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There wasn’t even trace of supernatural scent on her. There wasn’t a paranormal species that we couldn’t identify by smell; it was one of the rare gifts we jaguars possessed.
Our jaguars tended to treat everyone with casual indifference, pretty much exactly like an arrogant house cat. They would keep an eye on other supers, but humans didn’t even garner that much attention. Amaryllis was without a doubt human, but our cats had begun purring and pushing us to curl next to her body
This created a major problem for us. Shadows mated to one female, and one female only. Our kind was rare,
Human poachers hunted us for our pelts when we were in our cat form, and because of the number of gifts jaguars possessed, we had been hunted to near extinction by supers that feared our unique skills. We were no longer hunted by supers, but our species had developed ways to survive over the centuries of bloodshed.
However, when each member of our shadow had our first shift, around our twelfth birthday, our hearts immediately began calling out for each other. By the time we had all shifted and turned sixteen, we had found each other and formed our shadow.
While the active hunt against our kind had ended decades before, that didn’t stop magic poachers from targeting jaguars. We knew that it was very possible that our children could carry on our genetic gifts as well,
All this good came at a cost. We couldn’t ever risk taking a mate to love as our own.
It was also why we were all on edge and desperate to create distance between her and ourselves. Once all the jaguars in a shadow had decided upon a mate, they began to weave her into the golden tapestry of our bond.
I understood and accepted the logic of the decision, but my heart wasn’t nearly as logical, and it was heavy with sorrow. It didn’t matter that the bond wasn’t completed; I still felt the pain of the loss. I know the other guys felt it too, we were just processing it differently.
Mace liked plans and was beyond livid that our plans had been destroyed. Anzac was confused and felt betrayed by his jaguar. Our jaguars were their own entity within each of us but we were also inseparable—two sides of a single coin.
Knox had been much quieter about his feelings, but I saw the sadness in his eyes.
Jett was grieving, and barely spoke to us. He had Native American heritage and shared a uniquely close relationship with his jaguar.
our jaguars had moved into the recesses of our minds. They were not communicating with any of us, and since most of our supernatural skills came from working together with our big cats, that meant we were unable to use our talents to make our journey faster or more comfortable.
I have faced impossible decisions in the field during our many assignments but walking away from her was by far the hardest thing I had ever been required to do.
Pride and smugness came through the bond from our jaguars. “The little warrior is ours.” A shiver traveled up my spine. It was creepy when the jaguars spoke using human words, and even creepier when they did it in unison.
If she hated us, it would slow or even stop the bond from growing further. Even though I knew the reason behind his cruelty, I wanted to punch him for speaking to her like that. Mates were a sacred treasure, and this was absolutely not how that bond was supposed to be treated.
Jett had lied through his teeth. She didn’t stink; she smelled of cinnamon and pepper, and it caused my mouth to water.
Slowly unzipping my pack, I pulled out a granola bar and the last of the berries I had collected. I crept forward and placed them beside her tattered shirt, and then melted back into the shadows.
She had the curves of a high-end sports car. Her breasts were not large in a fake way, but they were far from small. She had a tiny waist that flared out at her hips, giving her a perfect hourglass shape. Her stomach was taut, with the toned look of someone who took care of themselves.
We had still been within hearing distance of our clumsy mate when she hit the ground. Hard. Our jaguars surged forward in our minds, desperate to check on her; we shoved them back from taking control. We had made this decision and we needed to stay the course. The mental pain from fighting an angry jaguar is similar to having nails hammered into your skull. Anzac caved
what she couldn’t see. Tears were sliding down Anzac’s face. The man who never cried, was crying. His voice was rough in the mental connection.
When everyone’s eyes were closed, I tossed a small bag of jerky toward her.
No one had ever been able to track us, not even the most elite trackers in the world. And yet a human female seemed to have the ability to do it without any trouble at all. It had to be the bond, weak though it was.
I still didn’t expect what came next. “Why did I save their lives?
“I always dreamed of flying.” Those were her last words. I wanted to leap forward and grab her, but my legs held no strength. I listened for her heartbeat, and heard it give a final sluggish thump. I threw back my head and roared my anguish into the jungle.
Knox POV
My next exhale was the anguished roar of my jaguar. I had lost control of my animal side, and his heartache tore through my body in unison with the bone-breaking pain of the shift into my jaguar’s golden coat.
