Black Surrender

by Lorie O'Clare

  The two jaguars grew closer. She waited, calculated, inched closer to the edge of the wooden fort Rafe had made. It sure as hell would be nice to know where her male had wandered off to at the moment. There wasn’t time to sniff around for him. She couldn’t howl for him either, not without tipping off the two jaguars who would pick up on her scent at any moment. She needed to act now.

  Just as they reached the middle of the meadow, Anna sprang from her hiding place, a roar escaping her so furious and loud it echoed off the mountains surrounding them. All her thoughts and attention were focused on the male, with his side bag bouncing against his rib cage.

  Anna saw his neck, focused on his jugular. Her surroundings faded and all she pictured was where his thick artery would be pulsing underneath black fur. It took seconds to clear the distance between them. The female stopped, shocked, then roared at Anna. The male moved another few feet, gaped at her as well, his surprise and the disbelief on his face almost comical.

  Anna grinned, and an overwhelming sensation of victory and satisfaction filled her as she opened her mouth and extended her claws.

  You didn’t think anyone would try to stop you, did you?

  Anna landed on top of the male and knocked both of them to the ground. Her movements were at lightning speed, which was odd since her thoughts seemed to move slower than a snail’s pace.

  If anyone would have predicted she would be the jaguar who would attack and kill the jaguars who had stolen the laws and traditions, Anna would have run to the safety of her den in disbelief. She would have laughed at them, informed them they were sniffing out a fantasy. A few weeks ago, the laws and traditions had annoyed her, been a claw in her side. Now she saw how imperative it was her kind run together and not against each other. The laws and traditions would completely destroy them, a race already too wild, too promiscuous. Or they would save them. Anna voted for the latter.

  Anna sank her teeth into the male’s neck and felt her incisor puncture the thick artery. His life pulse flowed into her mouth, slowing quickly as she drained him of his dishonorable life. Before the male could clutch death and resume to his human form, Anna leapt off him and turned on the female. Her blood lust ran strong and deep. She saw the fear in the female’s eyes and laughed, opening her mouth wide and howling, ready to dance her victory dance.

  She wasn’t sure how long they’d been there, but it was at that moment Anna noticed she wasn’t alone in the meadow with the two jaguars. Far from it. In fact, she was surrounded. There were other jaguars, three of them, facing her, snarling, as Anna stared at the female. When the female tried racing away for her life, two of them sprang after her, diving on her and ending her life before Anna could look away.

  There was a roar behind her and Anna sprang around, her heart racing in her chest and the taste of blood in her mouth. She ran into a wall of fur so solid she bounced off it. It took a moment for Rafe’s familiar and welcoming scent to reach her. Before she had time to react to him, Rafe bulldozed into her and sent her rolling across the meadow, head over tail.

  What the fuck? she roared, springing to her feet and giving herself a firm shake. That’s when she saw two large males with a smaller female between them standing behind Rafe. Two more males appeared out of the trees, prancing, eager to join the fight.

  All the courage inside her, the rage over the injustice and dishonor being brought upon her kind, and the intense desire to prevent it from happening, seemed to flow out of her so fast she could barely stand. There were jaguars everywhere. Their blood lust filled the meadow with its strong, angry stench.

  The second Rafe left her and leapt into the fight, another male rushed over to her. Anna was standing there, stunned, but grew alert once again as the male approached. She stared into hard, cold eyes yet smelled an overwhelming rush of concern when the male didn’t turn aggressive.

  John?

  He began licking her face, her neck, methodically cleaning the blood from her fur. If he was trying to learn if she were injured, he’d find out soon enough she was fine. Anna leapt back, her head clearing and anger setting in.

  You were here and let me attack that male by myself?

