He watched a family nearby. The male he recognized as one of the security staff on base. His mate was a delicate little female with short blonde hair and large dark eyes. Two small boys ran around them, obviously excited about being at the zoo. It seemed to be a rare treat for humans although he couldn’t figure out why. Perhaps the animals were only here part time and then were released back into the wild?
Whatever it was, the antics of the boys made him smile. The little insight into human families made him look up, seeking Elise. She stood a couple of hundred feet away in conversation with Risyn. As though she felt his eyes on her, she looked up and met his gaze. The small curve of her lips warmed him through, and for a moment he forgot to breathe. A ray of sunlight illuminated her, making her stand out from her background, and even Risyn faded into obscurity beside her.
He wanted her. He wanted the little human female to be his. He wanted to claim her, see her eyes light with love for him, and wake up to that smile each and every morning.
“Don’t worry, honey. He can’t get out.”
A mother and child had approached the enclosure near where he stood, and he turned to see what had caused such concern in the human youngling.
“Are you sure, Mama?” The small girl looked up at her mother in concern.
“Of course, baby girl. I don’t think he can even see us. He’s just a tiger doing tiger things.”
Cade moved to join them, offering a smile. The female’s eyes widened a little, surprise and apprehension filtering through her scent, but then she smiled back, obviously relaxing. It helped that he was not the most intimidating Lathar in the group. The two females were obviously related, with the same red hair and wide green eyes.
“Hello, Mister,” the little girl looked up at him shyly. “Are you looking at the tigers too?”
“I am,” he replied, looking into the enclosure.
He had to admit, he’d have been concerned as well, had he been her age and unable to see the electrical force field between them and the tiger prowling through the enclosure in front of them. It was well done. The animal was in an environment apparently similar to its natural habitat, which according to the sign on the post in front of them should ensure that it behaved as it would in the wild.
Which was all a crock of trallshit.
The orange and black striped beast was stalking them with an intelligence far above that of any mere animal. Cade shifted his attention back to the sign. It was in Terran, which at the moment was incomprehensible to him. He slid a glance to the human woman standing on the other side of the little girl.
“Could I be cheeky?” He smiled and nodded toward the sign. “I’m afraid I don’t read Terran.”
The female looked surprised for a moment. “Oh! Yes, of course! I’m so sorry, I should have thought.”
She moved across to read from the sign on the side of the enclosure. “Okay… This is the Siberian Tiger. It died out over three hundred years ago, after a breeding program to resuscitate numbers failed. Fortunately, scientists at the time froze the genetic material, and with some modifications, have managed to bring back the animal in front of us.”
She paused, waving to indicate the animal in front of them. It hadn’t moved, watching them unblinkingly. If it couldn’t see them, Cade was a kervasi's uncle. That thing could absolutely see them and was making a plan to reach them.
“Like its predecessor,” the human female carried on, her voice pleasingly melodic. “The mark two Siberian Tiger is an accomplished predator.”
Brought up among males Cade had never considered how different females would be. Of course, he had known they would be smaller. The historical records contained all biological data. But he’d never considered they would be so graceful and delicate… That even the sound of their voices would be different and elicit such feelings of protectiveness. He watched her as she read.
“Because of the alterations, this particular mark two was stronger and faster than any of its counterparts and could not be released into the wild. It was donated to the Wilding Institute to aid education into endangered species resuscitation programs.”
“Thank you,” he murmured, fascinated as he leaned forward to look at the tiger.
It stood in front of them, it’s amber eyes unblinking as it stared back at him. It knew they were there. It knew he was there. The amber gaze flicked to the small girl and it bared its teeth.
Cade only just stopped the answering growl escaping his throat, swallowing quickly. He couldn’t reveal what he was here, not with so many Lathar around. And besides, the creature was behind a force field.
“Shall we go and look at the other tigers down there?” the girl’s mother suggested, pointing toward a small play area that had models of what Cade assumed were different tiger types.
“Yes, yes, yes!” The little girl was off at a run, her blonde hair flowing behind her like a banner in the wind. Vaguely he was aware that the main group was moving in the opposite direction, but right at the moment, letting the little girl play seemed way more important. Especially when she whooped and shot him the biggest grin.
He couldn’t help smiling at her enthusiasm.
“Does she never stop?” he asked the mother.
He remembered being introduced to her. She was married to one of the senior officers on base although he couldn’t remember which one.
The human female laughed as they followed the child.
“She does, but she doesn’t like to. She’ll get to a certain point and then…” She snapped her fingers. “Lights out. She’ll be fast asleep before we even get on the coach home. Apparently I was like that as a child. I never remembered getting home from anything. My father always had to carry me.”
“That’s so cute.”
The conversation was interrupted by screams and the scent of blood filling the air.
“Oh my god! It’s going to kill her!” The voices came from the other side of the enclosure his sensitive hearing picking them up easily.
“Someone help her!”
“The fields are up. We can’t get in!”
He snapped his head up and around, automatically dropping into a ready stance. He hadn’t heard weapons fire or the sounds of attack.
“Stay here,” he ordered the human female as he turned back the way they’d come.
He didn’t need to go far to find out what was happening. The tiger they’d been looking at had one of the keepers in its clutches. The female already looked to be dead, her limp form covered in blood and her clothing torn.
The beast looked up, meeting Cade’s eyes, and licked blood from the female’s torn throat. His own throat worked as he swallowed convulsively, noting the loss of flesh there. No way could she survive that, not with human medical technology.
The beast dropped the female’s body, pushing it away with a large paw. It focused on something that had fallen from the keeper's pocket. A small box.
“Fuck… it’s got the field controls.”
“Can it activate it from in there?”
“No… it’ll just crush it. It’s an animal. Remember?”
Cade held his breath as something swam in the back of the animal’s eyes. Intelligence. Cunning. Realization. It didn’t crush the field control box. Instead it moved it around its mouth gently, curling a lip back as it got a fang on the button.