The Jaguar’s Arranged Mate

“And the hide of the woman I love and our baby,” he protested.

Somehow, she refrained from hitting him. “You don’t love me.”

“Of course I do! Let me prove it to you.” He started forward.

Beric moved to stand in between her and Charles. Not that she needed his protection, but she did appreciate the gesture.

She glared at Charles. “I don’t love you.”

His jaw dropped. “You can’t honestly think you love that guy.” He pointed savagely toward Beric. “He—”

“Charles, don’t you dare talk about me and who I love.” She walked around Beric to better face him. “Just tell us what the Brutal Claws’s next move is. Are you supposed to help them over the fence again?”

“No,” he said sullenly.

“Charles, if you don’t tell me, I’ll die,” she said bluntly. “I’m not running off with you. I didn’t want to before, and I sure don’t want to now. I will stay here and fight them until they kill me. If you really love me like you say you do, you’ll give me a chance to survive whatever you helped them plan.”

A long moment of silence passed, and Miera winced. She shouldn’t have antagonized him. She should’ve continued playing their game. At least he had been forthcoming.

But then he cleared his throat. “They are going to lay low. Make you all think you were safe. And then, in two weeks, I was going to open the gates for them and…”

“And everyone would be slaughtered,” Beric whispered.

Charles nodded.

Beric brought his fist toward Charles’s head. At the last moment, he turned his fist into a paw. The blow was harsh, and Charles dropped to the ground. He was still breathing, but not for long. The council would try him for his crimes, and he would almost certainly be put to death.

They now knew their enemies’ plan. Time to formulate one of their own.

*

Beric appreciated his wife’s intelligence. He had been blinded by anger and hatred and almost ruined their chances of learning what the Brutal Claws were arranging. To waltz on in and destroy. Typical of the most bloodthirsty and savage group of were-jaguars to ever live.

An hour after they secured Charles in a prison cell, he and the other members of the council—two had perished in the wedding attack—along with Mark and Sam, sat at the table in the alpha’s quarters. In his quarters. It didn’t take long at all for them to settle on a plan—and Beric was both surprised and pleased that her father stepped down and now Miera was alpha as well. Once everything was settled, Beric and Miera quickly gathered all of the fit fighters remaining inside the mess hall.

Miera explained about Charles being the traitor, and for the next half hour, the two of them pleaded with the two sides to come together.

And, miraculously, they did, but only after Beric laid out their battle strategy. “It’s foolish and risky, and we all might die, but it’s also our only shot.”

They roared their approval. They didn’t want to be in the shadows, hiding and frightened. They were more than willing to be led into battle for once, instead of waiting for the battle to come to them.

So the next day, Beric and Miera led a large party out of the fence and toward where Charles claimed the Brutal Claws were living. It didn’t take them long to see that the were-jaguar hadn’t lied. Thousands of tents dotted the grasslands. One, in the center, was by far the tallest and grandest.

“That one there.” Beric pointed to it from their perch on a nearby hill. “That’s where Andreas the Bloodthirsty will be. He’s our target.”

Not even twenty minutes later, they were in position, and they brought the war to the Brutal Claws. The fighting was vicious and terrible. Even some of the wounded had come along, wanting revenge for those who had fallen. Only those who were far too injured, the doctors and nurses, and the elderly and the very young were left behind.

It was a mighty gamble, and one that could very well ruin them, but they all knew and understood and accepted the risks, Teal Warriors and Blood Roses alike, and Beric couldn’t be more proud of them all. They were truly acting like one pack. If they survived, they would need to come up with a new name.

Beric fought alongside Miera for the first several hours. The Brutal Claws had never anticipated a battle on their own turf, not that they really owned the land they were living on. It was a massive clearing with a few hills but no bushes. Only the tents marred the land, and Beric threw many a Brutal Claw into one. Luckily, because they had taken them by surprise, most of the Brutal Claws weren’t armored, although almost everyone was armed. After all, they were brutal.

After fighting two Brutal Claws and slaying the one, the other turning to find a less aggressive foe, Beric realized Miera was no longer beside him. Before he could try to locate her in the bloody mess, he realized just how close he was to the tent he believed belonged to the alpha of the Brutal Claws, Andreas the Bloodthirsty. Could he be lucky enough that the alpha was still there? He had to have joined the fray.

With even more determination fueling him, despite the new wounds he’d acquired, Beric fought his way over to it. He would do this. He would take on the asshole who had made their lives miserable. He would make him pay.

“Looking for me?”

Beric whirled around to see a man who stood almost seven feet tall. Muscular, built like an ox, stripped naked. This could only be Andreas the Bloodthirsty.

He had been fighting in jaguar shape, but Beric now shifted to his human form. He rolled his neck from side to side to work out the kinks. “I am.”

“And you are?” Andreas the Bloodthirsty had a deep, booming voice that echoed somehow. Even more impressive were his eyes—black as sin, brimming with anger, and full of hatred.

“Beric.”

“Ah, yes, the little alpha who married in a vain attempt to save his people. I commend you for having loyal people, but I’m afraid you’ve brought them here to die.”

Beric’s fangs popped out. “I’m afraid you’re mistaken. If anyone is going to die, it’s going to be you.”

Andreas the Bloodthirsty threw back his head and roared with laughter. He continued to laugh as he shifted his form. Only he didn’t become a jaguar. He became a lion.

He truly was a berserker, able to take on any form just like the rumors had claimed.