The Jaguar's Arranged Mate: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (4 page)

Miera bumped her shoulder into his. “It takes more than honesty to get brownie points.”

“Really?” He cocked an eyebrow.

“Really. Brownies have chocolate in them. Chocolate is gold.”

Beric burst out laughing. “Seriously.”

“Okay, fine.” Enough teasing. Besides, they did have to get to know one another. “What are your vices?”

“I tend to be opinionated. I think I’m always right. But I’m loyal and a fighter and I’d do anything for my pack, just like you.”

“So you don’t smoke?”

“No.”

“Drink?”

“Socially.”

“Drugs?”

“Never.”

She rubbed her chin. “I guess that’s not too bad, as far as vices are concerned.”

He snorted. “What about you?”

“Who, me?” She put a hand to her chest. “I don’t have any vices.”

“Right.” He gave her that lopsided grin again.

“Okay…” She paused. “I tend to be a little reckless, and I go for what I want.”

He leaned closer to her. “What do you want?”

For some reason, it almost sounded like he had said “who” instead of “what.” “I don’t know.” She glanced away.

Beric cupped her chin and turned her face toward his. Her eyes were already closed, even before his lips touched hers. Who parted their lips first, she didn’t know, but the kiss didn’t remain chaste for long. Somehow, she was sitting on his lap, her hands running through his hair, feeling the tight muscles of his shoulders, while his hands explored her back.

Lust, pure and simple. Would that make their marriage easier or harder?

She pulled back, breaking off the kiss, then disentangled herself from him entirely and stood up. “I should…”

“Are you hungry?” he asked easily, as if they hadn’t just shared a very passionate kiss.

Miera still felt a little dazed. “Um… sure.”

He didn’t bring her to the kitchen but to the cafeteria. Since it wasn’t lunchtime, the place was fairly quiet, with only a few were-jaguars inside. Beric went to the back to get them some food, and Miera sat at a table far away from anyone else.

Her cell rang. She answered it immediately.

“How’s it going?” her best friend Lisa asked.

“Not bad actually.” She made sure to keep her voice low even though no one was near enough to overhear her.

“Ah, so he’s hot then.” Lisa giggled.

“This isn’t about looks!”

“I know, I know, but him being hot can’t hurt any. Good. I’m glad. I thought you were crazy for wanting to do this.”

“Maybe I am,” she said softly.

“Miera—”

“I have to go.” She hung up. Why had she been so short with her friend? She had a lot on her mind, yes, and she was feeling a little rundown and tired all the time. She ate more than normal this morning to try and store up some energy, but it wasn’t helping enough.

A minute later, Beric approached with sandwiches. “It’s not much but…”

“It’s fine.” She stared at him as they ate. Beric seemed like a decent enough guy. That he hadn’t pressured her for more despite her coming onto him and then pulling back spoke volumes. She wasn’t ready to give her body to him. Who knew if she would ever be willing to?
We’ll worry about that later.

It was the “we” part that frightened her the most.        

CHAPTER FOUR

Beric couldn’t forget about the kiss. He hadn’t wanted to scare her off, but he had wanted her from the moment she pulled up. Her frustration at thinking he and the guard weren’t being careful enough had only made his desire to know her stronger. She was fierce, just like Matthias had told him.

They finished their food in silence. As he gathered their trash, she said, “We have a lot to talk about. Concerning the wedding.”

“Oh, flowers and colors and all that?” He waved his hand. “You can pick all that.”

“You don’t want to have a say at all?”

“I don’t need to. The wedding is the important part.” He shrugged. Wait… Did it mean a lot to her? “It’s not that I don’t care. It’s just… women care more…”

She laughed. He’d thought she seemed a little upset when he had first brought over the sandwiches, but she seemed happier now. Since she had been fine during their walk over here, he thought it wasn’t because of the kiss. Miera had definitely kissed back. He had spied her on her phone, so maybe she hadn’t been happy with whomever she had been talking to. He didn’t know her well enough yet to pry.

“I’m not the kind of girl who dreamed of my wedding day since I was three, but I’ll plan it. My best friend will have a field day with it.”

“Good. That’s settled then.”

“Yes. So it’s a go then? Officially?”

“Officially.” He nodded. He’d told her that looks didn’t matter to him, but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t attracted to her. That fiery hair sure matched her personality, and he couldn’t help but wonder what she was like in the bedroom. Probably just as wild and fierce as she was outside of it.

She glanced at her watch. “I should probably head back if I want to make sure I return home before dark. I… We’ll talk soon.”

He stood. “Any idea when we’ll get married?”

“I’m not sure.” She shrugged. “The sooner we join our packs, the sooner we can try and help each other prepare to fend off the Brutal Claws.”