  The moment the words escaped her mouth, albeit as a vicious snarl, she regretted saying them. Anna had stopped the VornBachs by herself. If she’d known John was there, she might have handled the entire situation differently. Instead, she’d killed the male who had stolen the laws and traditions. Maybe David had tried to take them for whatever unscrupulous plan he’d devised behind his littermate’s tails, but she’d restored the honor to their litter, and with plenty of witnesses to howl the truth. Anna howled loudly and rubbed against John.

  There was a blur of black fur and the strong smell of blood filling the meadow when she stared past her littermate. A large male leapt through the air and landed on Rafe. Anna raced away from her littermate. Their reunion would have to wait. Her mate needed her.

  It was impossible to say how much time passed. Anna was bruised and knew she’d been bitten more than once when she stumbled to the ground, tripping over her own paws when the male she and Rafe had been fighting together fell to the ground with a loud thud and slowly began changing from a jaguar back to his human form. She stared around her at the naked, mauled human forms, mangled and dead on the ground, then at the remaining jaguars standing, no longer attacking. She spotted the saddle bag that had been harnessed around the male jaguar. It was still lying with the male, who was dead in his human form. Anna felt overwhelming fatigue take over the intense adrenaline rush she’d known since the attack had started as she grabbed the leather harness with her teeth and pried it free of the dead body.

  When she took a step backward, aware of several sets of eyes watching her, she focused on Rafe. There were some who discredited black jaguars by howling they all looked the same. They had obviously never laid eyes on Rafe VicMoran. Which was fine with her. If they had and taken a moment to compare him to the other males, which she guessed were his littermates, or even her littermate, whom she loved dearly, none of them held a flame to Rafe’s incredibly sexy good looks.

  He stood head and shoulders taller in his fur, but when he looked down at her with his green eyes, Anna was able to smell his love for her over all the stench weighing heavily in the air around them. Her pride soon drowned out even the stench of fresh blood.

  Rafe nudged her and it took a moment to understand why he would push her from him. Her prize! She had earned it. It was her kill and now she would claim the glory of returning the laws and traditions.

  Anna couldn’t remember when she’d last known such pure, unadulterated happiness. She turned, meeting the attentive gaze of Rafe’s littermates then focused on her littermate. John’s expression was a bit more reserved, but she was certain he would share her happiness and bless their mating once she and Rafe spoke to him.

  The sun had risen above the mountains now and turned the frost-covered ground into cold, wet ground. Anna didn’t care a bit when her paws became muddy as she stepped over the dead male with the saddle bag strap in her mouth. The bag was heavy and she held her head high, making sure its contents didn’t drag over the ground.

  When she glanced at the male’s face, she paused. Anna looked over at the female, who lay in an unnatural position a few yards away. These weren’t the VornBachs she and Rafe had met in the den Natasha had turned into a cage. She looked over her shoulder at Rafe, but his toothy grin had disappeared. He stared at her solemnly. The others did too. They were waiting for her to claim the laws and traditions and silently witness her accepting the honor of having saved them from falling into evil paws.

  She wasn’t sure if her littermate or Rafe started the howling, but in the next second, all the males around her were howling in honor of her noble actions. Anna swatted her tail from side to side as she lifted up the bag and held her head high, thankful she couldn’t cry tears of joy in her fur.

  * * * * *

  “It’s rather amazing, if you think about it,” Raul Vi
cMoran said, his large body draped over a chair. “David Hunter brings his litter to Guarida with the sole purpose of sniffing out the laws and traditions to bring them to Colony. After his death, Natasha found another litter willing to do her dirty work. And in the end, it was a Hunter who brought down Natasha’s rogues and ensured the safety of the laws and traditions.”

  “That’s not quite true.” Rafe pushed open the hotel room door that had been slightly ajar and led Anna into the room where his littermates were relaxing and chatting.

  They’d had to clean off in a frigidly cold mountain stream before running to the nearest small town and finding a hotel. The lot of them would have been hauled in by human police if they’d strolled into town covered in blood. It had been easier and safer rinsing off in their fur then running to warm back up before changing into humans. Even at that, most of their clothes were spotted with blood, which meant again discreetly cleaning up.

