The Vegan's Hunter Read Online Free Page A

teeth.
    Tyler knew that unlike encounters with bears, you should not act timid or play dead in front of a cat. He had to maintain eye contact, which was easier said than done. The fierce green eyes were making the hair on his neck stand up.
    He slowly unzipped his coat and raised his arms. The coat opened up, which made him look bigger. He waved his arms slowly. “You don’t want to mess with me cat,” he said speaking firmly. “Leave now and I won’t put an arrow through your ass.”
    The lion lowered his head and let out a low pitched growl. “Beat it,” Tyler yelled taking a step forward. The cat flinched back. He bared his fangs and hissed.
    Don’t run.
    The mountain lion took a step to the side and walked around Tyler, giving him a wide berth. Tyler pivoted, always facing the cat, still waving his hands in the air. The cat hissed and continued past him, heading straight for the dead elk.
    The mountain lion buried his face in the large carcass and tore off a chunk of hide. He glanced back at Tyler, his face now blood red, as he chewed. Tyler slowly walked to his pack and gathered his things, never taking his eyes off of the predator. He felt much better once he had his bow in his hands.
    “Bon appetit,” he said to the cat and crept off.
     
     
     

    “Some hillbilly dropped off two tigers yesterday,” Frank said, as Tyler was getting out of his truck.
    Tyler sighed. “Bad shape?”
    “You can say that.” Frank took his baseball cap off, stroked his greasy hair and put it back on. “They’re both underweight. The bigger one has some sort of skin infection. He’s going to need some antibiotics.”
    Tyler flinched just thinking of the cost. The conservation park was already tight as it is. “Did this guy donate before he left?” He asked, already knowing the answer.
    “No he just pulled up in his pickup and dropped them off. They were in a cage in the back. Damn things were frantic in there.”
    He never understood why people wanted wild animals as pets. They were cute as tiger cubs but then they grew up and caused the owners more hassle than they were worth. They usually always ended up dead or discarded like unwanted trash in a place like Tyler’s.
    “I’ll take a look at them. Where are they?”
    “In Sparky’s old cage.” He pointed to a smaller building off of the main one.
    “In the dog pen?” he asked, shocked. “Come on Frank. What were you thinking?”
    Frank shrugged. “There was nowhere else. The tiger pen is already overflowing and I didn’t know if the skin infection was contagious.”
    “What about the grizzly enclosure? It’s empty.”
    “The fence is broken. I told you that last month.”
    Tyler sighed and walked towards the dog pen. Three tiles on the roof were cracked and a few were missing. The roof needed changing. He would have to change it before winter.
    He could hear the dogs barking as he got closer. He opened the door and it was almost deafening. There was a pug in the cage in front of him barking. The smell of the tigers were driving all of the dogs crazy. Tyler leaned down and stuck his finger into the cage. “It’s okay buddy. They wouldn’t stand a chance against you.”
    The dog backed away into the corner and was shaking. He growled at Tyler. Poor guy. Someone had found the pug in an alley two weeks ago shivering and lying on the cold pavement, barely moving. He had one eye missing and was covered in cigarette burns. Tyler took him in and nursed him back to health but the dog was petrified of people. Chances are he would never be adopted into a home. Tyler knew what had to be done but couldn’t bring himself to do it. No animal had ever been euthanized in his center since the opening five years ago and he wasn’t about to start now.
    His conservation center, Harry’s Homes, was originally only meant for abused wildlife that needed a home but he had another wing to the center built when people kept dropping off abandoned and abused dogs, cats and farm