“It can’t be tomorrow, I agree. We need time to finish fixing the fence and to set up more defenses around the compound. Just let me know where and when—”

“And what to wear?” She smirked at him.

“Yeah, sure. Anything. Whatever you need from me.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

Beric threw out their trash, and he walked her back to her car. She left, waving to him as she drove away.

All in all, I can’t be unhappy with the arrangement. At least not yet.

***

A week passed. Every other day, Beric talked with Miera on the phone. Instead of learning more about each other, they talked more about the Brutal Claws and how they needed to get married and soon so they and their people could be safer. While no one had been killed recently, more and more Brutal Claws were spotted near both packs.

Unfortunately, however, there was a problem fixing one of the portions of the fence, which meant a delay in the wedding was necessary. Beric wished to delay the ceremony until after they finished their work on the fence, and Miera agreed. The last thing he wanted was for his men to be unfocused by the other pack and possibly reinforce the wall incorrectly. Attention to detail could help save them all.

When his father wanted to send out were-jaguars for a scouting mission, Beric volunteered and refused to back down. His father eventually relented, but only after Beric agreed that he would not go alone.

Considering that every were-jaguar who could be spared was working to reinforce the fence or to build it up higher, Beric opted to call Matthias. Maybe he should’ve called Miera instead, but she might prove to be too much of a distraction, something he couldn’t afford during a scouting mission. He needed to focus. At least he might be able to learn more about Miera through her brother.

Matthias was already often acting as a go-between for the two packs, and as luck would have it, he was already on his way toward the Teal Warriors. Within an hour, the two of them were out in the wilderness, searching for any signs of were-jaguars.

“So… how is Miera?” Beric asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Matthias stared at him as if to say
we’re really going to do this?

“I guess that’s kinda awkward for you.”

“No.” He sighed. “She does it to me, too. I don’t understand why she doesn’t come over more to see you, but she said you two talk on the phone.”

“We do. But it’s mostly about…” Beric swept his arm out to encompass the forest they were scouting.

“The Brutal Claws.” Matthias’s lips twisted into a grimace. “Not exactly a fun conversation then.”

“Not really.” Plus, half the time he spent talking to her, he was daydreaming about their kiss.

“Well, what do you want to know?”

His mind went blank, but then he grinned. “Tell me something she’d hate for me to know.”

Matthias laughed. “You want me to risk my neck for you?”

“She doesn’t have to find out,” Beric promised.

“Like you would be able to keep it from her.” Matthias shook his head. “No can do, man.”

“It must be really juicy then. Come on. Spill. I’ll go to my grave before I’ll tell her who told me.”

“Easy for you to say. Who else would have told you?” Matthias grumbled.

“You’re my future brother-in-law. Give me this.”

“Fine. My sister used to love eating chocolate chip cookies.”

Beric stepped over a large tree root. “She mentioned to me how much she loves chocolate.”

“Yeah, well, to get her back for a prank she did to me, I made her some cookies, but instead of chocolate chips, I used mouse turds.”

“You gave your sister crap cookies?” Beric couldn’t believe it.

Matthias burst out laughing. “I totally did. She ate two before she noticed they tasted strange. I never confessed, and she definitely got me back twenty times over, but still…”

Beric laughed too. “Man, that’s disgusting!”

“I know. Once she realized, she ran after me, trying to shove a cookie into my mouth, but I was faster than her and she never caught me. I can’t imagine what they tasted like! I hid a chocolate-scented candle in the kitchen so she wouldn’t be able to smell the cookies themselves.”

“Geez, you really thought of everything.”

“I had to. Miera’s smart. She was never easy to trick. Playing pranks on each other was something we always did growing up. That one was my prized one.” Matthias beamed.

“So she plays jokes and is smart. What else?”

“If she trusts you, she’ll do anything for you, but if you break that trust, you’re screwed. That girl can hold a grudge forever.”

“She doesn’t have one against you,” Beric pointed out.

“Only because we’re siblings. Otherwise, she would’ve killed me for half the pranks I’ve pulled.” Matthias’s features turned suddenly serious. “Man, whatever you do, don’t make her have a grudge against you. She’ll make your life a living hell.”

“For however long that life might be,” Beric said bitterly.

“It’s a long shot, this union. It might only give us a month or two longer to live than if we remained separate. Or we might be able to make a strong enough stand that they move on to weaker prey. It’s hard to say how the Brutal Claws will react.” Matthias shrugged.

Beric doubted the Brutal Claws would be willing to just move on. “You worried?”

“Am I afraid to die?” His future brother-in-law shrugged again. “I don’t know. Don’t want to find out though. I’ll rather the Brutal Claws bother someone else.”

“They’ll never pick on a pack large enough to challenge them, so we’ll just have to do it ourselves.”

