by E A Price
Be Still My Cheetah Heart
E A Price
Copyright ©2017 by Elizabeth Ann Price
All rights reserved. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.
Disclaimer
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, species, and incidents are either the products of my imagination or used in a fictitious manner. I do not condone the practice of jaguar bridenapping in any way, shape or form.
Contents
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
One
February 1st
“Hey, Mama,” said Antonio as he made his way into her kitchen.
“Hey, baby.”
Maria Chavez circled the top of her coffee cup with her finger. She watched as her oldest son pulled a beer out of the refrigerator and chugged it back. Sweat beaded on his forehead.
“Long day, baby?” she asked.
“Uh huh.”
Antonio worked for the timber mill. It was the main source of income for their jaguar leap. As the nephew of the leap’s prime, he could have any job, but he didn’t want preferential treatment from his uncle. To say they didn’t get along was to say that her mother-in-law’s chili recipe wasn’t hotter than holy hell.
Maria bit her lip, loath to bring up the next topic, but knowing that she had no choice. Roberto, the prime, had ordered it, and she couldn’t say no.
It was a tradition that went back over a century, long before humans were even aware of shifters. Back then even though the jaguars were in hiding, they could not always contain their inner beasts, and they were often spotted and hunted by humans.
After one too many of their members had been killed, the small jaguar leap fled from Los Lobos to avoid detection and made a life for themselves on Honey Blossom Mountain. To keep them safe, leap members were forbidden from leaving, and they lived that way, contented for a while.
But, infertility and a high infant mortality rate for females meant that the leap soon struggled, and they found they had many male jaguars and not enough females to mate with. The leap elder suggested that once a year the eligible males would be permitted to visit Los Lobos, find a female and bring her back on Valentine’s Day.
Hence the start of the bride snatching, which still continued to that day. The rules for the jaguars had relaxed somewhat, but this was a tradition nobody seemed to want to get rid of.
Maria could attest to how jarring the tradition could be. One moment she had been flirting with a handsome man and the next she was on her way to her new life. Not that she was complaining… anymore.
“Baby, it’s February first. Valentine’s is in two weeks, which means…”
Antonio leaned against the refrigerator and closed his eyes. “I know, Mama.”
“This will be you seventh year. Prime says…”
Her son let out a growl, which she ignored. “Prime says you cannot put this off any longer. You must find someone this year or…”
He grunted and finished his beer, tossing the empty into the recycling. Women in the leap weren’t officially allowed to earn money. Prime considered that their time was better spent breeding, cooking, cleaning and taking care of the males. But Maria did what she could to earn extra money, including taking their empties to the recycling plant and baking cakes and cookies to sell at a roadside fresh produce stand run by a local bear shifter. Prime didn’t need to know about that money.
“It might not be such a bad thing. Your father had to do this and look how it turned out - we were very happy.”
Antonio slid golden eyes in her direction. “Really?”
Maria reached out and took one of his huge hands in hers. “Yes, I loved him, and I love all my children. My life here was better than it ever could have been if I’d stayed in Los Lobos.”
“Not all females would agree with you.”
“No, the trick is to find the right one. She’s out there somewhere, just waiting for you – the man of her dreams – to sweep her off her feet.”
Antonio looked doubtful, but Maria felt confident he would find the right woman, bring her home, and they would all be one big happy family.
*
February 3rd
“Your ad guaranteed a love match!” snapped Hester.
“Well, usually we can,” spluttered the beaver shifter on the end of the line.
Hester barely bothered to listen to his pathetic excuses. Instead, she raised one of her legs and waggled her foot, admiring her new patent leather, red pumps. Gorgeous. She was glad she had maxed out her pathetic ex – Derrick’s credit card buying them.
Dick.
You date someone for over a year, and they turn around and tell you they want to see other people. Never mind that Hester had it in her head he was going to propose bonding. Nope, apparently, he was desperate to put it to his new hyena assistant. Well, apparently he hadn’t shied away from ‘putting it’ to several other women during their relationship. A fact he disclosed when she started throwing things at him. Double dick sneered her cheetah. That just made her throw harder. Perhaps she should have known it was doomed given that he nicknamed her ‘Hectoring Hester’ on their first date. But the clock was ticking, and at that point, she’d considered that any male would do as a mate. Now with only a month until her thirtieth birthday, the clock wasn’t so much ticking as readying to explode. She needed to find a mate – pronto!
“We will refund your money in full,” said the beaver – the owner of what was supposed to be one of Los Lobos’ best dating agencies.
“I don’t want my money back; I’m looking for what I was promised,” Hester said through gritted fangs.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Carter, but we, ah, we’ve run out of men, and as for the feedback we got from the men we set you up with, well…”
Hester could feel her inner cheetah pacing furiously. “Yes?”
