Jaguar Fever

Chapter 8

As soon as she got off the bus, Maya saw Connor. His brow was furrowed, but then he smiled a little. Where was Kat?

Trying not to anxiously drum up worst-case scenarios, Maya took a deep breath and hurried to give Connor a hug. “Where’s Kat?”

“Sleeping. She was feeling tired and nauseated.”

“Oh.” Maya wanted to say “good,” only because she was so grateful Kat was safe. But Connor wouldn’t understand. She opened her mouth to tell him right away about the hunters, but as soon as she embraced her brother, his somberly pleasant expression soured. She realized he had to have smelled Wade and David on her… and two other male cats, her cousins, who had given her hugs before they left her for their terminal.

She and Connor were walking along a path that seemed to be taking them straight into the jungle until it opened up to reveal a group of treetop cottages half hidden by jungle vegetation.

“How come I smell four different male cats on you?” Connor asked, his tone accusing as he frowned at Maya. He motioned with his head to one of the cottages as they made their way along the treetop walkway. “That’s our cottage.”

“I’ll tell you when I’m unpacking. I’ve got to warn you and Kat that hunters are in the area. They’re looking for jaguars.”

“That’s always a possibility.” Connor did not sound the least bit concerned.

“It’s a certainty.”

As they continued on their way along the path, she noted that the lush tropical foliage hid each of the cottages from the others, giving them privacy. Maya loved the way the trees surrounded them, reminding her of the hut where they’d stayed in the Amazon.

“How do you know this?” Connor asked while she unlocked her door.

She carried her backpack in while he rolled her large suitcase into the room.

The five-hundred-square-foot cottage was spacious, featuring a living area and a raised bedroom with a king-size bed covered in a white duvet and jungle-print pillows partially hidden by mesh netting. She glanced at the floor-to-ceiling windows that wrapped around three sides of the cottage, offering a view of the bright green jungle. A couple of beige couches and chairs decorated in jungle-print pillows filled the living area, and a tree grew off center through the floor and the ceiling, giving the room its treetop feel. She adored the place.

“Wow.” A wooden railing dividing the living room from the bedroom gave the cottage a more open feeling. She instantly thought of Wade with her in that bed. She shook her head at the notion, but she couldn’t rid herself of the desire—just like Connor sharing his bed with Kat.

“Maya, what makes you so certain the hunters are here? You just got here. And why do I smell four different male cats on you?”

“Cousins,” she said. She mentioned them first so that Connor wouldn’t be too upset with her. “We’ve got family. Huntley and Everett Anderson. And Tammy, their sister, but I didn’t get to meet her this time.” She couldn’t hide her enthusiasm as she grinned at Connor. Her expression quickly changed to concern when Connor folded his arms and looked at her with disbelief.

She sat on the edge of the bed. The mattress was soft and comfy, and again she was thinking of what it would feel like to have Wade naked in her bed.

Connor rested his butt against the dresser, still looking peeved.

“Do you remember Wade Patterson?”

Connor was already scowling, but now his expression turned feral.

She quickly said, “He’s with a secret jaguar agency that polices our kind.”

Connor’s scowl turned to disbelief. “And you believe that crock of bull? Next you’ll tell me he’s part of some Special Forces group—that he’s a SEAL or some damned nonsense. Do you know how many real SEALs there are and how many men claim they were one?”

She cast him an annoyed look and folded her arms. She should have known her brother would think Wade was making it all up. “No, listen. Our cousins, Everett and Huntley? They’re also working for this organization.”

“Maya…”

“It’s true. We kept ourselves isolated from others just like our parents did. And probably their parents before them. We knew there had to be more of us. We’ve never met any shifters in our area, so all we see are humans. The others are city jaguars, not… well, wild like us. They don’t visit the jungle like we do. They had to make up a police force to keep shifters in line who don’t follow the rules. Regular police wouldn’t do because of the problem with jaguars shifting.”

“We don’t even know what these supposed rules are so that we can follow them,” Connor said. “If what you’re saying is true, why haven’t these people come knocking on our door before?”

“We’re law-abiding citizens. We don’t do anything that would cause this police force to bother with us.”

Connor narrowed his eyes. “So you hugged our two cousins, which is the reason for their scents on your skin. What about the other two?” He had to know one of the others was Wade Patterson, since he was the only other male cat she’d been talking about.

“Wade and his brother, David Patterson.”

Connor shook his head and moved toward the one chair in the bedroom. “I think I’m going to have to sit down to hear the rest of this.”

As she unpacked and noted all the niceties in the cottage, she explained everything—the brothers, the cousins—but not the brawl—and as much as she hated to admit that Connor might have been right about advertising their nursery by featuring a jaguar, she told him about the zoo man, Thompson.

Connor let out his breath in exasperation. “Don’t tell me you want to see this Wade Patterson further.”

Why wouldn’t she? He’d been such a help to them before, took care of her at the club, and watched over her at the house. He was really sweet, if she didn’t think of the moves he made on the dance floor or while kissing her on the couch. Then he was hot and sexy and all the more intriguing.

