Tiger leader. “But you went too far when you hurt my friend. There’s nothing human left in you…”
“Can you really kill me? I may not be human anymore, but you are . Can you really bear to live with that, Kristen? I don’t think you can… you’re not like me,” he growled, his head ducking under his arms.
Her feet crunched on the gravel and she looked down. No, I can’t , she realized with a pang of regret. In spite of everything he’d done to her, everything he’d threatened, it still felt wrong. She touched her abdomen. She had always wondered why she’d wanted to have a child. It wasn’t a purely biological imperative. It was because she had wanted to be able to share her life, her experiences, to pass them on in some meaningful way.
If I kill this man in cold blood, all our troubles are ended , she thought, and forced back tears when she thought of Rodney. They might have killed him already. She felt impossibly alone. But if I kill him, I will pass that on as well . For Rodney’s sake, she couldn’t do it.
“Rodney gave you an ultimatum… leave, or die ,” she said simply, “and I will carry it out. You have one day. If you ever return to Nelson, I swear on my unborn child, I will rip your throat out and let you drown in your own malice while you gaze up at me, so you know who it was that ended your pitiful existence.”
THE FINAL CHAPTER
Without another word, she turned away back toward the cliff face. She didn’t want to look at him anymore, the very thought of him made her sick. She put a hand against the rock face to support her and felt its roughness bite into her palm.
There was only the slightest scuff of gravel, and her ears perked up.
In turning her back on him, Kristen had opened up an opportunity for him to leap forward. His frailness had only been an act, an attempt to dissuade her from her Tiger form so he could fight her on unequal terms. She threw her hands up in defense, but he was already upon her, and his breath reeked against her face, hot and languid as a scavenger’s cave.
“Fool!” he blurted, grabbing her by one shoulder and backhanding her with the other.
A sharp sting like ice water flowered on her cheek and she closed her eyes and felt her body slam against the cliff face. She screamed in pain when a gash opened on her lower back like a ribbon of nerves suddenly plucked. Theo stood over her, blotting out the sun like a human eclipse.
The wounds in his leg were severe, and she could see bone poking through the hairy flesh, but he seemed completely unaware of it. The bite marks she had inflicted on his head were sore and gaping, and a few drops of blood trickled off the tip of his nose and landed on her calf as he stooped over her.
“You think I give two shits about someone like you? You’re nothing… one of my brother’s little playthings. And don’t think for an instant that I have any compunction about killing a pregnant woman. You’re weak, weaker than Rodney…”
“Back off,” she warned, wiping her lip. No man had ever hit her and gotten away with it.
“Or what? You’re not a Tiger right now, Kristen. And if you even try to change, I’ll hurl you off this cliff right now,” he warned, and blinked away a clot of bright blood that was lingering over one eyelid. “I’m giving you a choice, here and now… you decide.”
“What choice?!” she wailed, and her hand moved behind her, fumbling for something she could use against him. She felt a lose chunk of granite, palm-sized, break off the cliff behind her and wrapped her fingers around it.
“I wasn’t lying in the clearing. We’ve lost brothers in the past years, some to the cold, some to hunger, and some to bastard humans. But as a group, we’ve always survived. Still, if we want to take back Nelson, take back our home, we need help… we need more Tigers to join our ranks.”
What the hell was he getting at? she wondered, and tightened her
“Can you really kill me? I may not be human anymore, but you are . Can you really bear to live with that, Kristen? I don’t think you can… you’re not like me,” he growled, his head ducking under his arms.
Her feet crunched on the gravel and she looked down. No, I can’t , she realized with a pang of regret. In spite of everything he’d done to her, everything he’d threatened, it still felt wrong. She touched her abdomen. She had always wondered why she’d wanted to have a child. It wasn’t a purely biological imperative. It was because she had wanted to be able to share her life, her experiences, to pass them on in some meaningful way.
If I kill this man in cold blood, all our troubles are ended , she thought, and forced back tears when she thought of Rodney. They might have killed him already. She felt impossibly alone. But if I kill him, I will pass that on as well . For Rodney’s sake, she couldn’t do it.
“Rodney gave you an ultimatum… leave, or die ,” she said simply, “and I will carry it out. You have one day. If you ever return to Nelson, I swear on my unborn child, I will rip your throat out and let you drown in your own malice while you gaze up at me, so you know who it was that ended your pitiful existence.”
THE FINAL CHAPTER
Without another word, she turned away back toward the cliff face. She didn’t want to look at him anymore, the very thought of him made her sick. She put a hand against the rock face to support her and felt its roughness bite into her palm.
There was only the slightest scuff of gravel, and her ears perked up.
In turning her back on him, Kristen had opened up an opportunity for him to leap forward. His frailness had only been an act, an attempt to dissuade her from her Tiger form so he could fight her on unequal terms. She threw her hands up in defense, but he was already upon her, and his breath reeked against her face, hot and languid as a scavenger’s cave.
“Fool!” he blurted, grabbing her by one shoulder and backhanding her with the other.
A sharp sting like ice water flowered on her cheek and she closed her eyes and felt her body slam against the cliff face. She screamed in pain when a gash opened on her lower back like a ribbon of nerves suddenly plucked. Theo stood over her, blotting out the sun like a human eclipse.
The wounds in his leg were severe, and she could see bone poking through the hairy flesh, but he seemed completely unaware of it. The bite marks she had inflicted on his head were sore and gaping, and a few drops of blood trickled off the tip of his nose and landed on her calf as he stooped over her.
“You think I give two shits about someone like you? You’re nothing… one of my brother’s little playthings. And don’t think for an instant that I have any compunction about killing a pregnant woman. You’re weak, weaker than Rodney…”
“Back off,” she warned, wiping her lip. No man had ever hit her and gotten away with it.
“Or what? You’re not a Tiger right now, Kristen. And if you even try to change, I’ll hurl you off this cliff right now,” he warned, and blinked away a clot of bright blood that was lingering over one eyelid. “I’m giving you a choice, here and now… you decide.”
“What choice?!” she wailed, and her hand moved behind her, fumbling for something she could use against him. She felt a lose chunk of granite, palm-sized, break off the cliff behind her and wrapped her fingers around it.
“I wasn’t lying in the clearing. We’ve lost brothers in the past years, some to the cold, some to hunger, and some to bastard humans. But as a group, we’ve always survived. Still, if we want to take back Nelson, take back our home, we need help… we need more Tigers to join our ranks.”
What the hell was he getting at? she wondered, and tightened her
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