Jaguar’s Mate

by Katie Reus, Savannah Stuart

  Her gaze followed his and her eyes widened slightly. It was faint but just a hint of pleasure rolled off her, the scent sweet. “Damn. That looks like one of the original Airstreams. It’s hard to tell though, because the new ones are ‘retro.’”

  “The body is from the sixties. I restored the entire interior. Everything is state of the art.”

  She nodded once, approvingly, and for some reason he felt his chest puffing out like a damn peacock. Jesus, what was wrong with him? “If we need to stop and rest for a couple hours, we can just sleep in there.”

  “That definitely works better. I’m ready if you are.” She met his gaze straight on.

  Was he ready to be in an enclosed space with the leggy, blonde she-wolf whose scent drove him completely crazy? Yeah, he was fucking ready.

  She nodded once, her expression slightly haughty—and he liked it. Even if she didn’t want to be doing this with him, she wasn’t afraid of him. He was glad, because that was the last thing he wanted.

  Once they got on the road, Eli was quiet as Sapphire started making phone calls. It didn’t seem to matter how early in the morning it was, she was calling packmates and letting them know that she’d be gone for an indefinite amount of time. The sound of her voice was soothing as she went over the details of the restaurant and bar she’d managed for years.

  Though he didn’t belong to a pack or pride, he knew that shifters didn’t technically own property. Not usually anyway, though there were exceptions. But normally the pack owned everything, and if someone needed something, it was provided. Even if she didn’t own the place, it sounded like it meant a lot to her. And from the limited time they’d spent together before, that was at least one thing she hadn’t lied about. So far it seemed the only thing she had lied about was her name. Sally. So ridiculous to lie.

  She continued making call after call, including to a pack in Montana that was apparently close enough to where her friends lived in Wyoming. That must be where they were going once they’d saved her friends.

  “So you have a place we’re taking your friends once we get them out of trouble?” he asked as she ended the call.

  “Yes. One of my former packmates lives with a pack in Montana now. And I know for a fact that they’ll keep my friends safe once they’re officially under the new pack’s protection and in their territory. And if Leslie’s soon-to-be-former mate comes sniffing around looking for trouble, he won’t last long.” There was a bite of anger to her words.

  “How long have you known them?”

  “I know Leslie, but I’ve never been close to her. She’s from a younger generation. Luna, however, is one of my oldest, dearest friends. Our parents once spent a year traversing the country in campers with us. We were twelve then. It was one of the best years of my life.” There was a note of wistfulness in her voice.

  “What happened to Luna’s mate?” he asked. It was rare for mates to separate. Usually only in the case of abuse or neglect. And if she was mated, then he would have taken care of this situation—and taken out the wolf abusing their daughter.

  “He died when Leslie was two. It’s just been the two of them for so long. Luna never wanted to mate again… His death hit her hard and I don’t think she ever got over it.”

  “She loved him, then?”

  “Oh yeah. David was perfect for her. Those two…” Sapphire shook her head slightly, a trickle of sadness rolling off her. “He’d never have let this happen. Hell, Leslie’s mate would be dead right now if David was alive.”

  If Eli had been human, that might have sounded odd, but shifters were very different than humans. They didn’t have long, drawn out trials when it came to…well, anything.

  He nodded. Asher had given him a pretty thorough rundown of what was going on, though Eli was certain there were more details Sapphire could fill him in on later. For now, however, since they had quite a drive ahead of them, he had a few burning questions for her.

  He glanced at her. “So, you want to tell me why you ran out on me in the middle of the night? And why you gave me a fake name?”

  She blinked and he realized he’d surprised her. “You’re not going to make small talk or beat around the bush, huh?”

  “I don’t see the point in doing that.” Not after what they’d shared. Had it just been a fling for her? It had meant way more to him. And at the time it had seemed like it meant more to her too. Then she’d disappeared.

