by Bianca D’Arc
Ren knew that Kat would be on location for the rest of the day, even though she didn’t have any more scenes to film. She was scheduled for costume fittings, which were best accomplished in the trailer right now, as the whole costume department had set up shop there for the duration of the shoot. Ren was filming one of the fight scenes with his band of Merry Men, so he was kept busy all afternoon, but now that the secret was out, the other shifters helped him keep tabs on Kat.
Inviting her along to the island was about as clear a declaration of intent as he could make at this point. His Clanmates knew, without being told in so many words, that he was looking at Kat as a mate, not just a temporary girlfriend. They were supportive and helped him stay sane by reporting her whereabouts throughout the afternoon. His inner cat wanted to be with her. It wanted to keep her in his sights at all times, but the human side knew he couldn’t turn stalker on her. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her off.
No, now that he’d found her, he had to play it cool. She didn’t know about his shifter side. She seemed completely innocent of the magical world. He had to find just the right way to make her aware of the bigger world out there and his place in it… And the place he wanted her to have, at his side, as his mate.
His inner jaguar calmed when he noticed Kat sitting in the crowd behind the cameras, watching the fight scene unfold. They had to do many, many takes to get all the action and the various angles Sonia wanted, and anyone who wasn’t working had come out to watch. There were many moving parts to this scene, and Ren’s bit with his Merry Men was very athletic. He refused to have a stunt double, so he went through the routine over and over, as many times as Sonia needed to get all the shots she wanted.
When she finally called it quits, the watchers broke into applause. Sonia waited for it to subside then thanked everyone for their hard work and telling them to get dinner and be back for the night shoot, if they were in it, at nine p.m. Ren was looking forward to it. He had another scene with Kat. But, first, dinner.
Franny caught his eye and motioned him over to where she was standing with Kat and a few other Clanmates. Ren went, aware that he was sweaty and really needed to get out of his costume.
“We’re heading back to the hotel,” Franny told him. “Kat’s going to join us all for dinner in the hotel restaurant. Want to meet us there?”
He looked at the rapidly filling shuttle busses and then back. “If you’re willing to wait for the next van, I’ll go with you. I just need to change.”
Franny made a show of looking over at the vehicles then nodded. “Sounds good. Meet us by the vans. We’ll wait for you.”
Ren loped to the costume trailer, shrugging off his shirt as he went. A few of the women in the cast gave him a wolf whistle as he passed, but he was beyond noticing. His inner cat was urging him to hurry so he could be with his mate again as soon as possible. He dumped his clothes in the waiting hamper and shrugged into his street clothes, tugging on the T-shirt as he leapt down the steps of the trailer.
Covering ground quickly, he got back to the group that included Kat even before they’d made it to the loading area for the vans, in the front drive of the old church. He sidled his way up to her, and she looked around, surprise on her expressive face.
“That was super fast,” she told him. “What did you do? Streak through the picnic pavilion?”
“Just about,” he confirmed with a grin. “Didn’t want to take the chance that you guys would leave without me.”
“I wouldn’t let them, even if someone suggested it,” Kat confided. “That would just be rude.”
“Thanks,” he told her, meaning it. He was touched that she would have stood up for him, even on such a small matter.
The next van pulled up, and they loaded on, one behind the other. Kat went up the steps first, and Ren was right behind. The numbers worked out so that she got the last seat in one row, and he had to sit in the next row forward, but he could easily turn to chat with her and the others behind her during the short ride.
Which was just what he did. They stuck to neutral topics, like what they planned to order for dinner and the night shoot that was scheduled for tonight—which promised to be a full moon, as well. The windows on the luxury passenger van were darkened so that no one could see in, but they could still see out. As they pulled up at the hotel’s front entrance, Ren saw a small group of people with cameras hanging out, waiting for a chance to snap photos.
“Looks like the paparazzi have found out where we’re staying,” one of the men commented as Ren suppressed a growl.
