The human who had taken Isa wouldn’t know what hit him when he was faced with a streak of angry tigers.
No one fucked with his mate.
No. One.
Valens’s tiger paws dug into the ground as he ran like hell. The small dirt road curved again, and in the distance, he could see a small cabin. He ran to it with as much speed as he could muster, shouldering his way through the wooden door.
In his haste, he missed it.
The other smells, mixing with Isa, her blood, and her attacker.
Lions.
He roared loud, tearing through the cabin and bursting out the back door. He leaped from the small patio and onto the thick grass where four lions had made a circle around a very dead human male and a bound and gagged Isa. She struggled against her binds when she spotted him. Tear tracks covered her beautiful face, and he roared again as a warning.
I am going to kill all of you motherfuckers for so much as touching my mate.
Valens knew his odds weren’t great. Four to one hardly meant he was walking away from this fight without some serious injuries, but he didn’t care. He ran up to the first lion, slashing at it with all of his strength. Fur and blood flew through the air as the pale blond cat roared and launched itself at Valens.
The other three lions wasted no time, piling on top of them. His entire body was pinned to the ground, but he knew what he had to do. He closed his jowls around one paw, ripping into it. His mouth filled with blood, but the lion backed away with a growl of pain. At the very least, it was a front paw and would mean the lion would be down and out for a few minutes.
Three against one wasn’t much better, but it was something, at least.
Teeth and claws dug into him from all sides. Valens got some shots in. Hearing Isa’s muffled shouts of horror were enough to keep him fighting. He wasn’t just doing it for himself. He was doing it for them. For the life they would have on their neighboring mountains.
Suddenly, one of the lions on his back was thrown off.
A big, orange tiger roared at him.
Egon.
His brother and his Alpha weren’t the only tigers.
Now, the odds weren’t one to four. They were five to four in favor of the tigers, especially with the injured lion easily disposed of by Elija. That man really deserved a raise, no matter what he did for the streak.
Valens spotted Rickie, the lion Alpha, and launched himself at him, claws and jowls at the ready. The lion’s flesh tasted vile, but Valens bit into him a second time. Blood gushed out of the deep wound. It wouldn’t be fatal, exactly. If Valens stopped right then and gave the shifter time, he could heal eventually.
He didn’t know if he wanted to give this piece of shit lion a chance.
The pride had taken his mate. Bound her and gagged her, no doubt in an attempt to scare her into selling her mountain off to them at a steal.
Valens couldn’t have that.
He would deal with the outcome of his actions later. If the beta came for revenge, he would be ready. Valens delivered the death blow, killing the lion Alpha.
As one, the two remaining lions stopped.
They were only immobile for a second before bursting into a revenge-fueled attack. But it wasn’t enough. Valens, Elija, Egon, Oz, and the other two tiger Enforcers were ready.
Valens and Elija circled one while the others did the same to the other lion. When the fighting began again, it didn’t take very long for the tigers to get the upper hand. Elija pinned the lion to the ground and roared in his face while Valens crunched down on the blond cat’s shoulder.
It was a power move, and soon, the beta shifted into his human form.
The man was in rough shape, but he could survive if he played the next few minutes right.
“Truce,” Matt wheezed. “I call a truce.”
As the only living member of his little squad of idiots, no one fought him on it. Valens roared at him again.
“I’ll leave. I’ll take the rest of the pride, and we’ll go elsewhere.”
Valens wanted to tear him limb from limb, but Egon’s voice made him stop. His brother had shifted into his human form.
“You think we can trust your word after the shit you pulled? You kidnapped a mate and killed a human on our turf.”
“The guy was nuts. We were tracking Isa when he hit her on the head and started dragging her body here. We might very well have saved her life.”
“Before you tied her up and hit her some more?” Egon shouted. “This isn’t how shifters, good shifters, operate. Do you hear me? You’re a vile piece of shit. If we let you live, and that’s a big if that my brother will decide, you will never set foot on this mountain again, do you hear me?”
The lion shifter nodded, a second away from pissing himself in fear. His eyes cut to his dead Alpha and the other lions.
Egon looked at him, arching an eyebrow in a silent question. Valens thought about it. There was already a lot of death here today. Did there need to be more? The Alpha, the one who had called the shots and ordered the kidnapping of his mate, was dead. This young beta might very well be a better leader now that he knew what happened to those who crossed the Thatcherton tigers.
Valens shook his head, a sign his brother understood.
“Collect your dead and the human you killed. Deal with the fallout yourself. I’m not cleaning up your mess. Now get the fuck off our mountain.”
Valens didn’t pay any attention to what the lion did. He shifted into his human body and ran to Isa. He ripped the binds at her legs and hands before removing the gag. He ran his hands up and down her body.
“Are you okay? Where are you hurt? You’re bleeding.”
The woman rolled her eyes. “My wrist and stitches split, I think. I’m fine. Just annoyed.”
His jaw dropped open. “You’re just annoyed?”
“Well, yeah. How the fuck else am I supposed to feel when I’m taken by my stalker only to be ambushed by a pride of insane lions? Seriously. Whose life am I even living right now?”
Valens couldn’t help himself. He burst into laughter. His ribs hurt, and there were other gashes and bites on his body that would take some time to heal, but his mate was okay. “I gotta admit, I’m pretty happy I don’t have to deal with a stalker anymore.”
“His name is Phil Green.”
“How do you know?” he asked her. “Do you know him?”
“Nope. He told the lions right before threatening to kill them. Can you imagine? He saw four big naked dudes who had just shifted from lions that were going to kill him. He didn’t stand a chance.”
He scoffed. “I bet. Though, killing him feels a bit rash.”
“You’re just pissed you didn’t get to do it for yourself,” his mate said before wincing. “Okay, so maybe there is a cut at the back of my head where Phil Green hit me.”
Valens growled low and spun her around. He gently moved her long hair around until he could see a small gash. It wasn’t very deep and was unlikely to require stitches. Still, seeing his mate’s head bleeding like that didn’t feel great in his soul.
“You won’t need stitches. You’ll be fine. Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Valens, you and the tigers just saved me from not just one — but two threats. I think you did more than enough. I also think I need to cool it on the stunts and adrenaline for a bit. That was way too much for me.”