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)
Sarika didn’t bend under the accusation—or the veiled threat. Her energy felt serene. She faced the snarling cat with full compassion. From a place of love. Of peace. Tomas realized it would be difficult for any species to maintain anger and distrust for long in the light of her energy.
You had been Solange’s only companion for years. You protected her from the moment of her birth. There was admiration and respect in Sarika’s voice. In the warmth she showed the animal. She has always been yours to look after.
Her life was difficult from the time she was a child, the jaguar answered, somewhat mollified.
Sarika’s praise was sincere, and it would be impossible for the jaguar not to feel that. Not only was it difficult, Sarika said, but she was in danger from the moment of her birth. And you were the one to train her to fight. To give her the skills needed to carry out the important work she did, fighting her birth father and rescuing female shifters.
She made it a statement, again giving the jaguar her due credit. Tomas could feel the shift in the animal’s demeanor. Already she was far calmer and less accusing. The malevolence had faded from the eyes of the cat. She looked lost. Even forlorn. For the first time, Tomas felt empathy for the animal. It was clear she loved Solange and had done everything in her power to aid her human counterpart to survive.
There was such sorrow in her, the jaguar proclaimed. So much and I couldn’t do anything to change that. She lost everyone she loved.
She loved you, Sarika corrected gently. You’ve lost sight of that. She loved you and still does. She still needs you, especially now when she has a daughter coming. Think what that means. Who will teach her daughter’s jaguar to keep the child safe? Solange has always relied on you.
She chose to leave me and become something else.
The hurt the animal felt was devastating. So much so that Tomas felt the wrench, and he wasn’t a man to feel emotions when he was prepared for a battle. He could easily compartmentalize, and he knew it was the only thing to do when hunting the vampire—or a monster such as ancients could become. Yet this jaguar’s sorrow and hurt were so acute that she made his chest ache with pain. He couldn’t imagine how someone as empathetic as Sarika felt. This was going to take a huge toll on her, and he couldn’t do anything to stop it.
Well, he could, but he wouldn’t. This was her woman power. Her magic. Her unique gift that few, if any, others had. It had occurred to him that the two women working in the temple with his lifemate could have been the lifemates of his brothers. It would make sense. The women were the same age. The three clearly had the same gifts and, when working together, were extremely powerful.
He should have taken a closer look at the other two women, but he’d been wholly focused on Sarika and her memories. What she’d gone through. He would have to revisit the memories. He had them locked in his mind. He would have to ask Sarika’s permission to share them with his brothers. He’d always shared information—it was automatic—but Sarika’s private thoughts and memories belonged to her. He didn’t have the right to give them to anyone, not even the two men he loved and trusted the most in the world.
Sarika shifted in her chair, her gaze sweeping over him, eyes still distant and glazed with turning inward, but she saw him. That hit him like a punch. She felt the moment he realized he would be separate from his brothers. It was difficult to think he wouldn’t have what he always had. Sarika was giving so much in the relationship, but perhaps that loss, for him, equaled what she would be losing.
He felt the wash of her female power, the love and compassion that she gave to the jaguar she gave to him. She shouldn’t be aware of his presence, but she was. She was aware of his thoughts as well. He wasn’t broadcasting. He was an ancient, and his kind were automatically careful. They didn’t make mistakes because mistakes would cost them not only their lives but the lives of many others as well.
Yet she knew. She was aware. In whatever powerful state she was in, her feminine magic, that of selfless, unconditional love and compassion, enabled her to see him as well as the jaguar she was engaging. He felt at peace, a testament to her magic, when he’d felt such sadness just moments earlier. He was still struggling with coming to terms with having emotions, and for the most part, he held them at bay. That was impossible when he was in her mind, sharing the experience with her.