wore a bomber jacket.
The naked man with bronze skin and dark hair shrugged, completely unconcerned about his nudity or the cold in the air. Yeah, definitely a jaguar. No human could stand this weather naked. “As long as you keep paying me, I don’t care what you want me to do. I spotted a wolf cub earlier, but the little thing disappeared before I could kill it.”
Kill a cub? Gabriela’s claws automatically unsheathed, slicing into the branch. Thankfully they didn’t hear her.
“What took you so long getting here?” bomber jacket asked.
The naked man shrugged. “I took a long detour, wanted to make sure I hadn’t been seen or followed. I’ll go back to that location tomorrow, see if I spot another cub.”
Trench coat nodded. “It will incite the wolves into killing the jaguars. And while their attention is on them, we will start picking off the wolves.”
Pausing, the naked man glanced around, his gaze skirting right over her hiding place in the trees before he focused on the vamps. For a moment she worried he’d seen or scented her, but he continued speaking. “If that abandoned mine is as rich as you say, I still get my cut.”
The vampires exchanged an annoyed look, then bomber jacket nodded. “Five percent of all our findings.”
This was about money? Gabriela wasn’t even that surprised. Some people were just greedy and vampires who had been that way as humans were often worse when they became members of the undead. Clearly the jaguar shifter was just as greedy. He definitely wasn’t from this area and she guessed he was likely a loner the vamps had recruited from God only knew where considering the shifter was actually working with them. As a cub Gabriela had played in the old mine and she and Owen had found plenty of gold nuggets and layers of gold dust, but no one messed with that thing anymore. It was too dangerous.
Slowly, she crept backward, careful of her steps, but when the wind suddenly shifted, the jaguar sniffed and looked in her general direction. Well, crap.
He broke away from the two vampires who were still standing there. She guessed they couldn’t pick out her scent from the male’s because they looked confused. When bomber jacket asked the jaguar what he was doing, the male just growled a nonresponse and continued walking in her direction.
She might not have been able to take him in her human form but as a jaguar, she could fight. And she planned to do just that. Knowing she wouldn’t be able to hide much longer, she stopped backtracking and raced along the branch. When she reached the end, she pushed down and jumped off, flying right for the jaguar.
His dark eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he underwent the change. As she torpedoed straight toward him, his animal took over. Thanks to her momentum she slammed into him, taking him to the ground.
In his shifted form, he was bigger than she’d expected, outweighing her by about fifty pounds. His weight slowed him down, but it wouldn’t diminish his strength. Slashing out, she dragged her claws against his face. This piece of crap had talked about killing an innocent cub like it was no big deal. Gabriela felt no guilt for attacking him.
The male snarled and slashed right back. She dodged, rolling off him and onto the dried grass and snow, but his claws raked across her shoulder. She let out a hiss, but jumped to her feet and attacked again. They rolled on the ground, slashing and clawing, each trying to get a grip with their mouth. Jaguars had one of the most powerful jaws in the world and as shifters, they were even that much stronger.
Out of her peripheral vision she could see the vampires trying to intercept, but it was impossible given the way she and the male were rolling around.
When she heard an eerie howl fill the air, she knew Owen had arrived. She also knew he was going to be pissed at her so she really hoped he took it out on the vampires. She’d seen Owen hunting before and had seen his power
The naked man with bronze skin and dark hair shrugged, completely unconcerned about his nudity or the cold in the air. Yeah, definitely a jaguar. No human could stand this weather naked. “As long as you keep paying me, I don’t care what you want me to do. I spotted a wolf cub earlier, but the little thing disappeared before I could kill it.”
Kill a cub? Gabriela’s claws automatically unsheathed, slicing into the branch. Thankfully they didn’t hear her.
“What took you so long getting here?” bomber jacket asked.
The naked man shrugged. “I took a long detour, wanted to make sure I hadn’t been seen or followed. I’ll go back to that location tomorrow, see if I spot another cub.”
Trench coat nodded. “It will incite the wolves into killing the jaguars. And while their attention is on them, we will start picking off the wolves.”
Pausing, the naked man glanced around, his gaze skirting right over her hiding place in the trees before he focused on the vamps. For a moment she worried he’d seen or scented her, but he continued speaking. “If that abandoned mine is as rich as you say, I still get my cut.”
The vampires exchanged an annoyed look, then bomber jacket nodded. “Five percent of all our findings.”
This was about money? Gabriela wasn’t even that surprised. Some people were just greedy and vampires who had been that way as humans were often worse when they became members of the undead. Clearly the jaguar shifter was just as greedy. He definitely wasn’t from this area and she guessed he was likely a loner the vamps had recruited from God only knew where considering the shifter was actually working with them. As a cub Gabriela had played in the old mine and she and Owen had found plenty of gold nuggets and layers of gold dust, but no one messed with that thing anymore. It was too dangerous.
Slowly, she crept backward, careful of her steps, but when the wind suddenly shifted, the jaguar sniffed and looked in her general direction. Well, crap.
He broke away from the two vampires who were still standing there. She guessed they couldn’t pick out her scent from the male’s because they looked confused. When bomber jacket asked the jaguar what he was doing, the male just growled a nonresponse and continued walking in her direction.
She might not have been able to take him in her human form but as a jaguar, she could fight. And she planned to do just that. Knowing she wouldn’t be able to hide much longer, she stopped backtracking and raced along the branch. When she reached the end, she pushed down and jumped off, flying right for the jaguar.
His dark eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he underwent the change. As she torpedoed straight toward him, his animal took over. Thanks to her momentum she slammed into him, taking him to the ground.
In his shifted form, he was bigger than she’d expected, outweighing her by about fifty pounds. His weight slowed him down, but it wouldn’t diminish his strength. Slashing out, she dragged her claws against his face. This piece of crap had talked about killing an innocent cub like it was no big deal. Gabriela felt no guilt for attacking him.
The male snarled and slashed right back. She dodged, rolling off him and onto the dried grass and snow, but his claws raked across her shoulder. She let out a hiss, but jumped to her feet and attacked again. They rolled on the ground, slashing and clawing, each trying to get a grip with their mouth. Jaguars had one of the most powerful jaws in the world and as shifters, they were even that much stronger.
Out of her peripheral vision she could see the vampires trying to intercept, but it was impossible given the way she and the male were rolling around.
When she heard an eerie howl fill the air, she knew Owen had arrived. She also knew he was going to be pissed at her so she really hoped he took it out on the vampires. She’d seen Owen hunting before and had seen his power
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