Her Jaguars

Chapter 6

Ember’s POV

I woke up just after the sunrise the next morning feeling refreshed. I stretched, got out of bed and went through my morning ritual. Changing out of my long t-shirt and into some shorts and a tank top, I walk out of my cabin, locking the door behind me and head to the main house.

I walked into the lobby area and heard laughter coming from what I assumed was the kitchen-dining area. I stop right before the doorway when I smell a strong scent of eucalyptus and rainforest. I have never smelled two distinct smells so strongly before. Confused, I cautiously step into the dining area.

Adriana stops laughing when she sees me come through the doorway. “Come in Ember, come in. Meet my oldest son, Arturo. He decided to pay me a surprise visit and showed up yesterday evening, not long after you got here actually,” she says to me, beaming with pride.

I wave shyly, “Hello.”

The man smiles as he stands to greet me, and he is tall- giant compared to my 4 foot 10 inches. His caramel skin was flawless; if I did modeling photography, I would definitely use him as a subject. His sun-kissed hair was Superman-esque, his caramel eyes adding to the Superman picture, and his eyes looked more golden than just brown. The closer he got, the stronger the eucalyptus and rainforest smell got.

“It’s you!” I gasp, taking a step back. He freezes, looking slightly confused, most likely from my outburst. “Why do you smell like your mother? I mean, you don’t really smell like her since the smell I smelled on her was a little different and not so strong, but the smell is definitely stronger and more distinct on you,” I ramble. “I know I’m rambling, but this whole situation is kind of freaking me out. Something like this has never happened to me before.”

I’m starting to panic. I know logically I shouldn’t be. I know Adriana would never hurt me, but I couldn’t help it. Since finding Sawyer, I have tried to stay in control of everything in my life, and this was something I felt like I wouldn’t be able to control. Not to mention Lola was acting all kinds of weird; so weird I had to block her to try and get control of my panic attack.

“Come, pequeno, come sit down,” I heard Adriana say to me, but she sounded very far away. She grabbed my arm and set me down at the table, then pushed my head between my legs. I take deep breaths, calming down my heart and mind. I need to control my body right now so I can try and figure out what is going on. Once I have completely calmed down and look up to see Adriana walking back over with what smelled like a cup of chamomile tea and the man, her son, is seated across from me looking concerned.

“Are you ok?” he asks, his voice sounding very much like Frank Sinatra singing; smooth, jazz-like. I nod, taking the tea given to me by Adriana and sipping it.

“It’s been a while since I had a panic attack. I wasn’t expecting all the weirdness that has happened since I got here. The almost-attack, the smells, the feelings. I like control in my life; have since I took it back 10 years ago, moreso when a friend of mine helped me get off the streets five years ago,” I say, not sure why I felt the need to explain why I panicked.

“Ok, the smells we can kind of understand, I think,” Adriana starts.

“What do you mean by feelings?” the man asks. For some reason I don’t want to even think his name.

We were all quiet as I sat there, trying to gather my thoughts to explain my feelings to them. “Well, to start with scared; I’ve taken defense classes thanks to Sawyer,” I pause when I hear the man growl at the mention of my friend, “but I’ve been lucky enough to not have to have used them until now. Then there is the confusion. I am confused mainly because of the smells. I know as a shifter my olfactory senses are more acute, but for whatever reason I’ve never had a problem with smells.

“But when I first smelled you last night,” I point to Adriana, “it was like when I first met my friend Sawyer. I felt comfortable and safe, which is why I told you as much as I did when we talked. With you, however,” I point to the man, “the smells are so much stronger, it’s like they are surrounding me. I am confused by how strong the smells are and why I am feeling so comfortable, safe, and calm with both of you. It’s as if you both are family.”

The two looked at each other, as if they knew something I didn’t.

“Has your margay said anything to you since coming in here this morning?” the man asked. Shaking my head, I looked at him confused, “I blocked her because she was acting weird and I wanted to focus on my surroundings,” I confess.

“Ok, a couple more things and then we will explain,” he says. I nod my assent. “Were you raised by any shifters?” he questions. I shake my head.

