“There is something you should know,” Tammy said loudly so both men could hear her.

Valiant looked down at her until their gazes met and held. “What is it?”

“Can you hear me, Tiger?”

“I can. I’ve got good hearing.”

“I didn’t tell the sheriff everything about those men. They knew that Valiant had carried me into his house the day I met him. They said they have an informant who overheard a conversation between Justice North and maybe you, Tiger. They talked about their boss and how he wanted me because of what happened.”

She focused on Valiant and continued, “They knew I’d slept with you. They never said the name of the man they work for but they referred to him as a doctor. They also said they wanted me to videotape statements saying horrible things to make people hate you. They said that doctor, their boss, wanted to experiment on me inside some testing facility. One of them thought I’d been infected and would turn New Species but I lied and told them nothing happened between Valiant and me. They mentioned having an informant a few times, someone close to Justice North.”

“Son of a bitch,” Tiger growled. “You’re sure?”

“Positive.” Tammy hesitated. “Does any of this make sense to you? I didn’t want to tell Sheriff Cooper any of that because he’d want to know about what happened between us too.”

“Did you tell anyone what happened at Valiant’s home?” Tiger sounded alarmed.

“No.” Tammy turned her head to peer at him. “I didn’t tell anyone but I asked Ted not to mention it either. He swore he wouldn’t tell a soul. He totally believed me and thinks Valiant and I, well, he thinks I told him the absolute truth. Those men tonight were certain that I had been with Valiant sexually and they said their informant had overheard a conversation between Justice North and his head of security speaking about whether I’d press charges for rape or not. They also said their boss and more men in their group were coming here the day after tomorrow.”

“Not good,” Tiger growled. “Justice and I had that conversation.”

Valiant’s arms tightened around her. Tammy looked at him. His eyes were narrowed as he glared at her with a hurt expression on his handsome, albeit scary face.

“Don’t look at me that way. I never said the word rape. I said you didn’t do that to me.”

“She never accused you of forcing her,” Tiger agreed. “She made it clear there was nothing for you to be punished over but I just wasn’t sure I believed her words or not. You carried her off, Valiant. You weren’t yourself that day and you were being aggressive. I considered she might be lying. Some women who are raped deny it. Justice and I had a conversation but obviously someone overheard it and fed information to those terrorist groups.”

Valiant still looked angry but his hold on her relaxed while he snuggled her deeper into his arms. He sighed. Tammy closed her eyes and rested her cheek on his chest again. She was tired but managed not to doze off.

The Jeep stopped when they reached the main gates of New Species Reservation. She lifted her head and stared at the high walls that protected the property from intruders. She knew everyone in her town and the towns around theirs had been thrilled because they had hired a massive workforce to build them. Guards were lined up on top of the walls with weapons. A guard shack stood next to the gate and two heavily armed men walked out to openly study Tammy.

“Is everything all right, Tiger?”

“Yes. Miss Shasta is going to be our guest for a while.”

The officer nodded. “I’ll call guest housing and have them prepare her a room and get a security detail lined up.”

“She’s going home with me,” Valiant stated firmly.

Tiger shook his head. “You can’t take her to your place.”

“She is going home with me,” Valiant growled.

Tiger hesitated. “Valiant, you can’t take her out there. You can move into the hotel if you want to stay with her. Those ass**les specifically targeted her and as head of security, I’m telling you that she’s safer at the hotel with all of our security nearby than she would be at your remote home. The sheriff wants to get a statement from her too and I’m sure Justice might want to talk to her. She also needs medical attention. Once things cool down, and if she wants to go home with you, we’ll discuss the matter. Right now I’m pulling rank. She stays at the hotel and that’s not up for debate. You can shut up and stay with her or you can go home alone.”

“Fine,” Valiant growled. “We stay at the hotel.”

Tiger turned his attention to the waiting gate officers. “I don’t want her around the other humans. She’s to stay inside one of the suites with Valiant. She’ll need clothes and medical attention.”

“The doctors are pretty busy.” The officer still studied Tammy. “Can she wait? One of those ass**les is in critical condition and the docs are all operating on him.”

“She will not wait second to one of the men who harmed her,” Valiant snarled. “Let him die.”

Tiger lifted his hands to make a gesture for Valiant to calm. “I’ll call Slade and ask him to bring Trisha to care for her. All right, Valiant?”

He nodded. “I would prefer Trisha look at her anyway. I trust her with my woman.”

His woman? Tammy arched an eyebrow.

Valiant scowled at her. “You are mine.”