  She lifted a shoulder and glanced down at her phone at an incoming text. After replying, she set it on the center console. “Technically it wasn’t the middle of the night. It was early in the morning.”

  He snorted softly. “Smartass.”

  “Fine. I just didn’t want to deal with the hassle of making awkward small talk or whatever in the morning.”

  “Or whatever?” He snorted again. “That sounds like a lot of bullshit.”

  “Maybe it is. But that’s all you’re getting from me now. Look, I had a great time with you. I’m pretty sure we both had a great time. Can we just leave it at what it was and forget it ever happened?”

  “There’s no way in hell I can forget what we did together. The sounds you make when you come are forever etched into my brain.” She was so passionate and wild, he still remembered the feel of her claws pricking into him as she’d come. She’d actually apologized afterward for losing control, but he’d loved the bite of pain because it meant he’d pushed her beyond all control.

  She shifted slightly against the seat and he noticed that her cheeks tinged pink as she glanced out the window.

  Fine. He wouldn’t push her now. But the reason she’d given him for running out was garbage, that much he was sure of. “How about you pick some music for the road, then? And tell me more about Leslie and this asshole mate of hers?”

  She let out a soft sigh and reached for the radio station. “I can definitely do that. And because I don’t think I’ve said it yet, thank you for coming with me. I mean, I know Asher asked you to, but seriously, thank you. You have no loyalty to our pack.”

  “I’m not going because he asked me to. I’m going because you need help.” He didn’t want her to mistake this for anything other than what it was. Though in all honesty, he probably would’ve helped anyone with a situation like this. But Asher didn’t give him orders. No one did.

  She shot him a surprised look, then opened that delicious mouth of hers as if she was going to say something. But she quickly snapped it shut and started scrolling through the stations instead.

  He tried not to inhale her wild lavender scent too deeply as she settled back against the seat. It was difficult though, because her scent was intoxicating.

  Hell, everything about her was. She was probably five feet ten inches, and all long, lean legs. Since he’d seen her completely naked, he knew exactly how toned and sleek she was too. And it was impossible to get the images of her stretched out on his bed out of his head.

  They’d met at a grocery store of all places. He hadn’t even been looking to hook up and he’d been under the distinct impression she hadn’t either.

  But one conversation with her and he’d been addicted, desperate to see more of her. Rolling his shoulders once, he took a deep breath as she settled on a station. They had hours together now and he wasn’t going to waste a single moment with her.

  Whatever reason she had for running, he was going to find out. Then he was going to break down all her walls and convince her to give him a chance. His jaguar was not walking away from this alluring she-wolf.

  Chapter Three

  Sapphire settled in across the booth from Eli. They’d been driving for fourteen hours straight and they were both ready for a break. The food in the coolers had been fine, but she’d needed to get out of the truck and stretch her legs. Her wolf did not like being cooped up. She could and would do it for her friend, but she didn’t have to like it. Thankfully Eli seemed to think the same thing because he’d jumped at the chance to stop.

  “Is it wrong that I want to o
rder the entire left half of the menu?” she asked, only partially joking.

  He snorted out a laugh as he shook his head. “I’ll order the other half then and we can share.”

  The place they’d found in the middle of nowhere was an all-day breakfast diner, which was just fine with her. Because breakfast was the best meal of the day. And she could admit she enjoyed spending time with Eli. But she was glad to be out of the truck. Being trapped with him for fourteen hours had wreaked havoc on her hormones.

  Their waitress—Darla, according to her name tag—smiled widely as she reached their table, her gaze riveted to Eli. “What’ll you have to drink?”

  Eli frowned slightly and nodded at Sapphire. “Why don’t you take her order first?” His tone was so subdued, slightly different from the jaguar she’d been driving with most of the day.

  On the road with him, it had been easy to see why she’d quickly fallen for him a month ago, and then fallen right into his bed. Not that she’d been able to forget why she’d been into him. He’d been stuck in her head for the past thirty-three days. But who was counting? “I’ll have a coffee and a water.”

