Heart of the Jaguar Page 3

  “Well, no.” She was too tired to argue, and if he pushed she’d totally cave. Plus the wine selection at the Italian place was actually good.

  With a tilt of his head, he gestured toward the restaurant across the street. “Then come on.”

  “Cindy. Is this guy bothering you?” An unfortunately familiar male voice cut through the air, drawing her attention away from Elias.

  Tyler Lowe had been living in Bear Mountain for the past six months and had been annoyingly persistent in asking her out. He was human so she wasn’t worried about him hurting her, but he’d grown more persistent with his advances in the past couple of weeks, and fending him off was getting frustrating. Tall, muscular and quite handsome, he barreled down the sidewalk toward her and Elias.

  Cindy could actually feel the tension in Elias growing, so she slipped an arm around his waist and pulled him close. The surprise that jolted through him was brief before he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Male shifters could be so possessive sometimes, and she wasn’t taking a chance in case he overreacted in front of a human. “Tyler, this is Elias. He’s a former boyfriend and we just started seeing each other again. I promise he’s not bothering me.”

  Tyler jerked to a stop a few feet away, a wave of anger pulsing off him. “When did you start seeing him?” he practically snarled.

  She was stunned by his reaction, but before she could answer, Elias smoothly cut in, his grip on her tightening protectively. “None of your damn business. Now if you don’t mind, I’m taking my girlfriend to dinner.” Without waiting for a response, Elias dragged her across the street and stopped only when they were inside the restaurant.

  “Former boyfriend, huh?” he asked once they were inside the quiet entryway to the restaurant.

  She shrugged. “He’s a nuisance and I figured that would give him the hint.”

  “How—” He stopped talking when a pretty dark-haired wolf shifter approached them with menus. Cindy was pretty sure the woman’s name was Janette, but with Elias holding her so close it was difficult to remember her own name.

  The speculation in the female’s eyes as she looked between them was blatant. Cindy inwardly groaned. She hadn’t exactly forgotten that Owen’s pack owned this restaurant, but she hadn’t thought about pack members seeing her here with Elias. Wolves were the biggest gossips in the shifter world. Before she made it home tonight the entire pack would have already started talking about the two of them. Exactly what she didn’t need.

  “Just the two of you?” the hostess asked sweetly.

  Before Cindy could answer, Elias nodded. “Yes. We’d like a quiet, private booth if you have one.”

  At that, the woman grinned and turned on her heel, motioning for them to follow.

  “Everyone’s going to think we’re dating,” Cindy muttered.

  “Is that such a bad thing?” There was a tight edge to Elias’s voice, and she realized she’d insulted him.

  “No, of course not. I just...” Her voice trailed off as they reached a private, round corner booth. She slid in first.

  Thankfully Elias slid on the other side, but since it was circular he was still pretty damn close to her when he finally settled in. After the woman took their drink orders, Cindy found herself alone with him and feeling like a teenager on her first date. How ridiculous was that?

  “Tell me about that human who was outside.” His voice was gentle, but he was definitely ordering her.

  Normally that kind of tone would get her hackles up, but she shrugged, surprised he wanted to talk about that. “There’s nothing to tell.”

  Elias frowned. “Clearly there is.”

  Annoyed at his possessiveness, she opened her mouth to tell him just what she thought, but Elias cut her off.

  “This isn’t a jealousy thing. It’s clear you feel nothing for him, but the way he was looking at you was...wrong. There’s something off about him, Cindy. Has he been bothering you?”

  She was tempted to tell Elias how Tyler had been showing up outside her office more and more after work or how she was pretty sure she’d seen him drive by her house once last week, but she bit the words back and shook her head. “Is this how you talk to all your dates?”

  “So we are on a date?” His lips quirked up in a way that made him even more handsome.

