The Jaguar's Romance

by Emilia Hartley

  Connor listened carefully as Alex spoke. Anything he could use to kill this hunter was good to know. Tess, having finally let out her frustrations was on her way back to join them at the fire pit.

  “Somehow he knew I was there even though I could barely see him. But, that wasn’t what surprised me. What was amazing is when a pair of bears, big ones, came to try to kill him.”

  “I can tell they failed by the fact that we met him inside the restaurant earlier,” Connor said.

  “Exactly,” Alex said, “it wasn’t even a fight. He toyed with them like they were bulls in a bullfighting ring. He fired his gun and ducked every swipe. He knew how they fought and that’s what scared me.”

  Connor could hold his own against a single bear, but to easily fend off two of them was madness. If he could function that well against a couple bears, there was no telling how easily he’d handle a pack of wolves.

  “Where’s Cynthia,” Tess asked innocently.

  Alex tossed aside his stick and stood back to his feet with a grunt.

  “She’s spending time with her father. They’ll probably be back soon,” Alex said.

  “Are you guys doing alright?” she asked.

  “We’re doing well,” Alex laughed, “thanks for asking.”

  “Thanks for saving my life,” Samantha walked over and gave Alex a hug, “Sorry I didn’t get a chance to say it sooner.” She started to remove the leather jacket he’d given her, but Alex stopped her.

  “Keep it,” he said, “I kinda stole it anyway.”

  She giggled and zipped it up to fight against the mid-day cold.

  “You still need to tell me why the hell you brought Samantha all the way out here, especially after our little argument,” Alex said.

  Connor stood upright and stared Alex right in the eye.

  “I’m going into the bear den. I need to talk to their alpha,” he replied.

  Alex laughed a little, but then laughed harder with each passing second. He doubled over from the ridiculous notion he’d heard.

  “Are you kidding? That’s suicide! And, I was just about to think you were smart after I saw you finally decided to listen to her,” he said, gesturing toward Samantha.

  “What do you expect me to do? Sit at home and wait for another bear attack?” Connor asked using Alex’s own words against him.

  “You could do something smart,” he replied, “Has Samantha at least told you why the bears are attacking in the first place?”

  Connor nodded.

  “Wolves killed the bear alpha’s wife and he wants revenge,” Connor said.

  “And you think going straight there to talk sense into him is the best idea?” Alex asked.

  “As I said, it’s better than nothing,” he replied.

  “Alex, Connor is only trying to do right by the bears. You were there last time, there’s no way the den can survive another attack like that,” Tess pleaded, looking for some sympathy from her brother.

  He held a hand up to meet her and bowed his head.

  “Tess, I love you, but even you know this is the dumbest thing you’ve ever heard,” Alex said.

  “Then what the hell am I supposed to do!?” Connor shouted, “You call me an idiot and offer no advice of your own. You’re not the one that has an entire den to protect. What would you know of leadership?”

  Alex dropped his hand, staring Connor down. There was power in their gaze as they battled within their minds. Alex took a step closer to Connor. Connor didn’t back down. He was the alpha dog, and he wasn’t going to let some mutt show him up.

  “I tried to give you advice before I left. I told you to talk to Samantha, to figure out why everything was happening in the first place, and you threw it in my face. Some leader, completely unwilling to listen to his own pack,” Alex chided.

  “Coming from a coward,” Connor snapped back.

  Alex stamped towards Connor; Tess tried her best to hold him back. She struggled against him but it was no good, she hadn’t the strength to stop her brother. Connor waited for Alex to throw a punch, practically begging him to do it, but it didn’t come.

  “Do you understand what it means to be a leader?” Alex asked pushing his face right into Connor’s, “You’ve been so busy being shunned by your dad that I don’t think you’ve ever seen how an alpha is supposed to act.”

  Connor looked Alex square in the eye. He stood almost a head taller than Alex and had nearly twice as much muscle, but Alex wasn’t backing down.

  “Then you lead the pack,” Connor said.

  Tess looked at her mate and narrowed her eyes to scold him. Connor wasn’t in the mood to be scolded, so he ignored her angry stares. Alex took a step back. His hand reached up and slapped Connor across the cheek. Connor growled, tightening his muscles to be ready to strike back.

  “Anyone willing to give up on their pack so easily doesn’t deserve to be the leader,” Alex walked around Connor and saddled up to his motorcycle. Before he could start the bike, the hum of engines echoed down the path. Connor worried that they might have been found by the hunters so he wheeled himself around to meet the new attackers. But, Alex dismounted from his bike with a heavy sigh.

  “Welcome back,” Alex shouted.

  The gang of six bikers pushed past the tree line and parked in the spaces beside Alex’s motorbike. Cynthia leapt from the lead bike to jump on Alex. Her legs wrapped around his torso while her lips covered him with kisses.

  The largest of the bikers eased off his chopper to join Alex. If Mutt was a giant then this guy was a titan. The suspension of his motorcycle squeaked as he got off. His leather vest just barely covered his torso. You could have painted a mural on his broad chest, and considering the number of tattoos he had, it seemed like he did.

