by Laura Wylde
“What are you doing?” I hissed angrily. “Let’s just get these fuckers out of here.”
“I don’t like what he said either, but we don’t lead in that way. We need to give everyone a chance to voice their opinions and you know it. Plus, if we don’t at least discuss it, we could face some issues.”
“Benji has you rattled, doesn’t he?” I snapped, not even caring if that asshole could hear me now with his super sonic hearing. “Is it because he threatened Kayla? Because we aren’t going to let that happen.”
“I know, I know. I won’t let anything happen either. I’m just…conscientious that there are a lot of jaguars out there in the world and now they know where we are. I don’t want to invite a war.”
I rolled my eyes at him, even though I did actually agree with that sentiment. “Okay, so let’s ask everyone.”
“I don’t want this,” Dean snapped up first of all, clearly knowing that he had started this and feeling bad for it. I had a feeling that he would be trying to make up for it forever. “I don’t want the jaguars here.”
“Me neither,” Trevor joined in. “We wouldn’t ever be able to trust them, you just know that they don’t give a shit about us. They would throw us under the bus in a heartbeat. There wouldn’t ever be any peace, so we would be giving up control for nothing. We can’t risk Kayla and Reese for that. They still haven’t said what they would do with the humans if they came here. Or our children. I need to think about Sean in all of this.”
I nodded, completely agreeing with him. It seemed obvious to me what Benji would do if we signed anything and it wasn’t going to be far off from what he threatened to do only a few minutes before. He had blood in his nose, and he lusted for it.
“Garret?” I asked. “I know I don’t really need to ask you, but Javier wants to hear it from everyone…”
“Get those bastards out of here,” he snapped. “I don’t like even breathing the same air as them.”
“Me neither.” Reese shook her head hard. “I don’t trust them at all. I don’t think they have your best interests at heart. I think…well, like Trevor said, that it won’t end well. For any of us.”
I nodded and started at Javier. He turned to his guys, but before any of them could say anything, Kayla exploded hysterically. “Don’t let them kill me and my baby. Please make them go away. I don’t like it…”
“Yeah, I think we’re all on the same side, aren’t we?” Damien asked, glancing at Eben and Tyler who were nodding frantically. “Just get them out of here. They aren’t welcome.”
“That’s it.” I turned to Javier. “The decision has been made. It’s time to make them go.”
Javier nodded but he didn’t have much confidence in his face. He was unsure how Benji was going to react to the news of our rejection. I was too, he certainly wasn’t a reasonable guy, but he was going to have to go, regardless. They all were. We would have to make sure that they left and didn’t come back.
We took our seats and stared at the jaguars once more. Benji had that frozen look on his face, like he was a statue. It was creepy, like the sort of thing that would appear in a nightmare.
“We have decided,” Javier said regretfully. “And I’m sorry to inform you that it isn’t going to work out. We cannot offer you our loyalty and give you control of our race.”
“But you will die out.” Benji’s face finally showed some emotion. Rage mostly. “You need us.”
“No, we don’t need you. We don’t need anything from you. I’m sorry that you came all the way here just for the meeting to end up being pointless, but that is how we all feel. This won’t work out for any of us.”
“We’ve made an effort for you. We’ve sorted out women. This is not something that we’ve taken lightly. Now, after coming to us, you’re telling us that it isn’t going to happen. I don’t even know what to say to you.”
“I don’t think there’s anything else that needs to be said. I think we’re done.”
Rage crossed Benji’s face. His plan for destruction raced across his face. He was ready to put it into action right now. Unfortunately, I didn’t know enough about him to know if this was a spur of the moment burst of anger that would subside, allowing for rationality to come into play…or if he would follow through on it.
“It’s time for you to leave.” I couldn’t stand it any longer. I needed them gone. “I will show you the way.”
I stepped towards the door and indicated for them to leave through it. Benji refused to move for a moment. He tried to gather himself up, to deal with the possibility of losing control. He wouldn’t though, he wouldn’t give it up completely, not that easily. I had a funny feeling this wouldn’t be the last time we saw one another.
But it was okay. We would be more prepared next time. We’d be able to fight back.
Benji finally rose to his feet and he nodded his head towards his pack. They fell into line and walked to where I wanted them to. Thank God. Javier moved closer to me as well and he leaned across to whisper to me.
“Do you think this is a good idea? Should we let them leave? What if they come back?”
“If we don’t let them go, more will come. At least this way, we give ourselves time.”
He nodded, allowing me to make one of the most important decisions we would have to face. I immediately stood up straighter, my shoulders rolling back in pride. I had to take charge of this because Dean belonged to me. He was in my pack, my responsibility. I wanted to make it right for him, so he no longer felt the guilty.
“Trevor.” I grabbed his shoulders before we left the room. “Take Reese to your private chambers. Kayla too. Check on Sean, then come back to us. We all need to be here to see these guys off.”
He nodded and got the attention of the girls. Reese’s eyes burned into the back of my head. She wasn’t happy about being sent away, but I couldn’t risk taking the girls into the jungle with these animals. What if they snatched either of them? I wasn’t even sure that Trevor would be able to catch them.
