The Jaguar’s Arranged Mate

Chapter 12

His wife was a puzzle he didn’t have time to figure out, but at least his father had been located. The alpha had sustained only minor injuries from the battle. How he had escaped, and when, Beric didn’t know and he didn’t ask.

“Vicious, evil, cunning, vile…” his father was fuming when Beric sought him in his office after leaving Miera. He didn’t understand why she had started crying, but she hadn’t seemed to be in pain, and the tears weren’t from grief. He didn’t know her well enough for her to open up to him, that much was obvious when she had ignored him. It hurt, but he didn’t have time to be hurt right now, not physically or emotionally.

“The Brutal Claws are all of those,” Beric agreed.

His father stopped his pacing and whirled around to face Beric. “I wasn’t talking about them.”

Wonderful. He had a feeling he now knew who his father was referring to, but he played ignorant. “Oh?”

“The two-faced Blood Roses,” the alpha spat out. “Who else would have helped them to know just where to mount our fence?”

“You think… you think they have spies in our camp?” Beric was horrified. The thought of how the Brutal Claws had managed their feat hadn’t been one he had time to explore yet.

“Not in our camp. Theirs.” Spit flew from his father’s mouth. “The Blood Roses. One or more of them is helping the Brutal Claws.”

Oh, no. If even his father wasn’t ready for the two sides to join, they were going to be ruined and destroyed before another attack even happened.

He almost wanted to laugh at his father’s absurdity. The alpha was wrong on this point. Beric had to make him see reason. “You can’t be serious. They don’t have spies other than Brutal Claws. How do you think they’ve been able to infiltrate so many packs? They are masters at their craft, at domination. We were fools to think a fence would stop them. Plain and simple, we are out-manned, even with the Blood Roses. We need them, and if you think—”

“What I think is all that matters.” His father stood tall and straight and stiff. “I am alpha, and you’d better not forget that.”

“You would never let me,” Beric said coolly. “Remember, it’s because of my marriage that—”

“Your marriage is what drew them out. We were just fine until then. The Brutal Claws were not—”

“They were still killing our guards. It would have only been a matter of time—”

“Time.” His father snorted. “Now is the time of death, boy.”

A long moment of silence stretched between them, heavy and awkward and oppressive.

“What would you have us do?” Beric finally asked.

“We must heal and recover and regroup—”

A sudden shriek rang out. Then a dozen or more cries and screams joined the first.

Beric and his father raced to the window. Thirty were-jaguars were on all fours, tearing through the streets, heading straight for the…

Hospital.

Just as he had feared.

Beric reached the door first and fled out of the alpha’s quarters. As soon as the sun touched him, he shifted into his jaguar and bounded for the hospital. His father was all wrong. The despicable, vile ones were the Brutal Claws. What could be lower than targeting the weak and the injured?

Only two other friendly were-jaguars were also running toward the hospital. Were so few uninjured or healed enough to fight? What were they going to do? Three against thirty was suicide.

Still, Beric couldn’t think about doing anything but defending his land and his people. He was the first to reach the last Brutal Claw, and he bounced on top of him. They fought, mostly using claws, and Beric earned new ribbons of bloody streaks on his shoulder and upper foreleg before he managed to slice the Brutal Claw’s throat.

One down.

By now, the other two were-jaguars were also fighting Brutal Claws. His father had joined the battle as well. But four were-jaguars weren’t enough to stop all of the Brutal Claws, and at least ten, if not more, barreled their way inside the hospital.

No. Never. Not on his watch.

Beric darted around the battles, ignoring the Brutal Claws as best he could, trying to avoid being drawn into fights. That became much harder to do the closer he got to the hospital. Maybe the Brutal Claws realized what he was trying to do, because four of them rushed him, a wall in front of the doors.

He released a low rumble from the back of his throat. Before the first could swipe him, a paw came out of nowhere and swiped the would-be attacker instead.

Miera. She and a few other Blood Roses had joined the battle.

It almost pained him to see her fighting, especially when she wasn’t ready for it. Her neck was still healing yet, and one good slash could easily kill her. But as much as he hated himself for it, when he spied an opening that gave him clear access to the hospital, he had to take it. Miera would be all right, he tried to reassure himself. She was a more than capable fighter. Her people would never allow her to be killed.

As much as he wanted to also defend her, there were too many innocents and weakened were-jaguars within the hospital for him to turn a blind eye away from them. As soon as he entered the hospital, shrieks and gargles and wails filled his ears, some abruptly cut off as the Brutal Claws killed one after another.

The male nurse Beric had spoken with earlier was just struck down. Beric thundered down the hall and slammed the Brutal Claw into the wall head first. Dazed, his foe shook his head and turned around to face him. Blood dripped from his snout and mouth, his claws leaving streaks of red against the tiled floor. His fangs glistened with saliva as he darted toward Beric.

He held his ground then darted to the right at the last moment. The Brutal Claw anticipated that, however, and his claws dug into Beric’s shoulder. Beric answered by slashing upward, and he caught the Brutal Claw in the mouth. He tore lip and gum. A strangled cry came from the Brutal Claw, but Beric wasn’t done yet, He yanked out his foe’s claws from his shoulder, flung his paw down so hard the Brutal Claw fell, and slashed at his face again. Slash after slash after slash. Blood flew everywhere. Beric only stopped when the Brutal Claw ceased moving.