“Words like terrifying, bossy, scary were the most common.”
She huffed. Wusses.
“Perhaps if you reapplied in another year, we might have some more men on our books, and we’d be happy to give you a discount…”
“Forget it.” She hung up.
Oh, her mother would love this. She’d been on her ass to find a mate since Hester turned twenty-one. Another month and she’d turn thirty, and according to the laws of her cheetah coalition, she’d have a mate forced on her, and she wouldn’t have a choice who. As a lawyer she’d fought against the stupid laws, citing that they were outdated and misogynistic. But the elders shot her down – of course, they did, they were all male.
So now that dickish Derrick was out of the picture time
was running out, and apparently, the dating agencies in Los Lobos couldn’t handle her.
Idiots.
A knock sounded at her door, followed by Director Sanders.
She used to practice law but made a move to the Supernatural Enforcers Agency over a year ago. Now she provided legal advice. In court, punch-ups had reduced ninety percent after she stopped practicing.
He raised an eyebrow at the foul look on her face. “Bad time?”
“I don’t have any good ones at the moment. You need me?”
“The mother of a bear shifter we arrested about nine months ago just marched in here demanding to speak to someone. She’s threatening to sue. Says the agent who arrested her baby boy was unnecessarily aggressive.”
“Hmmm, seems like a delayed reaction. Cutter arrest him?” Most of their complaints were about the wolf shifter.
“Nope.”
“Isis?” The tiger shifter was second in line.
“Nope.”
“Hmmm.” She tapped a pencil against her desk. “You seem a little too happy with the situation. It wasn’t the mole shifter from narcotics was it?” Like most moles, he was tiny and had very poor eyesight.
“Nope.”
“I give up.”
“Erin.”
Hester barked out a laugh. “You’re kidding?”
Director Sanders shook his head.
“But she’s human, and back then she had to be pretty heavily pregnant.”
“Yep. The woman’s clutching at straws. I have numerous other witnesses – both SEA and the public who can attest that Erin was the kindest she could be while arresting him, and at no time did they see the tiny, pregnant human rough up the seven-foot bear shifter. But she brought a lawyer with her, and I could use your advice.”
“Sure. Who’s the lawyer?”
Gerry grinned. “Happy Herb.”
“Jeez, the ambulance chaser who advertises on Channel Cinco Y Cinco?” It just got better and better.
“Yes, I met him down in the lobby, he was talking millions in a settlement.”
“Oh well, crushing him should be fun.”
“My sentiments exactly.”
The day was looking up. Plus, it would distract her from the ticking time bomb on her single status. Maybe she should put an ad out in the paper – strong male wanted for a mate. Pussies need not apply.
Two
February 8th
Antonio and his jaguar grumbled as they surveyed the other males about to embark on a spot of bridenapping. Tomas, Diego, and Lorenzo were virtually high-fiving and buzzing with excitement. Oh, now they were actually high-fiving.
They were all young, enthusiastic and under the impression that kidnapping was romantic. Jeez.
This wasn’t Antonio’s first rodeo. The first couple of times he made the trip to Los Lobos, he wasn’t too discouraged. But as each year passed, the more women he met, the more he was convinced he would never meet one to suit him, and certainly not one who would take too well to kidnapping.
Dad found Mama argued his jaguar.
Yeah, maybe one last try couldn’t hurt. He growled at the younger males to get in the van.
Besides, trying was better than giving in. He had a bad feeling about who he’d end up mating if he didn’t find someone himself.
*
February 10th
Hester rushed into the restaurant, her cheetah huffing in annoyance.
Her mother called, demanding Hester drop what she was doing and meet her for lunch, and when Mother said jump, Hester grudgingly replied ‘how high’. Ugh.
The maître-d took in her flushed cheeks, windswept hair, and wrinkled suit and gave her a look of disdain before reluctantly leading her to her mother’s table.
“Darling,” trilled Millicent Carter, before pouting at her. “You might have dressed up a little.”
Hester kissed her cheek and slumped into a seat. “I was at work and busy, I had to run here after I got your summons. Mineral water, a slice of lime,” she snapped at the waiter.
Millicent wasn’t at all appeased. “You know people really do judge you on the way you look, and looking at you, they would imagine you just crawled out from under a bridge.”
Hester rolled her eyes. Maybe a martini might have been wiser than the water. She grabbed the menu.
“Shall we order?”
“When our other guest arrives.”
Hester narrowed her eyes, and her cheetah snapped her jaws in disgust. “Not again, Mother.”
“His name is Blake Salter; he’s an investment banker and a tiger shifter. I’ve shown him your picture, although it has to be said it was taken when you were having a much better day, and he is interested.”
