In Enemy Territory - Shannon West Page 0,86

the child in Tygerian, but the boy had just stared at him. Ryan squeezed the boy’s shoulder and flopped down beside him.

Rasc looked behind him and saw nothing but the jungle. He listened carefully to the sounds around him, and he thought he might have heard a distant roar, but it could have been his imagination. Once he could have sworn he heard some shouting and screaming, and he wondered if it came from the prison on the island. Were they close to it? Sick and scared, he told Ryan, who decided it would be a good idea to get back on the move again. This time they veered off in another direction, as far from the path as they could. They came to a stream, and ran right through the middle of it after stopping to drink their fill and wash the sweat from their bodies. They rolled in some mud and weeds again and then ran on, hoping they might have confused any scent they left behind but not really confident.

Rasc was quickly becoming exhausted. He asked for another rest, trying to blame it on the child. “I don’t think he can go on much farther, Ryan. I, uh, I think he’s going to have to rest.”

“Ten minutes, while I make another snare. Then we have to go on. They’re out there behind us now. I can feel it.”

Rasc shivered at the idea. Had Kylon found his scent by now? The idea terrified him. Once in the army, he’d seen a battlefield with the remains of some Alliance soldiers killed by Tygerian tigers when they’d been outnumbered so badly, they’d shifted and attacked. The carnage was unbelievable.

He shuddered and sat down under the tree, waiting for Ryan to come back. He was dirty, exhausted, and ready to just give up. This was foolish—Ryan would be faster without both him and the child dragging him down. So if it came to a choice, it would have to be him. No sense in all of them dying out here, and the reality was that there was little chance for Rasc to escape, despite Ryan’s help. If his theory was right about tigers not harming their own mates, then Ryan might have a chance. And maybe the tigers wouldn’t kill their young. But Rasc was doomed and he may as well admit it, if only to himself. He sighed and looked around him. He and the boy were in a bit of a clearing, the jungle stretching out before them as far as Rasc could see. He turned back toward the direction he thought they’d come from and froze.

A huge tiger was staring at them from the tree line. Its eyes were intent on Rasc, the massive head low as he stalked silently toward him. Even from yards away, Rasc could hear the steady growling sound coming from its throat. Every instinct inside him told him he should grab the boy and run, but he knew that if he did, the big cat would be on them in seconds, maybe tearing them apart. He thought back to what Ryan had told him to do if he saw one of the Tygerians in beast form. “Go limp and drop to the ground. Don’t run, and whatever you do, don’t try to fight.”

He was ready to tuck the boy under him and do just that when he saw the big cat suddenly stop and sniff the air. It cocked its massive head and turned its back on him, walking away and disappearing into the bushes in the direction Ryan had disappeared in. Rasc took in a harsh breath as reaction set in, and he sat there shaking for perhaps five minutes. Was that Kylon? Something told him it wasn’t, and not Larz either. He suspected it was Mikos, and he’d been stalking his mate.

Rasc finally pulled himself together and managed to stand up, wondering what direction Ryan had taken. He needed to try and warn him.

While he stood there in indecision, holding tightly to the boy’s hand to reassure both of them, Ryan suddenly walked out of the trees.

“Oh, thank God. I saw one of them. I thought it might be Mikos. I thought he was stalking you.”

“If it was him, he didn’t find me. Why, what did he do?”

As Rasc explained the encounter, Ryan gazed longingly in the direction the tiger had disappeared in.

“I want to go after him, but it may not be him. It might be Larz, and he recognized