He really didn’t want to have to deal with this garbage tonight. His life had changed fundamentally today, and he wanted to enjoy it, not do battle with pushy photographers who might somehow hurt Kat with their aggressiveness or by publishing a bad image that might embarrass her. She was still so new to this life. He didn’t want anything to shake her confidence before she really had a chance to find her feet.
“Let me go first. I’ll distract them while you all scoot inside,” Ren offered. What he really wanted was for the rest of them to look out for Kat, but they were all Clanmates, so they understood without him having to come out and say it.
“Be careful of that bald guy,” Kat said in a worried tone that immediately captured his attention. “He offered me money if I’d tell him where you were the other day. There’s something really creepy about him.” She shivered, and her distaste for the man showed on her face.
“He mentioned Ren by name?” Greg asked from behind Kat’s seat.
She nodded. “He offered me fifty dollars then raised it to a hundred when I refused. He wanted to know where Ren was. Nobody else. Just him.”
“Well, he is the biggest name on the picture,” Franny opined.
“Just to be on the safe side, I’m going with you, Ren. Maybe they’ll get a few shots of you and then buzz off,” Greg said. “But, if it turns ugly, I’ll back you up.”
“Thanks,” Ren said, his eyes narrowing on the big bald man with the camera who had positioned himself a little apart from the rest of the camera people.
“Liatha, Franny, you go with Kat and get yourselves into the hotel, the rest of us will back up Ren, if necessary,” Greg orchestrated the rest of the group.
“I want one of the Hilliards to go with the women,” Ren told Greg, altering the plan just a bit.
The Hilliards were jaguar brothers who often accompanied Ren on film shoots, ostensibly as bodyguards, but in this production, they were doubling as part of Robin Hood’s band of Merry Men. They didn’t have speaking parts, but they were both highly accomplished martial artists who were lending their unique acrobatic abilities to some of the fight scenes. Ren wanted at least one of those experienced fighting men with the women.
Not so much to help Franny and Liatha—both of whom were jaguars and just as lethal as their male counterparts—but to protect Kat. Gentle, fragile, human Kat.
Greg nodded agreement then motioned to the Hilliard brothers. “Dave, you go with the ladies and make sure nobody hassles them.”
Dave nodded, his face set in grim lines.
All of them were feeling the fire of their jaguars, Ren knew. With the prospect of confrontation in the air, their inner cats were ready for anything.
Greg got up from his seat while the van was still in motion and crouched next to the driver, instructing him exactly where to let them off. Ren had seen the flash of Greg’s jaguar in his eyes, but they were all adept at hiding their inner nature. The sun was on its descent, so hopefully, nobody else would see anything amiss.
Ren would be the diversion. He would pose for photos and draw every eye while the women got themselves to safety. If there was a confrontation, he’d be right in the middle of it, taking the focus away from his mate and settling matters himself—with backup from his Clan. As it should be.
Jaguars were independent, like most cats, but they’d learned to lean on each other a bit more these days, hoping to rebuild what they’d lost of their popula
tion and culture. They would not go quietly into the night. No, they were regrouping and regaining their numbers every day, by working together.
Ren put on his sunglasses and adopted his movie star persona, coming down the steps of the bus and deliberately leading the waiting paparazzi off to the left, away from the path to the hotel doorway. Greg had asked the driver to angle the van so that it was a little past the doorway for just this reason. As the van had moved past the straight path to the door, the photographers had scrambled to meet it, leaving the pathway open.
Ren answered shouted questions with apparent humility, all the while watching from behind his mirrored shades as the women exited the van and made a beeline for the door. They were almost there when the bald-headed man stepped out from behind a bush and flashed his camera in Kat’s face. She stumbled a bit, blinded by the flash of light too intense for the setting. Franny and Liatha, bless them, closed in around her as Dave Hilliard stepped in front, blocking the man from approaching any closer.
“You should have played ball with me, sweetheart,” the man called after Kat as the other women whisked her away, into the hotel.
Dave stepped close to the man and warned him off in no uncertain terms. The guy scoffed at Dave and turned away, looking in Ren’s direction for a moment before stalking off into the parking lot.
