanking my jeans and shirt back on with stiff, freezing fingers.

"Okay." Zipping up my jacket, I force my voice to remain monotone. "I've done what you asked. I'm unarmed and human. Now release her."

Nico's laugh cuts through the wind, sharp and humorless. "You think I'm an amateur? The moment I let her go, you'll disappear back into those trees, and I'll spend another year tracking your pack."

"I gave you my word."

"Your word means nothing to me." The pistol barrel bites harder against Halsey's temple, and she winces. "No, I think it's better if you're unconscious for the trip back to civilization. Much easier to transport."

My muscles tense, but I force myself to remain in place. "Fine."

"Smart man. Miss Gallagher, the snowmobile is right here."

Nico nudges Halsey two steps to the left, the barrel of his pistol jammed so hard against the base of her skull that she stumbles slightly against the idling machine. "Move," he barks, keeping himself positioned entirely behind her as a human shield. Inspecting her closely, something in her posture sends a spark of hope through my chest. For a single heartbeat, her features lock, and I see that exact same ferocious grit that drove her to patch up an injured tiger.