  As much as it hadn’t bothered Anna to hunt in the rushing torrents for fish the other day, today it had almost done her in dousing herself with freezing water. John would never make a scene in front of humans, but she’d almost choked on his outrage when Rafe checked into his own room instead of with his littermates, and she’d followed him to his room instead of joining her littermate. In spite of knowing how outraged he was at having his female littermate, whom he still believed was unmated even though her scent was embedded on Rafe and vice versa, Anna had taken her time standing in an incredibly hot shower. There was no dulling the way she and Rafe smelled, nor did she want to scrub off his scent, but when she entered the hotel room behind Rafe, she smelled and looked clean.

  “What do you mean?” John was with Raul and Ran and had been leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He straightened, his focus on Rafe looking anything but pleased. “Anna retrieved the laws and traditions.”

  “Yes. She did.” Rafe looked proud as hell and his scent changed when he looked down at her then placed his hand in the middle of her back. “We have an announcement,” he said, taking his time pulling his gaze from hers.

  Anna kept her attention on Rafe, refusing to look at John or Rafe’s littermates. She swore Rafe looked nervous and she was sure he’d never before smelled the way he did now. Anna watched as he paled. He was scared to death. Her heart swelled that her big, cocky arrogant jaguar, who’d risked his life numerous times over the past few days, would suddenly smell more scared than a cub on his first hunt when it came to making a simple announcement.

  She slid her hand into his, letting him know he wasn’t alone in making this announcement. This wasn’t a hundred years ago when a male needed to approach the female’s litter for permission. At least Rafe didn’t have to as far as Anna was concerned. They were mated. If John didn’t like it, that would be unfortunate but it wouldn’t change the fact that they were.

  Rafe pulled his hand free of hers then wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. “I feel as if I’m stating the obvious here,” he began then laughed, the sound rather stiff as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, dragging Anna with him.

  She maintained her balance and noticed the amused smell in the air as both Raul and Ran tried not to grin. John, unlike Rafe’s littermates, scowled and looked from Rafe to her. He wasn’t happy.

  “I know,” Rafe continued, looking at Raul and Ran. “You never thought you’d live to smell the day.”

  Raul laughed, and his amusement spiked, helping to drown out the incredibly awkward smell in the hotel room. At least it no longer was ripe with fake human odors designed to appease the human nose.

  “I’m not sure we are going to live to smell the day,” Ran said under his breath, and he and his littermate broke out chuckling. Neither male had any intention of helping Rafe out of his difficult moment.

  Rafe growled and let go of Anna. “John, I’ve mated with your littermate,” he said so quickly his words were barely audible.

  Raul and Ran’s smirks faded when John puffed out his chest, matching Rafe in height and size. There was a noticeable snarl in his voice when he spoke.

  “I can smell that you have,” he said, his teeth clenched together. “I’ll concede to your honor in that you at least step forward and howled the truth about it.”

  Raul took a step forward, growling, but Rafe held his hand up, stopping his littermate. John didn’t look over his shoulder at the two males, who were now scowling behind him.

  “I never considered doing anything different.” Rafe’s tone was noticeably quiet.

  Anna didn’t like the smell in the air. They were in a small human motel room and she prayed each of them would remember that. Humans were funny about males fighting on their premises.

  “Your fear smells so strong it makes me wonder how long your honor in this matter will last.”

  “Our litter is more honor-bound than yours will ever be,” Ran roared, lunging forward.

  Anna had to leap out of the way when Rafe intercepted his littermate, grabbing him by the shirt collar and giving him a firm shake. It seemed the action released the spicy smell of anger ten-fold in the closed quarters. Anna’s eyes began watering and she slapped at the moisture.

  “John,” she growled, staring hard into his hard glare as Rafe pushed his littermate back from the two of them. “We are mated and I’m so happy,” she whispered.

