by Laura Wylde
Jabari looked at Ramon, then Tony, before he said the next words which truly shocked me to the core. “We do have some ideas of our own, you know. They involve human women.”
Humans? All of a sudden, everything around me stilled. I wasn’t quite sure how I was supposed to process this information. Human women were in Panthera, carrying their children? Was I understanding this right? How did that even work?
“You have a lot of questions.” Jabari nodded, acceptingly. “Ask away, and I will answer.”
“Honestly?” I demanded. “I want to know the truth about everything.”
His answer now would determine whether or not this conversation could continue. If he was sketchy now and I couldn’t be sure that I would get anything useful from him, then I would get rid of all four men. Cut ties with them and continue on my own way.
“I will answer you as truthfully as I can.”
“Right, okay.” Where do I even begin? “So, you have been mating with human women?”
“Yes, we have. And it has been successful.”
“So… you have created… what exactly? Hybrids?” He nodded. “Half human, half panther?”
“Yes, but the panther gene is the strong one. They are all shape shifters.”
The idea boggled my mind. I gripped on to my forehead as I tried to drink it all in. “I see, so you have actually overcome the reproduction issues that you have been facing?”
“As I’m sure you can imagine, it isn’t the easiest task while also keeping our presence a secret. We need to find women willing to give up their human lives to be with us.”
“So, if they enter Panthera, they can’t leave?”
“No, it isn’t like that at all. It isn’t a prison. But they can’t share their lives. That would put everyone at risk including their children. Luckily, that hasn’t been a problem for them.”
I leaned back on my bed and wondered what sort of woman would be willing to do that. Someone without anything to go back to. Without people who would miss them so much that they got the cops involved. I mean, if I really thought about it, that was me, wasn’t it? Yes, I had Maz and Darla, but we only kept in touch via messaging anyway. That wouldn’t have to change. This reunion was never really going to happen. My parents lived their own lives, they weren’t missing me. They had been off doing their own thing and leaving me to mine for as long as I could remember. I was around the world on my own all the time anyway, having my adventures, journeying like a nomad, meeting random people as I went, having brief friendships but nothing solid. No one would massively miss me if I decided to stay in Brazil…
Not that I was really thinking about it, of course. Only as a passing fancy. I wouldn’t really give up my life to spend time in Panthera forever. I just wanted to see it briefly, to know what it was all about. I was also interested in meeting the human women who had made that bold step.
“Right, I see. So, they live in the underground city of yours?” I needed to keep on with the questions. This could be the only time I would get a chance to really know.
“They do, yes, but it isn’t some dingy place. It’s actually very wonderful. It isn’t dark and frightening, hidden away from the world. It’s more like another plane of existence. A place of its own with all the best qualities you could want from life. My cousin, Javier, runs the whole city and I have to admit that he has done an absolutely amazing job of it.”
I couldn’t imagine someone leading Jabari. He was a born alpha male, it simply poured out of his veins. But his cousin had to be an even more powerful man.
“Well, that just makes me want to see it more.” I smiled, thinly. “You have to show me.” Jabari didn’t say anything, so I kept on with the questions instead. “So, you have your city, your privacy, your human women… your main problem is really the jaguars.”
“At the moment, yes. We don’t want them to overtake our race.”
“I see.” This was so exciting; I still couldn’t work out which bit I liked about it best. The fact that the world was more open and thrilling than I ever could have thought. “So, you’re only in Brazil? There aren’t panther shifters all over the world?”
“Why? Are you planning on going on a panther hunt?” Jabari laughed. “No, you will find a lot of jaguars. They are everywhere. But panthers… we are it.”
“That’s sad, isn’t it?” My lips turned down into a frown. “I don’t like that. Not that I know much about you guys, but you seem awesome. Like your race shouldn’t diminish.”
“Why, thank you.” Jabari chuckled. “Obviously, we feel that way too. That’s why these pictures and this footage you have is admittedly a bit of an issue for us. If it got out and people discovered our existence, there would be a serious problem. We could end up dying out.”
I gripped on to my laptop so hard my knuckles turned white. I wasn’t ready to hand over everything that I had found just yet. Even for a glimpse of Panthera. I needed to think about it for a while, to make sure that I made the right choice for me. Much as I wanted to help these men, I also didn’t want to end up with nothing.
“You will have to give us this footage if you want to see our home,” Jabari continued. “My cousin won’t allow it. He doesn’t want any humans to ever have a chance of finding out about us. Aside from the ones that we choose, of course.”
“I… I…” I just didn’t know how to answer this just yet.
“We need it,” Jabari continued, his tone more one of someone begging this time around. “We have too much at stake. I would have thought that you’d understand that.”
“I do, it isn’t that, it’s just…”
Fuck, he was slipping away from me like grains of sand between my fingers. I wanted to reach out and cling to him, to never let him go, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t hold on to my laptop and him at the same time. I needed to choose.
“It’s okay, I understand.” He held up his hands in a surrendering gesture. “I know this isn’t the easiest thing to agree to, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist. I don’t know you well enough to just take you to the jungle, to take you all the way to Panthera. I can’t do it without the reassurance that you are going to be on our side.”
