His Darkest Hunger (Jaguar Warriors 1)

Declan’s white teeth slashed through the night as he smiled crookedly. “Besides, I brought a few goodies to help us out.”

Jaxon’s eyes narrowed as the tall Irishman patted the satchel slung around his shoulder. He snorted, and grudgingly acknowledged to himself that Declan’s help would definitely be an asset.

He turned once more and scented the air, indicating they would keep heading west. Declan’s long legs fell easily in step with his own, and they kept up a quick pace for several minutes before Jaxon stopped abruptly.

His nostrils quivered as a new scent washed over him. Dread began to pool in his belly and he knelt down, studying the earthen ground, seeking the source of his distress. Over by a thick grouping of trees he spied a long piece of twine amidst the greenery, the ends frayed and raw. His muscles clenched at the unmistakable smell of blood that was heavy in the air.

Libby’s blood.

Heart pounding, he ran forward and snatched up two large bits of rope that had been cut. One was much longer than the other, but it was the smaller one that had the beast inside him clawing for vengeance. It had obviously been used to bind her hands, and the rope was covered in her blood from where it had dug into her soft skin.

Jaxon began to pant, and he felt his animal shimmer just below the surface. Blackness coiled its way along the edge of his brain, and he found it hard to maintain his human form. He growled loudly, and when Declan would have grabbed the twine from him, he roared his disapproval and moved away from his friend, needing space and time to quiet the violent rumblings that circulated frenetically through his veins.

He grasped the twine between strong fingers and brought it to his face, inhaling Libby’s sweet scent. When he got his hands on Frank DaCosta, he was going to rip him apart, limb by limb, and he would put a hurt on that piece of scum, the likes of which he’d never done before.

It took him a few seconds before Jaxon dimly realized that Declan was speaking, then he let the low, cool tones of his friend bring him back from the edge. He was able to focus, and slowly the red haze receded from his eyes.

“So, Frank just let her loose?”

Jaxon met Declan’s gaze, and didn’t like what Declan had implied. He didn’t answer but his mouth tightened into a frown.

“Hey, I’m just saying it’s kinda weird. Don’t you think he’d be afraid she would bolt?”

“I don’t know what to think, Dec, about any of this.” His voice was hoarse and his mind was moving quickly in all sorts of directions. Why the hell would he free her from her bindings? It didn’t make sense.

“Are they still together? Did she run?”

Jaxon studied the immediate area and moved along a few more feet before crouching low to the ground. After a few moments he spoke quietly. “Yeah, they’re still together. She’s leading and he’s following.”

Declan shrugged his shoulders but his face had darkened as he worked through this surprising development. “Maybe she wants to be with him.”

Jaxon’s head whipped up and he snarled. “What the hell do you mean by that? Why the fuck would she willingly go along with the bastard who tortured her for three years?”

“That, my friend, is the million dollar question, now isn’t it? What do we really know about Libby Jamieson?”

The jaguar shattered through the thin coating of control Jaxon still had, and with a fierce growl, he pinned Declan to a tree, his claws ripping through bark. He panted, unsure and extremely agitated, his forearms half shifted into the deadly paws of his jaguar.

Calmly, Declan offered no resistance as Jaxon roared his anguish deep into the night. Jaxon’s entire body trembled with the effort it took to tame his animal, and when he was finally able to restore a certain amount of control, Declan gently disengaged himself and moved several feet away, giving his friend a moment to collect himself before he spoke his piece.

“My point is that there isn’t a whole hell of a lot we know about her. Her info sheet back at PATU was bare bones. She was adopted at the age of six by a couple of average, ordinary Americans. She was always at the top of her class, blew through her training at Quantico, and somehow managed to get herself attached to our unit, and we don’t deal with humans.” Declan shook his head. “This whole situation stinks is all. I’m just saying that we’re missing a huge part of the puzzle.”

Jaxon’s face had turned to stone and his voice was low, coated with steel, and so very quiet that Declan had to strain to hear his words.

“I’m going to bring Libby back. You can come along, but so help me God, if you dare to question her integrity or allegiance—we’re done.”

Declan watched as Jaxon turned abruptly and melted into the trees. He hissed in anger, but without pause followed in the footsteps of the man he’d trust with his very life. He just hoped that Libby was deserving of such devotion and loyalty.

The two men did not speak as they slowly climbed higher. A light rain had begun to mist, and the insects that buzzed around them intensified. The trek became much more arduous as they went on, and Jaxon led them with stealth across small streams and up several sheer rock faces as they climbed higher with a ferocious intensity.

It was now predawn, and Jaxon was beginning to wonder how Libby had managed this trek. The heat and humidity alone was killer, but with the coming rain, the bugs were incessant and their appetite for skin and blood voracious.

Her scent was becoming stronger, and he felt relief as he realized he was closing in on his prey. A distant roar that had been muffled for a while now had become more thunderous and as they crested a small rise, the crescendo of a large waterfall was almost deafening.

She was there, all around him, her sweet scent lingering amidst the earth, the trees, and even across the water that sparkled as it fell from well over five hundred feet above him to several hundred below.

Jaxon sensed that there was more than just his woman here in this jungle paradise. His body began to tingle as his cells reacted to some unseen menace. There was a foul odor that lay like a heavy blanket over the entire area, and he turned his head, nostrils quivering as he scented the breeze that whooshed down from above, riding the fast moving water to the bottom.

He was uneasy, not comfortable with the smells and darkness that emanated from behind the glorious facade of the waterfall.