  “We leave for two hours and you invite guests? What the hell did I miss?” he bellowed. Greta ran up to the large man and embraced his leg. He curled his hand around the back of her shirt and lifted her to eye level to meet her with a confused expression. “And, why are there bears in my camp?”

  CHAPTER 10

  “Let her go! Please!” the bear mother pleaded running over to her daughter.

  “I wasn’t goin’ to hurt the little rascal, Ms…?”

  “Beth,” she said, holding out her arms to try to grab at her daughter hovering over her head.

  “And, who might you be?” the biker asked holding the girl close to his face.

  She reached out with her tiny hands and played with his beard. The biker laughed loudly and tickled at the child’s cheek.

  “Greta,” Beth said, “her name is Greta.”

  “I’m Crunch,” the biker said into Greta’s tiny face.

  “Crunch, may I please have my daughter back?” Beth asked, exasperatedly.

  Crunch looked down at the woman with a smile that covered his entire face while lowering Greta into Beth’s welcoming arms.

  “Still, who the hell let bears into my camp, no matter how cute they are,” Crunch asked, straightening his clothes as he stood to his full height. He was a whole head taller than Connor, and probably weighed twice as much.

  “I did,” Connor said, stepping forward.

  “And who the hell are you?” Crunch asked.

  “He’s my boyfriend,” Tess said.

  “Can someone relevant tell me who these people are?” Crunch was getting frustrated.

  “That’s my sister, Tess. This moron is Connor,” Alex said, pointing at Connor, “He’s the leader of my old pack.”

  “Why did you bring ‘em here?” Crunch wondered.

  “They were on the run from the hunter,” Alex said, “I couldn’t just let them get shot on the road.”

  Crunch sighed and motioned to the silver haired man to his right.

  “Scab, get a fire goin’. It’ll be cold soon and with children around we should probably get something cooking. There’s a lot I need to hear.”

  Scab hopped to it and before long the fire raged in the middle of the clearing and the smell of f
resh barbecue wafted about the camp, causing everyone’s mouths to water. Connor and Alex joined Crunch by the fire to chat. The large biker settled himself into his favorite place on his tree stump while Alex sat to his left on a fallen log. Connor stood with his arms crossed on the other side of the roaring fire.

  “So you’re seriously thinking about going into the bear den to talk to their alpha? What do you think that’ll accomplish except for your early death?” Crunch scratched his head as he spoke, trying to make sense of it all.

  “What else am I supposed to do? There are people fighting and dying and the least I could do is try to talk some sense into the one person who could end it,” Connor urged.

  “See what I mean?” Alex said, breathing a heavy sigh.

  “Listen, Connor. This guy was willing to rally every bear on the mountain to his cause so he could wipe out all the wolves. Anyone capable of doing something as crazy as that isn’t interested in talking,” Crunch continued.

  “But, he talked to me and Alex after the last fight ended,” Connor said.

  “For what? To gloat about his win? Why did he start the fight if all he came to do was talk?” Alex shouted.

  “Alex is right, though. If you had your head on straight you’d know that,” Crunch added, holding up his giant hand to quiet Alex.

  Connor let out a frustrated shout. All was silent save for the crackling of the fire in the fire pit and the hissing of meat roasting on a nearby barbecue. Twilight set in and the center of the grounds basked in the final light of the day before the shadow of darkness filled the void.

  “When are you going to stop complaining about what my plan is and start suggesting something that might actually help?” he said, turning back to the two men. Connor wasn’t hearing options, only complaints.

  Crunch and Alex looked to each other, and Alex shrugged.

  “What if you take the time to find out who actually killed his wife before meeting him? At least if you have that piece of information he won’t kill you right away,” Crunch suggested. Crunch rubbed the wax from his ears and flicked what came out to the ground before taking a swig of the beer he’d had sitting on his knee.

  “How the hell am I going to find that out?” Connor asked snidely.

  “You’ve already talked to every den for two hundred miles. There are only so many wolves that would have been near bear territory at the time,” Alex replied.

  “The closest den to the bear territory is the old Moon Runner den. Are you suggesting that someone from my own pack killed the bear alpha and is hiding among us?” Connor asked.

  “That’s not what I’m suggesting at all,” Alex said.

  “Then what are you suggesting,” Connor asked in frustration.

  “Crunch, do you know where she might have been killed?” Alex asked. Crunch scratched at his beard, thinking hard before answering.

  “From what I’ve heard around the area, she was found out on the other side of the mountain,” he said.

  “There aren’t any packs that live on the other side of the mountain. That land is mostly wilderness and trees and nobody can make a living off that,” Connor said, waving his hand at the notion.

  “I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Crunch said. Alex and Connor perked up. “You see, during the winter time my old motorcycle gang used to make a home on the far side of the mountain. Since nobody goes around that area when the snow hits, it makes for some easy living.”

  “So you think that someone from your old motorcycle gang killed her?” he asked.

  “As much as I like to think they wouldn’t, I don’t know what’s gotten into their head these days. If I were to guess, I’d think Torque and a select few of his die hard groopies might be behind all this. He’s always pushed for leadership of the gang and he finally managed to edge me out,” Crunch said.

  “So Torque is the new leader? How many of them are there?” Connor wondered.

