Pregnant With His Liger Baby

Ilana’s face fell, the sense of adventure turning to a sense of dread. “Then who is going to take care of me? You can’t expect this old salt here to watch over me forever.”

“Hey, I’m not that old,” Edwards complained. “Now come on, or we’ll lose our window of opportunity, young miss.”

“I love you both,” she told them. “If you can find a way, you know where we intend to be. You must come and find me again.”

“If I can find a way, you can bet I will,” Sylvie sobbed. “Now hurry and go. I cannot take much more of this parting.”

Without another word, Ilana turned and followed the Captain as he headed for the little life boat. The men had already lowered it into position above the water. He helped Ilana get in, and followed as well. One of the men tossed in several canteens and a bag of food.

“If you get away, you know where we’re going,” Edwards said with a nod. “Do your worst, won’t you, to stop those collectors from heading our way?”

“We’ll try, sir,” his man agreed. The boat dropped down swiftly, striking on the waves. The two of them began to paddle madly, moving as quickly as possible while the boat blocked their pursuers from spotting them as they got away.

“We’ll be long gone before they know we’ve taken to the sea,” Ilana said cheerfully, rowing with the strength of ten men. “Set down your oars for now, sir. I can do this better if I work alone.”

“You never cease to amaze me, Ilana,” he said as he laid his oars aside. “You are the most fascinating creature I’ve ever seen.”

*****

“This will be your new home, Sylvie and Micah,” said Dr. O’Dell kindly as she brought them to a little hut situated on the edge of the Preserve. “I can’t tell you how glad I was to buy your freedom from those collectors when I saw you were among their number. It’s very lucky for us that they didn’t know about your daughter, but were only interested in gathering up all the males.”

“Yes, it was for the best that we sent her away,” Sylvie said, though there was a sadness to her tone that said she wished she had done otherwise.

“Don’t worry, Sylvie dear,” said the doctor. “Every effort will be made to find Ilana by our new research company. Because although you’ve agreed to have more children as part of the new program, I know how much you want your first child returned to you.”

“And you’ve found four other couples willing to get in on this little experiment, too?” asked Micah incredulously. “Who would have ever thought you’d convince Leona to pair with a tiger for the express purpose of seeing what type of cubs they’d have?”

“Yes, that was a bit of a shock,” Sylvie agreed. “It’s going to be a bit of a pain, having her around in our little group, but I suppose it can’t be helped.”

“I think you’ll be pleased to learn that Nathan has tamed her quite a bit during the last two months since she was selected. Even I don’t see much left of the arrogant lioness you once knew.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” Sylvie scoffed.

“Here they come now,” Dr. O’Dell chuckled. “Wait till you see. It’s so disgusting.”

In their human forms, golden-haired Leona was walking hand-in-hand with a tall, handsome man with red hair. The pair seemed to have perpetual smiles painted on their faces, and they were dressed like they were on their way to a tennis tournament rather than a simple walk.

“Oh no, my darling, I simply must insist,” Leona was saying. “You’ve got to pick out the colors for the nursery. It would only be fair after I chose the paint for the rest of the house.”

“House?” Micah asked curiously when he heard her say that.

“They’re making us all actual houses,” Nathan explained. “I guess they’re planning to start some sort of breeding program if all goes well.”

“Oh, really?” asked Sylvie. “But wouldn’t any sons we birth be sterile?”

“In tigers and lions, yes,” Leona said with a nod. “However, it remains to be seen if shifters would encounter the same trouble. In any case, I’m going to be the mother of the very first tigon shifter. Who would have thought that you and I would find ourselves in a situation like this?”

Sylvie frowned. “You aren’t still hoping for a go at Micah, are you?” she asked suspiciously.

“No way,” Leona said. “Nathan has shown me that there’s much more to life than petty jealousies and being the best-dressed person and all those other catty little things I’ve done my entire life. I can’t imagine myself with any mate but him.”

“I know just what you mean,” Sylvie said with a little smile as she peeked at Micah out of the side of her eye. “There’s nothing better in life than finding the male who holds every part of your heart in his paws.”

“Except maybe placing your paw in his,” said Micah with a smile as he stretched out a hand to his mate. “Shall we have a look at our new home, kitten?”

“Yes,” Sylvie said. “We shall.”

The end.