Walker hadn’t lied to them—any Shifter would have detected that. But he hadn’t said everything he could have.
Tiger wasn’t sure what to do now. He’d been bred to fight, not to interrogate prisoners or think up strategies. Every test on him had been about strength, endurance, stamina—not problem solving.
“Find out,” he said.
Walker blinked, his blank expression finally cracking. “Sorry?”
“Go back and find out what they want to do, and why, and then tell me.”
Ronan growled. “What are you talking about, Tiger? If we let him go, he’ll run back to the Bureau and report this little escapade, especially the part about being chained to the wall. I don’t need human cops arresting me and messing with my family, or coming to Shiftertown at all.”
“They won’t,” Tiger said. “Walker will make sure of it, because he’s interested in me for his own reasons. He reported me to his bureau because he wanted them to find out about me, but he’s afraid they messed up and tried to kill me instead. He’s angry at them for that, but he’s still curious about me. I am too. I want to know what they know, and so does Walker.”
Tiger felt their stares—Carly’s, Ronan’s, Rebecca’s, Elizabeth’s. Ronan cleared his throat. “What, now you read minds?”
“Scent,” Tiger said. “What he said with his words and what he said with his scent are two different things.”
“Shit,” Walker said softly. “Remind me to take a shower before I talk to you again.”
“Yeah, I read scent too,” Ronan said to Tiger. “But I didn’t catch all that or figure out what he didn’t say.”
“He wants to know about me,” Tiger said. “And he wants to use me, maybe, but not for a bad reason.”
Rebecca said, “Huh. That comes to you through smell? All I get is that he’s nervous, really curious about Tiger, and wonders what it would be like to sleep with me.”
Walker went beet red, and Ronan rumbled, “Becks, would you cool it? I swear, we need to get you mated. You’ve rejected, like what, twenty mate-claims?”
“Haven’t met anyone who turns my crank. Not enough to stay with him for the rest of my life anyway.” Rebecca smiled at Walker. “Shifters have long lives. I’m only a hundred.”
Walker was growing more and more uncomfortable. Tiger read his desire for Rebecca loud and clear. He didn’t need to be a super Shifter to get that.“Make a promise to me,” Tiger said to Walker. “Go back to your Shifter Bureau. Find out what they know about me, and share the information only with me. In return, I’ll tell you what I know about myself.”
Ronan let out another growl, this one louder. “No. We wait for Liam.”
For answer Tiger reached over and broke the chain that held Walker to the wall, then pulled the handcuff open from Walker’s wrist.
Ronan was on his feet. “Damn it, Tiger. What are you doing? And did you have to break the chain? We need it for Scott.”
Carly picked up the end of the chain and examined the place where Tiger had sheared it off. “Sheesh, who is Scott, and why in the world do you have to chain him to your wall?”
“Scott’s going through his Transition,” Elizabeth answered, as though chaining people up was commonplace in her house. “When his fighting instincts get too bad, we have to restrain him. It’s either that or replace the furniture every day. And Scott worries he’ll hurt Coby.”
She cuddled the little boy, who was already waking up. Coby looked around with unfocused brown eyes at the many people gathered in his house, opened his mouth, and let out an annoyed yell.
The sound went straight into Tiger’s brain and stirred a basic, primal instinct. He and Ronan moved at the same time, Elizabeth saying, “It’s all right. He’s just hungry. And wants attention. Don’t you, little guy?”
Tiger reached Coby before Ronan did, and Elizabeth relinquished him to Tiger. As Tiger lifted the boy, Coby unscrunched his face, stopped crying, and gave a few happy kicks in the air.
“I love how Tiger can do that,” Elizabeth said. “It’s like magic.”
Tiger nuzzled Coby’s forehead, then handed him back to his mother. “I should see Scott,” he said. “Make sure he’s okay.”
He headed for the kitchen, where he knew Ronan’s three foster cubs lingered, listening to the adults. Behind him, Ronan said, “Walker’s gone.”
Tiger paused at the kitchen door, but he’d already known Walker had made use of the open window to escape. “He’ll be back,” Tiger said.
“Shit, Tiger,” Ronan snarled, his bear temper coming through. “Why are you doing this to me? Liam’s going to skin me alive. I’ll end up a bear rug on his living room floor.”
“Walker will be back,” Tiger repeated, knowing he was right. He went on into the kitchen.
Scott, a black bear Shifter in his late twenties, whose change from cub to full-grown male was making him crazy, grinned at Tiger and held up his hand. Tiger, who’d learned about high fives from both Scott and Connor, slapped his palm, then caught the young man’s hand in a tight clasp.
Cherie, the female cub going on twenty-one as humans figured years, gave Tiger an impulsive hug. Olaf, who’d changed back to his ten-year-old boy form and resumed shorts, T-shirt, and sneakers, flung his arms around Tiger’s leg.