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)
She couldn’t leave Solange alone in her fight to save her child. Dominic and Solange both had missed the connection to her shifter jaguar. She was royalty. Her royal blood would never allow any species to take her over completely. Solange had wanted to belong with Dominic so much she had convinced herself that she simply shifted into what she knew best.
“I want to help you,” she admitted. She blinked rapidly, trying to bring herself completely into the present. “I do, I just…” She trailed off because she didn’t know exactly what she was going to say. She looked around helplessly for Tomas.
He was at her side instantly. “I’m with you, sivamet. Tell us what you need. If you want to help Solange, we can find a way. If you want to leave, we’ll do that.”
She couldn’t just leave Solange, not when neither she nor Dominic believed the baby was in danger. She had to convince them.
“I’m sorry I panicked. I must seem like a crazy person to you,” she told Solange. “I felt like I had been thrown back centuries.” She squared her shoulders. “I need you to believe me when I say your jaguar is causing you far too much anxiety. She doesn’t know how to be feminine. Or soft. She really doesn’t know how to have a child. It isn’t that she is causing a problem on purpose; she just doesn’t know how to fit into your life. She’s all warrior, not the lifemate of a Carpathian male.”
Solange turned toward Dominic and held out her hand. “What do you suggest we do, Sarika? How can Dominic and I see and feel what you have?”
Sarika scrubbed her hand down her face as if she could lower a mask to cover her terrified expression. “I don’t know. Tomas suggested that I give consent to him and Dominic to look into my memories to see what I saw and felt from your jaguar.” She answered tentatively, unsure she could follow through. “I just don’t know if I can let them. I despise being a coward, but anytime I think about a Carpathian entering my mind, I panic.”
Why are you feeling threatened? Luiz’s voice pushed into Sarika’s mind. It was echoed by Lojos and Mataias. Tomas, the safeguards are up on Dominic’s home. We cannot get in to aid Sarika. We will have to use our blood bond to see through her eyes to come to your aid.
Sarika realized she had been broadcasting her fear rather than containing it. Her champions had taken that as a call to arms. Her champions. She had to think of them that way. They were Carpathian, and they would come for her. Fight for her. Just as she knew Tomas would. Her lifemate might be standing beside her, looking relaxed, giving off friendly vibes to Dominic, but he was in full protection mode. He wouldn’t hesitate to take on Dominic and Solange in their home if he thought she was in trouble.
I’m sorry. Thank you for your concern, but I have just been confronting nightmares that seem all too real. Tomas is here with me. Dominic and Solange are being lovely over my panic attack.
The three men obviously consulted with Tomas, and then they faded from her mind.
In front of her, Solange nodded her acknowledgment of Sarika’s fears. “I understand how you would feel that way. I did, too, for different reasons. All I can say to you is that we want this child. I never believed I could have one. To us, she is a miracle baby. If something is wrong, I would ask that you help us fix it.”
Tomas, I can’t allow a child to die because I fear someone looking into my memories. She felt desperate and turned to the only person she had any real trust in. She based that trust on all the letters she’d read of his over the years. No matter where he’d been in the world, no matter what he was doing when he’d disappeared for months—and now she knew he hunted vampires—he always answered her. Always made her a priority.
I will be with Dominic. I have ways of shielding you so only the things that need to be seen can be seen. Trust me to do this for you. You can show Solange and Dominic her jaguar so they can deal with her.
Sarika didn’t think Solange and Dominic could deal with the jaguar. She had a nagging feeling she would have to. She knew they were waiting. Patiently. Calmly. All on the outside. Inside, she could hear Solange weeping and Dominic comforting her.
“I will, of course, give my consent to Dominic accompanying Tomas to look at my memories and see if he draws the same conclusion.” She forced a smile at Solange. “I think we need to stick together when it comes to our jaguar sides.”