White Tiger

“Good tiger,” Addie said. “Nice kitty.”

The tiger’s eyes narrowed but it didn’t move. Addie reached for the door handle of the truck.

Instantly the tiger’s heavy paw was on her hand. No claws, but Addie wasn’t going to touch the truck anytime soon.

. . . There aren’t any other tigers, Kendrick had said. Just the one she’d seen in the parking lot in San Antonio.

“How the hell did you find me?” she asked him.

The tiger growled again, but before it could finish, a black and white streak flashed around the pickup, and a white tiger bowled into the orange one. Both tigers went down in an explosion of dust.

Addie flung her tote bag through the open window of the truck and turned to face the snarling ball of teeth, claws, and striped fur. What she thought she could do, she didn’t know, but just standing there wasn’t going to cut it.

She turned around, cupped her hands over her mouth, and shouted, “Dimitri!”

Addie didn’t need to bother yelling for him, she realized a moment later, because the red wolf was already charging down the hill, followed by the smaller, faster missile of a leopard. Both Dimitri and Jaycee hit the hindquarters of the orange tiger, whose roar rattled the truck’s windows.

Kendrick was fighting hard, giant paws batting, huge mouth opening, ears back, snarls unceasing. The red wolf bit down on one of the Bengal’s back legs, and the Bengal shook him off so hard Dimitri went tumbling. The leopard—Jaycee—darted in, her moves quick and precise.

But the Bengal was fast. He whipped around, swatted Jaycee aside, and returned instantly to battle Kendrick, giving him no time to take advantage of the distraction.

Dimitri gathered himself and tried again, this time aiming to land on the Bengal’s back. Again, the orange tiger whipped around in a lightning-swift move, smacked Dimitri out of the way, and swung back to Kendrick. Dimitri fell to the dirt, landing hard. He tried to get to his feet, but collapsed with a whimper. Jaycee, who’d leapt at the tiger while he’d batted Dimitri, was hit with a giant paw, and went down.

Just as Addie started to go to her and Dimitri, the Bengal managed to throw off Kendrick and get around him to lope toward the house.

The cubs were up there. Addie started running for the porch, Kendrick ahead of her. Behind her, she heard Dimitri yelp again, nothing at all from Jaycee.

Kendrick was one stride behind the Bengal but couldn’t catch him. The only reason Addie reached the porch first was that the Bengal stopped suddenly at the bottom of the steps, and Addie let her momentum carry her around both tigers.

“No!” she yelled. She stretched out her arms shielding the boys—who had all shifted—from the threat of the Bengal.

Addie knew she was completely useless. The tiger could fling her aside as easily as he had Dimitri and Jaycee—even more so.

The cubs and the wolf pup had crowded onto the porch swing, watching with wide eyes. Kendrick used the Bengal’s sudden stillness to land on top of him.

But the orange tiger, instead of spinning to fight, dropped to his belly. He extended his front paws, lowered his head, and huffed through his mouth.

Addie came down one step. “Kendrick, stop!”

Kendrick held himself back from bringing his open jaws down on the tiger’s neck, but he kept his chest on the Bengal’s back, pinning him.

The Bengal huffed again. Brett and Zane peeked down at him, then to Addie’s astonishment, they half jumped, half fell from the swing and padded down to the orange tiger. Robbie as wolf followed more cautiously.

The Bengal did nothing. Brett, the bolder of the boys, touched one tiny white paw to the Bengal’s giant one.