by Laura Wylde
The softness to his tone, the kind way that he had turned his attitude around to protect Dean and to make him feel better was lovely. He was allowing that sweet side of him to come out and I really liked seeing it. It made me even more attracted to him, to know that he had a kind heart under that masculine exterior.
“We will be okay, we will face this together and survive it.”
Dean nodded, seemingly accepting that explanation. “Okay, but I would feel much better if I knew where we were going to hide Reese. Do we have a plan for that yet? Do we know where Kayla will be?”
I spotted what Dean was telling me about for just a split second. A dark shadow crossed Jakar’s face, like he wasn’t impressed about Dean referring to Javier’s plan, like it could be better than his. There was a tad of insecurity there, which was so strange. I wanted to help him as much as I could.
“I can be there,” I insisted. “I will be fine. I don’t want you all to worry so much.”
“Don’t let curiosity kill you,” Garret announced with a smirk. “The jaguars aren’t worth it. They’re boring. Nowhere near as cool as us. You won’t be impressed at all.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at his remark. Despite everything that was going on, Garret had a way to relax me. “Yeah, I’m sure you’re right. They can’t be anything like the panthers, I just…I don’t know, I would feel better being there so I can see what’s happening. I’m not good at waiting patiently for things to happen.”
“Yeah, I can believe that! I think the term for it is ‘control freak’.”
A clever retort played on my lips, I was more than ready to engage in a bit of banter with Garret to take my mind off of everything, but before it could come out, a strange howling sound seemed to fill the whole city. It wasn’t the sound of a panther; that I would have immediately recognized. It was a noise that chilled me to the bone.
“Is that…?” I whispered instead. I couldn’t finish the last word, I was too scared to say it. If I said ‘jaguars’ aloud then it would become much more real. Which wouldn’t be good since I definitely wasn’t in hiding yet.
“Fucking hell,” Jakar groaned. “They’re early. That’s such a typical bullshit move. Proving dominance by turning up before they are supposed to. Trying to show us that they control everything. This is bad form. Already a bad start.”
I shimmied closer to Dean, needing some comfort from someone. If things were bad already, then chances were they were only going to get worse. I had just decided to stay here, to forgo my life in New York to be with the panthers, and now we were about to dive head first into a war. One that we might not be able to win. If there really were as many jaguars as Dean suggested, all over the world, and the panthers were at risk of dying out then this could be the end. My life had only just begun, and it was going to be over already.
“What do we do?” I whispered fearfully. “If they’re here already, what can we do next? How can I hide?”
The guys all looked at one another, searching for answers which no one had to give. My chest tightened, I couldn’t seem to get enough air into my lungs however hard I tried, and I was more fearful than I’d ever been before. I had lived a life ruling the roost, being in control, but that was because I always understood what I was up against. Now, with the animal shifters, I couldn’t ever be sure.
“I guess we can’t,” Jakar finally announced with resentment lacing his tone. “Not now. If they’ve come early, then they probably already know about you and Kayla, which is why they want to be in control.” His eyes burned into me. “You’re going to have to trust us, and I mean really trust us. Because you’re going to have to come to face the jaguars with us. We will take care of you. We won’t let anything happen to you.”
I nodded, not even needing to think about it. I already trusted them all, I knew they wouldn’t let any harm come to me…if they could help it. If they were stronger and not completely out numbered.
It seemed like I was going to meet the jaguars after all. Hopefully, they wouldn’t be the last thing I saw before my life was taken from me…
Jakar
This was it, the moment that we had all been waiting for…even if we didn’t really want it to happen. The jaguars had descended upon us and life as we knew it was going to change. Probably not for the better.
“I will stand at the front at all times,” I commanded, using a fiercer tone that I needed to. “I’m sure Javier will be doing the same with his pack. So, you will be behind me, surrounding Reese, ensuring her protection.”
“What about Sean?” Trevor asked with a tremor in his voice. “I shouldn’t bring him, should I? No good can come from him being there. It isn’t the sort of place for a child to be. I’m right, aren’t I?”
As he glanced at everyone in turn, his desperation was obvious. “No, your child isn’t to come. Make sure that he is safe while I find Javier. Then come back to us so we can make a united front as we stand in front of the jaguars.”
“Are we going in human form, or as panthers?” he asked, just as he was about to escape through the door.
“It’s clear they are jaguars right now. It only seems right for us to greet them the same way.”
I stared at Reese, trying to see if this was something that suited her. She hadn’t yet seen any of us transformed, none of us were sure that she was ready for it yet, but our hands had been forced. She nodded sharply, accepting this easier than I thought she would. Probably because she knew that we didn’t have any choice. I hoped she could handle it. I didn’t think anything would put her off now, but it was still a little scary. She was a big part of us now, a massive part of our pack, and I wasn’t sure that any of us could handle losing her. Least of all me.
It was then time for us to separate for the time being. We had our missions to complete before we faced our enemy…well, potential enemy, I didn’t want to make a snap judgement that could make it awkward before we even spoke. I absolutely had to see where Javier’s head was at, and how he was going to protect Kayla.