  He studied her for a moment then nodded once, although his hardened features didn’t relax any more than the smell of hostile emotions did.

  Rafe turned his back on his littermates, facing John, and blocking the three of them from each other. “I’ll wait for the day you announce a mating and see if you aren’t scared to death also.”

  For some reason, Rafe’s relaxed statement broke the hostile energy. John turned and studied Rafe. “You have the best female there is,” he said seriously. “Take care of her.”

  * * * * *

  Anna stepped outside the hotel, needing fresh air. She moved past the automatic doors and breathed in the smell of evergreens. A paved path led around the building to the parking lot. The chilled air draped around her, soothing the turmoil she’d been wrapped too tightly with inside the motel. They were mated. Really mated. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected out of this moment in her life when it happened but she wasn’t sure it was how she felt now.

  As she stepped off the curb, noticing some benches and a nicely manicured park on the other side of the parking lot, Anna fought to release the tension tightening her muscles. She’d asked Rafe for a few minutes alone once they’d left his littermate’s room. He’d actually smelled happy when they’d walked together to their room down the hall. Anna had hated the concerned look on his face when he’d looked at her. He hadn’t ordered her to stay with him, but she saw it was in his eyes.

  Her heart pounded a few beats too fast as she walked toward the park. It was a human fabricated piece of nature in the middle of their town. She headed for the benches, willing the thoughts in her head to quit tripping over each other. Before she reached the curb on the other side of the parking lot, Anna paused, understanding hitting her like a flash of bright light.

  A car entered the lot. It drove past her, full of a human family. When it passed her, she looked past the bench in the park at the female jaguar staring back at her.

  “Anna,” Naria said, her thick black hair twisted at the top of her head in a knot. Long, wavy strands framed her face and fell almost to her shoulders. Her gaze was soft, her scent happy when she walked with purpose toward Anna. “I’ve been looking for you. Your scent completely disappeared. I began fearing Natasha found you and took you and your male. I’m glad I didn’t give up hunting you down,” she finished when she stopped in front of Anna. Her scent smelled sincere.

  “Why is that?” Anna shouldn’t have been surprised Naria would sniff her out. She glanced around the parking lot, curious if Naria ran alone or not.

  Naria tilted her head, giving Anna a crooked grin. “You know,” she said, dragging the two words
out as her smile grew. “You have the laws and traditions,” she added, lowering her voice and whispering as if the news were a secret.

  “Yes. We do have them. Stealing them was wrong.” Anna remembered the males and female in Ouray suggesting they were intercepting the laws and traditions before they reached Colony. She doubted anyone would ever howl responsibility for instigating having them taken from Guarida.

  “Who said they were stolen?” Naria looked shocked.

  “The jaguars in Central America have been working hard translating and loading all of the laws and traditions online so all jaguars can know what our ancestors howled. Natasha sent a litter down there to bring them to Colony. If the act were honorable, they wouldn’t have been snuck out of the gathering den.”

  “And the first litter who honorably agreed to retrieve the laws and traditions was yours,” Naria stated flatly, her green eyes opaque and unreadable. Once the words were out of her mouth, a glint appeared in her eyes that wasn’t there a moment before. She wanted to hurt Anna.

  Naria attacked where it counted. A smile played at her lips when she smelled Anna’s pain. There was no point trying to sniff out Naria’s motivation. The female had changed.

  Anna squared off, facing her, and hardened her heart where moments ago she’d been searching it for the emotions she wanted to be feeling right now. Instead of using the piece of human land as a respite to determine the level of feelings she had for Rafe, she stood facing the pretty yet cold female and accepted the disgrace of her litter as today being a thing of the past.

  “That is not why my litter ran to Guarida,” she said, ready to defend her litter even if today it was no longer her litter. “David ran with his own agenda he didn’t share with John or me. If he had, neither of us would have allowed him to dishonor himself. You can’t claim something that belongs to every jaguar on the planet.”