Beauty & The Jaguar

by E A Price

  Sadie snickered. “Mmm hmm. I wouldn’t worry, they’d soon change their mind…”

  She was going to say if they knew about Mandy and stopped herself. She could just tell him, the more time she spent with him, the more she wanted to tell him, but she was starting to wonder what she was most afraid of. That he’d run off and drag Mandy into this situation? Or that he’d tell Sadie to pack her bags?

  He looked at her, but she wasn’t any more forthcoming. A couple of other boys smiled at her, and he snarled.

  “They’re just kids,” she said mildly. “I’m sure you did the same when you were their age.”

  He huffed. “You finished?”

  Sadie gave the mac and cheese a sad look and nodded.

  “We should go.”

  “Fine.”

  He pulled out her chair for her, and she got up. They were going to leave when they heard what sounded like gun shots and Lorenzo dove on her, rolling to the floor and covering her.

  Lorenzo’s firm, solid weight pressed against her, and in spite of the situation, she felt a thrill of desire. It had been a while since she felt anything of the sort.

  Roberto, the leap prime and leader roared and ran out of the hall. People around them panicked, but Sadie just looked up at Lorenzo. Her fingers curled into his t-shirt.

  “What’s happening?” she murmured.

  “Don’t know,” he replied gruffly. “Should probably go check it out.”

  “Yes,” she breathed unenthusiastically.

  Or they could stay there for a few more minutes… But no, Lorenzo was already pushing himself to his feet, pulling her up with him.

  “There’s a hunter out there shooting at us!” cried a leap mate.

  Lorenzo froze before letting out a near-ear splitting roar. His body shook, and his eyes were nearly wild.

  “Lorenzo, what’s wrong?” murmured Sadie, shocked at how he suddenly looked so feral.

  Lorenzo ignored her and grunted at another leap mate. “Maria, keep her safe.”

  Maria appeared at her elbow and slipped an arm around her waist. “Yes, you go, I’ll keep her safe.”

  Lorenzo looked at Sadie, and then he was out the door, leaving Sadie to worry.

  Fourteen

  “C’mon man,” said Diego, “the chief told us to go.”

  Whoever was shooting was long gone. Only the gun he used was left behind, and they couldn’t follow a scent from it. They showed up, shot at the compound and then scarpered.

  Roberto had ordered them to leave, to go back to the compound, but Lorenzo’s beast was snarling, wanting to get out there and find them, beat them to a pulp.

  A couple of months ago a hunter had come around, shooting at some young jaguars while shifted. The idiot thought they were wild jaguars. Sadly, Lorenzo didn’t get his claws into him last time. Maybe it was the same guy again. Maybe this time, the guy wouldn’t escape with so little punishment.

  Lorenzo snarled. Hunters. He hated hunters – they were just monsters who caught and tortured defenseless animals for fun. Every scar on his body throbbed as the old pain, fear and fury re-emerged. It was never far from his thoughts or memories, but every time a hunter came around…

  “Lorenzo,” entreated Diego. “Don’t you want to keep Sadie safe?”

  His jaguar huffed. Of course, he did. But if a hunter was out there, he wanted to rip him to shreds.

  “Lorenzo,” rumbled Roberto.

  Shit. The prime was there and probably pissed that he wasn’t doing as told.

  Roberto narrowed his eyes at Diego who gave an apologetic shrug and left. The prime looked at Lorenzo with hooded eyes. His jaguar bristled at the power his prime exuded.

  “This may not be the work of hunters, Lorenzo,” he said in a low voice.

  “Humph.”

  “Now c’mon, your mother is worried about you.”

  Lorenzo’s expression stiffened. He wanted to find the bastard who would dare come to their compound and…

  “And you have a mate to consider,” continued Roberto.

  “Sadie,” he murmured, remembering the worry on her face before he left, remembering the heat from her body when he touched her, and the sweetness of her scent.

  “C’mon boy, take it easy,” soothed Roberto, and Lorenzo allowed the tendrils of powers to ease his angry beast. “Calm yourself.”

