Katie Reus: A Jaguar's Kiss

She paused, trying to determine if she could shift to her feline form quick enough to escape. It was possible. He might clip her with a bullet, but she doubted he’d want to make a huge scene in the middle of downtown. Then again, he’d pulled a freaking gun on her. This was way too disturbing and she couldn’t get a read on what he was thinking or if he was even serious. Sure, she and Owen hadn’t parted on the best terms, but there had never been any hostility between her family and his pack. Ethan’s actions were…crazy.

When she spotted two men and Sharon—all humans—walking down the sidewalk, she realized she didn’t have a choice but to go with Ethan.

Most humans didn’t know about the existence of her kind. Her entire family went to great lengths to keep not only their shifter abilities a secret but the fact that jaguars roamed this area. If she decided to turn into a giant jaguar in the middle of Main Street…yeah, that would go over really well. And she couldn’t risk Ethan harming anyone innocent.

She got into the front seat and started the engine. Rage surged through her-potent and strong-and completely drowned out her fear. Though it didn’t smother her common sense. She might be angry but she wasn’t stupid enough to lunge for the weapon. When her claws unsheathed, ripping into the pseudo-leather of the steering wheel, she had to take a deep breath and get her jaguar under control. “Drive east, toward wolf territory.” Ethan’s words were clipped.

“Did you plan this? How did you I’d be at the diner?” No one had known she was coming back early. A slow trail of fear travelled down her spine.

He rolled his eyes, as if she was stupid, and that fear dissipated. “Of course I didn’t plan this, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take you.”

Opportunity? “What’s the matter with you? Why are you doing this to me? I just got back in town. All I want is to see my parents and brothers.” She tried to keep her voice calm but it was difficult when all she wanted to do was shout at him. She shuddered, remembering the last time she’d been shot. It had been in Colombia as she’d escaped a drug lord’s compound with vital information for her team. Even if she could heal at supernatural speeds, a bullet slicing through her body still hurt something fierce.

“Quiet,” he snapped. “I’m taking you to my brother.”

At the mention of Owen, Gabriela had to focus on keeping her heart rate steady. On top of all this, seeing the man who had broken her heart when she’d been a fragile sixteen-year-old? Terrific.

Even though he’d told her to be quiet she couldn’t resist asking one more question. “Seriously, what is this about?”

Ethan leveled the gun at her, his eyes angry. “I can shoot you, dump you in the bed of the truck and drive the rest of the way. I know you’ll heal but it’ll still hurt. Your choice. Stop with the questions or…?” He tipped the gun slightly, making his point clear.

* * *

Gabriela wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but she knew it hadn’t been more than an hour since Ethan had kidnapped her. And no one would be missing her right now. Her parents didn’t know that she’d managed to jump on an earlier flight for her last connection and they weren’t expecting her home until tonight. That psycho Ethan had been tight-lipped the entire drive into wolf territory. It wasn’t until they’d passed a cluster of log cabins she knew the majority of his pack lived in that he’d told her to stop in front of the only two-story cabin. Then he’d snapped metal cuffs on her wrists and dragged her inside. They weren’t silver so they didn’t chafe her skin, but they were titanium. Shifters were stronger than humans, but titanium was still titanium.

Sniffing the air around her, she had a feeling Ethan had dumped her in his brother’s office because she could smell his familiar pine scent. She could also hear Ethan on the phone downstairs talking to who she assumed was Owen and knew her time alone was limited. Since she had on cuffs he probably didn’t think she was much of a threat. It’s not as if she could shift to her jaguar form like this. Well, she could, but her arms and legs in cat form were a lot bigger and she wasn’t positive the change would break the cuffs. If it didn’t, she’d be in serious pain.

She didn’t plan to stick around long enough to see why this crazy wolf had kidnapped her. Thankfully Ethan had cuffed her hands in the front so she had some mobility. Quietly riffling through the top drawers of the giant oak desk, she smiled when she finally found a very slim letter opener. It was as long as a screwdriver but much thinner and flatter. The cuffs on her wrist were thicker than normal and so was the lock opening. Picking up the end of the opener with her mouth, she slid the shiny tip into the circular opening.

A slam sounded from downstairs. Shouts followed. Her heart beat erratically. She recognized that voice. Owen.

No, no, no.

Forcing her hands to remain calm, she began twisting the opener with her mouth. She’d done this before—of course she’d had better tools then but she knew exactly…click. The tiny lever inside sprung free, releasing her manacles.

As they fell from her wrists, the door flew open, slamming against the back wall with a sickening crash. She felt as if her heart actually stopped for a moment. Everything around her funneled out as she stared into the clearest blue eyes she’d ever seen. Owen had always been big, but he’d grown even taller since she’d last seen him. He was probably six-foot three now. And he had that GQ thing going on. Tall, strong jaw, incredibly broad shoulders and muscles that couldn’t be disguised by a mere T-shirt. His blue-black hair and blue eyes gave him an exotic, appealing look. Of course she could see the wolf lurking beneath the surface. Just a hint of danger that even humans wouldn’t be able to ignore.

“Gabriela,” he whispered, some foreign emotion injected into that one word.

That broke the spell. Fisting the cuffs, she chucked them at his head and turned, diving for the glass window. Unlike wolf shifters, her change to animal form was seamless. Her clothes and shoes shredded as she became a jaguar. Vaguely, as if from a great distance, she heard Owen cursing behind her, but she didn’t pause in her escape. Drawing on the strength of her hind legs she used the window frame as a springboard—and tried to ignore the pain of the glass slicing into her paws—to propel herself to the oak tree.

The sun had risen farther in the sky, illuminating everything for her, not that she needed it with her extrasensory abilities. Nimbly, she jumped from branch to branch until she hit the dirt running. She could hear the sound of a growl behind her, but ignored it. If Owen or Ethan thought they could kidnap her and hold her hostage, they’d have to catch her first.

As a jaguar, she was a heck of a lot faster than them. Her family wasn’t native to this area, and with the exception of the local doctor, they were the only jaguar shifters living in Montana that she knew of. Still, she could travel these woods blind. First she needed to know she had outrun her pursuers. Then she was going to figure out why a member of the Wright pack had kidnapped her in broad daylight. And there was going to be hell to pay.

* * *

Owen wrenched his shirt off and raced out of his office, heading down the stairs.

“I’ll radio the guys on perimeter duty to track her,” Ethan said as he hurried after him.

It took all of Owen’s restraint not to knock his brother out right now. He’d actually kidnapped Gabriela in some misguided attempt to force her family to reveal who had been behind the recent jaguar killings in the area. It didn’t matter that Ethan had admitted the gun hadn’t been loaded. Gabriela hadn’t known that.