The Jaguar Star (Tales of the Were: Jaguar Island Book 4) by Bianca D'Arc (the first e reader .TXT) 📕

back into the forest. Sonia gave the hand signal for all the shifters to gather round, and Ren brought Kat with him into the circle. She as the only human on set today, which worked in their favor. Whatever was about to go down, the less non-magical folk who were aware of the activity in the forest, the better.

“Rufus just made me aware that the perimeter has been breached. There is an intruder on the grounds,” Sonia said without preamble. She kept her lilting voice low, so that no one outside their circle would hear what she said. “The wolves, in consultation with Monty and myself last night, have agreed to help bring this situation to a head. They’re allowing the intruder to believe his presence has been undetected. They’re following him right now, though from what Rufus said, he has some sort of magical interference that makes it hard to keep an eye on him. Nevertheless, he is heading in this direction.”

“Is it our old friend T.J.?” Ren asked.

Sonia turned to look at him, meeting his gaze. She nodded once, her eyes flinty hard. “It is. Which means, I believe he will head here, looking for either you or Kat or both. The rest of you,” Sonia turned her attention to the larger circle, “are to protect Kat. She is not prepared for this kind of thing, and we need our leading lady in one piece when this is all over. Ren can take care of himself.” Sonia’s lips twitched in a grin that was echoed on every face, except Kat’s. She’d learn what he was capable of, but it would take time.

“You can stop the intruder, but once you have him, it’s my turn. Understood?” Sonia went on. Her grin this time, was bloodthirsty as everyone nodded. “Until he gets here, we go about our business as usual…with a few modifications. The cameras will not roll, except for my own private recording, which we might need for evidence—both to show Monty what was done on his lands and possibly to send to the Lords if we get any actionable intel out of the man. Forget the staging we worked out. Our new scene is Robin and Marian at the center of a knot of Merry Men. You all will be the perimeter guard while we await our guest star. You two—” Sonia spoke to Ren and Kat, “—make up some dialog. It doesn’t have to be Shakespeare.”

With that, Sonia went back to the cameras with the small crew of shifters that worked behind the scenes. One of those was Deidre, who was running sound on this picture. Ren caught her eye and relayed a few instructions of his own without speaking a word. He would see to Kat, but he wanted his little sister to be as safe as possible, as well. Plus, Kat was friends with Dee, and his sister would be a good backup if Ren was somehow distracted. Dee’s reassuring nod was all Ren needed as he took his place with Kat in front of the cameras, in the center of a group of very deadly, very ready, very Merry Men.

Kat seemed bewildered by the quick turn of events, but the fear in her eyes got to him most. Ren took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

“Just focus on me, kitten,” he said in a low voice for her ears alone. “Act out this scene with me. Let everything else take care of itself, but be ready to follow any instructions I give you about ducking or running or whatever the scene calls for as it plays out, okay?”

Kat gulped and nodded. The fear hadn’t left her eyes, so he did the only thing he could think of to change her focus fast.

Ren leaned down and kissed her.

He kissed her, and all her thoughts, all her fears, melted away. As they always did whenever Ren was near. Katrina melted into him and let her focus shrink down to just the two of them. Together. As it should be.

When Ren lifted his head, she dimly heard a wolf whistle, and her mind snapped back to the present. Clive was the owner of the impertinent whistle, and she blushed as she met his amused gaze. Ren kept hold of her hand as he addressed the group gathered around them in the old-fashioned language of the script. Only, these words weren’t part of any script. They were pure improvisation on Ren’s part. Something about kissing young lasses in the forest and how the others should mind their own business.

She was glad he was taking the lead because her mind was mush at the moment. She remembered what they were doing and why. She remembered the werewolves in the forest around them and the man they were allowing through their net. The man who was coming here, with what they believed had to be violent intent, aimed at Ren…or Katrina, herself.

She gasped as Ren tugged on her hand, causing her to whirl around so that she faced the cameras. His attention was off to one side, and she had the sinking feeling that something was about to happen.

A split second later, a howling went up from the woods on that side where Ren was looking. Wolves poured out of the undergrowth, of all shapes and sizes. Some brown, some gray, and the big black one that she knew already was Rufus, the Alpha wolf.

Behind the staggering mass of more than a dozen wolves that looked as if they were hopping mad came a man. The same bald-headed man Katrina had encountered in the States. He carried a blade before him that seemed to repel the wolves, even as they tried desperately to lunge for him, sharp teeth flashing in an awesome display.

What followed was sheer chaos as the Merry Men leapt into action. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any better luck than the wolves in getting to the man who plowed through them at high speed, as if they