“I am on your side…”
His eyes darted towards my laptop; his meaning clear. Much as he wanted to trust me, he couldn’t. Not if I was going to hold on to the information. Even for myself.
“I will give you some time to think about it.” He nodded towards the other guys. “We have taken up enough of your time and space today, anyway.”
“Wait!” I cried out panicked as I grabbed on to Jabari’s arm. “What do you mean more time? When will I see you again?”
“How about you come over to our place tomorrow night for dinner. We have much more space than you do, and we can talk properly then. Will that be enough time for you?”
I nodded numbly, the whole idea of that a little overwhelming for me. “Sure.”
“Great, so we shall meet you outside here tomorrow night then. Oh, and don’t go in the jungle,” he warned. “I’m being serious when I tell you that it’s dangerous. Those jaguars don’t care who they hurt to get to us. If they have even an inkling that you know us…”
“How would they know that I know you? Do they spend a lot of time in the town?”
“Smell.” He tapped his nose. “They have amazing noses and they might be able to smell us on you. Even if we have only been around you. It’s a risk that I don’t want to take.”
Instantly, I sniffed myself much to Jabari’s amusement, but of course, I couldn’t smell anything. I didn’t have the beastly ability to sniff very far. For the first time ever, I felt inferior to be human. Usually, I assumed that humans were all powerful, able to destroy anything which was a power that they took too literally too many times, but these men had made me see things differently.
I nodded. He didn’t finish that thought but he didn’t have to. I got what he meant. I would have my head torn off my shoulders. I had seen the damage done
to Jabari’s neck and he actually stood a chance of fighting them. It was so much better for me to ignore my impatience and wait.
“Okay, I won’t go into the jungle without you. I promise.”
“Good.” He nodded and smiled at me. “Until tomorrow, then.”
I said goodbye to all of them with a weird set of emotions zig zagging through me. I wasn’t quite ready to give up the information I had just yet, but I didn’t want them to go either. I guess I had no choice in the matter. I would have to wait until tomorrow to talk. I hoped that by then I would have my answer ready. I really wanted to make the right one. My head and heart were arguing. My stomach and chest too. No part of me knew what was for the best.
They all walked out of my room, making it feel so much bigger, yet a lot smaller at the same time as well. Their presence was so massive, bigger than their huge frames, yet with only the four walls surrounding me it was all empty and cold. I missed them already.
“What the hell am I going to do?” I muttered to myself as the door closed behind them. “This is insane. Panthers. Jaguars. Shape shifters. All the things that shouldn’t be possible, are.”
I slipped back on to my bed and dropped the laptop beside me. All of a sudden, it wasn’t quite so important anymore. The images were very exciting, especially now that I knew more about what they represented, but not as thrilling as the men themselves. There was something so special about Jabari, Tony, Ramon, and even Seth although he hadn’t spoken to me yet. Perhaps he wouldn’t ever want to say a damn word to me. If everything that they had told me was the truth, then they had every reason not to trust humans. I wasn’t an exception to that rule, not to them. They didn’t know me. Just because I knew that I was trustworthy, they didn’t.
I lay down on the bed, my mind still darting all over the place. I honestly wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to sleep at all tonight with all the excitement to come my way tomorrow. If I thought that today was a full-on day with the images and eventually learning the truth, then tomorrow was going to be something else. Tomorrow, I would decide how deep I wanted to delve in to this. If I wanted to discover the truth for myself, or gain cash from it.
Urgh, it sounded so ugly to think of it that way, but to be fair those were the bare bones.
“Jabari,” I muttered under my breath, my heart racing as I thought of him. “Jabari, the sex God. The alpha male with a chiseled jawline and fucking kissable lips.”
Shit, I liked him. I felt a real strong attraction to him. He was hot as hell. The sort of man that I just wanted to have a wild and passionate night with. I just knew that he would be able to work my body well, to show me new positions that I hadn’t even thought of before. It would be an eye opening experience that I would never forget. Nevermind that he was a panther shifter! I wondered if that would factor into the bedroom. If it would make a difference at all.
“Then Tony… Mmmm. His charm. His lovely Italian charm.”
I squeezed my thighs together, trying to keep my control my desire. The more that Tony spoke to me, no matter what he was saying, I liked him. He just had an allure that I couldn’t resist. I wasn’t sure if it was his playboy aura or just his sweetness, but I liked him too. He had something about him that intrigued me in the most intense way possible.
“What is wrong with me?” I turned on to my side. “I’m the animal here.”
Ramon. Oh, gorgeous, serious Ramon, the albino panther. I seriously wanted to touch him all over. To feel what he had under that shirt of his. He was a mysterious enigma, and I liked that. I had always been attracted to guys like that before, although not with white hair, admittedly. The ones who looked like they had a secret. Although the secret was usually something stupid like a wife or a drug habit. With Ramon, it wasn’t that at all. He was so much better. His secret was his shifting abilities, but even knowing what his secret was didn’t make him any less exciting.
