Damn, he was tired of this. It wasn't anything outright that he could complain to the elders about. Although, he wouldn't have gone to the older men even if it was an out and out attack on him. He needed to be strong, like Rajiv would be.

He didn't want anyone to see him like this. Bad enough almost everyone within distance knew that Pran had it in for him. They didn't need to know Navin was hiding from the larger man. He just didn't know what to do. Pran was the stronger of the two of them. In a full on fight, Pran would win. There wouldn't even be a contest. Rajiv had beaten him, but then again, Rajiv was a force unto himself. He was nearly the strongest Tigris in existence.

Rajiv was the only reason he was still alive. Navin wasn't naïve enough to think anything else. Pran wasn't going to kill him outright, because the first thing that would happen would be Rajiv's return. If Rajiv had to come back to Himalay to bury his brother, he wouldn't be happy. Hell, he'd probably kill first, ask questions later.

This was all Pran's fault. If he hadn't tried to fight in the Paridhav, the mate hunt, then he wouldn't be after Navin right now. Pran had lost--badly--to Navin's older brother. He took his defeat horribly, humiliated in front of the entire clan.

One of the other Tigris had taken a human and brought him back to their home planet, the first human to ever step foot on Himalay. He'd been out scouting other planets, and had become bored. Deciding to take home an oddity from his journey, the Tigris had only wanted the man as an amusement. Offering him up in a mate hunt had been the perfect solution.

Tigris had come from all over Himalay to participate. It had been decades since the last hunt had been called. It was a test of strength and endurance. All you had to do was outlast your opponents. Every time a combatant was knocked out, he or she was forced to leave, their tail tucked between their legs ... literally.

The goal was to fight until the end, and the prize was the intended mate. The human, Aaron, had been furious when he'd found out. He just wanted to go home, and Navin didn't blame him one bit. It was why he'd contacted Rajiv. Well, to be honest, he'd told his father to contact Rajiv, but it was the same thing.

Rajiv had returned to Himalay with Laithe and his pride. The other Felidae had been outraged that a human male was being offered up as a prize in a mate hunt. Laithe's human mate, Rowan, was especially miffed--a new word he'd learned from her. Navin was afraid she was going to have a horrible image of the Tigris, but she seemed pretty fair-minded. She wouldn't judge them all because of the actions of the majority. Navin had tried to make sure the ruling family of the Felidae realized that not all Tigris believed in the survival of the fittest.

Some of the Tigris just wanted to survive, period.

Look where it had gotten him. Hiding from the rest of the Tigris, determined to appear strong ... at least on the outside. Inside, he was a mess. The incidents were escalating. This was getting serious, and he wasn't sure what would happen next.

So far Pran had kept his troublemaking relatively small. It was just enough to make Navin concerned, but not enough to leave him so terrified he'd go running for help. He was actually becoming scared that it was all in his imagination. Sure, he'd had a few close calls with his food. But that could have been an accident. He couldn't prove that Pran had contaminated his dried meat. He was just lucky he had a sensitive gag reflex. It had tasted horrible. If he hadn't thrown up he might have swallowed the poisoned meat.

Still, it didn't necessarily point the finger at Pran. Even if the meals had been doctored on purpose, there was no proof Pran was behind it.

This latest accident, though ... was no accident. His notes were all gone, torn to pieces. At first glance it looked like an animal had gone through his sleeping quarters, trashing his equipment and destroying everything.

Everyone knew how much he treasured his research material. He wanted to be a researcher, studying the world around him. He took detailed notes wherever he went, cataloguing the flora and fauna, keeping track of migrating patterns and particular food sources of each animal in the area. It wasn't as easy as it sounded either. Most of the animals on Himalay viewed him as a predator. It was pretty hard convincing your food that you just wanted to study them right now, not eat them. Because of that, he kept meticulous care of his research.

Now it was gone. He couldn't salvage a single note.

He couldn't prove if it was an animal or Pran, although, to his way of thinking they were pretty much the same thing at the moment. Pran was acting like an animal. This went beyond revenge against Rajiv for humiliating him. This was personal.

What the hell had he done to piss off one of the most powerful Tigris?

He crept along the path, swiveling his ears to keep track of the noises around him. He couldn't afford to have someone come up on his weak side right now. Wincing, he stepped on his sore foot, shaking his head at his stupidity.

When he'd realized the destruction of his property was no accident, he'd panicked. Thinking that Pran might be lying in wait inside his abode, Navin had freaked out, stumbling back. Unfortunately, he'd caught his left foot on a broken piece of equipment, falling to the ground. His ankle would be fine. It was nothing more than a hard bruise, but boy, did it ever hurt.

Navin approached his destination, silently limping across the clearing, looking both ways.

"What are you doing here?"

Navin stopped, his shoulders hunching. Recognizing the voice, he jerked his tail, flattening his ears to his head. "I need to talk to you, Father."

"What happened to you?"

Agni came at him from the left, a blur of orange and black. He looked so much like Rajiv that it was uncanny for a moment. The only difference between them was the excess of white Agni had around his face and neck. His fur was a brilliant orange, the individual strands sleek and short, interspersed with thick bands of black.

Navin sighed, trying to decide where to start.

"Just tell me, Navin. I know you, so stop trying to sort out the words in your mind. Just say whatever happened."

He faced his father, studying the older man. "Someone, or something, wrecked my abode. All my notes, all my equipment, everything is gone."

"Gone?"

"Trashed, unrecoverable, shattered, destroyed, damaged, ruined..."

Agni coughed, a rumbling noise deep in his throat that escalated into a roar. "He's going to pay for this."