She shrugged. “He lives in Florida. But yeah, maybe.”

She didn’t believe she could be interested in a jaguar shifter who wouldn’t visit or feel comfortable in the jungle.

What if she found a city jaguar who she thought she could acclimate to the jungle, and he hated it? Or was afraid of the rainforest? A man like that wouldn’t appeal. So even though she had more of a choice now, the notion that some didn’t visit the jungle limited her options.

“What about Kat?” Connor asked, his eyes narrowed.

“He’s not interested in her.”

Connor harrumphed.

Maya opened the door to the deck.

“The cottages are actually built on the side of a hill with walkways winding through the trees. The deck leads to stairs and another path to the main lodge where meals are served,” Connor said.

“We’re not catching dinner as jaguars?” She wasn’t surprised, not with the layout of these cottages. Their hut in the Amazon was much more primitive, with no restaurant within walking distance.

Maya smiled. This was going to be a good trip. She hoped.

Connor fumed about his sister. He was fascinated with the idea that an enforcement agency was run by and for jaguar shifters. If he’d learned of such a force before he and his sister had started their successful garden nursery, he might have considered joining it himself. Then again, he’d always looked out for Maya, and he couldn’t see spending long periods away from her.

Hell, he left her alone for two days, and she opened the house up to Wade Patterson, his brother, and two other male shifters. Sure they were cousins, but Connor hadn’t met them first to ensure they were safe. On top of that, she’d started a fight in a shifter bar? Not to mention that a zoo official believed Maya had stolen a jaguar from the Oregon Zoo. He couldn’t imagine what would have happened if he’d left her alone for a whole week! He wondered if she’d left anything out in telling him what had gone on. Like how intimate she’d been with this Wade Patterson.

Connor admitted that he had approved of her and Kat’s idea of posting Maya’s picture in her jaguar form in the greenhouse. They’d had quite a boost in garden sales. Now he was regretting that decision.

“I think you should find Wade and help him take down the hunters,” Maya said, appearing worried as she exited the closet. “I’m here now. I’ll take care of Kat.”

“No,” Connor said.

Maya gave him a cross look, just like she always did when he disagreed with her over an important issue.

“He’s on a job. He’s trained. He’s getting paid for it. We’re strictly here on vacation, and I’m staying with the two of you to keep you safe.” Connor was not leaving Kat alone, even with Maya’s protection, if hunters were close by.

“How’s Kat feeling?” Maya asked, changing the subject.

He knew from the way she’d done so that she hadn’t given up on the subject of helping Wade. She’d revisit it when she could. Maybe by soliciting Kat’s help to back her up. He loved that the two women were the best of friends, but their friendship kept him on his toes because they often conspired against him.

“Kat’s having a little morning sickness. Shifting seems to help settle her stomach. She can handle the pregnancy better as a cat. We don’t go until it’s dark out.”

“You saw no sign of the hunters?”

“None. Thousands of acres of rainforest exist out there. Half of Belize is covered by dense jungle. A lot of it hasn’t even been explored yet—by humans anyway. Because of Kat’s condition, we’ve stuck close to the cottages. And hunters wouldn’t suspect jaguars would hang around people. But if she’s feeling better, we’ll go farther out where we can’t smell any signs of humans.”

“You’ve marked your scent around the area,” she said, knowing he would.

It was part of what they were. That primal, territorial aspect couldn’t be tamed. Not when they were in the wild like this.

“Yeah, we have.” He smiled. “Kat hasn’t quite got the hang of it. She thinks if she scent-marks over where I’ve scent-marked, she’s claiming I’m her territory, and any other females can keep their paws to themselves.”

Maya chuckled. “I love Kat.”

Even when they visited the forested area around the lake on their property, they left their stamp on the area. Humans didn’t know jaguars existed in Texas, but the wildlife in the area certainly did. Not that the jaguars ate any of the critters around there, except for fishing in the lake, but the birds and snakes and squirrels and armadillos knew.

“I missed you both,” Maya said.

Connor knew she was being honest, but he snorted anyway. “Sounds like you didn’t have time. You were never alone.”

She was opening her mouth to rebut his comment when Kat opened the door to the cottage and smiled, her dark hair pulled into a ponytail, her green eyes sparkling with excitement. “You’re here!” She turned to Connor and scolded him. “You should have told me right away! Why didn’t you wake me?”

He only gave her a half smile.

Dressed in a pale blue long-sleeved shirt, blue jeans, and hiking boots, Kat looked refreshed and ready to take a walk in the jungle.

Maya ran down the steps from the elevated bedroom to join her and gave her a big hug. “We have cousins!”

“And Wade Patterson is in the area,” Connor said, as if the devil himself had just shown up in their neck of the rainforest. He couldn’t help it. He was certain that as soon as Wade saw Kat, he’d make a move on his wife, and Connor would kill him.

Then both Maya and Kat would want to kill Connor.