  Eli ordered his own drink and asked for a few minutes to decide.

  “Where should we stop after this?” she asked. “Unless you want to keep driving through the night.” They’d both been awake all day. It had been impossible to sleep when she’d been so wired up. Sapphire was still desperate to get to her friend, but the fatigue was starting to weigh on her. Not to mention fighting her attraction to him was draining.

  “I checked my phone and there’s a campsite a couple hours north of here. It’s right on the way. And we don’t need to make a reservation for it. If we stop there for a bit, we’ll only have eleven hours left after a short nap. Unless you want to go farther than that?”

  “That sounds good. I can do a couple more hours after this. And I need to run. What’s the place like? Will we be able to run?” She didn’t bother dropping her voice because humans ran all the time. She was also wildly curious what he looked like in jaguar form.

  “It’s on a lake. We should be fine. It’ll be good to stretch my legs,” he murmured as the waitress approached the table again.

  Sapphire had barely glanced at the menu but breakfast joints were usually the same. So she ordered a plate of bacon, sausage and a giant stack of blueberry pancakes.

  Darla’s eyes widened slightly but she nodded and wrote it all down. To Sapphire’s amusement, Eli ordered even more than her.

  She grinned as the waitress took their menus. “We probably look like pigs,” she said, laughing. “Or maybe she thinks we’re high.”

  “I’m sure she doesn’t care.”

  “Oh, I’m sure she doesn’t care what you order. Because I’m pretty sure she wants a slice of you on her plate.” Sapphire laughed lightly because the human woman kept stealing glances over at Eli.

  Not that she blamed her; he certainly had a presence. While he wasn’t classically handsome, he still stood out. Not that she cared. I don’t, she reminded herself. That human woman could check him out all she wanted.

  She rolled her shoulders once, fighting off a growing edginess that had been simmering all day. Being in such close proximity to him for so many hours had her feeling off-kilter in general. But she wasn’t going to give in to insanity. It would do no one any good, least of all her. She’d just end up with her heart broken. “So did you ever catch that rogue shifter you were hunting?” she asked quietly, referring to the job he’d been on when they’d met a month ago. He was a tracker who hunted down rogue shifters and returned them to their packs for punishment.

  She’d been out of town, just taking a break from her pack, and his scent had drawn her in at first. That wild, sexy scent that made her wolf go crazy.

  He nodded once. “Yep. Found him and turned him in to his alpha. I don’t think he was long for this world.”

  She lifted a shoulder, glancing out the window. It was already dark outside and the stars created a beautiful, glittering blanket high in the sky. It was gorgeous this far out in the middle of nowhere. “Well that’s what he gets for preying on defenseless humans. Jackass,” she muttered.

  “You’re going to tell me why you ran out on me,” he murmured, his voice all sin and seduction.

  She snapped her gaze back to him, taken off guard by his ballsiness. “Is that right?”

  “That is right. I can be very persuasive.” Again with the seduction in his voice as he dropped it another octave.

  She forced herself not to shift against her seat even as she fought back her desire for him. She didn’t want him to scent it on her. Instead, she narrowed her gaze at him slightly. “That almost sounds like a challenge.”

  “Maybe it is.”

  Before she could respond, Darla was at their table, refilling his coffee that definitely didn’t need refilling, and completely ignoring Sapphire’s mug.

  “That’s okay, I didn’t need anything,” she muttered as the woman walked away.

  Eli slid his mug over to her and it warmed something inside her.

  “Seriously, I’m fine. I’m not even done with my coffee.” But his thoughtfulness definitely counted. And if she wasn’t so dang cursed when it came to men, she might take a chance on him. But that wasn’t a risk she was willing to take. For the first time in…well, ever, she hated that she couldn’t take a chance on Eli.

  When her phone buzzed in her back pocket, she pulled it out and scanned the incoming text from Luna. “I think our plan is in effect. Luna mentioned to one of her packmates that an old friend might be coming into town tomorrow, just passing through. That’s set the stage for us being there.”