  Which should be illegal. “Yes, but this is just casual, okay? I’m not looking for anything serious.” Even if the pull she felt toward him was positively magnetic. Being around him made her feel like a buoy in a storm with no anchor. She was just floating around wildly and out of control. How could he have that effect on her when she barely knew him? Well, she knew the answer to that. She’d seen the man naked and had seen what he looked like in the throes of passion. And he’d seen and kissed every inch of her. Her face heated as some of the memories flooded her mind.

  Elias grunted and glanced down at his menu. When a server—also a wolf shifter—arrived at their table with their drinks and then whipped out a pen and pad of paper, Cindy could tell he wasn’t ready to order.

  “I know what I want but I think we might need a few more minutes,” she said quietly to the woman.

  Elias snapped his menu shut and shook his head. “Why don’t you order for us since you’ve been here before?”

  She had a feeling he would eat a lot more than she would, so she ordered fried calamari and shrimp gondola for appetizers, two side salads and then a large ultimate meat pizza for them to share. She figured he’d either polish the thing off or take the rest home to the pack—the pack he was apparently now second-in-command to. She really needed to ask him about that.

  Once the server left, she did just that. “I can’t believe you’re Owen’s second-in-command. Ah, that came out wrong. I guess I just assumed it would eventually be his brother one day.” Once the young kid got his act together and grew out of his ridiculous hormonal stage.

  Elias nodded as he took a sip of his beer. Setting it down, he said, “I actually expected more resistance, but so far the pack has been welcoming. I don’t think Ethan ever wanted the position, considering his reaction. Now that Owen’s mated he needs to be able to take off with his mate for a few days at a time if need be. And if they have cubs, he needs to know that he’s got someone to back him up in all things.”

  Cindy nodded in understanding. Wolves and jaguars were different in that. Jaguars usually had very small prides that consisted of almost all immediate family. She didn’t even belong to one. While the Seguras treated her like family, she wasn’t part of their pride, and that was fine with her. Most wolves needed a pack. It was in their blood. “So how far back do you and Owen go?”

  She tried to keep her gaze on his eyes and not that delicious mouth as he spoke, but it was damn hard. “We were in the army together. Special Forces. He got an honorable discharge when his time was up to come home and take care of his pack.”

  Cindy nodded, remembering when Owen’s father had died and how hard it had been on the Wright pack. “Did you just get out of the army?”

  He nodded, his green eyes raking a heated gaze over her face. How could he make her feel almost naked by just looking at her? “About a month ago. Blew out my knee, and I don’t have any immediate family or pack that I want to join. I got in contact with Owen and was surprised when he said he was looking for a second. The timing couldn’t have been better.”

  She frowned at him, the doctor in her taking over for a moment. “If you don’t mind me asking, how is it possible that you blew out your knee with your healing abilities? I noticed you had a slight limp, but it didn’t affect anything when we were...” Eyes widening, she trailed off.

  But he just grinned wickedly. “When we were what, sweetheart?”

  Unable to stop, she smiled. “You know exactly what.” And she certainly wanted a repeat.

  Surprising her, he continued. “Long story short, I had an accident while jumping out of a plane, and even with my rapid healing abilities it wasn’t enough to save my knee. Not the way I needed
it to do my job, anyway.”

  She could hear the sadness in his voice. Though she told herself to keep her distance, she reached out and threaded her fingers through his. “You miss it.”

  He nodded, his jaw clenching tight. She couldn’t imagine not being able to practice medicine, so she could guess how hard it had been for him to give up a job he clearly loved. “I’m sorry.”

  It appeared as if he might say more, but their server arrived with the appetizers. Reclaiming her hand, Cindy drew back and waited until they were alone again. The truth was, most shifters in the restaurant could hear them if they wanted to, but the majority of their kind were polite enough to tune out conversations that didn’t involve them.

  Elias added calamari and shrimp to one of the small appetizer plates and placed it in front of her before serving himself. “Now you get to tell me something about you. What brought you here if you don’t have a pride?”

  She shrugged. “Israel Segura—that’s Skyler’s new mate.” When he nodded that he knew, she continued. “Israel and I met in college and became best friends almost immediately. We were both jaguars living in a new city, and even though he went on to law school and I went on to medical school, we remained really close.

