The Jaguar’s Arranged Mate

Because she did already love her baby. She would fight for her baby as much as she would fight for any one of her pack members. If the union between the two packs fell through, she would have to figure out something else to help save them. Her pregnancy would not cost her people their lives, not without a fighting chance against the Brutal Claws.

Deep down, she wanted Beric to want her. She wanted Beric to pick her. Like her brother, she did see something in the were-jaguar. But she was asking too much of him. For him to accept the child she was carrying meant that his child would not be alpha after him. If he were to deny the child, he could try to use the old rules of the were-jaguars and demand that the child be abandoned from the packs. It wasn’t as inhumane as it sounded. Were-jaguars, even very young ones, were a lot hardier than humans. There had been stories over the years of abandoned were-jaguars who not only survived, but thrived and went on to form their own packs.

If he were to ask that of her, she would have no choice but to grant him that right, if only for her people.

But she would never forgive him for it. As much as she hadn’t wanted to be pregnant, she could feel the babe move inside her, and she loved the babe already. It would rip out her heart to abandon the child.

Being heir to the alpha is nothing but heartache.

It might be better to guard her heart, to not worry about love, to do only her duty and nothing else. After all, her time on this earth might not be for much longer.

*

Maybe Beric shouldn’t have left, should’ve forced her to tell him the truth, but he couldn’t. He didn’t want to know what had happened. He couldn’t help feeling surprised that she would have proposed to him when she had been involved with someone else.

It wasn’t until he neared the compound that he realized another reason why this was bothering him so much—she did not care for him. She was using him for her people. Which, to some extent, was honorable, but it also meant that there was no way for them to fall in love. And while that wasn’t the point of them getting together, he had thought that maybe, just maybe, they could turn their marriage into a happy one, maybe even down the road, a loving one.

But if she couldn’t even tell him the truth about the father of her baby… if someone else was involved…

Was she still involved with the father? What did that guy think of her pending marriage to him? Did he have to be careful and watch his back in case the guy would come after him?

Did she want to marry him in name only and still be with the other guy? They wouldn’t even have to have s*x for her to get pregnant because she already was. There would be no reason for them to be intimate ever.

For one horrible moment, he thought about casting the baby out into the wild. It wasn’t something that happened often, and he had always thought it was barbaric. No, he would never ask that of her. Of course not. He might be pissed at her, but he would never take that out on the baby.

Could he marry her though? Knowing their marriage would never be real?

A migraine was forming as he sought out his father and found him in his conference room. Only his father was inside, reading a report. Good, he didn’t want an audience for this conversation.

His father barely glanced at him as Beric took a seat beside him.

“When is your marriage happening?” his father asked after two minutes of silence passed.

“It’s not,” Beric said gruffly. He kept his hands beneath the table and shifted his fingers into claws and back and forth again.

“Why not?” His father slammed his fist onto the table.

“She’s—”

“I don’t care about her. She doesn’t matter. There is no other way for us to possibly stand up to the Brutal Claws. Do you think they will wait forever to make a move? Of course not. They’re toying with us, killing us here and there, but make no mistake about it, they will slaughter us all if we do not try to solidify this alliance.” His father stared at him as if he was a cockroach.

“But she is—”

“She’s pretty. That’s enough. You’ll get her pregnant. Once your child is born, you can do what you want. Have a mistress. Have two. It’s not a marriage of love, but you knew all along you might not have that luxury. I’m sure she knows and understands that too.”

“She’s pregnant already,” Beric growled. His teeth changed into fangs without him even thinking about it.

His father dropped the report onto the table, his face a mask.

“You have to admit that changes—”

“Nothing. It changes nothing.” His father slammed his fist onto the table, crinkling the paper. “You will swallow your pride and marry the girl and do your duty to your pack. I can’t believe you would even think of walking away from this opportunity. It is our only chance for survival.”

“What about the…” Beric tried to think of the other nearby packs, but none of them were large enough to be of any help.

“You know as well as I do that even with the Blood Roses, we may still be doomed. There’s nothing else for it. There’s nothing else for us. You may feel like you’re at a crossroads, but you aren’t, not really. Either you will be the heir that the pack needs, or I will have no choice but to select another heir in your stead.”

Beric hung his head. He was being selfish, wanting to see if there might be something between him and Miera, that their wedding won’t just be for their packs but for them. The few kisses they had shared told him she would be a passionate lover. He had wanted to be the one to ignite her fire, for her to burn for him.

But love had no place with war. Maybe this was for the best. If he was too distracted by wanting to court his fiancée and then his wife, he could well end up dead, or others could die, like Matthias had.

“Don’t tell me you spurned her.” His father glowered at him. “Have you?”

Beric shook his head. Not quite, not exactly.

“Good. You better go and get her flowers or something. And the wedding had better take place within the week. I don’t know if we can even wait that long, but we are as ready and prepared as we can be with our too few numbers. Yes, I’m sure she would like more time to mourn her brother, but nothing can be done about that now. Yes, you better marry her, and the sooner the better.” His father tossed the report to Beric.

He skimmed it. “They’re attacking our scouts more and more.”

“And it will only be a matter of time before they send enough for a real battle. Our wall has been fortified, but if enough show up, that won’t matter.”

Beric sighed and rubbed his temple. His migraine was worsening. “Why us?”

“Don’t worry about that. We have enough matters to concern ourselves with.” His father sighed and rubbed a hand down his face. “I had hoped they would never look our way, but hope is for fools. All we can do is focus on the task at hand.”

“Survival.”

“Yes.” His father stared at him. “Your mother and I… I don’t know if I would use the word love, but we are fond of each other. I know you want the same for yourself. It is possible. If you are willing to forgive her.”

“The child…”

“Is not yours, I realize that. That complicates matters, yes, I won’t deny that but…”

Beric didn’t want to talk about it anymore. He reread the report. “This latest attack was only a mile from our compound.”

“Yes, closer and closer.”

His father was right. The marriage had to happen. Tomorrow. He’d call her tomorrow. Maybe sometime tomorrow he would be a married man.

The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth.