Wade bowed his head.
Connor shook his. “I can’t carry you. What do you want to do? Stay here until you’re more yourself?”
Maya grunted at him.
Connor looked down at her, scowling. “You aren’t staying out here with him all night. What if more men return to hunt down the cat that killed those men?”
They just might. That’s what she was worried sick about! Lion Mane was still unaccounted for. She wasn’t leaving a drowsy big cat out here to fend for himself. And Connor needed her help disposing of the dead men and helping the female cat to find shelter until she could safely leave the area.
“Maya,” Connor said, exasperated. “You’ve got to come with me.”
Maya glanced in the direction of the resort. She wasn’t leaving Wade no matter what Connor wanted.
“Hell, Maya. All right, stay with him. I’ll get us some clothes and we can carry him back to your place. Don’t get caught.”
She licked his hand, then jumped into the tree. He watched her for a moment, gave Wade a growly look, then shifted and tore off through the jungle.
She’d known her brother would come up with a solution. With tension filling every muscle, she reclined on the branch with Wade, hoping that they didn’t encounter more trackers, the hunters, or any other humans. Or that anyone would find the dead bodies.
She thought they were relatively safe up in the well-shielded tree, but Wade appeared anxious, despite being so lethargic. He kept lifting his head, trying to turn, his tail twitching. She was apprehensive, too, and jumped down from the tree. Pacing between the two dead men, she wanted to move them to their final resting place, a nearby river. The crocodiles and piranhas filling the river ought to take care of the spoils of war.
Two rivers converged not too far south of here. She’d drag Bettinger, the shifter, there first. She gently bit into the gun belt strapped diagonally across Bettinger’s chest and began to drag him over the rainforest floor. She was pissed off at the man for being one of their kind and leading hunters to jaguars. Not to mention that he’d planned to kill both Wade and her.
Wade grunted at her, sounding like he wanted her to stay. She couldn’t, in the event someone came along who was investigating what had happened to the men. She also couldn’t leave all this for Connor to handle. The quicker they took care of it, the better.
She heard water running over debris at the edge of the river some distance from her. A woof made her remember the dogs! She growled under her breath. She and Connor had to free them, too. They couldn’t leave the dogs tied up where another predator could kill them, yet she wasn’t sure how they’d manage that as the dogs would want to chase after the cats.
Dragging the body with her, she didn’t think she’d ever reach the first of the rivers. She waited, watching for any signs of movement—people boating or swimming or fishing. Not this late at night. Unless it was a jaguar fishing.
If she had a flashlight, she could shine it over the water and see the red glow in the crocodiles’ eyes. She heard something slither nearby and a splash.
Shit! She was bringing the crocs dinner, but she didn’t want to be on the menu.
Chapter 14
Connor could not believe the dangerous mess his sister was in. As stubborn as Maya was, he knew he couldn’t budge her from protecting Wade and the other cat. Which put her in even more danger.
Now he’d have to face another female cat who was just as stubborn and would be just as much of a problem when he wanted to take care of this on his own.
“You’re not going with me,” Connor said as soon as he’d dressed on Maya’s deck and found Kat waiting there for his and Maya’s return.
The fact that he was alone said volumes.
“What’s happened?” Kat said, her brows knit in a tight frown.
“Maya’s in trouble. Wade, too. The female jaguar roaming around in our territory has been tranquilized, along with Wade in his jaguar form. There are two dead hunters in the vicinity.” He rushed back to their cottage for a pair of drawstring pants for Wade, Kat hot on his heels.
“Of course I’m coming,” Kat said, sounding annoyed.
He scowled at her over his shoulder as he pulled a pair of pants out of his drawer for Wade. “You’re pregnant. It’s too dangerous.”
“Maya can’t manage by herself. You can’t manage this all alone, either. I’m going with you.” She tucked her dark hair behind her ears, folded her arms, and looked about as furious with him as she could.
“I love you,” Connor said frowning, “and I don’t want you to come with me.” She smiled so brightly that he groaned. “Kat, I really want you to stay.” From her stubborn expression, he knew Kat wasn’t changing her mind.
“We have to run the whole way back. The men were hunters. There are bound to be more of them. They’ve got dogs.”
“I’ll keep up.”
“All right. Shift. It’s the only way you’re going.”
She started to strip out of her clothes. As a jaguar, she could move even faster than he could. “Stay close to me.”
She nodded. Once her blurred form had shifted into a jaguar resting on all paws, he hurried out to the deck. He climbed down the ladder, while she leaped from the deck. Then they were off.
God, he hoped they’d get back before anything else could happen.
Wade couldn’t believe it when he saw Maya come to his rescue, saw the feral look in her eyes when she pounced on Bettinger. He nearly had a heart attack when he heard the hunter return and shout at her, trying to distract her before she killed the jaguar shifter.
With the utmost difficulty, Wade had lifted his head and growled, attempting to get the hunter’s attention before he shot Maya, giving her just enough time to attack the human. After that, he’d had virtually no strength except to somehow manage to get into the tree.
Wade knew when she left him alone in the tree that she intended to get rid of Bettinger’s body before anyone came looking for him. Wade hadn’t wanted her to go. If she was caught dragging Bettinger’s body off, she’d be hunted down. All of them would. Not that she wouldn’t be killed if she was found here with a couple of dead men.
Connor was taking too long. Where the hell was he?
And Maya hadn’t yet returned. He knew the river wasn’t far off, but dragging a 175-pound man had to be slowing her down.
The dogs began to bark again. Someone or something had to be in the vicinity where they were tied up or caged.
He wanted to roar for Maya, to warn her that someone could be coming, but he knew she could hear the dogs as well as he could. Roaring would draw unwanted attention. Wade didn’t want anyone investigating this location, not when he was half dead to the world, with the other man dead on the ground and the female jaguar sleeping like the dead.
Maya was so quiet, blending in so beautifully with the foliage, that at first he didn’t see her return. Her spots rippled like a river current as she stalked toward the site. She glanced up at him, and he felt welcome relief that she was fine.
She listened, ears twitching, eyes focused on the direction her brother had taken, tail slashing the air back and forth, back and forth.
He was certain she was trying to decide whether to move the second body or wait until her brother arrived. He wanted her to stay. Not having a crystal ball, he couldn’t know what the best option really was. But he wanted to keep her in his sights.
Then he heard voices in the distance where the dogs were, and his heart did a triple jump.
Maya didn’t hesitate. She grabbed the human by his gun belt and began dragging him toward the river. If she managed to get him away from the female jaguar and Wade, the hunters wouldn’t likely find them, not as dark as it was now.