Wanted by the White Tiger

By Jess Hayek

Vincent will find Juliette. No matter how long it takes.

Vincent, a white tiger shifter, will soon be unleashed from a paranormal prison after getting caught stealing the Vampire King’s precious Blood Diamonds. His partner and lover, Juliette, escaped, but he hasn’t heard from her in ten years. Will he live long enough to see life outside the cell? Will he live long enough to know what happened to Juliette? 

Warning: Contains vampires, werewolves, and an evil jaguar-shifter with a terrible sense of humor. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jess Hayek
• Release date: Aug 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781516346233

Book preview

VINCENT

Never get caught. This was the crystal clear rule that Vincent had followed all of his life but somehow he still found himself in a maximum security prison. For ten long years he'd thought every day about the question: Why in the fuck did I get caught? Deep down, he knew the answer. He’d sacrificed his freedom because of his love for Juliette.

Each dark year in the colorless cage felt like another lifetime of torture. He'd live through the outer torments of prison and then die on the inside from missing her all over again. Juliette did not visit or even write to him once. His worst fear was that he may forget her name. And if he did? Maybe he was better off to erase his memory of her and everything that happened. How do you stop remembering your soulmate? To think of her was all he knew to do. His heart could not stand to replace eternal love with everlasting emptiness. One way or another, even if it's the last thing he ever did, Vincent would find Juliette again.

The security guards had stripped him naked and burned all of his possessions. He'd caused the death of countless prisoners but each case was ruled self-defense. Still, they hated him and wanted him to suffer. All of his photographs of Juliette were destroyed. His only remaining image of her was in his mind.

Are you missing that pretty woman? said one of guards.

You think she's waiting for you? How long's it been? Ten years? laughed the other guard.

He wanted to shift to tiger and rip out their taunting tongues but he resisted the change. They knew how dangerous he was but still tried to goad him into attacking. The human guards despised the animal-shifter prisoners and wanted to find any excuse to fire their assault rifles.

Show us those tiger teeth, said the guard. So I can break them and wear them around my neck.

Vincent stayed calm but he vowed to himself that one day he would have his revenge. Tension consumed his mind. He was locked away in isolation but he knew his enemies would still seek a way to kill him. Paying off a guard to poison a prisoner's food was a common method to eliminate someone secluded from the general population. Fortunately Vincent's tiger nose was able to detect any tampering with his meals so he wasn't too worried. As long as he didn't do anything foolish he believed he would survive the next twenty-four hours. Survival was the easy part. The real challenge ahead was finding Juliette and facing the possibility that maybe she'd just simply moved on with her life.

Black smoke stung his eyes and choked his lungs. Someone had set fire to the prison with the intent of killing Vincent. They couldn't defeat him in a fair fight so they tried to burn him alive. Typical tactics of his enemies.

Cowards! he shouted. His body shifted to animal form. He could hold his breath longer as a beast and escape the fire faster once he figured out an exit. The beautiful white tiger faced the flames. His superior speed and strength would not protect him from the searing heat of the consuming blaze. The only way out was to jump over a burning wall that would melt his furry flesh if he stumbled. Vincent had just a few feet to sprint but it was enough. He ran and pushed off with his powerful legs. On the other side of the smoke and heat was a giant cobra coiled and ready to strike. Snake-shifters were all evil and Vincent was prepared to claw and bite the serpent to the death.

You will never see your freedom or your woman again! said Thulsa. He hissed and lunged at the nimble cat. The snake was quick but Vincent was quicker. His tiger teeth pierced the cobra's neck and he thrashed its long slimy body from side to side with his mouth. The serpent wrapped his tail around the tiger and squeezed with all his might. Vincent felt his own bones begin to compress and crack. If Thulsa had more time to constrict then he may have been victorious. The tiger's forceful jaws clamped and crushed the snake's bleeding throat. Unable to breath or bite with his poisonous fangs, Thulsa succumbed to the darkness of death. Vincent released the snake and spit out the venom that he nearly swallowed. 

He'd survived the fire and the deadly serpent waiting to kill him. His enemies were no doubt going to do everything to prevent his release from prison. The guards arrived to extinguish the flames and lock him in another cell. Where would they put him now? Back in solitary or in general population? Either way his life was still in extreme danger.

You lucky bastard, said a guard. I guess cats really do have nine lives. He laughed and shook his head.

Vincent had escaped death countless times. The nine lives rule only applied to domestic cats. He was an immortal great white tiger and dying did not scare him. If someone was skilled enough or lucky enough to kill Vincent, he'd accept that it was his appointed time to die. After hundreds of years, part of him was ready for it to happen. But the greater part of him wanted to keep living for her love.

SETH

The Vampire King was proud and ruthless. He'd executed his own son for mixing his pure blood with