The Jaguar’s Arranged Mate

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Blurb:

A jaguar shifter, arranged baby, paranormal romance book. Were-Jaguars Miera Artemis of the Blood Roses pack and Beric of the Teal Warriors are set to mate. This arrangement isn’t just a personal affair; it’s a strategic move to unite their packs against a looming threat, and to protect their Jaguar heritage.

The deal requires Miera and Beric to mate quickly to produce an heir. There’s just one problem: Miera is hiding something that could risk everything the packs have built.

Will Miera’s secret be discovered, and if so, how will it affect the fragile alliance between the Blood Roses and Teal Warriors? Find out in this pregnancy, werejaguar romance story by Jade White.

Chapter 1

Kathy Clearwater cleared her throat as she knocked on Beric’s open door. “Excuse me, but your father wishes to speak with you.”

Beric Noca glanced up from his laptop. He had been looking up drainage issues, something he desperately wanted a break from, but his father had been as grumpy as a bear lately. Or a crab.

He snorted at the mental image of his father shifting into a prickly crab with a bright red shell. His father, alpha of the were-jaguars pack the Teal Warriors, would tear him apart if he knew what he was thinking.

Kathy, one of the underlings his father favored, stared at him strangely. Like most were-jaguars, she had golden eyes. She was twenty, and pretty, but Beric had never seen her as anything more than a yes-dog to his father. She worshiped the ground his father walked on, and that was enough to churn Beric’s stomach. Their alpha was a capable leader, but his father lacked in the parental department, never understanding or willing to listen or give matters on anything personal, only those pertaining to the pack.

“I’m coming.” Beric closed his laptop. The sewage problem would have to wait.

The alpha’s quarters were right next door to the apartment he lived in with the other higher members within the pack. The compound they lived in was, for the most part, self-sufficient. They didn’t like having to rely on the help of others to survive. Their food they either planted or hunted, and everyone within the Teal Warriors pack did something to help the common good. All-in-all, they were a well-oiled machine. Beric’s father ensured they were able to live happy and full lives. Life was good.

At least, it was when his mother wasn’t pressuring him to pick a good were-jaguar girl to settle down with.

Or when his father wasn’t giving him demeaning tasks, such as cleaning up the drainage system.

Or when his friends weren’t giving him a hard time about his one day being alpha and how he shouldn’t forget them when he was the big cheese.

Honestly, he didn’t want any of that. Marriage? He wasn’t ready for that. He wasn’t in the mood to settle down just yet. While he enjoyed several short-lived relationships, no were-jaguar had caught his eye, which was just as well, since his father would want to have a hand in who Beric married, and as alpha, he was well within his right to do just that. For my son or daughter, my heir, I’ll let him or her choose. Hopefully, he or she will grow up to be mature and can be trusted to make his or her own match that will benefit the pack, make it stronger.

Another thing he didn’t want any part of? Sewage. The why of that should be self-explanatory.

And as for his being alpha, well, that might not be too terrible, although he doubted his father would die any time soon. His father was built more like a bull than a jaguar, more muscles than fat despite being in his late forties. He was fierce and proud and strong.

From the looks Kathy kept shooting him, Beric knew he was going too slowly for his father’s liking. He picked up the pace and breezed through the open door of the house that contained the alpha’s quarters. Bypassing the elevator, he took the stairs three at a time and climbed up to the top level, the fifth floor. His father had expanded the alpha’s dwelling place shortly after he’d taken over the position from his own father fifteen years ago.

To her credit, Kathy kept his frantic pace. The door to his father’s conference room was open, and Beric knocked on the door as he popped his head in. “You sent for me?”

His father was staring out of the ceiling-to-floor windows, his hands clasped behind his back, an imposing figure even from the back. He liked to be able to see the entire compound from up here. On his heel, he pivoted around, his hands still behind his back. “I did. Kathy, thank you. Please leave us.”

She nodded, smiling shyly at the alpha, and shut the door.

Beric’s father gestured for him to take a seat, but when he realized his father wasn’t going to sit too, Beric remained standing. He even mimicked his father’s pose, standing straight and rigid.

His father cleared his throat. “I’m afraid I have some troubling news.”

“Concerning?” Beric stood even straighter. His father had a tendency to get right to the point, but now, he was running a hand through his short hair, something he never did. His father never showed any sign of weakness, and Beric guessed he didn’t even when he was alone. Beric hadn’t noticed the small amount of gray mixed in his father’s dark until now. His father was getting older despite his physique. A distressing thought. Despite their differences, Beric wanted his father to live for a long time.

“Have you heard of the Brutal Claws?” His father leaned on the large oval table that filled the conference room.

Beric nodded, a little hurt by the question. Every were-jaguar knew of the Brutal Claws. “Of course.”

The Brutal Claws were just that—brutal were-jaguars who used their claws to slash through anyone who didn’t cave to their demands or refused to be assimilated into their horde of greed, murder, and sin. That his father was mentioning them could not be good.

“They give were-jaguars a bad name,” Beric added.

“And when they aren’t working on worsening their reputation…” His father shuffled through the papers on the table and carefully unrolled a map. His thick palms held the paper down. “They are sniffing around our perimeter.”

Beric frowned. “Since when? And why would they want anything to do with us?”

The Teal Warriors numbered in the low two hundreds. A fairly decent-sized pack, but nothing compared to the Brutal Claws that almost counted three thousand from all of the other packs they had absorbed over the long, bloodied years. They were like a blight or plague in the illustrious history of the were-jaguars.