  “Maybe around thirty,” Crunch thought, “but who knows. A lot of the boys up and left the gang when I was pushed out. Might be around twenty or so now.” Connor nodded but Crunch didn’t look too happy about the idea that was brewing in their heads. “Not all of them are bad,” he said, “There’s no guarantee it was Torque, but if you do manage to find the one that’s causing trouble then would you at least leave the rest of them alone?”

  “I make no guarantees,” Connor said.

  “Where the hell are we even supposed to find them?” Alex asked.

  “Are you kidding?” Crunch asked, “I led the damn gang for years. Hell, I even found that spot. Are you going to stand around listening or are you going to find me a map so I can show you?”

  “Now you’re talking. Let’s do this,” Connor said. He grabbed the map from the glove compartment of the truck and held it out to Crunch who started drawing on it with a marker. Map in hand, he turned and looked at Alex.

  “Wait, you want to go right now? The food is almost done,” Alex said.

  Connor was flustered, but the smell of fresh barbecue filled the air and he salivated, fresh meat was dripping from the bone waiting to be devoured.

  “Maybe in a few minutes.”

  CHAPTER 11

  Tess was frustrated that Connor made up his mind about going so quickly. She wanted to keep him close. She couldn’t fathom the thought of him getting caught or maybe even killed by the other wolves. It was just another enemy he was willing to make and another worry that wouldn’t leave her mind.

  Tess tugged at Connor.

  “Can we talk?” she asked.

  Connor excused himself from his food. Tess pulled him along, leading him to the edge of camp, out of earshot of everyone else. She had things that needed to be said and he needed to hear them.

  “Why the hell are you going off on another crazy mission? You can’t keep doing this!” she screamed just below her breath. Her desperation was echoed in her voice. Connor bowed his head in shame.

  “I have to,” he replied, “It’s my job as alpha.”

  “You have a bunch of other people you could send to do this for you. This isn’t something you have to do by yourself. You have to know that,” she cried.

  “It’s not how I was raised,” he replied, “The alpha is the one that does the dangerous things so that the rest of the pack can rest easy.”

  She beat her fist against his chest.

  “How am I going to rest easy if you die?” she started, “Every day it’s something new. Hunters, crazy bikers, bears, what’s next? I can’t take this anymore,” she said. Her tears streaked down her cheeks and she rubbed her nose with the edge of her shirt. Connor opened his mouth to say something but stopped.

  He lifted her chin so she could look into his eyes again.

  “I love you,” he said, “I want to make our world a better place for you …” his hand rested on her stomach, “… for us. I’m one of the only people who can. I can’t trust anyone else to solve this problem right now.”

  “But, why now,” she asked. He kissed her on the cheek.

  “My dad raised me for exactly this purpose. Rain or shine. I might be the one in charge but I don’t feel like I understand what it means. I can bark out orders but I don’t think that makes me the one capable of being the head of the pack.”

  She continued to sniffle as her head fell into his chest. His heart beat quickly. She hoped it wouldn’t be the last time she’d have the chance to feel it. It reminded her of that calm, glassy lake with the breeze calmly cradling their bodies in the moonlight. She wanted to be back there.

  “I wish I could tell you how much I just want things to be the way they were. How much I want to just lie with you under the stars again, or how much I just want to run away with you and forget the world; you are what matters most to me,” he said.

  “Why can’t we,” she said, speaking into his chest, “why can’t we just leave it all?”

  He hugged her close and felt her body shake with every sniffle. She wasn’t bothering to hold back her feelings an
ymore. Everything she’d bottled up while at the den came pouring from her.

  “I wonder that same thing,” he replied, “Yet deep down I know that if we don’t save the rest of the pack, they’ll have to shoulder my burden. Someone else will have to rise up and answer the same questions I have right now. And, another family will be at risk when I could have just fixed everything.”

  Tess rubbed the tears from the corner of her eyes and looked up at Connor. He lowered his head and kissed her gently on the lips. She urged for more and pushed herself in tighter.

  She felt so small in his arms, so protected, but she knew the feeling wouldn’t last. Deep down she knew he was right; he made a commitment to protect the pack from any threat. However, that didn’t mean she had to like it.

  “I want you to go back to Cliff Walker den,” he said, “Take Cynthia, and the rest of the girls there as well. They may be bears but they’ll be safer there. Can you do that for me?”

  Tess shook her head no.

  “We’re safe here. Crunch is a strong fighter and if Cynthia is here I doubt any harm will come to us.”

  “Fine,” Connor sighed, no longer able to argue, “Stay here if it makes you feel safe. We’re going to get Torque and make him give us some answers. If we get them then maybe, just maybe, we can convince the bears to end all the fighting.”

  “Promise me you’ll come back,” she said.

  “I promise,” he said. He held her close again. Tess didn’t believe it for a word. Neither of them wanted to let go, they wanted to savor the moment they were spending together. Tess made a memory of his scent, hoping she’d have a chance to smell it again.

  Alex walked over to join them. Tess rubbed at her eyes to try to push away the tears. Her brother had seen her upset many times before but this time she felt so naked.

  “Are you two finished?” he asked.