“And Seth.” I glanced towards the door where he had spent most of his time standing. “Silent Seth. What about him? He might hate me but… I don’t know. There is something about him too.”
His eyes, his face, his stance… everything about him intrigued me too and left me a mess. I didn’t really know anything about him to be particularly attracted to, but I felt it anyway. That pull. The need to hold him, to feel him pressed up against me, to know what his lips felt like…
Sure, I had always been wild and free spirited. I had always believed in love in whatever form it came, but for me to be attracted to four guys at the same time, even if it was in different ways due to their various qualities, wasn’t like me at all. And it wasn’t just four guys, it was friends, they were in a pack together. A shape shifter panther pack. I still couldn’t quite wrap my head around that. The fact that all of this was really happening.
Could I really give up the chance to find out more just for a few quid? Did I really want to be rich that badly or did I want to learn about the world? I wasn’t even sure why I hesitated, really. I knew what the right thing to do was. I would go to Panthera and learn everything that there was to know. I would give up the images without any worry at the dinner tomorrow. I would apologize to Jabari and the others for even having to think about it. Then I would have my eyes opened and my life changed for the better. All the adventures that I had been on during the time that I was traveling, would be nothing compared to what was to come.
Jabari
Walking away from Tara didn’t feel right. It actually left a painful hole in my chest. Did I really like her so much that I couldn’t stand to be away from her? I barely even knew the woman. What the hell was going on with me? I was never this person before.
“There’s something weird in the air,” Tony hissed to me. “I don’t like this one bit.”
“Oh, thank God. He could feel it too. That meant I wasn’t losing my damn mind. “You think we need to keep watch over Tara in case the jaguars come over? There was one following her, wasn’t there? We don’t know if she has been left alone. They may still be around somewhere.”
“I don’t know. Probably. If she has been talking about these images to everyone then she could potentially put herself in danger. It might just be the best idea for someone to watch over…”
“You do it,” I snapped, instantly. “Don’t let her know, I don’t want Tara to panic, but you watch over her. Someone needs to make sure that she doesn’t come to any danger. Especially, when she still has all those pictures with her. We can’t risk anyone seeing them. If Tara has worked it out, then everyone could, couldn’t they? We need to make sure that everything is safe.”
“Of course.” Tony nodded and agreed with me. “You are right. I will keep Tara safe.”
He stepped backwards and headed towards the room that Tara was staying in. A pang of jealousy tugged in my chest, almost as if I wanted it to be me who went back there to watch over her. But it couldn’t be me. My guys needed me to lead them. If the jaguars attacked again, they would need me there to make sure that no one got killed. That was more important.
“What do we do?” Ramon asked me. “Stay here too, make sure that no one comes after Tara, or should we head into the jungle to check that Panthera is okay?”
Decisions like these were exactly what made it hard to be the leader because the wrong one made could result in catastrophic mistakes. It took special people to take on the alpha role. People like my cousins, Javier and Jakar, and me as well.
“We will patrol all of it. Yes, Ramon, before you say anything, I know that means it’s going to be a long night, but it’s necessary, isn’t it? We need to keep everyone safe.”
Ramon parted his lips as if he was going to say something, but he seemed to think better of it at the last moment. Instead, he nodded sharply and put his head down. Seth, of course, didn’t have any argument either, which meant it was time to position ourselves perfectly. In the jungle, and in the city. We needed to make sure that we were everywhere.
We moved towards the jungle to shift. The only threa
t there at this time of night would be Tara and her damn cameras. But there was no guarantee that she had them on now. Maybe now that she had everything she wanted from them, she wouldn’t bother again. Certainly nothing flashed at us, which was a good sign. The less physical documentation of our existence the better.
Then, it was time to keep watch. We stalked tirelessly through the city, ensuring that we weren’t seen by anyone, and we moved through the jungle as well, checking that there wasn’t a sight or smell of a jaguar near Panthera. There wasn’t, which only left me even more worried. They were always hanging around here, trying to make themselves known, so why would they stop now? The only thing that could possibly distract them from the underground city was another target. A woman that they wanted to claim as their own or kill for some strange reason. No one liked to kill humans, because it drew too much attention to our race if lots of humans ended up dead.
Why would they want Tara so much? If I was reading this right. What on Earth could they possibly want from her? Unless it was just to stop us from picking another human to mate and breed with. They didn’t like it; we already knew that. But would they go this far?
I gave Ramon and Tony a knowing look and they bowed their heads in agreement. There wasn’t much point in wasting our time hanging around here if the jaguars were in the city. Tony was tough and strong, I wouldn’t have left him with Tara if I didn’t believe in him, but if there were lots of them, he might act irrationally and then there was no telling what would happen. He had been known to do wild things, so maybe leaving him wasn’t my best choice after all. I wasn’t actually sure what I was thinking doing that. It was just an instinctive thing to leave Tony behind.
My heart raced faster; my whole body shook. Panic was starting to rise inside of me, and I knew the other guys felt that. We needed to leave this place, immediately.