Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 118860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 594(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 594(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
The jaguar, whether a shifter or a true cat, was the fiercest predator in the forest. Sarika found the formidable, elusive cat elegant and stately. It was also watchful and extremely wary. One didn’t walk up on a jaguar and surprise it. It was the same with the jaguar shifters. Both species had excellent vision and hearing. The large cats and their shifter cousins hunted by sight and sound. In any case, that strange attraction animals had to her could be the reason the jaguar was closer than it should have been.
Sarika glanced behind her uncertainly. The jungle had closed behind her, cutting off her view of the riverbank. She knew the way out. She had an excellent sense of direction. As a shifter, she had that same ability to hunt with sight and hearing. She gleaned information from everything around her, but knowing a jaguar was on the prowl, most likely hunting this time of day, filled her with trepidation.
She’d spent far too much time studying the large cats to dismiss a hunter, although there were very few unprovoked attacks on humans. Still, they were deadly predators and certainly capable of hunting a human. Scary and fearless, the jaguar has the strongest bite of all cats, including tigers and lions. They have the ability to pierce through bone with razor-sharp teeth.
The intensity of the silence was broken by a sawing call. She was well aware that both the male and female jaguar could roar. When they greeted one another, they made a sound similar to a snuffling. They hunted day or night and killed with a powerful bite, usually to the back of the skull. The sound abruptly turned into a snarl that lifted every hair on her body. Then came the growling roar she most feared.
As apex predators, jaguars were at the top of the food chain with no natural enemies, other than their own species being a danger to them. Sarika was well aware she wasn’t the largest person in the jungle. Even if she tried to make herself appear bigger, she doubted if that would work.
If this jaguar was female and she had a den nearby, going forward could get her in trouble. It would be far better to get out of the trees. Sarika found herself hesitant to do that. Shifters were a secretive species. It had been drilled into her from the time she was a toddler that she could never reveal her true nature. Better to shift if she needed to defend herself there in the rainforest, out of sight.
It was just that…she had no fighting experience. That sawing roar was troublesome. It wasn’t a greeting. It was a clear warning. She had a healthy respect for the powerful cats, and she would never want to endanger, hurt or kill one. She also thought it would be impossible for someone as inexperienced as she was to defeat a fully grown cat with fighting experience.
She was well aware jaguars could easily climb trees and leap long distances. She wouldn’t be any safer in the water than she was on land. Jaguars were excellent swimmers, loved lakes, rivers and wetlands. They hunted in water.
“Not the smartest thing I’ve ever done,” she murmured aloud.
“No, it wasn’t.” A male voice came from the darkened interior.
The unexpected reply set her heart pounding. She had concentrated so much on the jaguar that she had no indication a male was anywhere in the vicinity. She should have scented him. Sarika inhaled deeply, expecting to find out how close he was to her, but she got…nothing.
“I told you to stay out of the forest. To wait by the river for me.” Now that voice was pure male, quiet but powerful. Velvet soft and compelling, but there was no mistaking the absolute authority.
“Luiz?” she asked. “Luiz Silva?”
“Luiz De La Cruz,” the voice corrected.
Her heart skipped a beat. Fear washed over her. She certainly knew the name De La Cruz. They were notorious in both Peru and Brazil. They owned more land than legal, their ranches expansive and guarded carefully. It was said they were ruthless. Enemies of the De La Cruz family tended to disappear.
“I thought I was corresponding with my cousin, Luiz Silva,” she said, imposing strict discipline on herself. For some unexplained reason, she felt threatened. She couldn’t say it was the voice exactly. He spoke in a low tone. It wasn’t even the words he spoke or the fact that he’d identified himself as a De La Cruz. He felt dangerous. Powerful. She hadn’t even seen him yet, but the warning that had preceded the jaguar came through just as clear. Maybe more so.
Sarika stood her ground, doing her best not to shake. The atmosphere had grown heavy. Threatening. The insects suddenly ceased their continuous noise. Monkeys screamed warnings and raced away, using the treetops.