Ju DiMello - Jaguar, Be Mine

He very much hoped Karintha would be there providing him with one good reason to attend the meeting instead of going his merry way. But if the entire pack was called for, why was the invitation hand-delivered? And the question made him lose any idea of fun he could expect for the night. He swallowed the name that sprang to his lips and forced himself to unclench his fingers, letting the car keys clatter on the desk. For where he was going, he wouldn’t need any transport either.

The brisk walk of two miles—from his office compound to the edge of the Arizona forest—warmed up his muscles before he shed his clothes in a designated lean-to and broke into a run. His bare legs covered the distance slower than what his feline could, but he relished the challenge of shifting mid-motion.

Turning into a jaguar when stationary had long lost its appeal, and though he wasn’t a thrill seeker by any stretch of imagination, he couldn’t pass the opportunity to hone his skills.

Images of the last time he’d had to use his skills left a sour taste in his mouth, but thanks to Karintha and her strict no-fighting rules, his pack was safe. He tackled the uneven ground and called his feline, his nostrils flaring as his jaguar surged to the surface. In matter of seconds he raced across the terrain, relishing the whip of wind against his face.

As he neared the festival grounds, his senses probed his surroundings, taking stock. The scent of food, drinks and excitement mingled with that of the forest, but nothing was out of place. Once he was sure no threats existed in the vicinity, he crouched in the shadows, effortlessly shifting back to human. A cabin near the clearing provided him some privacy, and all he had to do was locate his spare duffel containing his clothes before he could skip the festivities and proceed to the meeting.

The moment he stepped out of the cabin, a trio of females accosted him and suddenly the clearing where the elders had gathered seemed too far away.

“Who do we have here?” The eldest among them, probably in her early twenties, stepped forward. “I thought Xander Steele didn’t do parties.”

Her company sniggered at her declaration, each of them eyeing him without any reservation. Any other jaguar would’ve basked in the attention, but he couldn’t bring himself to even pretend interest. Not when his attention was already wandering, seeking out the reason he’d come here despite his earlier misgivings.

“No, I don’t.” He sidestepped them, waving to a couple of his friends. Anything to escape a proposition he was getting tired of.

“Someone who got the memo for work hard apparently missed the one for play.”

He shrugged off the comeback and made his way to safer grounds.

Wren, his colleague and friend, grinned as he approached. “You really are a geek.”

“Yeah?” Xander fought a smile. “Maybe I can get you introduced to those kids and you can rob the cradle all you want.”

“There’s plenty of fish in the sea.” Wren waggled his eyebrows and took a swig of his beer. “What about ‘em?”

Not wanting to seem rude, Xander forced himself to look around, as if considering the comment. Couples ran behind their hollering children. Lovers roamed hand in hand, the sparkle in their eyes lighting up their faces. The males checked out the females and vice versa, all looking for a good time, their secrets safe within the pack. Such a peaceful atmosphere was a stark contrast to the horror they’d escaped a year ago. And since then, he couldn’t think of anyone else but the one who made normalcy possible. Shoving his thoughts to the back of his mind, he faced his friend. “Nope. Still not interested.”

“If not these beauties around—I’d be interested to figure out what exactly gets you going man.”

Hopefully not. “A gentleman doesn’t tell.” He gave Wren a mock salute and made his way to where he had to be.

The drumbeats got louder. The growls and grunts punctuated by the sounds of flesh on flesh signaled a fight in progress, and he’d bet the participants were still cubs whose jaguars hadn’t yet emerged.

Sure enough, they were. Their bloodied bodies healed rather slowly. But the elders sitting around in a circle showed no qualms about the blood spill. If the glitter in their eyes and the flare of their nostrils were anything to go by, they were thoroughly enjoying their view.

Xander leaned against a tree, tried not to pass judgment and failed.

Hadn’t their pack lost enough shifters already? Wasn’t there a better way for them to live than embracing their wild ways?

The few minutes it took for the sport to wind down seemed eternity to him, but he used the time to try to gauge the motive of this gathering, which was obviously invitation-only. There were only a handful of shifters present apart from him and the elders and Karintha was certainly not among them.

The meeting was brought to order when an elder motioned for everyone to leave except the ones Xander had counted. He took his place in a single line, facing their judge, not sure what perceived slight had resulted in this summons .

“In case you’re wondering why we’re here…”

Xander met the speaker’s impassive stare with one of his own, not allowing a flicker of emotion across his face. It didn’t do to challenge the elder jaguars who had retired from their active roles in their packs to guide—with an iron fist—the younger generation. He waited with a patience he didn’t possess, willing the elder to continue.

The elder took his time, giving each jaguar a detailed scrutiny before leaning back in his woven chair. A silent message passed between the elders, sending unease skittering down Xander’s spine.

“We’ve been hoping Karintha would choose her mate after the six-month mourning period was over, and as a mark of respect, we’ve given her six months more.”

Didn’t he know? He’d been the one who endured a hellish year of going to bed hard and aching, his hand his only companion.

“It’s time to take the matter seriously,” continued the elder, his glance lingering on each of them. “We’ve decided our pack needs a male—”

A sudden buzz droned out the rest of the words. Xander gritted his teeth, the purpose of their meeting suddenly clear.

The elders were going to choose an Alpha—the jaguar who would be mating with her. The woman who had bedazzled him from the time he was old enough to know better. And the woman who he’d expected to woo someday would be betrothed to another by the end of the night.

The door opened a crack. “It’s late, and I wasn’t expecting visitors, Steele.”

Her voice, even if prickly, brought his cock to painful attention.

Xander tamped down his visceral response and met her annoyed stare. “The elders have made a decision.”

“Have they?” she said. “How thoughtful of them to multitask. Choose a mate for me on a festival night without bothering to include me.”

He stiffened. “You knew?”

Her chin tilted up before lowering in slow motion. “An educated guess.”

Which meant they’d used their authority to influence her first and failed before taking matters into their own hands. That she hadn’t crumpled under their pressure made him look at her with an added respect.

Her well-manicured nails tapped the doorframe, diverting his attention. He imagined her long, tapering fingers wandering on his torso, wreaking havoc with his self-control.

Her lithe body, silhouetted by the light, made her appear as though she were a nymph.

His mind drifted to the night he’d watched her first transformation to a jaguar. Beautiful and majestic against the backdrop of the Arizona canyons, she’d taken his breath away then, when he was a cub still waiting for his jaguar to emerge. She pretty much had a similar effect over him now. In fact, even more so, he decided when his throat dried and more blood rushed south.