The Jaguar's Arranged Mate: A Paranormal Shifter Romance Read Free

asked.
    She winced at his reproving tone. “If what the guards are saying is true, we aren’t the only pack the Brutal Claws have been making a move toward.”
    “The Teal Warriors.” Gravestone nodded solemnly. “They are a strong, solid pack, with lots of good fighters.”
    “You think they’ll want to help us when they’re already in danger?” Peace scoffed.
    Miera glowered at him. Did the man care anything at all for ensuring everyone’s safety? Was he even part jaguar? “We could help each other,” she said testily.
    “How?” Her father crossed his arms, staring down his almost hawk-like nose at her. Thank goodness she’d inherited her mother’s dainty nose.
    “Why, by combining our packs,” Miera said easily, hinting that the thought should have already occurred to them all.
    “How?” her father repeated, but she could see the dawn lighting in his eyes, and he was nodding as she added:
    “Marriage. Through marriage.”
    “And who will be getting married?” the alpha asked.
    As if he didn’t already know where she was going with this.
    “Me.” She jerked a thumb to her chest. “I’ll marry their heir. Our packs will be united then, and we can help each other stand against the Brutal Claws.”
    It wasn’t something she actively wished for—a marriage arranged for her simply so that the pack might survive instead of based on love or even just affection—but she would marry the moon if it would help her people.
    Her father put it to a vote. Everyone was in favor. While that didn’t surprise her, it made the realization that she would soon be wed a lot more real.
    Miera gulped. Going to the chapel…
     
     

CHAPTER TWO
     
    Beric was perfectly fine with turning over the sewage drainage issue to Lukas, but his new assignment wasn’t one he relished either.
    I should be helping to fortify our defenses, not going off to talk to someone from the Blood Roses. The pack in question was more than double in size than their own at five hundred, but they were different than most were-jaguar packs. For one thing, while they had an alpha, they were ruled by a council. For another, they tended toward peace and would not kill more animals than they needed to feed their people. Not that the Teal Warriors killed recklessly, but sometimes it was important to hunt, to remain sharp, to hone their fighting prowess. Now more than ever.
    But when his father told Beric to do something, he had no choice but to obey. His father was also his alpha. There was nothing else to be done but to go and see this Matthias guy.
    Of course, the Blood Roses had chosen a meeting locale much closer to his pack than that of the Teal Warriors’. Even more wonderfully, it was high up on a mountain, meaning Beric had to climb.
    As he started his ascent, however, he realized he didn’t quite mind the time away from his home. The chance to spread his legs was welcome, and with each step, he could feel some of his worries melt away. If only he could shed this form in favor of his jaguar form and race up the mountain to the cave in no time.
    But the sun was beating down on him, and he couldn’t risk being seen. Humans didn’t know about were-jaguars, and the weres weren’t interested in that changing any time soon. Humans were too prone toward fear, which in turn made them too prone toward violence. In a way, they were even worse than the Brutal Claws.
    The sun reached its apex by the time Beric entered the cave Matthias had instructed would be their meeting location. A fire was lit, the smoke billowing out of the entrance. Inside, he found a tall, thin man turning a chunk of meat over the flames. The scent of charred meat filled Beric’s nose. His stomach rumbled, and his mouth watered.
    “I thought the climb might make you hungry.” The man who must be Matthias grinned. “It’ll be done soon. You must be Beric.”
    “I am, Matthias.”
    “Good, good. We can talk after we eat.”
    The deer was delicious, and Beric ate more