My sensitive hearing picked up the last weak thump of her heart, followed mere moments later by a sickening thud as her beautiful body slammed into the jagged rocks below. She would have died from the venom, even if she hadn’t stepped off that cliff. She could have spent those last moments of her life being held by her mates, but we had driven her away. My mate had died hurting.
Our cats had been withholding much of our supernatural powers from us for the last two days, but now I realized that my cat was using more power than I had ever been allowed access to in the past. When Amaryllis’ heart had stuttered that last beat, a part of the beautiful gold tapestry in my mind had turned an ashy black. I knew it would forever be a reminder of what we had lost; the mate’s bond we would never fully experience.
The soft slow beating of her heart sent a tsunami of hope rushing through my body. My cat let out a roar filled with desperate need and shoved hard into the wall of stone with all four of our massive paws. Moments later, we were airborne and the ground was greedily rushing up to meet us.
Her sweet, toasted marshmallow scent tickled my nose, and although I couldn’t see her, I knew she was near.
adorable freckles dotted her sun-kissed cheeks. She was beautiful. I doubted even a goddess could look as beautiful as she did in that moment.
Anzac’s crazy story about watching her rescue us had been true. Which meant that the kiss I had thought a glorious hallucination was actually real.
“Ours,” he murmured in my head. “Yes. Always,” I agreed. His joy in having his mate with him burst through me. A jaguar finding their true mate was rare, and it was a celebrated event among our kind.
I smirked. My cat was no longer fully in control. Once he realized we had reached an agreement regarding our mate, he eased back. We were now evenly merged, human and jaguar. While there were times when one of us could take full control, we were most powerful when we merged as one mind. It didn’t matter if our form was human or jaguar, when we melded together, we were a supernatural force with which few others could compare.
If they wanted to fight, I was ready to bring it. If my decision meant I was no longer part of the shadow, so be it. I had found my mate, and then lost her, and then found her again. I would not let anything come between my bond with her again.
had been healed, and the excruciating pain was blessedly gone. Unfortunately, my magic was nowhere to be found and my reserves were way beyond depleted. Until I got food and rest, there was no way my butt was getting off the ground.
They were feral but there was something distinctly human in their depths. Something tickled the back of my brain, something I should remember. I gasped as the jaguar’s massive head pressed against me. Instantly, I knew what my brain had been trying to tell me. This was Knox. How he was a giant cat, I didn’t have a clue.
instead of leaving me, he stepped over my naked body. He was protecting me. Hot tears left tracks down my face. I wasn’t alone anymore.
Two of the jaguars had golden coats with black spots, nearly identical to Knox’s coat. One jaguar had a pale white coat with dove grey spots, and sky-blue eyes. The last jaguar had a smoke-colored coat, its spots nearly invisible, the rich copper color of his eyes creating a striking contrast. It was ridiculous that they possessed unearthly beauty in both human and cat form.
Don’t judge me. It’s been a while. I definitely needed a womb broom to sweep out the cobwebs, if you know what I mean.
I should still hate them, and I was still livid with the other three men. I didn’t hold grudges, but these jerks had hurt me. I shouldn’t be wanting to jump them.
Dagger rose to his feet, and then leaned down and hauled me bridal style into his arms. “Come on, tiny phoenix, we need to cover a lot of ground today.”
If I wasn’t so exhausted, I would have tried to figure out how I could tell these men apart just by touch.
Tears burned behind my closed eyelids. Dagger had been the one leaving food for me. My heart softened a little bit more.
Give a girl food and she will tell you all her darkest secrets. It was definitely the way to my heart.
“Unless you’re an idiot, you’ve realized we aren’t human,” Mace began. “We are jaguar shifters, meaning we can shift our form between human and jaguar. There are different names for a group of jaguars, but in the paranormal world we are called a shadow. Our males form a tight family unit, like brothers, and we spend our very long lives together.” Mace sounded annoyed, as though he was angry at being forced to explain things to someone beneath him.
“That means to shut up. You are a naughty girl baiting him like that.” Knox’s warm breath against my ear and neck sent a delicious shiver down my spine, and a haze filled my brain.
“To answer your first question,” Anzac spoke softly, “a mate refers to a soulmate. In the paranormal world, many species are given a soulmate by the Fates. The details of the bonding vary between the different supernaturals.” He spoke without ever looking in my direction. His posture was indifferent but there was a sad note in his voice.
“Ours?” It came out as a squeak. “Shadows mate to only one woman,” Knox explained. “Jaguars are rare.