“Make sure you watch Reese,” I warned Garret and Dean before I raced out the door. “I know it’s unlikely they will come in here before we meet with them at the entrance, but we need to be safe.”
They nodded. She meant as much to them as she did to me, which was the only reason I could leave her. I put my head down and tore off, only stopping when I slammed into another body.
“Oof, Javier,” I cried out as I spotted who I’d banged against. “What are you doing? Where are you going?”
“Looking for you!” he yelled. “Did you hear that howl? The jaguars are here. Already. We aren’t ready.”
“We’re going to have to be ready. We don’t have any choice. We’re going to have to face them and get this sorted.” Javier nodded, accepting my suggestion fully. “We should face them as panthers as well.”
“Sure, yes, I agree with that. And we’re obviously going to have to take the girls with us too.”
I breathed out a sigh of relief as it seemed like we were both on the same page. I was the alpha of my pack, but Javier led all of us, so his opinion would overrule mine if it came down to it. But it didn’t matter. With this one, we were all good. We barely had enough time for arguing, so thankfully we didn’t need to suffer through it.
“Yes, keep them behind us so the jaguars can’t get anywhere near them,” I insisted.
“Of course. I can’t let them anywhere near Kayla. Not with the baby so close to arriving.”
This was shit. Such bad timing. I did get what Dean was up to, I understood his reasoning even if I didn’t much like it, but despite all the forgiveness, I was annoyed that this was happening. That we had to face this. We shouldn’t be in this situation, but we were now, so I guess all that we could do was get it over and done with.
After we got this done, we could focus on the future. We could concentrate on forgiving Dean properly and learning to trust him again. We could sort things out and work out how to love Reese properly, in the way that s
he deserved. She was an amazing person who deserved everything, the very best, and I wanted that for her.
“So, you go and get your guys together.” Javier nodded at me. “And I will get mine. We will shift and head towards the tunnel to greet our…guests.” He rolled his eyes. “Try and survive this without anyone being killed.”
I didn’t want anyone to die. I didn’t want to lose any of the panthers, and I would prefer it if no jaguars lost their lives either. Any death could lead to a war and rationality suggested it was one we couldn’t win. Their high numbers were just too much for us. We wouldn’t be able to overcome that.
“Don’t worry, Jakar.” Javier rested his hand on my shoulder to reassure me. “We all have each other’s backs. I can see that you’re thinking about how this might explode, but we will do everything we can to make sure that doesn’t happen. We will keep this peaceful if we can. Just don’t rise to anything they throw at us.”
That was easier said than done, Javier knew that, but I would do my best. I hadn’t ever been in such a stressful, high pressure situation before, but if I could hold it together through that, then I could do anything.
“Let’s do this.” I nodded. “Survive it. All of us.”
I headed back to the pack to find Garret and Dean with their arms around Reese. The pain shone off them; they didn’t want to find their mate, only to immediately lose her. It wasn’t right. I stood up straighter, jutting out my chin, determined to be leader they needed me to be. I would be strong, stronger than Javier if I needed to be.
Trevor burst through the door not far behind me and he nodded determinedly. “Okay, it’s time.”
We stepped outside before starting the process of shifting into our panther forms. I sent a little prayer up into the skies, hoping that Reese could hack it. Dean went first, surprising me with his confidence, and I watched intently as Reese smiled knowingly at him, as if she had already seen him like this…
Then Trevor went. His fur had always been a slightly lighter shade than the rest of us which made him stand out…but his intense speed was off the scale, unlike anything I’d ever seen before, so it made no difference to him. As Garret split from his skin and changed, his scar lessened. With four legs, his limp was also far less obvious. Because of that, I knew he was far more comfortable in his animal form. I had a feeling that he’d soon become just as comfortable as a human because he was an awesome person…despite his annoying tendency for pranks.
Then it was my turn. I locked eyes with Reese for the last time before I exploded free from the constraints of my human form and I twisted and jilted into my beast mode. My vision shifted, noticed different things, my sense of smell intensified, and my already incredible hearing deepened as well. The jaguars were getting restless out there, their anger was building. We needed to go and greet them soon before it turned unnecessarily sour.
I took a tentative step towards Reese first of all, needing to confirm that she was okay, and she reached out without hesitation to rub my nose. Her human skin felt incredible against my fur. My eyes slid closed and I nestled against her, loving her for just a moment. The tenderness of her caressing me lured the other guys in and she giggled as she caressed us all. There was a sweet pleasure on her expression as she brushed over us all. It made me think that we should have revealed ourselves sooner. We should have trusted her enough to know that she would be fine.
I wanted to remain here with her, I wanted her to stroke us all damn day long, but unfortunately, we had to suffer through this meeting first. We had to get the damn jaguars out of here before we could have a good time.
I fixed my eyes on the other guys, letting them know that the time had come, then we all walked towards the entrance of Panthera where the tunnel from the ancient ruins met the city, and we waited. Javier and his pack were already there, with Kayla and her rounded belly standing behind them. Without me even needing to command it, my pack did the same thing. Surrounding Reese, making her the center.
