His Darkest Hunger (Jaguar Warriors 1)

A rather large, menacing gun aimed straight at his head.

Chapter 9

Jaxon swore and pushed Libby behind him.

Good thing a cat had nine lives, and the way he figured it, he still had about five to go.

He glanced quickly at his watch. Five minutes and counting before the big kaboom.

His eyes met the helmet-encased head of his enemy full on as he let the power inside him out.

Yeah. This should be a piece of cake.

“Shit! Never thought I’d snag me a Castille jaguar. Damn, must be my lucky day.”

The arrogance of his enemy was astounding. Normally, he would have enjoyed a little game of cat and mouse, but he didn’t fancy frying his ass over such a pitiful excuse of a soldier. His nostrils flared and he sneered as a low growl erupted. The scent told him the asshole was human.

As if a human with a gun could stop him.

Even in human form Jaxon was a formidable opponent. He still retained many of his enhanced jaguar traits, including speed and strength. With a roar, he moved so fast that the soldier barely had time to react. The rifle was smacked from his hands as if it were a play toy, and Jaxon had him pinned to the wall in two seconds flat.

His teeth were bared and his eyes feral, the violence running through his veins almost bringing the cat to the fore. He felt the familiar burn as his skin began to shift.

“Who the fuck do you work for?”

Silence greeted his question, and with a mighty roar, he shook the man until his head hit the wall behind him with a resounding thud. “One more chance.”

The soldier began to tremble as the finality of his situation became apparent. “You’re just going to kill me anyway, so fuck you.”

He sprayed the air with spittle, and Jaxon savagely pressed his thumb deep into his enemy’s carotid artery, rendering him unconscious within seconds.

The shock on Libby’s face quickly changed to fear and she shrank from him, shaking her head, trying to move away.

Jaxon grabbed her roughly, ignoring the huge eyes, and yanked her along behind him. He had no time to pamper her. The clock was ticking away, and he knew if he didn’t get them the hell out of there, his remaining five lives would definitely be toast.

Libby’s movements were sluggish, her arm still favoring her ribs, and with a curse he grabbed her up into the hard embrace of his arms, balancing his bag of weapons on his hip, before running with the speed only a jaguar possessed toward his sanctuary. There, hidden in his precious jungle, was a trapdoor that led directly to the escape tunnels below.

Shouts rang out behind him, and his eyes glanced off a red laser beam that hit the wall to his right. He ducked just as a shot decimated the wall, building up speed as he flew down the darkened halls.

Libby clung to his neck as if her life depended on it, and he yanked the door to the jungle room open, slipped inside, and locked it. Within seconds loud banging and gunfire was heard on the other side, but Jaxon disappeared into the thick foliage, making his way quickly through the hot, damp interior until he reached the hatch.

Carefully, he placed Libby on the ground and moved a massive tree trunk that to anyone else would have appeared part of the rotting vegetation that littered the earthen floor. His muscles contracted as the heavy piece of wood was moved back, and he gestured toward Libby to climb down the stairs he had exposed.

She hesitated, and he swore under his breath.

“Libby, I know you’re scared, but you need to trust me and do as I say.”

A blast ripped through the room, and he wasn’t sure if it was his words or the shouts that now resounded in the sanctuary, but she hurried as best she could to do his bidding.

Thick, black anger pulsed through his body with every beat of his heart at the thought of his private area being invaded by an enemy. The jaguar inside wanted nothing more than to attack, kill, and destroy.

But there was no time.

Jaxon jumped down, grabbing his bag before the tree fell back into place.

He found a shivering, confused Libby waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. Without words, he once more lifted her up to his chest and ran like hell toward freedom.

Underneath the mammoth building that housed his branch of operations for PATU, there were a series of tunnels that had been put in place for such a situation as this. He’d never had to use them before, and as he ran, his body dripping with sweat from exertion, his memories of the layout were not as sharp as he would have liked.