  Lorenzo allowed himself to be led back to the compound.

  *

  Sadie obsessively flicked through the TV channels. She flicked past comedies, movies, reality shows, infomercials and a documentary on stag beetles. She couldn’t settle. How could she? Lorenzo could be out there getting shot to death at that very moment!

  The hell was he thinking just running away like that?!

  She heard a noise at the front door and dropped the remote, clattering through the house to find… Diego walking through the door.

  “Oh, it’s just you.” She deflated and glared at him – blaming him for not being Lorenzo.

  Diego smiled knowingly, and she folded her arms, scowling at him.

  “Where’s Lorenzo?”

  “He’s… on his way.” Diego winced slightly, and her worry levels rose from very concerned to freaking scared.

  “He wasn’t hurt, was he?” she demanded breathlessly.

  He looked slightly evasive, and she had a serious urge to grab him by his shirt and shake some sense into him. It was like she was stuck in a mystery movie where all the characters evasively lied about everything rather than admit the truth and tell the detective what they knew. She hated movies like that; she always ended up yelling at the TV, which ended with her getting an eye-roll from Mandy.

  “He’s fine,” said Diego, “he’ll be along in a minute.”

  “You don’t sound sure.”

  Diego opened his mouth, but his attention was quickly taken away from her as Laurel came into the room.

  Sadie sighed and peered out of the window. Where the hell was he?

  Fifteen

  Lorenzo finally did turn up. Though he didn’t come into the house, merely sat outside on the stoop staring at nothing.

  “How long have you been here?” grumbled Sadie, stepping outside into the cool night.

  Lorenzo looked up at her, and the pain on his face hit her like a thunderbolt.

  “Not long,” he murmured.

  “I was worried sick,” she chastised, dropping down to sit beside him.

  He looked at her with interest. “You were?”

  “Of course I was, I’m not made of stone for heaven’s sake!” Jeez, he was worse than her pre-pubescent daughter when it came to his safety. “Were you hurt? I tried talking to Diego, but I couldn’t get anything out of him.”

  She grilled him for about ten minutes, but he spent the whole time giggling with Laurel, and he was next to useless.

  “No.”

  “Did you find out who was shooting at the compound?”

  He tensed. “No.”

  Sadie wished she had a cigarette – or something to calm her nerves at least. She placed a hand on his arm, and he seemed to tense, even more, something she wouldn’t have thought possible given that he was stiffer than an especially stiff rock.

  “You weren’t hurt, but are you okay?”

  He seemed even terser than usual – again something she wouldn’t have really thought possible, but…

  “I’m fine,” he muttered.

  Sadie gave him a searching look. “You’re sure? You’re sure it’s got nothing to do with the fact that everyone thinks it was a hunter that was shooting at the compound? You sure it’s got nothing to do with this?” She ran a finger over one of the scars on his arm.

  Lorenzo flinched, and his eyes shimmered to gold. “Diego…”

  “Told me nothing,” she said soothingly. “I put two and two together.”

  She had to given that Mandy never liked to admit what was upsetting her. Like when her best friend gossiped about her behind her back. Or when the new girl said she was a teacher
’s pet. Sadie could read hurt in the people she cared about, and yeah, Lorenzo was starting to fall into that category.

  Lorenzo breathed in and out, grunting and growling, and Sadie patiently waited for him to stop.

  “It’s not important.”

  “Clearly, it is to you.”

  Lorenzo shook his head, and for a moment, she thought he wasn’t going to tell her, but she was glad she was wrong.

  “When I was a kid, when I first started shifting, we went out for this family picnic. My dad and brothers shifted and went off hunting, leaving my mom and me. I was just learning to shift, and I turned into my jaguar and kind of got distracted. I wandered away from my mom, and some hunters picked me up.”

  Lorenzo swallowed, and Sadie shuffled a little closer to him, leaning her head on his shoulder.

  “I don’t think they realized I was a shifter, and I was so new at shifting, I was too scared to turn back. They put me in a cage and…”

  His eyes closed in remembered pain, and Sadie murmured in soothing support.

