Heart of the Jaguar

by Katie Reus

  She dragged a pair of black slacks out of her bag and frowned at them. “Of course they are...ugh, these need to be ironed.” Cindy glanced at him. “You don’t happen to have one do you?”

  Wincing, he shook his head. He didn’t even have a hair dryer. “Sorry.”

  “That’s okay. I’ll just wear jeans. I’m not staying long anyway.”

  “I’m going with you.” He rose from the bed, anticipating an argument.

  She just smiled. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

  The tension in his chest loosened. He was going no matter what, but he liked that he didn’t have to argue. Cindy was smart and cared about not only her safety, but also that of her patients. Even if Tyler was a human—and they still weren’t sure it was him behind the recent attacks—Elias would never underestimate anyone motivated enough to do her harm. He hadn’t been in town long enough to know if there were any other possible threats against her and no one else had any suspects since Cindy was so well liked. While he was protecting her, he was letting the police do their job. Of course he still wished his FBI friend would hurry up with that information—if there was any to be discovered. It hadn’t even been a full twenty-four hours since he’d called in the favor, but Elias wanted to know as much as he could about the only suspect right now.

  Cindy might be strong and heal faster than humans, but she wasn’t indestructible. Which was why he was going with her to work. Well, that and he couldn’t not go. Not when he was half in love with her and feeling crazed at the thought of her being out of his sight for even a few minutes. This mating-heat craze was more than he’d expected, but he was fully embracing every bit of it.

  * * *

  Six hours later, darkness had fallen and Elias finally felt as if he could breathe again. Cindy had stayed a lot longer than she’d said she would, but he couldn’t blame her. Her office had filled up, and even with two doctors and three nurses, they were still in desperate need of help. Elias was going to put a few feelers out to shifters and humans he knew in the medical field. Cindy couldn’t keep working this much. The town might be small, but it needed another doctor. That was a conversation for another day though. Right now, he was just concerned with getting her back to his home.

  “I could get used to you chauffeuring me around.” Cindy laid her head back against the headrest of his truck and turned her head to face him.

  “I could too. As soon as we get back to my place, you’re going to bed.” He steered out of the small parking lot behind her practice.

  “Ah, okay then. But you’re joining me.” Her grin was wicked as she closed her eyes and let her head fall back.

  He kept his gaze on the road and tried to keep his thoughts off her naked body. “After you get some actual sleep, then hell yes I’m joining you.”

  “I bet I can change your mind,” she whispered in that sensual voice.

  He knew she could too, but he didn’t respond because he didn’t trust his voice. He’d come so close to marking her earlier this morning, and it scared him. When they bonded and became mates—if they did—they would need to mark each other together. He couldn’t exert that right when it wasn’t his to take. He’d felt like such a jackass when he’d almost done it, but she hadn’t said anything. Now that they’d moved past the one big hurdle she seemed to have, he wanted to broach the subject of officially mating. While he didn’t want to rush her, he felt crazed with the need to claim her. Rolling his shoulders once, he tried to shake off those thoughts.

  Elias shot another glance at her. Cindy’s head was back against the seat, her neck bared, and each time her chest rose, a hint of cleavage peaked out from the V-neck sweater she wore. Just a hint, but it had him going crazy since he knew exactly what she looked like without clothes on. Her amber-and-vanilla scent twined around him, settling into his skin and taking over the vehicle as she made a permanent mark on his life without even trying.

  A flash of movement in the rearview mirror caught his attention, but before he could react, his truck jolted forward under the impact of another vehicle slamming into them. The sound of crunching metal rent the air.

  Cindy let out a yelp of alarm as they jerked forward against their seat belts and their heads snapped back against the headrests. Elias gripped the steering wheel tightly and started to slow down when whoever had hit them crashed into them again.

  This was no accident.

  The driver didn’t have on the vehicle’s lights, but Elias could make out the outline of a lone figure in the driver’s seat.