  “Once I finished my residency, he made the suggestion that I move here since Bear Mountain’s only doctor was retiring. The timing was perfect and I love it here. It’s small, but not too small. I have room to run and hunt when I need, and I love the Segura pride. I think Patricia secretly always hoped Israel and I would mate, but it’s pretty clear that’ll never happen.” Cindy shook her head at the ludicrousness of the thought but froze when Elias let out a low growl. “What?”

  “Did you and Israel ever...?” He made a vague gesture with his fork, his green eyes turning dark.

  Cindy rolled her eyes. What was it with men? “Uh, no. Gross. Not that he’s not attractive, but just...no. He’s like a brother to me.” She mock shuddered, which earned her a smile from Elias.

  “Okay then. Tell me about your parents. Why aren’t you living with them? I thought prides tended to stick together.”

  She didn’t want to talk about herself, but he seemed determined and the food and wine were delicious, so she let her guard down. Plus, Elias was really easy to talk to. He just had that quality where she wanted to tell him all her secrets. Okay, maybe not all of them. “My parents have the travel bug in a bad way. My mother is originally from Aransol, which is in West Bengal, and she met my father when she was just eighteen. Breaking from tradition and her pride, she married an outsider.”

  “Where’s your father from?”

  “Northern England. He’s ten years older than her, but the age difference didn’t matter either. They mated and roamed until they had me. And as soon as I went to college, they started roaming again.” She loved her parents, but it was hard to keep the sadness out of her voice. She’d always wanted to belong to a close-knit pride, but even growing up she’d known on a primal level that her parents were just waiting to start roaming again. It was simply the way they were wired.

  “Where are they now?” His deep voice was intoxicating, drawing her in further.

  “Somewhere in South America, I think. They occasionally email, but more often than not I receive postcards or letters from different cities around the world. They’re a little old-fashioned sometimes.” She loved getting letters from her mother, seeing the fancy script and reading about their adventures. It wasn’t the kind of life she wanted for herself, but she was happy that her parents were doing what they wanted. Sometimes she just wished they’d visit her a little more.

  Elias was silent for a long moment, and it when it appeared as if he’d say more, the waitress returned with their gigantic pizza. Cindy might have a higher-than-normal metabolism, but she was almost full from the appetizers. He, however, took three pieces straight away. Oh yeah, she’d made the right decision in ordering so much.

  The rest of the meal was pleasant, with conversation about what life was like in Bear Mountain and other mundane things. That was fine with her. She’d talked enough about herself and needed a break. If she wasn’t careful, she’d spill all her secrets to this man. When they were done, they lingered and continued talking, and she found herself completely mesmerized by him. This was not how her night was supposed to have gone, but it was hard to care when she was staring deep into those green eyes.

  For a moment, when he leaned closer and cupped her jaw in his strong hand, she was sure he would kiss her. But he abruptly pulled back, leaving her breathless and confused.

  When she went to pull out her wallet, he gave her an annoyed grunt and dropped enough cash on the table to cover their bill and a nice tip before sliding out. She followed suit, surprised by the sudden change in him and wondering why he hadn’t kissed her. “Thank you for dinner,” she murmured as he held open the door for her.

  She received another monosyllabic grunt in response. As they stepped outside into the cool night air, she inhaled the freshness. Night had fallen hours ago, but with her extrasensory abilities she could see perfectly, even with the dim streetlights dotting Main Street.

  “Son of a bitch,” Elias cursed next to her, startling her.

  She looked up from her purse, where she’d been fishing her keys out, and met his gaze. “What?”

  Jaw tight, he wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders and nodded across the street. “There.”

  She tracked his gaze and froze. The two tires she could see on her car had been slashed, though she guessed the other two had been also. And spray painted in bright red across the two doors was the word whore.