  “My dad and Roberto found me. I don’t know what they did to the hunters, but they made it clear they weren’t going to hurt another cub.”

  Good, she thought. She knew she shouldn’t think like that, but if it had been Mandy, she was sure she wouldn’t be able to hold back either. It certainly explained why he was so angry and scared of hunters.

  “I was just too young, too new at shifting to heal myself completely,” he said, his voice almost breaking.

  Sadie squeezed his arm. “I wish there was something I could do to help you.”

  Lorenzo cleared his throat. “You don’t have to do anything,” he said gruffly.

  “I want to, though.”

  He thought about that for a few moments. “Thank you.” Lorenzo cleared his throat. “It’s late; you should get some rest.”

  Gently, he lifted her away from him.

  Sadie smiled. “I do need my beauty sleep.”

  “You’re already beautiful,” he breathed, staring into her eyes.

  “Thank you.”

  His eyes ducked from hers, and if she didn’t know any better, she would swear he was blushing.

  “I’m going to be around – on patrol. Just ah, scream if you need anything.”

  Sadie smiled, “Sure thing.”

  He grasped her hand and pulled her to her feet. He opened the door and carefully propelled her through it.

  “Good night,” she whispered.

  He grunted in return and closed the door. She leaned against it and breathed in and out; her heart rattled in her chest. Oh, her poor, wonderful Lorenzo. She wanted to curl him into her arms and hug his pain away. She felt momentary elation and a warmth of affection, but that was just as quickly replaced by sadness.

  Oh, this was just going to make it harder on both of them when she eventually managed to get away.

  Sixteen

  “What the freight train are those?” complained Sadie as she caught sight of what he was holding.

  Lorenzo peered at what he had in his hands. “Do you really not know?”

  Sadie gave him a playful pout. “You’re right – I know they’re hiking boots. What I’m really curious about is why are you bringing them near me?”

  He gave her a lopsided smile. “So that we can go hiking,” he said patiently. “Borrowed them from one of my sisters in law.”

  “Aha. I thought we established already that I’m not a hiker.”

  “I thought it might grow on you. We’ll take it slow.”

  He chuckled as she gave him a doubtful look. Last night had been a little rough, but he kind of felt that he had made some progress with Sadie. His jaguar was practically purring in happiness. Yes, he was still wary, but Roberto was sure it wasn’t another hunter, and he trusted his prime enough to take Sadie out for a hike - if she agreed to go.

  Sadie stared at the boots. “Okay, let’s compromise – I stay here, and you go hiking?”

  *

  “I can’t believe you talked me into this,” Sadie groused.

  Yep, she was out in the wild - hiking and hating it again. Twice in two days – that had to be a record. Surely no one else on the planet had ever been hiking twice in the space of two days! Okay, they probably had, but this was a record for her. Jeez, the closest she’d come to nature before now was Al’s country club.

  “Are you sure it’s safe to be out here?” she asked again, hoping he would tell her that they had to return to the house immediately and watch the shopping channel.

  “I’m sure,” he said with depressing surety. “But we won’t go too far. Let’s stop here for something to eat.”

  “Oh thank god.”

  He placed the cooler he had been carrying on the ground and spread a blanket out.

  Sadie dropped to the ground. “Oh, my poor feet. What was that like seven or eight miles?”

  Lorenzo dropped down beside her. “One mile tops. You’re really bad at distances.”

  Sadie snickered. “Yeah, I don’t think I’ve walked anywhere since…”

  Since Al gave her a car – it was her first car, and he presented it to her on their second date. Back then she was impressed by flashy and extravagant gestures. Now, not so much.

  “Since?” he prompted.

  He started pulling out pots of food and Sadie inhaled the delicious scents.

  “This all smells gorgeous.” She unwrapped a chicken – a whole chicken doused in a delectable concoction of spices - and had to stop herself from drooling on it.

  He frowned at the topic change but didn’t push her. “My dad made most of it.”

  “He did? I’m impressed.” Al always refused to do any chores in the kitchen. If he ever actually turned the oven on it was by accident because he thought he was turning the overhead fan on.