  He started to speed up, but the vehicle followed, ramming into them as he did.

  Cindy turned in her seat. “Do you think it’s Tyler?”

  Elias gritted his teeth. “Not sure.” But he was sure it was the man who’d been harassing her. He didn’t care who it was though as he mentally ran through his options. They were coming up on a bend in about a hundred yards. After that they had two miles until they reached the turnoff for Wright pack land.

  Crunch.

  The truck jolted forward again. The impact pissed him off more than anything. Cindy let out another yelp and then a growl of anger.

  “I’ll call the cops,” she said, digging out her phone.

  He increased his grip on the wheel, his knuckles turning white. He couldn’t speed up without endangering them. If he picked up speed, they would careen over the hill once they reached the bed. “No. Call Owen. Tell him what’s going on and to send a tracker.”

  Crunch.

  Okay, fuck that. “Forget it. Do you trust me?”

  “Of course.”

  Her immediate answer warmed him. Elias rolled down their windows and picked up speed, hurtling toward the bend. Fifty yards now. He knew how agile jaguars were and had seen Cindy shift in mere seconds. She could pull off what he had planned with ease.

  Then he could track this son of a bitch himself. This was going to end tonight.

  “I’m not going to take the turn. When we fly off the edge, shift as you jump out the window. Our animal forms can take the impact. Once we hit the ground, run to pack land. There will be patrollers there and you’ll be safe. I’m going to hunt this bastard down.” Hell, even if they were human, they’d probably survive the impact of this short drop-off.

  He was damn fast in his wolf form, and if he could catch their attacker’s scent and track him, Elias wouldn’t let the guy get out of his vehicle alive.

  “Okay.” She jerked her boots off and tossed her phone into the center console as she gripped the window frame.

  Wind whistled through the cabin of the truck as he increased speed even more, putting a little distance between them and their attacker. But the other driver sped up too. Elias wanted to talk this through, to make sure Cindy was truly okay with the idea. But she was a shifter and as strong as him, and they simply had no time to debate.

  As he increased speed even more, his entire body tensed as he prepared to undergo the change.

  “You’re going to do fine,” he said quietly.

  Cindy glanced over her shoulder at him, her grip on the window frame tight. “So are you.”

  Yeah, he loved this woman.

  He let go of the wheel as they reached the edge. As Cindy cleared her window, she was already shifting. Seeing that, he let go of his tight control and allowed his animal to take over. Bones shifted, broke and realigned as wolf replaced human. The cool wind whipped over his fur as he sailed through the air and landed on all fours on the steep incline.

  His truck landed with a sickening crash about thirty yards below them. It careened for a few feet before it slammed into a pine tree. There was an eerie creaking sound as the tree swayed back and forth, but it held steady.

  Elias looked to his right to find Cindy on all fours, almost parallel to him twenty feet away. He let out a growl, trying to tell her to run so he could head back up the cliff and hunt down her attacker, but the stubborn jaguar shook her head and let out a snarl.

  He started to growl again when a rush of air ab
ove them made him instinctively crouch. Another truck hurtled through the air, the dark blue color visible under the moonlight as it sailed up in an arc.

  The driver had been going as fast as them and hadn’t made the turn. It was as if time slowed as he watched the vehicle flying, higher, higher—Elias cringed as their attacker’s truck slammed full force into his ruined vehicle.

  A ball of fire erupted, filling the sky with a boom and rush of orange heat. Elias raced toward Cindy and barked at her, ordering her to stay put, even though he had a feeling she wouldn’t.

  Traipsing down the steep incline, he carefully loped toward the accident site. The scent of burning flesh was unmistakable and something he’d unfortunately smelled once during his time in the army. There was no screaming, no heartbeat, but he could scent the flesh and death. Whoever had been driving was dead.

  He and Cindy didn’t need to stick around for this. He turned around to find her right behind him. Even though she didn’t listen to a damn thing he said, he found he liked that about her immensely. It kept him on his toes.

