“You were happy?” He sounded as if he really wanted to know.
“I have absolutely no regrets, although it would have been wonderful to meet my father and brother. I have always been extremely happy in my life with my aunt and uncle. They surrounded me with love, even during my rebellious teenage years. They allowed me to pursue all my interests and get an excellent education, and gave me as many advantages as they could.”
“Perhaps they should have instilled a deeper sense of self-preservation in you.”
There was no reprimand in his tone, but she tookgreatexception to his critique of her aunt and uncle. She narrowed her eyes at him. “They took me in when my father didn’t want to keep me. I was surrounded by love. They gave me everything. Don’t you dare say one word against them.”
Silence followed her outburst. It seemed as though the jungle itself held its breath right along with her. It wasn’t as if his expression changed. He didn’t appear angry. He simply watched her with the intense focus of a jaguar. He might say he was a De La Cruz, but he was also a predatory cat. There was absolutely no doubt in her mind. Luiz might be her cousin, but he was a stranger to her, and she was hissing at him like an outraged female jaguar—which she was. But she had brains, and she was alone. It wasn’t the smartest idea to challenge a male jaguar shifter. He was at the top of the food chain there in the rainforest andvery used to being the complete authority. That was stamped into every line of his face.
“Perhaps there is a small misunderstanding between us,” Luiz said. “I didn’t mean to imply my uncle and aunt hadn’t given you a good life or education. It’s clear to me that you feel at home in the rainforest. My comment was more about you and your lack of self-preservation.”
She couldn’t argue that she’d taken all the safety precautions possible. She hadn’t. She’d allowed the jungle to close in behind her. She wasn’t as prepared as she could have been to shift. She’d even come alone to meet a guide she had never met. None of those things were intelligent.
“It is also necessary to correct a misconception regarding your father, Uncle Javier. I was eighteen when you were born, so very aware of what happened during that time. Your brother was sixteen. Your mother had difficulty with pregnancies, and no one thought she would have another child after sixteen years, least of all Uncle Javier. Our world was ruled by a very savage and clearly insane shifter. We referred to him as Brodrick the Terrible. He changed the entire history of our people and nearly drove us to extinction. He was aided by vampires and mages, but he was responsible.”
Sarika lifted an eyebrow at the wordvampire. She wasn’t about to interrupt him when she wanted to hear the history of her family. She wanted to be ready to learn everything she could about who she was and how she could help her people as well as the wild jaguars slowly facing extinction. That was the reason she had waited so long to come to Peru. But vampires? Her uncle and aunt had never once mentioned vampires to her.
“Please continue.”
“The women were being rounded up and killed if they didn’t have the genetics Brodrick felt they should have. It didn’t matter the age of the female or if their jaguar had shown itself.”
“What was his reasoning? Without females a species would die out.”
“He felt too many females had mixed children. Many of the male shifters weren’t staying with the females to help raise their young. Many of our women turned to human males to have a stable home. Brodrick wanted every child of those unions killed if he could prove they couldn’t shift. He either forced the women to have shifter children or he killed them. It was a very brutal time, and you were born right into that mess.”
Sarika knew there had been some kind of conflict going on with the jaguar shifters. She thought it was a power play to take over leadership. She didn’t know a great deal about the politics of the shifter world. She was raised with a strict code of honor and discipline. She assumed most jaguars were raised with that same code. Evidently, she was wrong.
“Your mother died in childbirth, leaving your father with a newborn child. A female. Uncle Javier and my father were part of a small coalition trying to stop Brodrick. That put you in direct danger. As a female, you were the one most at risk, and Uncle Javier knew that. He didn’t want Brodrick to know of your existence. Our lineage was one Brodrick sought for females.”
“So my father sent me away to protect me.”
Luiz nodded slowly. His gaze never left hers. Never left her face. Looked directly into her eyes. It was impossible to think he was being dishonest. The thing was, there was no inflection in his voice, just that soft, velvety purr that was mesmerizing. He was dangerous in so many ways. He could make anyone believe anything he said—yet she knew he was telling her the truth.
“Your father and brother tried to rescue several females being held prisoner, and they were killed on that raid. My father was killed two years later on a similar raid. I spent months healing from wounds. I wasn’t the only one, but after those battles, fewer males would join us. Things were very ugly for several years.”
She had been safe in the United States, living a good life. No, a great life. Here, in this beautiful rainforest, a war had taken place.Worse, it was an internal war, their species being destroyed from the inside out.
“Many of the jaguar males became aggressive and felt it was their right to take any female they wanted. Brodrick’s example gave them permission to become worse than animals.”
“Is it still going on?”
“Brodrick is dead, but there are still a few jaguar males who haven’t realized they are going to be hunted if they attack one of our females.”
She couldn’t detect a change in his voice or demeanor, but she shivered. A cold chill went down her spine. She had the feeling he would bring jungle justice to any jaguar he found attacking a woman. That should have made her feel safe with him, but he gave off a vibe that was just plain scary. She also didn’t like the way he put that—still a few jaguar males who haven’t realized they are going to be hunted if they attack one of our females.As if those males didn’t know right from wrong and would only avoid attacking a female if someone was watching and willing to hunt them down to administer justice.
It wasn’t as if a female shifter could go to the police. Shifters lived under shifter law, not human law. The women couldn’t go outside their species for aid. That left them at the mercy of their rulers. If the ruler was corrupt, his people would follow his example. She tried to hide the delicate shudder his revelation had produced.
“On a happier note, you came at just the right time,” Luiz continued.
“I did?” She pounced on that. She needed a safe, happy subject to regain her equilibrium.
“There’s a large celebration being planned right now, and several of the women have arrived to help with preparations.”
“A celebration?” She echoed his announcement, mainly to give her mind time to process the switch from dangerous jaguar males to celebrations. “Shifters?” She would really welcome meeting others. She had so much catching up to do. She had counted on her cousin to give her the history of the shifters and jaguars in the Peru rainforest, butLuiz didn’t seem as if he was going to be that accommodating. In fact, he seemed as if he would give her lectures and leave her to her own devices. Or force her to leave.
“One of the women, Solange Sangria Dragonseeker, is pregnant. She’s shifter royalty, and her lifemate, Dominic, is…” He broke off abruptly, for the first time giving her the impression he was hesitant as to how to explain Dominic Dragonseeker.
Sarika wasn’t positive why she thought he was exasperated with trying to impart information to her because his demeanor hadn’t changed at all, nor had his tone. Still, she was good at reading people, and he was a bit at a loss.