“My parents were killed when I was young, I barely remember them. I was raised in a human orphanage. I got Lola when I was 12; she appeared first in my head. Luckily I was in the woods by the orphanage to get away from all the kids bullying me and could freak out by myself. I went further into the woods so that we could shift for the first time. It was like she understood that the humans couldn’t find out about us. For the year after that, she mostly stayed in the back of my mind so we wouldn’t get found out.

“When I ran away from the orphanage, we were mostly in our cat form; since margays are so small, we were able to disguise ourselves as an alleycat,” I pause, really taking in what I’ve said and letting them process it. “Thinking about it now, I guess I haven’t really been able to process the whole shifter thing; being on my own, I have learned most of what I know by myself, which is not much…

“Anyway, five years ago, not long after I turned 18 I was walking down a street in New York and saw a van that said it helped homeless people get jobs. I followed the van until it stopped and that is how I met Sawyer. He has been more like a brother than a friend to me since I met him five years ago; he helped me get my GED and my certification in photography, which has gotten me to where I am today. Honestly, I’ve never even thought about talking to him about all this shifter stuff.” They both look at me, confused. I elaborate, “Sawyer is a silver fox. His life partner, Leo, is a red panda.”

Understanding crossed both of their faces. The man put his hand out, palm up, “Couple more things. I would like you to open up your connection with Lola and then put your hand in mine. I want you to take your time, though, because you will be feeling a lot more in the next few minutes and I don’t want you to have another panic attack before I explain everything. I just have a feeling that it would be better for you if I show you before explaining it to you.”

I study him for a minute. His expression looks genuine, as if he truly believes his intuition about me. I also feel as though he absolutely wants what is best for me. I nod my head, telling myself that whatever is about to happen to not freak out because they will explain everything; he will explain everything.

I unblock my connection to Lola at the same time that I put my hand in Arturo’s; sparks fire through my hand, up my arm, and throughout my whole body.

MATE!! MATE!! We found mate! Lola yowls and moans. I stare at Arturo, shocked.

“Wh-what is a ma-mate? I know the word, but not as it pertains to the shifter world,” I ask slowly, looking in the direction of Adriana but see that she has disappeared. I look back to Arturo and notice his eyes have changed colors, more sapphire blue, less golden caramel.

“Mama had to go check-in someone,” he replies. His voice sounds deeper, more guttural. He clears his throat and his eyes go back to normal, “A mate is like a life partner; the difference is that life partners are chosen, whereas mates are chosen by the Moon Goddess. There are many forms of the Moon Goddess through history from many cultures. As we move into a more modern age, the stories of our heritage have become obscure. I’ve always thought that there is just one Moon Goddess, and she passed through different cultures depending on who worshiped her.

“The story that I was always told by Mama was that the Moon Goddess, Selene, fell in love with a mortal man, Endy. She wanted him to live forever, so she asked Zeus and he put Endy in an eternal sleep in a cave where they had many children. According to Mama, when Selene realized that her children would eventually die as well, she went behind Zeus’ back and merged different animal spirits with her children’s spirits, allowing them to survive longer than humans. She mostly used predator animals so that they could protect themselves. In order to help with procreation, she decided to connect the souls of the ones whom she thought would compliment each other.

“Finding out who your mate is starts with the distinct smells for each of us; for example, you smell like cocoa beans, vanilla, and sandalwood to me. Then there’s the sparks every time our skin touches. Finally, our animals acknowledge and accept each other.” As he said the last part, he grabbed my hand, turned it over and started drawing on my palm. Sparks engulfed my hand again and I gasped, jerking my head up and I stared into his eyes. The blue turned darker with desire, like he wanted to devour me.

“What if someone didn’t want their mate?” I asked quickly, more out of curiosity than anything, and my head was starting to get fuzzy just from him holding my hand. I looked down at our hands as I inquired, because for some reason I didn’t want to see his expression as I asked my question.

His finger stops drawing on my palm as I feel him stiffen at my question. As I wait for him to answer, I look at my watch and gasp, “s**t I’m late!” I jump up and run for the doorway.

I turned back and looked at Arturo. He was looking at his hands. He seemed sad; I sigh and move to head back to my cabin for my camera.