  Motioning with his head toward Wright pack land, he started off in that direction and she fell in step next to him. They needed to call the cops and figure out who had been inside that vehicle, but Elias was hopeful that their nightmare was finally over.

  Chapter 9

  Cindy sat as close to Elias as she could without sitting in his lap. They were on Gabriela and Owen’s couch talking to Sheriff Damico. She couldn’t believe that Tyler was dead, but she really couldn’t process that he’d actually been stalking her. It was just too weird—too surreal. She couldn’t even understand why, since they’d barely talked to each other. She’d only exchanged a few niceties with the man in the past few months. Well, until he’d started acting strange and showing up at the same places as her and constantly asking her out.

  “So Cindy doesn’t have anything to worry about?” Elias spoke, and though he sounded at ease, she could feel the tension humming through him.

  After the two trucks had exploded, they’d booked it to Wright land. Then they’d changed into clothes, headed back, gathered all their shredded clothes and then called the police. From there it had been more paperwork—something she never wanted to deal with again. Now it was two days later and the sheriff had more news for them.

  “No. After searching Mr. Lowe’s house it’s clear he had a sick obsession with Cindy. There were pictures and a shrine built to you...” The sheriff nodded at her and cleared her throat as she trailed off. “Apparently he had a record of mental instability and not being able to decipher reality from fiction. For whatever reason, he fixated on you. He also had a lot of pictures of a jaguar he must have been tracking in the forest. Those were mingled with pictures of you. Not sure why he had those either, but you’re damn lucky to be alive. In fact...you’re both lucky to be alive. I still can’t believe you survived that jump from your truck. It was a risky move.” She shook her head in bewilderment and stood. “I’m sorry for all you’ve been through. I’m going to have the DNA from the body tested just to be sure, but I think you can rest easy.”

  Cindy wondered if Tyler had known what she was. Maybe he’d seen her out in the woods; had witnessed her shift. Without seeing the jaguar photos he had, she couldn’t know. But she planned to find out later. She was always so careful about shifting, but maybe he’d seen and fixated on her. Shaking her head, she internally sighed. She could ‘maybe’ herself until she was blue in the face. He was no longer a problem and she could move on with her life.

  Gabriela, who was sitting on a love seat with Owen and had been quiet until now, also stood. “Thanks for coming by to let us know what you found at Lowe’s house and for everything else. I’ll walk you out. I’d like to talk to you about some other stuff if you have a sec.”

  Cindy knew the two women were best friends—and she also knew Gabriela had temporarily turned down a position working for the police department a couple of months ago because she had some things to tie up with whomever she’d worked for before she’d moved back to Bear Mountain. Now Cindy wondered if the Alpha’s mate was ready to start there.

  The sheriff nodded and said a quick goodbye before the two women left. Cindy looked at Elias, who gave her a brief kiss. “I need to talk to Owen and take care of some pack business, but I’ll meet you back at the house in half an hour?”

  “Of course.” She gave a polite smile to Owen then headed out the same way the other two women had left. Sure enough she heard them talking about job stuff, but Cindy kept going until she reached Elias’s place.

  A home she could easily see moving into with him. Since he’d asked her to move in just this morning, she knew it would be happening permanently soon. There was no way she could say no. She was living with him anyway, considering the front part of her house was still under construction. But he hadn’t said anything about mating, and a small part of her wondered why not. Sure, he’d told her he wanted to court her, and she’d assumed that after the explosion Elias would make his intentions to mate clear. Now it was two days later and he hadn’t said anything. It unsettled her.

  Once inside the house, she grabbed her purse, keys and phone and headed to her car. She called Elias to let him know she was going to her house to pick up a few things, but he didn’t answer so she left a message. The drive to her home was quick. She hated seeing the boarded-up windows, and the stench of accelerant and fire lingered in the living room. At least it hadn’t spread to the rest of the house.