  “Did your alpha get back to Asher?”

  “My alpha actually texted me earlier. He said he’d make the call-in to Luna’s alpha as soon as I let him know we were close to the territory.”

  Shifters weren’t supposed to enter other alphas’ territories without asking first. Obviously accidents happened but it was shifter protocol to let them know if you were going to be in their territory. Considering Sapphire had been in the area before and was a lifelong friend of Luna’s, her arrival wouldn’t look out of the ordinary. “I actually think bringing this camper is going to be really good for us. It makes it look like you and I are simply taking a long trip.” Which was their cover story. And the camper definitely sold it.

  He grinned at her, and that wild wickedness in his expression that made her panties melt was back. “It might also make sense for us to pose as a couple,” he murmured.

  Oh, how she wished. “No way. We’re just two friends taking a road trip together. So get that out of your head right now.”

  “Oh, it’s never far from my mind. I told you, I can’t get the sounds you made out of my mind,” he said.

  Dammit. He was definitely messing with her and it was clear he enjoyed it. She sniffed once and looked out the window, trying to ignore him until Darla arrived with their food less than sixty seconds later. The human had a big smile for Eli, which annoyed Sapphire, but at least she had food now.

  If she couldn’t have Eli, she’d settle for pancakes. She let out a sigh of appreciation as she inhaled the warm scent of her stacks of blueberry pancakes. This was definitely going to make everything better.

  Hopefully it would help her to get his words out of her head for a little while.

  * * *

  “This is gorgeous.” Sapphire stretched her arms over her head as she looked out over the moonlit lake glistening in front of her and Eli.

  It was fall, and while there were people at their campsite, there was no one down by the lake, which was a plus for them. She’d already checked in with Luna, and thankfully Leslie was staying the night with her mother, saying that she was going to be baking treats with her for the pack. Not that Leslie should have to give a reason to anyone for wanting to stay with her mother, but for now Sapphire knew she was safe. And soon she was going to be a whole lot safer. They both would be.

&nbs
p; “It sure is,” Eli murmured.

  When she looked over at him, he was staring at her with all sorts of heat in his eyes. Not to mention the simmering lust she could scent rolling off him.

  Dang it. This was not good. Because she was feeling really weak right now where he was concerned, and when it came to Eli she didn’t think she had much control. Her wolf had been edgy in the last month since running out on him. And now that she’d been with him for sixteen hours straight, her wolf side was all happy and ready to come out and play.

  In more ways than one. Which could not happen again.

  She cleared her throat. “I’ll probably just head over to the cluster of trees and undress so I can shift.”

  “I’ll come with you. And you can peek at the goods if you want.” He gave her one of those feline smiles that only cats could pull off. Dammit, this jaguar was all about getting under her skin. And into her pants.

  She nearly groaned at the thought because she was ready to take said pants off for him. Damn it. No more of this.

  Annoyed with herself, she turned and practically stomped off for the trees as if she was an adolescent. She didn’t even look at him as she started stripping. Shifters weren’t weird about their nudity and she was no exception. And even if she had been, he’d already seen her. And she’d been raised by hippies.

  Still, she took a sort of perverse pleasure when she heard him suck in a breath behind her.

  “Like what you see?” she asked without turning around.

  He simply made a growling sound.

  Which just made her snicker to herself. If he wanted to get under her skin—and clearly he was trying—she was going to get under his too.

  Once she’d bundled her clothes, she glanced over her shoulder to find him completely naked, and doing the same thing to his own clothing. He glanced at her, and the heat was definitely there. Only now it was full-blown lust.

  The amber specks in his eyes practically glowed with it.

  Unable to hold his hot gaze, she turned away and shifted. The quick burst of pain gave way to a kaleidoscope of pleasure as the world before her shimmered and changed. Soon skin became fur and she was on all fours.