Ren continued to pose for photos as this all took place behind the gaggle of paparazzi. None of them seemed to notice what had occurred, for which he was grateful. It also made the incident even more worrisome. Why had that man been asking Kat where Ren was if he wasn’t going to stick around and at least take a photo? This definitely was a puzzle…and cats loved puzzles.
Chapter Twelve
Ren was firm but polite with the photographers, and after a few more minutes, they let him pass in peace. He caught up with the women just inside the entry to the hotel’s restaurant. The hotel had deployed security at all entrances to be certain that only people who were supposed to be in the building got in.
It was unacceptable to Ren and his inner jaguar that anyone hassle his mate. In that, they were both, blessedly, unified. That remarkable thought made him wonder if his Alpha had been right all along, and Ren might finally come into sync with his inner jaguar when he found his mate. Only time would tell, but he looked forward to finding out.
First, though, they had to work together to convince her to stay with them. Everything depended on her reaction to learning about his dual nature. She was the only woman for him. If she rebuked him, there would never be another. He knew that, and it scared him down to his toes. He had to be so very careful with Kat, or he’d blow his chance at happiness…forever.
Ren walked right up to Kat, tearing off his sunglasses so he could meet her gaze with nothing between them. With her, he would never hide behind mirrored lenses. He wanted her to see, and accept, all of him, once he figured out how to break the news to her.
“Are you all right?” he asked, wanting to chase down the man who had dared accost his mate while, at the same time, wanting to comfort her and be certain she was okay.
“I’m fine, but I told you that guy was a creep,” she said, showing surprising spirit. He was both relieved and impressed.
“You were definitely right about him, but we’re on alert now, and if I know Dave, he’s already got the license plate number of the guy’s car and will be tapping his law enforcement sources shortly so we know who he was, where he was from, what his problem is.” Ren forced a smile. “If we wanted, we could probably learn his shoe size and what he ate for breakfast, as well, I bet.”
She chuckled. “Franny was saying Dave is one of your bodyguards?”
“Yeah, Dave and Bryan.” Ren motioned for Bryan to come closer as they all stood, waiting to be seated, as a group. “Bryan Hilliard, this is Kat,” he introduced them formally. “Kat, this is Bryan. If you ever have any trouble and I’m not around, Bryan and his brother will help you out.”
“Oh, Dave is your brother? I see the family resemblance,” Kat said, shaking Bryan’s hand politely. “I’ll have to thank him for helping us get away from that creep.”
“He’ll be along in a bit,” Bryan assured them both. “Like Ren said, he’s probably looking up everything we can find out about that bald guy right now. He’ll have a preliminary report for you in a few minutes, Ren.” Bryan nodded politely and withdrew to answer his cellphone, which had just rung quietly.
The group was seated at a banquet table in the back room of the restaurant, and dinner was one big, happy, noisy group. Ren couldn’t forget, however, that his potential mate had just been accosted by some dude with a camera. It didn’t sit well.
The dinner itself was a message from his Clanmates to him. They were acknowledging the possible mating and showing their approval and joy that Ren might finally have found his One. They were being his family. Looking after him and his potential mate and reinforcing those bonds of Clanhood and friendship.
Any other time, Ren and his inner jaguar would have been basking in the love and affection of his people. The threat to Kat, however, made it hard to enjoy the meal and the camaraderie. He kept looking over at Dave and Bryan, knowing they had a report to give him once dinner was over.
When dinner ended, Ren walked Kat to her room, doing his best to make sure she was safe for the night before he left her. He would sleep in the bushes in front of her hotel room window in jaguar form, if he had to. He’d do anything to be sure she was safe, but he didn’t want to scare her off. He had to be smart, too.
Ren went straight from seeing Kat safely to her room to his suite. Dave and Bryan were already there, laptops open, screens filled with all the information they’d been able to dig up, beg, borrow or outright hack about the bald man.