  As she looked around the home she’d created for herself, she realized she wouldn’t miss it. The house itself wasn’t home in the way she knew she could make one with the man she loved.

  If only she could find the courage to tell him how she felt. But she kept holding back out of fear. Sighing at her own cowardice, she made her way to the kitchen. After packing up a box of dry foodstuff so she could bake a surprise for Elias later, she headed upstairs and packed a bag of toiletries and more clothes. She could return later for anything else, but what she’d gathered should last her another week.

  When she stepped out of her bathroom, hair dryer in hand, she screamed as someone rushed at her from the doorway. Turning to defend herself, she let the dryer drop to the carpet when she realized it was Elias.

  He practically tackled her to the bed, his large body covering hers in the most delicious way. She was confused by the fact that he was naked and that he was in her home, but she immediately wrapped her legs around his waist. She frowned at his dark expression. For a moment, his wolf flashed in his eyes. His breathing was rough, uneven, and she was under the impression he was trying to control himself. Her concern grew a fraction.

  “Elias?” she whispered, tentatively smoothing her hands over his broad shoulders.

  “Why’d you leave?” She could hear the wolf in his voice.

  Her frown deepened. “I came back here to get more stuff. I left you a message.”

  He blinked and some of his wolf seemed to clear from his vision. “My cell’s at the house. I just saw your car gone and my wolf took over. I tracked your scent...” Elias leaned down, lightly nuzzling her neck in a way only shifters did with each other.

  “You didn’t actually think I’d left.” She gently stroked her fingers down his back, trying to soothe him. He was obviously on edge after the past week they’d had.

  He sighed heavily. “I didn’t, but my wolf just took control. That’s...never happened.”

  Her jaguar knew what to say.

  “I love you, Elias.” The words just slipped out, but she didn’t want to take them back. She’d been guarding her heart for too many years, and she owed it to herself and the man she loved to let that wall down. She wanted a chance at happiness.

  A shudder went through his big, naked body, so she trailed her fingers down to his backside and dug into his flesh. He flexed under her touch, growling softly against her neck. It sounded almost like a purr and made her shiver in the most delicious way.

  “I love you t
oo.” Elias’s voice was still ragged, but he was back to normal as he spoke this time. When he lifted his head to look at her, his green eyes were dark and stormy. “I want to officially mate with you. I want everyone to know you’re mine. This need inside me is...” He trailed off into another territorial growl.

  She trembled at the uncontrolled sound. “So what are you waiting for?”

  His head tilted to the side, as if he was unsure he’d heard her right. “Now?”

  She rolled her hips against his. His erection pressed against the juncture between her legs with insistency. “Can you think of a better time?” She was so damp, it was almost embarrassing. All he had to do was talk or be in the same room and her body went molten hot for him.

  Elias grasped the bottom of her sweater and practically tore it off her with trembling hands. Next went her bra and pants, and he actually ripped her panties off. She was pretty sure he didn’t mean to, but the material shredded under his touch.

  “I’ll buy you more...but you shouldn’t be wearing these anyway.” Kneeling in between her legs, he lifted one and raked his teeth along her calf.

  Her inner walls clenched at the touch. It was difficult to think, much less talk, but she forced herself to say, “Really? So I guess you’d be okay with me going commando to work then?” He froze at her words, as if he just realized what he’d said, so she continued. “I think that’s a great idea. In fact, I’ll stop wearing a bra too. It’ll be easier to—”

  Moving lightning fast, he silenced her as his mouth covered hers. She moaned into his kiss, wrapping her naked body around his. Feeling his strength on top of her, surrounding her, always turned her brain to mush.

  She grinded against him, rubbing her wet slit along his cock, but he refused to move and push inside her. She’d learned enough about him to know how much he loved teasing her. He would get her worked up and so close to climax, then he’d pull back at the last second. The man was a menace to her sanity.