Laurann Dohner: Valiant

“No,” the man-beast snarled. He threw back his head and an earsplitting roar shattered the wooded area.

Tammy moved finally but it just wasn’t in the direction she wanted to go, which would have been toward her work van and closer to the help that had arrived to try to save her on the other side of the gate she’d walked through. Her knees collapsed under her.

She hit the grass but didn’t totally fall flat. She remained kneeling.

He had to be a lion or tiger of some sort. She recognized the sound he’d made. He had a pretty distinctive roar. She studied his coloring, his wide nose, and finally those sharp teeth. Shit. He’s definitely some kind of big-cat mix. She guessed lion. She stared up at him and wondered if her bladder would let loose from sheer terror. It wouldn’t surprise her in the least. It wasn’t as if her day could get any worse.

“Remain calm,” the deep-voiced man demanded. “I won’t come in. Talk to me, Valiant. Otherwise someone is going to tranquilize your ass and I know how upset that’s going to make you.”

Man-beast had a name. It wasn’t human either, or normal, but Tammy let it sink in that it was his. What kind of name is Valiant? She knew it meant courageous, something she lacked at that moment. She wished furiously that she wasn’t really there, wasn’t staring up at her worst, never-thought-up nightmare.

Valiant jerked his focus off Tammy finally to glare at someone behind her and to the left. “Do not shoot at me.” The threatening tone in his voice was loud and clear.

There was a deep sigh. “Let the female go. What’s your deal anyway? Did she say something before she passed through the gate? She didn’t know this is your house and not the clubhouse. She was given the wrong map. It looks to me as if all she did was get out of the van and walk toward your front door before you reached her. Did she piss you off?”

“She is here, Tiger. That is enough.” Valiant growled.

“And it was an accident.” Tiger tried to be logical.

“Someone on our end screwed up and it was our mistake. We didn’t realize what had happened until she showed up. She was the first one to arrive after the guy who runs the catering service. This is Ted Armstrong. He’s been here a few times before and he realized the map was wrong when he glanced at it. We contacted the gate immediately but they informed me that her van had gone through already. Now here we all are. Come on, Valiant, you’ve terrified her enough. What did Justice say about trying to fit in? Remember that talk? God knows, I do. It’s not polite to scare the living shit out of humans.”

“He won’t really maul her, will he?” Ted sounded a little high strung. That was saying a lot because her boss always remained cool under pressure. “I mean, Jesus! Was that a joke?”

Tiger softly cursed. “I’m sure I was kidding.” His tone didn’t sound convincing at all to Tammy. “So what do you say, Valiant? She can calm down a little and leave if you’ll just back off. Would you reconsider allowing me to come get her? It would only take a second. I’ll just rush in there, grab her, and leap right out.”

Valiant growled again and his gaze returned to Tammy. She swallowed. She blinked. She breathed regularly again. She took note of all those functions that were under her control but her limbs were still unresponsive. The man-beast paused about six feet from her but she appreciated that he had stopped advancing to just stare at her. That’s progress, right? God, I hope so.

She moved her mouth and it actually opened. She attempted to apologize for trespassing but nothing came out. Damn it. She had always thought she’d be different under stress. She’d always been a natural-born smartass who had a comeback for everything. She’d gained a reputation for being mouthy no matter how afraid she was, under any circumstances. Obviously, I was wrong , she conceded. When she’d dreamed up worst-case scenarios, none had covered man-beasts with sharp teeth or cat-eyes who roared.

“Stay back,” Valiant threatened. He inhaled slowly, his gaze still locked on Tammy. He took another step toward her.

“Valiant!” Tiger, the man with the deep voice, shouted. “Stop now. Don’t get any closer. Damn it, don’t do this.”

Valiant snapped his head sideways to glare at someone at whom he flashed sharp teeth and snarled menacingly. He sounded downright evil before he focused back on Tammy.

“Go get her,” Ted demanded. “You’re almost as big as him. Save her.”

Tiger uttered a foul word. “I can’t. He’d kill me in a heartbeat. He’s one of the meanest sons of bitches we have on Reservation. It’s why he’s out here and why Justice bought this place. There are a few of our kind who aren’t exactly people friendly. It will make things worse if I go inside there because he’ll be able to kill two people instead of just one.”

“Shoot him,” a woman whispered softly, but her voice carried.

“Can’t,” a male explained. “They haven’t gotten any tranquilizer guns to us yet.”

“Use the guns in your holsters,” the woman ordered, louder. “Don’t allow him to kill her. My God! Can you imagine what this would do to public relations?”

“No one is shooting him,” Tiger ground out.

“Valiant?” He paused. “Tell me why you’re so angry with the female. She’s a little thing. Is that it? Are you fighting your instincts because you’re seeing her as prey? Think hard, Valiant. This is an innocent human female. She didn’t mean any insult to you or to invade your space. Talk to me, damn it. Just tell me what is going on inside your head.”

Valiant turned his head, tearing his intense gaze away from Tammy once again. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. They snapped open. He glared at someone behind Tammy’s left shoulder. “I’m not going to kill her.”

“Thank God,” Ted said and groaned.

“You just wanted to scare her?” The relief was evident in Tiger’s voice. “Well, you did a good job. Can she go now?”

Valiant’s exotic gaze fixed back on Tammy as he inhaled again. He made a low, rumbling sound. He looked away from her to glare at Tiger. “No. She stays. You go.”

“You know we can’t do that,” Tiger explained calmly.

“What is it, man? What’s the problem?”

Valiant growled again. He moved another step and then another toward Tammy. She stopped breathing.

Those cat-eyes of his were back on her. He suddenly crouched on all fours, sniffed at her again, and made a sound she hadn’t heard before. It wasn’t a growl exactly, more of a gruff purr, but scary. He settled on his hands and knees in front of her.

“Oh shit,” Tiger cursed. “Valiant? Don’t do it, man.”

Valiant jerked his head up to shoot another threatening glare in Tiger’s direction. He was close enough for her to notice that he smelled of the outdoors and something masculine that was really nice. She took a breath and kept breathing since he wasn’t looking at her.

She lowered her gaze, taking him in, and decided he was big even crouched before her. He wore jeans and a T-shirt but no shoes. The guy had huge hands and feet.

He inched closer to her until she could have touched him if she’d just moved her hand out toward him a few inches but she didn’t, still frozen on her knees.

“What’s he doing now?” Ted sounded panicked again.

“Don’t ask,” Tiger ground out. “Valiant, come on, man. What are you doing? You know better if you’re thinking what I suspect you are. She’s a little human thing and you don’t want to attempt this.”

Valiant blinked. “She’s in heat.”

“Oh fucking hell,” Tiger cursed.

Valiant growled.

“Son of a bitch!” Tiger cursed louder. “Ted, I told you to make sure none of your women were ovulating. We went over this, damn it. No wonder he’s acting crazy.”