Ren felt anger rise and knew his eyes were blazing as each new piece of information was revealed. Something was very wrong with that so-called photographer. A man who had little to no interest in photography based on his past history. One thing became very clear to Ren as the Hilliards pieced together a very grim picture of the man who had been lying in wait, not once, but twice, for Kat. They needed to warn everybody to be even more on their guard than usual.
“We need to brief Sonia on this,” Ren muttered. “Can you track down Greg and have him meet me at Sonia’s suite? If she’s not there, have him ping my phone.” Decision made, Ren stalked toward the door, turning back only to thank the brothers for their good work and instruct them to keep digging.
Greg was waiting for Ren when he turned the corner into the hall leading to Sonia’s suite. They nodded at each other after Greg flashed the hand signal that meant he’d checked out the corridor and they were alone for the moment. There were probably security cameras, but they weren’t about to do anything that anyone who might see the footage would regard as suspicious. Ren fell in beside Greg as they walked the rest of the way toward the door to Sonia’s suite.
“Bryan gave me the bare bones on the phone,” Greg said quietly. There was no need to say more. Of all the jaguars in this production, Greg was the best at personal security. He had trained everyone else, including the Hilliards.
“We need to step it up a notch,” Ren replied cryptically, but he knew Greg would understand.
“No doubt,” Greg agreed immediately.
They arrived at the door, and Ren knocked without ceremony. A moment later, Stella answered the door and let them in once she saw who was there. She was a younger cousin from the Clan, and though she had a spunky spirit, she was deferential in the presence of Greg and Ren. Greg for his status as an elder and a teacher among the Clan and Ren because of his sheer dominance.
“We need to talk to Sonia,” Ren said without preamble. “Is she available?”
“I’m here,” Sonia said, walking into the main room of the suite from one of the bedrooms, a towel in her hand as she dried her platinum blonde hair. She was wearing one of the hotel’s cushy robes and looked as if she’d just come from bathing. “Is there a problem?”
“You could say that,” Greg muttered, but everyone heard him. “Stella, is there any coffee?”
“I’ll get it,” Stella replied right away, smiling at Greg weakly.
“Sit, my friends. I sense your news isn’t good,” Sonia said, taking a place at the head of a long table on one side of the large room. Greg and Ren took seats on the long side of the table, and a moment later. Stella brought over ceramic mugs steaming with coffee and stood uncertainly, looking for direction.
“You should stay, Stella,” Greg said softly to the youngster. “All of our people will need to know about this, and you might help get word spread quietly.” Stella looked to Sonia and sat only after the fey director had nodded.
“A photographer hassled Kat when she was getting dinner the other night, and tonight, he was waiting in the bushes with the other paparazzi, but when I offered them all a photo op so the others could get into the hotel without being waylaid, that photog didn’t even bother taking my picture,” Ren said, his words clipped as the anger and, yes, fear he felt started to coalesce into deadly purpose. It wasn’t fear for himself, but for his mate. For Katrina.
“Out of character, eh?” Sonia mused, listening intently. “So, what else is wrong with him?”
“Everything!” Ren stood from the chair and began pacing. Greg looked at him sharply, but Ren couldn’t focus at that moment. He gestured to Greg to pick up the story.
“Bryan called me as Ren was on his way up here. What they found indicates that this photog isn’t a photographer at all. At least, until now, he’s shown no interest in celebrity stalking or selling photos to media.” Greg paused a moment and looked at Ren, but he still wasn’t calm enough to do the briefing. He paced and concentrated on getting his inner cat under control while Greg talked. “The man’s name is T.J. Cochran. He’s a former Marine and has been working as an electrician since getting out of the Corps. Making good money, too. He had a union job on a construction crew until last month, when he suddenly walked off the job. None of his co-workers have seen him since. There was a police report filed a few days after he disappeared. His boss was a friend of the family and had vouched for him to get the job. T.J.’s folks are gone, and he doesn’t have any family left living close by. When the boss couldn’t find him, he at least went to the point of reporting it, which was nice of him, but nobody’s seen the guy in his hometown in weeks.”