“You can’t be wandering around. We got lucky getting in without being seen.” A feat achieved by her climbing on his back to get over the fence.
Rawr.
“You might not like it, but I’m going to get those things. I won’t be long.”
She stubbornly insisted, and he uttered a sigh.
“Glad you can see reason.” She headed for the door to exit the building, only to pause as he followed. “I told you to stay here.”
And let her go out alone? Not a fucking chance.
Her turn to huff heavily. “Fine. But no eating anyone, even if they point and scream.”
It wasn’t those who screamed that worried him, but rather those who didn’t show fear.
The trip to fetch clothing happened quickly and without mishap, with her securing a maintenance jumpsuit and a pair of rubber boots. However, the building holding the food supplies turned out to not be empty.
They entered, and Phoenix’s nose twitched. He uttered a soft growl.
Nadirah set down the clothing she held and frowned. “What’s wrong?”
He lifted a paw and pointed.
“Someone’s in the walk-in cooler?”
He nodded. The fresh scent gave them away.
Before Nadirah could react, the door to the cooler opened and out stepped two people, arms laden with brown-paper-wrapped packages. Thieves.
Rather than panic, Nadirah crossed her arms, cocked her head, and said something very stern.
The pair, with wide eyes, begun sputtering, probably begging for her not to turn them in.
Nadirah shook her head and snapped back, leading one of the culprits to duck his head as if ashamed, but the other dropped his gaze to Phoenix before launching into a rapid-fire speech that had Nadirah stiffening.
If Phoenix had to guess? What the fuck are you doing walking around with a tiger?
The man then had the nerve to step closer to Nadirah with a sneer while his partner unwrapped one of his packages of meat. The fucker tossed the refrigerated meat in Phoenix’s direction.
The less-than-fresh smell just about gagged him, and the attempt to bribe annoyed. Apparently, these goons thought they could distract him while they threatened Nadirah.
Like fuck. He growled and immediately got their attention. The single step he took had them stiffening.
To his shock, the sneering fellow lunged at Nadirah, grabbing hold and flinging her in Phoenix’s direction.
That asshole thought he could use her as live bait!
She hit the floor in front of him with a grunt of pain. Instinct—and a bit of anger—took over, and he roared even as he lunged at the one who dared do Nadirah harm.
The man flung out an arm as if it would stop Phoenix. It didn’t. He screamed when Phoenix’s jaw clamped the flesh. His teeth went through fabric and punctured flesh. Only when Phoenix tasted blood did he realize his mistake.
The transformation happened so fast he still had the limb clamped in his mouth as he reverted to his man shape.
It might have been the end of his secret if the man hadn’t fainted. Releasing the arm, and spitting out blood, Phoenix jumped to his feet, ready to tackle the other guy before he could run away and tell the world what he’d seen. Only the other fellow had disappeared.
His head turned left and right as he barked, “Where’d the other thief go?”
“He ran soon as you jumped his friend,” Nadirah exclaimed. “I don’t think he saw anything. Did you kill him?”
