Her Jaguars

Chapter 4

Dylan pulled up to the Jungle Lodge and put the car in park. Looking over at me, he smiled, “Here we are, do you need help with anything?” I looked at my duffle and camera bag, then back at him. I felt a prickle of unease shiver up my neck. I’m not sure why, since we had a pretty good conversation on the way here.

I reach behind my seat to the back and grab my bags, “No thank you, I have it. Thank you for the ride, it was a pleasure meeting another American while traveling.” I turn and open the door, but as I go to get out of the car, Dylan grabs me by my waist and pulls me back. I try to struggle out of his grip, even though I know it’s not possible with my size. While I struggle, I take the hand that is still holding my camera case and grab the keychain on it. Sawyer got it for me when he realized I would be going to different parts of the world and meeting strangers. I grab the Kubotan keychain and, wrapping my fingers around it, I jab it into Dylan’s head, right between his eyes as hard as I can.

He yelled, letting me go and grabbing his face. I immediately jumped out of the car and ran to the entrance of the lodge with my duffle bag and camera case.I don’t even turn back; I doubt he’s following me because there will be people inside, but if I turn to look and he is following, it will only slow me down.

I practically threw myself through the door, heaving in my breaths. Once I’ve catched my breath, I stand up straight and look around. It’s very rustic looking; it kind of reminds me of the houses you read about in books that are cut out of the side of a cliff, only it’s in a forest. This place is very airy and open, while showing seclusion and hominess as well.

I turned to my right and saw a woman behind a counter looking at me with her head tilted. “Are you alright? Do you need help with anything?” she asks me as I walk up to the counter. I take a deep breath to try and calm my racing heart; as I take the breath, I catch a scent that seems familiar, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on where the scent was coming from. I sniff around a couple more times, trying to look unnoticeable while doing it, but my eyes widen in surprise when I realize the smell is coming from the woman.

“Are you…” my words drift away, like my voice can’t find the words to ask the question I want to ask. The woman smiles at me and nods, “My name is Adriana, are you ok?”

“Oh, yes, yes I am fine. The guy who helped me get here tried to assault me and-”

“WHAT!?” Adriana practically yells as she comes around the counter. “Is he still out there? Did he hurt you?”

I don’t know if he is still out there, but he didn’t hurt me, he just scared me a little. He grabbed me, but I stabbed him with my Kubotan and ran out of the car. That’s why I was so out of breath,” I tell her as I see her walk to the front entrance to look outside. She pokes her head out then comes back shaking her head.

“I don’t see a car out there, but the cabins we have here are fairly close to this main house, so if he comes back I’ll be able to hear him. I’m so sorry about that; do you have a reservation?” she asks as she walks back behind the counter to the computer that she had.

I shake out of my staring, “Ye-Yes, I-I have a re-reservation for E-Ember. I’ll be staying for a w-week,” I stutter, still a little shocked from everything that has happened since Dylan pulled up at the front. Adriana smiles at me warmly and tilts her head.

She comes back around the counter and grabs my shoulders, “You are ok. Is there anything you want to let out before we continue with your reservation?” she asks, looking me straight in my eyes. I take a deep breath and smell what I smelled earlier. It was like eucalyptus and fresh rain; it was strong, but comforting.

I close my eyes, take another deep breath, then look her in the eyes, “I am fine, it was just everything happening back to back. Especially that eucalyptus smell. Is that you the smell is coming from?”

“Yes, that’s more than likely me, although my late husband told me I smell more like sweet mint. I can smell you too, which is odd seeing as you’re not my mate or anything. What kind of shifter are you, if I may ask?” Adriana says as she takes my hands and walks me over to the couch in the lobby-like area.

“I am a margay. What about you? I’ve never smelled any humans who have a distinctive smell, so I’m assuming you are a shifter as well?” I ask, really curious about her all of a sudden.

“I am a jaguar. And this lodge has actually been in my family for generations. It is always passed down to a woman from the family. Unfortunately, unless one of my sons marry, I won’t have anyone to give it to and will need to figure out what to do about it. Luckily for me though, I have a couple hundred more years before I have to really worry about that. See, shifters live way longer than humans, which is why we usually live in remote areas and only come out occasionally to keep suspicions away,” she explains, thankfully seeing that I wasn’t really following a lot of what she was saying.

We can live for hundreds of years? I ask Lola.

I guess? I only know as much as you. We weren’t raised around shifters, and we haven’t really asked a lot of shifter questions when talking to Leo or Sawyer, so the possibilities are endless, she replies, chuffing at me.

“What do your sons do?”I asked her, trying to get my mind off of the hundreds of years thing.

“My youngest does all kinds of things. He’s a bit of an adventurer. He tries to come for a visit after each of his adventures. My oldest, however, owns a couple of cocoa ranches. It’s a pretty good business around here in Ecuador, so I don’t see him often,” she explains to me with a sad smile. After a minute, she straightens, “Are you feeling better? Ready to get to your cabin?” she asks, standing up.

I stand with her, “Yes, I’m ready. I think I reserved one of the further cabins, but do you think I could get one closer to this place? I don’t think I would feel comfortable being so far away from another person with what happened tonight.”

“Of course, I’m not really in my busy season right now, so most of the cabins are empty at the moment,” she states with a smile. She walks to her computer and types on it for a few minutes. Once she's done, she walks to a row of keys on the far wall behind the counter and grabs one. “I’ll walk with you to your cabin to make sure you stay safe. We have Wi-fi, but very little service out here, so you can use your computer to send emails or whatever you need to, but you might not be able to call anyone if you need to while you’re here,” she informs me while we walk to the cabin closest to the main house.

As we are walking to the cabin, I get the feeling that I’m being watched. I look around, but all I see are the trees and all I hear are the different insects and animals that live in the forest. I look over to Adriana to see if maybe she notices anything too, but her face is impassive. “Do you feel like you are being watched?” I ask her.

“Not really… But I cater mostly to shifters, and I do have a couple cabins occupied at the moment, so they are probably out there in their animal forms,” she replies, looking around with me.

I nod as she unlocks the door and we enter the open layout cabin. Like the main house, it looked very rustic and simple; kind of like a spa retreat I visited once in Hawaii, only less beachy and more earthy.

“Now, is there anything you need before I leave you?” Adriana asked me, staying by the front door. I shake my head and she nods, “Ok, well, breakfast is between 7 and 9 in the morning. No one usually stays around here for lunch, but I like to leave sandwiches out for anybody who is either here or drops by during that time; that around one or two in the afternoon. Dinner is made between 7 and 8. If you want anything in between those times, let me know and I can get it for you.”

“Thank you for letting me know. If it’s ok with you, after breakfast if you could show me your kitchen, I don’t mind making my own lunch. I’ll be out in the forest most of the day taking pictures, so in case I get too far out, I have lunch already instead of coming back to get it,” I ask her and explain how I usually work when I’m in the field.

Adriana shrugs, “That works for me. I’ll see you in the morning then. Have a good night Ember.”

“You too Adriana. Thanks for all your help.”