We walked together in a grim line, the mood souring by the minute. I was on edge the entire time, my eyes permanently on Benji as we headed towards the exit. I couldn’t trust that bastard son of a bitch as far as I could throw him. His hands kept balling up, his temper was bubbling. He was about to explode.
“I’m back,” Trevor hissed as he sidled back to me. “Everything is okay. Reese and Kayla are going to take care of Sean and I know that will protect him...” His voice wasn’t as certain as his words. But that made sense. It had just been him and Sean for such a long time, of course he was nervous for him. “What about here?”
“Hmm, I’m not too sure. I don’t know what’s going to happen. Just keep an eye out on them all.”
I didn’t even relax as we went through the tunnel, finally leaving Panthera behind. Even as the ancient ruins surrounded us, I knew this wasn’t quite over yet. Benji wouldn’t just go, there was something he had left to do.
“I suppose this is for the best,” Benji said once we were out of reach of the city. “I don’t suppose any of our women, even the ones who are…how shall I put it? Lacking in the looks department, would want to be with you guys. Especially the one with hideous scars down his face. How did you even get that shit? Was it in the war? Please tell me it was one of the female panthers who did that to you, because that would be fucking hilarious.”
Garret turned a funny shade of red. I wasn’t sure if that came from anger or embarrassment because it was the truth. None of us thought any less of Garret for how he got injured, but then none of us were complete fuck wits like Benji. He had a manipulation technique which made me absolutely sick to my stomach.
“Don’t talk about shit you don’t understand, Benji,” I growled. “We’re done now.”
“Oh, are you? Because you don’t exactly look done to me. Nor do we. I don’t think this is anywhere near over.”
“We wanted to broker peace. The last thing we need now is for you to start a war…”
&nb
sp; “But you wouldn’t accept any of our terms, so how can we be sure that peace is what you want? I mean, look at scar-face over there. He’s got the look of someone who wants to lash out and smack me right now.”
“Don’t call me scar-face,” Garret warned. “In fact, don’t say anything about me at all.”
“Okay, I won’t,” Benji smirked. “I suppose it hasn’t put all women off, has it? You still have that little human to shove your deformed cock into and if she’s willing to take it then that’s on her. I suppose she isn’t so great either…”
That was pushing it a step too far, we all knew it, but much to my surprise it wasn’t Garret who leaped into the air, shifting as he went, it was Dean. Like a ferocious beast, he completely transformed, and he lurched at Benji to attack. Already preparing for this to happen, Benji shifted too and they started to attack one another. The growls, the tearing sounds, the fur being ripped… it was horrible. All I wanted to do was stop it before either one got hurt…
But the other jaguars had something else in mind. They shifted too, probably on command of Benji and they leapt for us. The other guys shifted because they didn’t have a choice, even Javier changed to protect his city, but I moved backwards against the nearest wall and remained where I was. Not because I feared a fight- my strength could take them all down, especially considering the mood I was in - but one of us needed a level head. Someone needed to be rational and stop this fight. My animal brain wouldn’t be able to think in such turns.
The growls and moans, the sounds of fighting, they came from everywhere, all around me. I knew yelling wasn’t going to help so I needed to do something drastic. As I stared around at all the fights, there was only one real solution and that was putting myself in danger to stand in the way. In human form, I really risked getting hurt, but it was the only way. Without giving myself even a moment to think about it, I tore forwards and held my hands up.
“Stop!” I cried out, even knowing that it was pointless. “Stop fighting. This isn’t right…”
The air completely stripped from my lungs as a burning hot pain slammed into my side. I banged against the hot dusty ground, smacking my head, feeling a shooting pain. It didn’t even matter how dizzy I’d become. I needed to jump back up to try again. I forced my aching body up, ignoring the breathlessness rocketing through me, and I yelled once more. I tried calling out all kinds of commands, desperately trying to get any attention.
“Hey, stop! This is stupid. Unnecessary. Let’s just talk about this…we need to…”
The second time I fell, a blackness came for me. It gripped my vision and infected every inch of my brain. I used every scrap of will power I had to keep my eyes apart, but I couldn’t. I opened my mouth a couple of times, wanting to continue on with my pointless yelling campaign, but I didn’t have the strength for that either.
This needs to end, I thought hopelessly as my eyes slid close completely against my will. Someone, stop this…
“I’m here, Jakar,” I thought that I heard Trevor’s voice as the blackness shrouded me. But that wasn’t possible because he wouldn’t have shifted in the middle of fighting. “Don’t worry, everything will be okay.”
“Jakar.” My body rattled as I was shaken hard. “Jakar, you need to come around now.”
“Huh? What?” This didn’t feel like my bed, everything was all hard and uncomfortable. “What’s going on?”
As I snapped my eyes open, but the sun light was so bright, that my eyes shut just as rapidly. I had a hammering inside my head, like someone was slamming against my skull over and over again.
“Jakar, come on. Stand up, please.” This time it was Javier, and his tone was too sharp for me to ignore. “We all need to say goodbye to our guests. We wouldn’t want to be rude now, would we?”
