On the monitors, Shira shifted to block every angle, guarding the bundle with her body. “We need someone she trusts,” Ethan said, rubbing tired eyes.
“Margaret Hayes,” he decided at last. “She raised Shira from a cub.” Caleb glanced at Lily. “Will she come?” “If it’s Shira—before dawn,” Ethan answered.
Outside, the enclosure went quiet. Only the slow rhythm of the tigress’s breathing carried across the glass corridor.
Lily hugged her notebook to her chest and whispered what everyone now feared to admit aloud: “She’s protecting something.”