“Well, I’m not.”
“You haven’t even met him.”
“I don’t need to, I know I’m not interested.”
Millicent snorted. “Of course, I forgot, other than Derrick who you let slip through your fingers…”
“Because he was cheating on me…”
Millicent continued as if Hester hadn’t said a word. “You’re allergic to men who have jobs. What did your last male before Derrick do?”
“He was an actor between jobs,” she said through gritted teeth.
“Yes, what was his last paying job? The meaty, chunky dog food commercial?”
Hester let out a long low exhale. “It’s not important.”
“I don’t know why you are so against me finding someone for you.”
“Perhaps because the last time I allowed you to set me up, he turned out to be a closet bigamist,” fumed Hester. Her mother had dreadful taste in men – her four divorces since Hester’s father died spoke of that – yet, like in every other aspect of her life, she would never admit to failure.
Millicent ignored her, which was expected. Hester was used to it by now. “You only have one month left before our coalition chief will choose a mate for you. I hardly think you would want to allow him to choose you a mate over me.”
She wasn’t entirely sure. She did fear who Raymond would choose for her – probably George, a middle-aged cheetah who had never mated and had been found hanging around the ladies room with a video camera more than once during coalition get-togethers. He had a leer that could disgust at a thousand paces. Yuck.
Hester’s nose wrinkled as an inordinate amount of hair gel attacked her senses, followed by the lesser scent of a male tiger. Heavens, this must be her date. Sure enough, seconds later, a slick, slimy, smug male approached the table, was treated to a kiss on each cheek from Millicent and immediately answered a call on his cell phone, ignoring Hester completely.
“Isn’t he yummy?” whispered her mother.
“Not the word I’d use,” said Hester, eyeing him distastefully. It worsened when she realized he was talking to his mother. Definitely, a pussy snickered her cheetah. “I actually have to go; I just got a text message.”
“I didn’t hear your phone,” complained Millicent.
“It’s on silent,” she lied, gathering her purse and coat.
“But what about Blake?”
“What about him?”
Blake finally ended his call to his mother – with a promise to call her again later – and gave them both a supercilious grin. “So, ladies…”
“Sorry, but I have to leave,” interrupted Hester.
Blake scowled, and it was none too pretty. “I thought you said she was desperate,” he grumbled at Millicent. “I am not giving you your money back.”
“Desperate! Money!” Hester gave her mother an accusing snarl.
Millicent was in no way repentant. “You’re not getting any younger, darling. A thirty-year-old with a short temper is a hard sell.”
“I love you, Mother, but butt out! And you,” she turned on Blake, “I’d rather eat my own arm than let you touch me, you slimy douchebag!”
Hester stormed out as quickly as she could manage, which given that she toppled the dessert cart wasn’t very. But, while limping down the
street covered in flan, she cursed herself for not pulling herself together and finding a mate years ago.
Seriously, why did she leave it so long to find a mate? Why the hell did she pin her hopes on Derrick? She needed to put some real effort into finding a man. If mating Blake was her real only option, then she was screwed.
Three
February 12th
Antonio withheld the growl as he surveyed the crowded bar. This was hopeless. He had asked a bellboy at their hotel where the best place to meet single women was and with a leer and a wink, the young man suggested this
But it wasn’t the right place for them. They were looking for life mates, women who weren’t afraid to live in the mountains with a leap of jaguar shifters and potentially bear about six or seven cubs.
The females here were just looking for a night of fun. He watched as they fiddled with electronic devices. Not a lifetime of commitment where wi-fi and TV reception were spotty at best.
The three young males with him were still bright eyed and hopeful. They were the other males from the leap who had come of age and were with him on this awful journey. They were all twenty-five, full of life and made him feel inordinately old.
It was already February 12th. They had wasted five of their days and were expected back at home with their new brides by midnight February fourteenth at the latest. Valentine’s Day - ugh.
Antonio wasn’t hopeful any of them would make it. The three young males would be disappointed, but they would get over it and try again next year. He worried that if he came home empty handed, his prime would go out and find a mate for him. Being forced to find a female himself was one thing, having one thrust on him was unacceptable.
Diego started talking to a pretty, young human. Antonio’s jaguar growled. She smelled like sex and another male. She was already taken.
Damnit.
Antonio pushed his way to the bar, ordering four more beers.
He slipped the bartender a twenty. “I’m looking for a place to meet women who… want a little more if you understand.”
The coyote shifter smirked and stuffed the twenty into her bra. “If you’re looking for something more than a one nighter, check out speed dating events. I can’t say how desperate the women are, but they’re looking for boyfriends, rather than regretful memories.”