New Species 03 Valiant by Laurann Dohner Page A

and the bullshit needed to stop. A gasp from the
    humans made him glare at Sheriff Cooper, who stumbled
    backward, his gaze horrified, and stared at his mouth.
    “A re those…”
    “A re those…”
    “Teeth,” Tiger acknowledged. “Don’t worry about
    Valiant. He’s just very angry that the woman was taken
    and wants to go after her right now.”
    The sheriff finally glanced at Tiger. “I sent somebody
    to her car at the bar where she was grabbed to see if he
    could find something of hers that would have her scent. I
    know when we use hounds they need something from
    the victim. My deputy should return with it at any time.
    He radioed in that he has her jacket.”
    Tiger pointed to Valiant. “That won’t be necessary.
    We’ve both met her. She did a catering job at Reservation
    and they’ve become friends. That’s why he’s here. He
    spent more time around her than I did. He’s very familiar
    with her scent. He’ll have an easier time tracking her.”
    The sheriff shot a horrified glance Valiant’s way.
    “Well, I guess that’s good. That means you fellas know
    what a nice gal she is and that we’ve got to find her
    before the kidnappers have time to really hurt her.”
    “I’m going after her,” Valiant snarled, done listening
    to them waste time when Tammy needed him. “You
    stand here bullshitting. I’m getting her back.” He took off
    toward the woods at a run.
    “Damn, he can move fast.” The sheriff sounded
    amazed. “I won’t be able to keep up. Just go. Find
    Tammy. They have an hour lead.”
    Tiger snarled. “Wait up, Valiant. I’m right behind
    you.”
    Valiant eyes adjusted to the darkness and followed
    the clear and deep impressions the truck tires had left in
    the long grass. He knew Rider and Brass followed him
    closely. They probably were under orders to make sure
    he didn’t slaughter the human males when he found
    them. Two Species males wouldn’t be enough to prevent
    that from happening if they’d done anything bad to
    Tammy. Tiger should have brought a dozen males with
    them if that was his intention.
    Valiant located the truck and smelled Tammy right
    away inside the back of it. He leapt into the truck bed and
    discovered blood. He crouched down, sniffed, and only
    calmed slightly when he realized it wasn’t hers. He closed
    his eyes as he took a few breaths to memorize the stench
    of the males. Pure rage coursed through him because he
    could smell Tammy’s fearful scent along with those who
    had taken her. He stood and jumped out of the truck.
    Tiger and the two security officers watched Valiant,
    waiting for his assessment.
    “Two of them had her in the back of the truck.
    There’s blood but not hers.”
    Tiger nodded. Valiant walked to the open driver’s
    door. He stopped and sniffed, moving around it to the
    busted side mirror. He growled as his entire body tensed.
    “What is it?” Tiger moved forward but the answer
    was there as he inhaled. “Blood.”
    “Hers.” Valiant threw back his head and roared. “Her
    blood is on that broken mirror so they hurt her. I’ll kill
    them for this.”
    Brass cleared his throat. “She fell here and ran away
    but they followed.” He stood about ten feet from the
    truck near the tree line of the woods.
    Valiant lunged forward. The four of them sniffed the
    area and studied the tracks on the ground. The small
    impressions were harder to detect at night. “It’s not old.”
    “That’s what the sheriff stated.” Tiger confirmed.
    “They took her about an hour ago. Do you think she got
    away from them?” He stared at the smallest tracks—a
    female running. He glanced at Valiant. “How physically fit
    is she? Do you think she could outrun her attackers?”
    “No,” Valiant snarled. “She’s small and no match for
    four males.”
    “We better find them fast,” Brass growled.
    The four men ran. They stopped where Tammy had
    been tackled and the signs of where clear to each of them
    that she’d impacted the