  Ice chilled her veins at the sight, and she stepped closer into Elias’s warm embrace. Instinctively she looked around for whoever could have done this, but the street was empty. What was going on? She briefly wondered if Tyler had done it and shuddered. She went to pull out her cell phone to contact the police, but Elias was already on his, calling them as he ushered her back inside the restaurant.

  Chapter 5

  Elias was barely containing his inner wolf as Cindy spoke to the sheriff at the woman’s desk. Sheriff Damico was of average height with shoulder-length curly blond hair. She was lean and clearly worked out regularly. From eavesdropping on her conversation with Cindy, he admitted that she seemed to be competent at her job. Under normal circumstances that would have been a good thing.

  But it didn’t matter now. He could scent that guy Tyler all over Cindy’s car, and he was going to make damn sure this didn’t happen again. And he wouldn’t be involving the police. He didn’t have solid proof the human had done this so he wouldn’t act against him until he did, but Elias planned to investigate the guy thoroughly. Luckily he had plenty of contacts he could call on to do so.

  Since Cindy was busy filling out an official report, Elias ducked outside the one-story sheriff’s department and sat on one of the benches to call Owen. He’d texted his Alpha earlier on their way here, but he needed to talk to him now.

  Owen answered on the first ring. “Hey, how’s Cindy?”

  “A little shaken up, but mainly pissed.” She’d been shocked at first, but that had quickly given way to anger. What little he’d seen of her attitude, he already liked. She had no problem demanding what she wanted from him in bed—which was incredibly hot. And she didn’t cower when someone was targeting her. Her almost fragile, outward appearance was very deceiving. The woman had a steel backbone.

  “The car’s being taken care of so tell her not to worry about that.”

  He pushed out a sigh of relief. The police had dusted her car for fingerprints and taken pictures for evidence, but Elias hadn’t wanted Cindy to have to deal with the aftermath of getting it fixed. So he’d asked Owen if the pack could take care of her car. “Thank you.”

  “You’re pack now and I have a feeling she will be too very soon.”

  His Alpha was right about that. And pack always took care of their own. Something Elias had missed for a long time. While he�
�d loved the army, he hadn’t realized just how much he’d missed belonging to a pack until coming to Bear Mountain. It was something inborn. His wolf just craved being around other shifters. “Damn straight. Listen, I’d like to stay with her tonight and...until this is settled.”

  Owen let out a low chuckle. “Not gonna lie, I hadn’t thought you’d want to mate so soon after moving here, but take care of Cindy and don’t worry about anything else. She’s a good doctor and we all respect her. We’d be proud to have her as one of our own. Hell, we need her around. If you need anything, call. If not, I know where you are if I need you.”

  Elias wasn’t sure why he was surprised by Owen’s quick acquiescence. Owen was a fair Alpha, but Elias had been worried he’d have to fight to take care of Cindy since he’d just taken his new position. Not the foot he wanted to start off on, yet nothing could keep him from protecting Cindy. But considering Owen was just mated, Elias should have known he’d be okay with this.

  After their call ended, he made another call to a friend who worked for the FBI. He asked him to run Tyler Lowe’s information in every database he could think of, and as he was wrapping up that conversation Cindy walked outside, her arms wound tightly around her middle.

  When she saw him, relief flooded her face. “I thought maybe you’d left.”

  Her words were like a punch to his stomach. Shocked, he reeled back before he stood. “You seriously thought I’d leave you?”

  Tears flooded her eyes as she shook her head. “No, I don’t know why I said that. I’m just...” Her voice broke as she trailed off.

  Feeling raw, tired, stressed—he could fill in the blank. Covering the distance between them in a couple of long strides, he gathered her into his arms, pulling her tight to him. He couldn’t stand seeing her cry. This vulnerability after she’d been so strong tugged at his heart. He was thankful when she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face against his chest. She sniffled a little as he stroked a hand down her spine and murmured soothing sounds. He kept his outward appearance calm, but internally his wolf was raging, ready to strike anyone who would dare hurt her or put tears in her eyes. “Your car is being taken care of, so you won’t have to see it until it’s fixed.”