Javier nodded at me. It was up to me and him to go out, and to bring the jaguars in. As we padded through the tunnel, I hoped and prayed that we weren’t about to be ambushed. Without the alphas I didn’t know what the pack would do. I wasn’t sure they’d be able to protect the women if we weren’t there.
I was shocked to see a large pack of jaguars outside, prowling around, their yellow spotty fur glowing in the sun shine along with their teeth. They made sure their teeth were bared so we knew what we were up against, as if we weren’t already aware. If they wanted to tear us to shreds, they absolutely could.
Javier and I stood strong, making our position known. It didn’t matter if we knew they could kill us without trying, we had to make a show of power, to let them think we had it all under control. And that was how we remained for far too long, in this strange stand off where none of us wanted to make the first move. I counted eight jaguars in sight. Eight that were showing themselves and probably a lot more hiding, just in case.
Anticipation filled the atmosphere, it surrounded us all. I could barely stand it any longer. I kept darting my eyes towards Javier to get some guidance from him, but he seemed all consumed by determination to keep staring these assholes down. If one of us didn’t shift to human first, then there was only one other way it could go, and that would be a throat torn out. I wasn’t going to have that, so even without Javier’s permission, I took charge and I just did it. I had people in there that I needed to defend, and no pride would get in the way of that.
I rose up tall and stood proudly in front of the jaguars, letting them know that while they thought they were in control, they most definitely weren’t. This was our territory and I wasn’t afraid to stand up high.
It took a while. Actually, it was an uncomfortably long time before one of the jaguars shifted back too. I could tell it was a power play. They wanted us on edge before they made their move. My eyes rose up, and I was half expecting the guy who had to be one of the leaders, if not the one in charge, to be bigger than me, but he wasn’t. I had a good inch on the guy. I wondered if that meant we were bigger in general…that could help us.
“We’re here,” the guy drawled at me in a slightly husky, gravelly tone. “We want to come inside.”
I folded my arms across my chest and narrowed my eyes at him. “There are innocent people in our city. People who don’t deserve any violence. I want to be certain you aren’t about to create danger here.”
He took a giant stride, closing the gap between us, getting right up in my personal space. My breaths became ragged but not with fear, more annoyance that he thought it okay to try and intimidate me.
“You came to us, remember? You sent one of your lackeys to invite us here.”
I pursed my lips together, refusing to let them know that Dean wasn’t sent. That was show unrest and weakness. Instead, I nodded sharply and glanced at Javier, needing some guidance from him. He seemed to sigh before he shifted too, becoming his human form. The jaguars took lead from that and shifted too, becoming a bunch of guys standing with their fists balled up by their sides. All of them were smaller than us and lighter too. Skin and hair. I really felt like we were the more impressive specimens. They had to be a little intimidated.
“I think we should exchange names,” I barked in irritation. “Then we know how to communicate.”
“The only name you need is mine,” the leader snarled. “I am the only one you will be speaking to. I am Benji.”
“So, why did you bring so many people with you? Couldn’t face us alone?”
He tossed his head back and laughed. “I could face you by myself easily. These people just wanted to see this place for themselves. See what a hot mess the panthers are, if they live up to reputation.”
“Reputation?” My temper was burning, my blood boiling hot. How dare these fuckers come here and try to insult us? Who the fuck did they think they were? Rationality would fly out the window in a moment…”
“We are Javier and Jakar. Let us go into Panthera,” Javi
er declared coolly, putting an end to the fire before it could really ignite and set flames alight, burning Panthera down to the ground. “Then this meeting can go underway.”
He walked with purpose in every step and I followed closely behind. The jaguars remained close to one another, refusing to break from their pack, and they followed us inside. Taking them willingly into our home felt wrong. There was an intense vulnerability that didn’t sit right. I didn’t like how exposed we were.
“This is your home?” the leader, Benji, snarled mockingly. “This is a shit hole. How do you live here?”
His friends all laughed like hyenas, sounding like a bunch of idiots. My top lip curled up in anger, and it was really hard for me to keep myself in check. I was going to lose my head in a moment and do something crazy. Someone was going to get smacked in the face which would be followed by death eventually for sure.
“You live in poverty,” Benji continued. “Don’t you want more for yourself? I know you’re the anomalies and you should be locked away in the middle of nowhere like freaks, but this is ridiculous.”
“I don’t think we’re here to discuss our home with you all,” I snapped. “So, your opinion is invalid.”
“Yeah, well that’s probably for the best because I have a lot more opinions about this hell hole. But let’s just push that aside for the moment. Let’s talk about you guys instead. Well, the few of you there are left.”
The smirk on his face let me know that he was more than aware of what was going on here. Benji may well have known about the women leaving for a long time, or perhaps Dean told him, but either way, it was going to be used against us. He probably loved the idea that the panthers were struggling to carry on.
“You know that is what you’re here for,” Javier replied, his tone calm as he could make it. “So, let’s talk…”
“Wait, before we talk, I want to get to know the rest of our greeting party. Only, they’re all in panther form. Any way you can make them shift so we can get to know one another properly? Or don’t they follow your command?”
