The Jaguar’s Arranged Mate

Her already flushed face turned even redder. “I-I don’t—”

A doctor exited a room, and Beric left her behind and approached him. “Where are the wounded Blood Roses?” he demanded.

The doctor hardly looked up at him. “I don’t know. If you will excuse—”

“No.” Beric grabbed his arm. His fangs had popped out. He forced them back and tried to control his emotions. Now was not the time to be demanding and brutish, but he had to figure out what was going on. “Have Blood Roses been allowed to come inside the hospital?”

The doctor glanced at the door of the room he had been trying to enter. “I really need to see to my patients—”

“Not all of your patients are here,” Beric growled. He could not be more furious. “Tell me the truth.”

The were-jaguar hung his head. “I don’t know where they went.”

Beric felt cold all over. “They were turned aside.”

“Only two showed up in the first place,” he protested. “What did you think would happen? They want their own doctors and medicine. They don’t trust us to treat them, and, frankly, we have too many of our own to treat.”

“No.” Beric ran a hand through his hair. “There isn’t a them versus us. There’s only us.”

The doctor stared at him shrewdly. “If you believe that, you are mistaken. The wedding came too late. We are not joined. We will not fight together. We will all fall. But since I can see you wish for us to live long enough to die in the next attack, I need to attempt to patch up our wounded so they can go out there and die anyhow.”

Beric wanted to argue with him, to demand answers, to force him to cooperate, but he didn’t. The man had a job to do—heal the sick. Beric had a job to do as well—lead. Or at least locate his father.

Feeling rejected and low, his body aching and his movements slowing, Beric eased his way back to the first floor. As he approached the front door, a male nurse stopped him. “Let me help you.”

Beric waved him away. “Others need—”

“They can wait,” Jake insisted. He ushered Beric to a chair and walked down the hall to a cart. He pulled it over and handed Beric some medicine. “Drink this.” He gave him a cup of water. “And then go get something to eat. It should help your natural healing abilities.”

He popped the pills and drank all of the water even though it was so cold it hurt his teeth. Food definitely would help him, but he had to find the Blood Roses, and his father, and Miera… his wife…

Beric jumped to his feet, and a wave of dizziness washed over him.

Jake gently but firmly pushed him back onto the chair. “Stay here,” he commanded. “I’ll bring you some food.”

The nurse was only gone for a minute, which was a good thing because Beric had just decided he wasn’t going to wait for him any longer. It was a hamburger, with all the fixings. Normally, Beric preferred steaks or pork or fish, but right now, his body needed it, and he inhaled the food. It did make him feel better. His body was still stiff, but almost all of his bruises had gone away; his small cuts healed up, too. Only the deeper gashes remained, and even they weren’t as serious as they had been.

“I need more of that medicine.” Beric held out his hand. He would bring the medicine to the Blood Roses himself. Miera needed some as well.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Jake shook his head. “I need to get back—”

“I said I need more.”

The nurse lowered his gaze. “If you were alpha…”

“I just might be!”

“Until we know that for certain, I can’t. I’m sorry. I have to tend to the injured.” With that, Jake ran off.

Beric’s nostrils flared. As much as he didn’t want to be alpha, he wanted the respect of one.

He also wanted the two packs to work together.

And he also wanted the war to be over.

Somehow, he had a feeling that he might not be getting any of the things he wanted.

*

Miera didn’t want to move. She didn’t even want to think. She just wanted to be left alone, to sleep for hours, maybe even forever.

But Lisa, her best friend, wouldn’t stop talking, and Helen, the kindest Teal Warrior Miera had met and who was quickly becoming a dear friend, kept fussing over her. Even worse was listening to the cries and wails of her people.

They were in a house that looked vaguely familiar. It took Miera’s addled brain a long moment to recognize it as Helen’s house. She was the only Teal Warrior Miera saw or heard. Everyone else was a Blood Rose.

“You should see if you can go to the hospital,” Lisa was saying, but her voice was a little muffled as if her back was turned toward Miera. Who was she talking to?

“With so many wounded, I don’t see how I’ll be able to get anything for you all.” That was Helen, and she sounded weary.

“What’s going on?” Miera asked. She forced her eyes open and tried to sit up.

The two were-jaguars pounced on her, pushing her back down. “Just relax,” Lisa crooned.

“We’re handling things,” Helen added.

Miera didn’t have the strength to fight them. Her body felt almost wrong. Her limbs were too heavy, her chest oddly light even though it felt as if she couldn’t catch her breath. Her neck especially ached, and she felt ready to pass out. Had she already fainted? After leaving the warehouse… oh, God, the warehouse… Was that smoke she smelled? Had their plan, as horrible as it was, worked? Try as she did, she couldn’t remember what happened after she and Beric fled the warehouse.