“Outnumbered three to one? You want to take them on?” Matthias stared at him as if Beric had three heads. “That’s insane. Does Miera know what you’re planning?”

“I’m not planning anything. It was just something I’m considering. Something I haven’t even talked to my father about.”

“It will have to be brought forward to the council, too.”

“I know that.” Beric took a deep breath. Convincing the alphas, and Miera, might not be easy as it was. Add in the other council members—just how many were there?—would make it that much harder. “Who all is in the council?”

Before Matthias could answer, Beric held up his hand. Something didn’t seem right. The air was too still. The birds that had been chirping as they were walking and talking had stopped. They hadn’t reached far enough away from the Teal Warriors’ compound for them to be worried about being near any potential enemy scouts. The nearest one had been uncovered another mile out yet.

Matthias was nodding to Beric. He sensed it, too. There was nothing to hear or see. Beric inhaled deeply. Faintly, beneath the scents of the forest and the woodland animals, he could smell musk and body odor, a dusty almost sooty smell that made Beric always think of cats.

Or a jaguar.

The animal or a were? And if a were, a friendly or a foe?

*

It had been a long time since Miera had least seen Beric, and while the wedding plans were going well—her best friend was a tremendous help with everything—she was feeling overwhelmed. The Brutal Claws were slinking around too much for comfort, and they would only hold back for so long. Had they done this with other packs? Sit and wait and watch? Maybe they only offered to include packs into their fold if they saw something in them.
Well, they won’t see anything overtly violent from us… unless they start the battle first.

Plus, she wanted to get to know Beric more. Yes, they talked on the phone a few times, but that wasn’t the way to form a real relationship.

A real relationship. Was that what she wanted? What about Beric? What did he want? She had never really thought about marriage. Yes, she knew she would have to marry and that she most likely wouldn’t have a choice in who her mate would be, considering she would one day be alpha of the Blood Roses, but her father had never pressed her about it, even though she was going to be twenty-five in a few months.

On impulse, she drove to the Teal Warriors’ compound. The guard there, the same one she had spoken to the first time she arrived, stopped her at the gate. “If you’re here for Beric, he just left on a scouting expedition.”

“By himself?” She climbed out of her car, annoyed he hadn’t opened the gate wide enough for her to drive through.

“Ah…” Like he had the first time they had met, the guard seemed embarrassed. “With your brother actually.”

Her lips pursed. Why had Beric sought out her brother instead of her? She shouldn’t feel slighted. It was good that Beric formed friends with her pack. But she did feel hurt, distraught even, that they hadn’t thought to include her.

“Where did they leave from?” she demanded.

“From this vantage point. They headed in that direction.” He pointed. “Would you like for someone to accompany you?”

“How much of a head start do they have on me?”

“About ten minutes.”

She shook her head. “It shouldn’t take me long to catch up to them. I’ll be fine.”

“If you think that’s wise…” His uneasy tone clearly suggested he thought the opposite.

She didn’t care what he thought.

“Don’t worry about me.” In less than ten seconds, she held a gun pointed to his chest and a knife to his throat. She might not prefer to use guns or blades, but that didn’t meant she left them at home.

He blinked. “All right then.” The guard grinned. “Remind me not to upset you.”

She laughed and thought about tucking away her weapons but refrained. “I’m not that bad, am I?”

“Worse,” he muttered.

The guard was a wimp if he thought she was intimidating. That just wasn’t the Blood Roses’ way. They tried for diplomacy first, but as far as the Brutal Claws went, there was no point in even starting negotiations. They would slaughter everyone who showed up to the meeting. That had actually happened once, with the now defunct Stars and Moons pack.

She left her car parked outside the compound, not wanting to waste more time driving it inside. Beric and Matthias hadn’t even bothered to cover their tracks. Well, they didn’t really need to. The Brutal Claws knew how to reach the compound. The location had never been a secret. Still, it bothered her that she could so easily find them.

Which she did. She moved quickly, obviously faster than them as she crested a tall, forested hill to see Beric at the base.

Surrounded by two were-jaguars in their animal form.

A battle already underway.

Two… no, three, were-jaguars were already on the ground, not moving, either injured or dead.

And there… just a little to the right was her brother. Also not moving.

Miera gave a wild cry and pulled out her gun. Before she fired a shot, though, she realized the were-jaguars were wearing armor. She had never seen the likes of that before. The sight made her shudder. These weren’t merely spies then. These were warriors, killing machines.

She shifted easily into her were-jaguar and darted toward the nearest enemy. By this time, Beric had also changed form, and they worked together to bring down the first and then the second were-jaguar. Cooperating made the task easier, but she wouldn’t want to face one by herself. As it was, both she and Beric had wounds to show for their battle.