Outlaw Tiger
Terry Bolryder
Copyright © 2021 by Terry Bolryder
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover art by Yocla Book Cover Designs
Contents
Author’s Note
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Epilogue
Sample of Onyx Dragon
Also by Terry Bolryder
Author’s Note
Hi,
Outlaw Tiger is book 4 in my brand new Texas Dragon series! You can read each as a standalone, because each book stars a new couple and their entire journey to love, including a happy ending. No cliffhangers!
However, there are some overarching mysteries and side characters, so reading in order will give a richer experience!
Book 1:
Cowboy Dragon (Texas Dragons Book 1)
Book 2:
Rancher Dragon (Texas Dragons Book 2)
Book 3:
Wrangler Dragon (Texas Dragons Book 3)
Prologue
“You shouldn’t have done that.”
Three boys, all somewhere between twelve and fourteen, bore down on the lone kid who stood in front of them.
Though only about eight or nine years old, the kid showed no fear in his expression. No emotion. Only steely determination as his fists clenched.
After all, his only name growing up had been “Killer.” The violent people who’d raised, trained, and tortured him had used that term in place of whatever name he might have been born with long ago.
But now, living alone on the streets of Dallas, Texas, he’d merely come to be known as “Kid” by the humans who’d had the dumb luck to ever see him.
So, at least in his own head, the name had stuck for lack of a better one.
After all, he had no parents, no home except for the streets.
It was better than being back in the hell that had been his life before this one.
The bullies, all three of them stinking of low-blooded wolf shifter, advanced on Kid. A minute ago, the same bullies had been ready to beat the living daylights out of a couple of children. Kid had happened to hear the commotion a block away and came to investigate.
He knew it was better to stay out of sight. To survive at all costs.
But whenever he saw someone bigger or with greater numbers oppressing another, even just bigger children ganging up on smaller children, the tiger in him roared and snarled.
More than once, this sort of situation had gotten him into trouble. But it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle.
“That bozo’s lunch money was almost mine,” the oldest of the bullies said, a young wolf shifter with brown hair and pale-blue eyes. “You’re going to pay, human.”
Even in the city, there were large clans of different shifters that existed amongst the humans. And in his travels, moving from place to place, from city to city, he’d run into all types. He could recognize them by scent from large distances away.
But as a tiger, Kid couldn’t be scented by other shifters.
Which meant everyone always underestimated him, thinking him a regular human like everyone else.
The lead bully yelled and threw his fist toward Kid, much faster than a teen of fourteen would normally move. Kid dodged, ducking easily beneath the wild swing.
Like the pack animals they were, the other two bullies attacked. Adrenaline rushed through Kid, years of training no child should have ever endured keeping him calm and collected.
He punched the bigger one in the gut, hard enough to knock the wind out of him. The next, a rangy preteen who was more bones and height than brawn, Kid hit across the cheek with the back of his hand, knocking him down toward the side.
But the first one was already turning around, charging with bared teeth, the wolf in him seemingly near the surface.
In a motion that was as fast as it was reflexive, Kid grabbed the bully’s wrist and turned his own back toward him, then tossed the bully over his shoulder as he used the forward motion to send the wolf flying away. The bully tumbled a dozen feet, making angry oof sounds as he did, and Kid braced himself for another attack.
After all, bullies rarely stopped until he made them stop.
“What’s going on back here?” An adult male voice boomed through the small alley where the scuffle had been taking place. The bullies, who’d been gathering themselves for another attack, bolted away as a tall figure emerged from the shadows, blocking Kid’s exit toward the street.
Damn. Caught.
He hadn’t meant to throw the bully so far. It was just hard to control his own strength at times. And since they were wolves, he’d needed to use more effort than if they were humans.
Kid looked up at the towering man. He appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties, and he wore a blue shirt and blue jeans with a black Stetson and a swaggering drawl that screamed “cowboy from out of town” instead of just another city slicker who liked to dress up as a cowpoke.
From his overall size and physique, the man looked all shifter, though his scent was foreign to Kid. Not a wolf, bear, or big cat for certain.
“What were you up to?” The man had piercing blue eyes, and he folded his arms as he loomed above.
Kid kept his trap shut. Talking had never been one of his strong suits. In fact, he never talked at all. And the less he said, the less chance he had of ever being caught.
The man looked in the direction the bullies had run, and his mouth quirked in a frown. “What did those kids want with you?”
No answer.
The man seemed amused by the lack of response, and his expression relaxed somewhat. “What’s your name, son?”
Kid just shook his head. He didn’t even have one. And if he did, he wasn’t keen on sharing it with a stranger.
But there was something
