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)
Her uncle Alois and aunt Gemma had never been able to have children, and they’d welcomed her. Surrounded her with love. Given her every advantage. They had raised her in Maine, far away from others. To get to their estate, they used a Cessna to fly in and out, landing on the lake for access to their home. In a dense forest, they were surrounded by old growth, the little that was left from the days of intense logging.
She knew how to fly the Cessna and often would view from above the abundance of the many varieties of trees. There were dense populations of fir, spruce and pine. Yellow birch, paper birch, sugar maple and aspen dominated the stands of hardwood. What she loved most was the diversity of wildlife making their homes in the heavy tree-rich forest surrounding them.
She often flew the plane low enough to catch sight of moose, black bears, foxes, bobcats, deer and lynx. There was an abundance of raccoons, coyotes, porcupines and fishers. She always got a thrill when she spotted the local wildlife. When she backpacked and camped in the forest, many of the animals sought her out. Even then, she had to be careful that no one else witnessed the way animals seemed to want to be with her.
Mostly, what she loved about her life was the way her aunt and uncle taught her to shift from early childhood. She was a jaguar shifter, and her female, Coh, loved to run free in the haven of the forest. That was the reason her aunt and uncle had chosen to live in such a remote location. As jaguar shape-shifters, a very secretive species, they were careful never to allow anyone see them shift. As jaguars needed the forest to roam and stay healthy, her aunt and uncle had found the perfect place to live so that their animals could thrive.
She’d lost them both, first Alois and then Gemma. She loved them dearly and missed them every single day. Without them, she was lonely and felt vulnerable without the stability of a home. She’d traveled all over the world, was away for months, but they had always been there waiting for her. Now she was alone. She felt compelled to come to Peru and seek out her last remaining relative, hoping they would make a connection with each other.
Sarika inhaled deeply, taking in the scents of the Peruvian rainforest. So many. The earth smelled raw and musky. The flowers climbing the trees were fragrant and exotic. The explosion of color against the bark of the various species of trees was stunning. So many vivid colors of green interspersed with the brilliant colors of trumpet-shaped flowers, spidery flowers, orchids and so many others.
Despite the waning light, she found herself drawn to the interior. While the dense canopy overhead protected the forest floor from wind and even, to some extent, storms, the interior felt heavy with moisture. It seemed as though the drone of the crickets and cicadas never stopped. The darkness turned the jungle into an eerie, moody world.
She knew better than to walk too far into the interior. She had a very good sense of smell, especially if she shifted—which she was prepared to do. If necessary, she could utilize all the jaguar’s abilities as well. Still, walking into an unfamiliar rainforest was sheer madness.
It was possible remnants of the male shifter jaguars were still around, men her adopted parents had warned her to always be leery of. She knew better, but she couldn’t stop herself from moving deeper into the jungle, drawn by the magnificence and the feeling of coming home. She’d never once experienced that nearly euphoric, wondrous feeling of belonging until that moment, not a single time in all the various rainforests she’d visited.
The dark, moody interior called to her. Buttress roots formed giant fins beneath the trees, nearly as tall as she was, anchoring them against the winds. Aboveground, the storms could be wild, but the thick canopy kept the forest floor dark, humid and calm.
She took her time, going from tree to tree, examining the draping orchids and wild trumpets winding their way up the trunks. Sheer beauty. She was familiar with the various plants and their uses. So many were able to be used to make medicine. Others were poisonous. All of them held a beauty that drew her like a magnet.
A sudden chill slid down her spine, and she froze in place. Something—or someone—was watching her. Her radar went off, and it was never faulty. She judged how close she was to the riverbank. She’d wandered quite a distance examining the plants and trees, lost in her world of discovery when she should have been concerned for her safety.
From deep in the interior, a throaty cough sent adrenaline rushing through her veins. Her heart instantly began to pound. There was something about that sound that had goose bumps rising all over her skin and the tiny hairs on her body reacting. She became aware of every sound. There was a rustle in the leaves littering the forest floor straight ahead of her, and she remained unmoving, straining to hear whether it was a small rodent, a lizard or the whispery tread of the jaguar.