I fought the brightness with all my might, using every ounce of strength that I had to stare. As Benji’s terrible face came into view, everything came flooding back. He had a scratch down his face, probably more over his body too, but they were only surface wounds. Nothing that wouldn’t vanish soon. Somehow, everyone had stopped fighting which was something. It might have even been my collapse that stopped it…
“You better be careful,” Benji snarled. “You brought humans into our race and now I’m warning you that it won’t end well. We will sure as hell be watching you, now that we know you’re a danger.”
“You have no need to watch us,” Garret yelled, his voice louder and with more fire than I’d ever heard before. “You need to just get out of here and never come back. We don’t need you.”
“Yes, it isn’t your concern,” Javier replied in a much calmer voice. “We have it under control.”
“Yes, that’s what you think…” Benji stared pointedly at me. “But soon, you will lose that control. Then you will come screaming back to us and we won’t be able to help you. Not when you’ve refused peace. Not when you have turned your back on such an amazing offer. One that we didn’t need to make.”
“We didn’t refuse peace. We want peace, we just don’t want to be controlled.”
Benji shrugged. “Same thing, as far as I’m concerned. You won’t accept our terms which makes you our enemy.”
“We didn’t bring you here for a war, Benji, we didn’t even want you here to fight.” I felt Javier give Garret a warning look. That would be something he wanted me to deal with later on, but I couldn’t punish behavior I completely understood. “That was an unhappy mistake which I can assure you will not happen again…”
“Javier, the last thing you want to do now is make more promises that you cannot keep.” He gave his pack a sharp nod. “Now, we are going to leave here with today in our memory. I suggest that you do the same thing. Never forget today.” He smirked, especially when his eyes met mine. I didn’t like the way that felt. “Ever.”
With that, he shifted once more and bounded away, taking the rest of his guys with him. But I didn’t get any sense of relief as they left. My heart remained heavy and fearful. Even more so as I looked around and I saw the injuries that my friends and family had suffered in the fight, knowing that it was unlikely that I was a picture of health myself. All surface wounds, just like Benji, but enough to have the mark of the jaguar . This wasn’t the end. They would come back and who the hell knew what would happen then?
“It’s time to go back inside,” Javier announced wearily. “We need to let the others know what happened?”
“And what exactly are we going to tell them?” I asked, while rubbing the back of my head. It was cut from the fall, probably bleeding. “How do we explain how that ended? Because I’m not really sure.”
“I’m not either,” Javier admitted. “I don’t really know what the hell happened there, but I’m sure it isn’t the end. We need to plan more. Plan better. Make sure nothing like that ever happens again.”
Reese
“Where are they?” I hissed nervously to Kayla as soon as Sean was distracted with his toys. It had been good to have him around as something to focus on, but the anxiety hadn’t gone anywhere. “And what was that noise?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged helplessly while cradling her belly. “But we need to stay calm. I’m sure they will all be back soon.” She gave me a look as if she was trying to figure something out. “So, what’s going on with you and the guys? Did you ever figure things out with Dean? I never got a chance to ask because it all got so…”
“I know.” I nodded. “And yes, thanks to your advice, I did manage to sort things out and I immediately felt so much better because of it. I know now that this is where I’m supposed to be.”
“That’s how I feel.” She beamed brightly. “That’s why I stayed…does that mean you are going to as well?”
“It does. And I’m going to invest in this place. Panthera is more worthy of my money than any of the other projects I have worked with. I’m going to fund Dean, and help him work out the best way to mate without the jaguars because I really don’t think that will ever happen.
They were too arrogant and horrible.”
“I know. I don’t ever want them around. I think Dean will be grateful to have funding to look into genetic testing. His research is his life and now he has something that’s worth looking into.”
I shook my leg anxiously, willing them to just come back already. All I wanted to do was hold them…
“Oh, my God!” Jakar was first, and he looked hurt…but determined. I ran to him and flung my arms around his neck, tears threatening to flow down my face. “What happened? Is everyone okay?”
“Everyone is fine, no one needs to worry,” he shot back in a hurry, trying to calm everyone down. “There was just a bit of a scuffle, that’s all. You saw how they were, utterly determined to make us snap, and they did.”
I pulled back and gave Jakar a searching look, trying to find the story that I wasn’t getting, but he had closed down. He wasn’t able to let me know everything, I suppose, because Sean was around.
“It was all just threats,” he insisted. “No follow through. That’s what the jaguars are like. They want to assume that they’re all powerful, but they definitely aren’t. They certainly have no say here. We will just have to lay low for a while. Remain in Panthera and keep quiet. Being locked away has kept us safe so far, and it will still do so.”
I nodded, taking all of that in easily. I didn’t mind being stuck here, even if it was forever. Panthera had everything I needed and more. I had absolutely no reason to search the outside world.
“We are going to go,” Javier interrupted with Kayla in his arms. “We need some rest.”
“I will take Sean with me.” Kayla smiled and winked at me. She seemed to know that I needed some time alone with my shifters now. After today and all the heightened emotions, we needed some space. “You like staying with us, don’t you, Sean? You can give me a hand getting the nursery ready for the baby.”
