Wanted By The Cowboy Tiger (Heroes of Shifter Creek 3) Read Free Page B

believed I was uncovering the first of the settlers. That this one skeleton would lead me to the others. But now there are more questions than answers.”
                  As she spoke, Krista tried to ignore the fact that Derek sat beside her, that she was destroying reality as he knew it, but Lolli turned his attention to Derek, confronting him. “And how do you feel about Krista’s discovery?” It sounded like a challenge. “Do you plan to do anything about it?”
                  It was an odd thing for Lolli to ask, but Krista waited patiently for Derek to answer. He seemed torn, suppressed by an unknown confliction.
                  He’s just processing , Krista told herself. It takes time.
                  “No,” Derek finally answered. “I don’t plan to do anything about what Krista discovered. I’ll protect her.”
                 
    ***
                               
     
     

Derek
                 
                  He wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell her everything, but he couldn’t. It would be selfish to do so. If Krista knew what he wanted to say, what the native man had almost pushed out of him, then she would be in more danger than she already was.
                  Right now, the situation was under control. That’s all his people wanted – for things to be in order. For their secret to be kept.
                  The rest of the world wasn’t ready to live amongst shifters. It wasn’t ready for his people, his family of tigers.
                  Family was a stretch. Tigers weren’t like the wolves or the mountain lions the native man had spoken of. Derek envied those shifters for their sense of family and community. Tigers were a lot more solitary. They mostly lived alone or in small groups. Children were usually born of flings or short-term relationships. Many of the ranches around these parts resembled convents, maintained by females choosing to raise their young together.
                  Some males preferred it that way. It left them free to live out their solitary lives. Others, like Derek, did not. He was a tiger, but he was also a man. He wanted a mate – someone to stay by his side.
                  He wanted Krista.
                  Now, standing beneath a night sky, watching as Krista pulled the tarp away from the grave, trusting him without restraint, he was mesmerized by her. She was so beautiful, her white sweater shining like starlight against her flawless black skin. He wanted to claim her, to take her as his own, but he couldn’t.
                  There was no law denying him a non-shifter mate, but he was obligated to protect his people. The protection of their kind was one of few times the tigers banded together. Their history was bitter. They had been hunted, driven to the verge of extinction. Half man. Full tiger. It didn’t matter. They could not live in the open, not like the bears and wolves could in the forests. Tigers stood out. Tigers had to hide. When they shifted, it was usually within the shelter of the night and within terrain few men would venture – like a desert valley.
                  His people had made New Mexico their home long ago. Here, they were safe.
                  Unfortunately for Krista, her curiosity threatened their safety. The tigers would find out about her discovery. Something this big wouldn’t go unnoticed, not when there were eyes watching in the dark. They would come for her. He would do everything he could to protect her, but it wouldn’t be enough. The echoes of the past cried too loud.
                  Krista trusted him without restraint, but he did not deserve her trust.
     
    ***
                 

 
    Chapter Three
     
    Krista
     
                  The bones were alit with the moonlight. Revealing