The Jaguar’s Arranged Mate

Her hearing was off. She had heard the roar, but everything sounded muffled, like from a tunnel or very far away. What was going on? Something was very wrong. Although she didn’t really want to move, she forced herself to inch away from her puke.

Immediately, a shadow covered her vision, and she looked up to see Beric. She howled at him.

He nuzzled her. The concern in his eyes terrified her, but seeing him unlocked her memories. They had married, and the Brutal Claws had crashed it. She had been fighting like a madwoman, not feeling scrapes or bruises or cuts, but then she had seen Charles, and she had to go and help him. That was when she’d been attacked and wounded so severely.

Someone had bandaged her wounds. Beric. A rush of warmth spread throughout her body, and she shifted to her human form to be able to communicate easier. “Beric—”

He shifted immediately and kneeled in front of her. “Miera.”

“How… How are we doing?” She almost didn’t want to know the answer.

“Not good.” He grimaced. “Badly, actually. We’re trying our hardest to hold on, but they’re fierce.”

“We have to… We have to do something to change the tide.” She tried to sit up.

Beric immediately moved to help her. “I know, but how?”

“You’re hurt too.” She reached toward his shoulder.

“I’ll be fine.”

“Me, too.” Somehow, she was feeling better already. Still incredibly sore, but her vision was focusing better, her hearing perfect again, and her body didn’t quite hurt her as badly as it had when she first came to.

“You need to rest.” He frowned.

She glowered at him as she brought herself up and stood. Her head felt woozy, but she remained upright. “I will not allow myself to be sidelined while my people are fighting for their lives.”

He stood too, glancing around, most likely to make sure no one was heading in their direction. “My people are fighting too, but we can’t go out there. Not without a plan.”

“Any ideas?” She leaned back slightly and felt something solid behind her.

Beric grabbed her shoulder and tugged her forward. “That’s not a wall,” he said softly.

Miera slowly turned around to see the solid mass was actually a pile of bodies. Her stomach churned, and she fought back the urge to be sick again.

“Just relax,” he said calmly behind her.

Eyes wild, she glanced around to see the destruction. Their people were holding their own as best they could, fighting back, but their foe was fierce and wild, savage even. Given the huge size of the warehouse, the wedding had housed a ton of were-jaguars, and at least half of the guests were still standing.

The other half, though…

“A plan,” she snapped. “We have to think of something.” She brought up her hand and touched her neck. The cloth Beric had tied there was soaked with blood. Miera slipped her hand beneath it. The wound was hardly bleeding now, but the gash would need a fair amount of time to close up and heal. If she jarred her neck to the side, she had a feeling it would start gushing again.

“I’m trying to think.” He glanced around too.

She followed his gaze. A back door, not too far away from where they were currently standing. No one was near it.

A plan formed in her mind. It was a terrible one, horrible really, but it might be the best way to save the most amount of people. “We need to try to slip as many of our people away. They can come here and then go on to the back door.”

“And get reinforcements, weapons…” Beric was nodding and already started to move away.

She grabbed his hand and yanked him back. “No. They can flee to wherever is safe.” Those on patrol and the guards at the gates had to all have been killed. The mental image of the whole compound being attacked, that those who hadn’t come to the wedding were already dead, made up her mind for her and tightened her resolve. The Brutal Claws had to be stopped, at any cost.

“So what are you suggesting?” Beric asked, his fingers changing into claws.

What she was thinking, what she was planning… it was something that should be brought up to the council, for them all to have a say in, but who knew how many members of the council were still alive? And she couldn’t find Beric’s father either, to ask the alpha of the Teal Warriors his opinion on it.

No, as heir and future alpha, she would have to get used to making the tough choices, and right now, the choice had to rest on her shoulders and hers alone.

Well, hers and her husband’s, as strange as it was to realize they had finally married.

“Miera…”

She caught his gaze. What would he think of her for suggesting this? There was no other option, not that she could see. As they stood here, thinking and planning, more and more of their people were being sliced down every minute. They had to stop the bleeding.

Even if it meant sacrificing a few to save the many. To hopefully save the many.

In a garbled rush, she explained her idea to Beric. He winced but nodded. “There’s no other way,” he agreed.

As soon as she had his support, she darted forward as quickly as her wounded body would allow. Each step jarred her neck, and she tried to keep her head as still as possible.

Her first target was a were-jaguar who was lying on the ground. No one was near her. Maybe they thought she was dead or dying and not worth the effort.

“Are you hurt?” Miera asked, then winced. Of course she was. She was bleeding near her knee.

“I’m… I’m all right… I’ll…”

“Listen to me.” She pointed to the stack of bodies. “Head there. You see where?”

The woman’s face was terrified as she nodded.

Miera moved her hand slightly so her finger now aimed at the back door, trying not to be obvious about it. “Then go there and leave.”

“But—”

“It’s a command,” Miera said softly but firmly.

After a moment, the were-jaguar nodded. She was a Teal Warrior, one Miera hadn’t met before, but she seemed willing enough to obey, and Miera had so many others to talk to yet that she couldn’t afford to watch and see if the woman reached her destinations or not.