  “I helped,” he added quickly.

  “I’m doubly impressed,” she chuckled. “Do you come up here often?” she asked.

  “Yeah.”

  Sadie looked around, and she had to admit, it was beautiful. “It’s nice.”

  “It’s quiet. Not many others come here.”

  She opened a tub of couscous and scooped some up with her fingers. “Tell me about yourself,” she said in between mouthfuls.

  “Haven’t you heard enough about me?” he asked quietly.

  “Tell me something more. You want me to live in the leap, so tell me about your life in the leap.”

  She’d heard about the worst time in his life, but she actually wanted to know about him.

  “Not much to talk about. Three brothers, mama, dad. I work as an enforcer for the leap. Nothing else to say.”

  Sadie snorted. “No, you’re right, growing up in a jaguar leap where there’s a shortage of females, so you have to kidnap them is perfectly run of the mill. So what’s up? You guys having trouble conceiving girls?”

  He opened his mouth in surprise.

  Sadie waved a hand a tad smugly. “Don’t look so shocked. C’mon, I spotted it in the first ten minutes I was allowed out of that locked room. Apart from two teenagers all the kids here are boys – that’s pretty odd.” She narrowed her eyes. “Unless you’re hiding the girls away and this is some weird creepy cult?”

  “Nothing like that,” he muttered.

  “No, I didn’t think so – I know weird creepy cults, an ex tried to get me to join one.”

  Lorenzo growled.

  “This was after the first disastrous marriage. We went on two dates, and then he wanted me to join his cult. He made it sound like he could solve all my problems and give me nothing to worry about.” Sadie snickered. “He was under the impression the leader was going to take us all away to a far-off planet to live in bliss while the earth would get hit by a comet. They had a countdown clock and everything.

  “But enough about my dismal dating life, what’s the deal here?”

  He let out a long breath. “We just can’t have girls. No one knows why. It’s something we can’t explain. We used to think
we were cursed but, no one can work it out. Most girls don’t get conceived and those who do…”

  Lorenzo’s face tightened, and Sadie’s stomach lurched.

  “That’s awful; I can’t imagine…”

  Her eyes welled with tears. She didn’t know what she would have done if she lost Mandy, or if she ever lost her. A little while after Mandy was born she fell pregnant again but suffered a miscarriage. It had been sad and awful, and it was just one of those things that happened – no one to blame, and Sadie had only wanted to focus on Mandy after that.

  Al, while not a comforting person, at least hadn’t argued about wanting more kids – no, he was quite content to be possessive over just Sadie and Mandy.

  Lorenzo watched her carefully and handed her a handkerchief.

  “I’m sorry, I…”

  She wished she could speak to Mandy. She wanted to hear her voice.

  Lorenzo’s arms came around her. He didn’t say a word, just pressed her to him and she hiccupped into his neck.

  “Okay we’re getting a bit depressing here,” she mumbled after a while, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but let’s eat and then do some more hiking.”

  Seventeen

  “You don’t have to do this,” said Lorenzo, one hand on his front door.

  His jaguar was all for turning around and whisking her away for a quiet dinner, just the two of them. But, when they were returning from their picnic hike, they were ambushed by his sisters in law, who insisted they both join them for a family dinner.

  Sadie had been a little subdued since the picnic, and he wasn’t entirely sure why. Who was he kidding – he had no idea. Maybe she couldn’t bear the thought of never having a daughter if she mated with Lorenzo… Though, he doubted she was thinking that far ahead. She was still considering how to get away from him.

  “It’s just dinner,” she said casually.

  He paused studying her neutral expression. She was upset and trying not to show it. His jaguar growled softly. He was going to ask her what was going on when the door was thrown open by his father. Lorenzo went careening into his dad, who slapped an arm around his shoulders.

  “There you are!” he boomed. “Come in, come in!”

  His sisters in law surged forward, pulling Sadie towards them, giggling and introducing themselves, their mates, and all their kids. His mother gushed, started crying and hugged Sadie to within an inch of her life.