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VAN

S leep was rough. Putting myself out there the way I had for the first time, only to be rejected, gutted me. I’d revealed my feelings, exposed my soul to Celeste, and what had it done? Nothing.

Except to claw at my psyche.

She didn’t want me. I should have known better.

And now I had too much time to think.

The ship was docked at the cruise line’s private island in the Caribbean Sea—a place I usually loved to explore on my time off.

Beyond the beach was a lush forest teeming with wildlife, a haven for shifters.

The dense green canopy whispered with the flutter of wings and the rustle of unseen paws.

The fragrant scents of small prey trekking over soil called on us to hunt.

We’d have several hours off while many cruise passengers went ashore to bask on the island.

Normally, my jaguar would crave the time onshore. But today…

We could have used the distraction of playing with the band. Of wailing into the mic. A channel for our anguish. The urge to go back to the ship grew.

To return to our mate, a pale beauty who shielded herself from the sun that warmed my skin. A vampire. Never would I ever have thought I’d be intrigued by one, let alone craving one as my mate. Now I pictured my moonlit queen in peaceful sleep in her suite, and I longed to be there with her.

I forced myself forward, venturing deeper into the forest rich with the scent of earth and moss and small animals.

After removing my clothes and stashing them in a storage cube for this purpose, I shifted into jaguar form, my muscles reshaping and limbs reforming to stand on four legs.

My jaguar stretched out and sniffed at the ground, but he didn’t bound into the woods the way he usually did, eager to run or hunt or just frolic.

Instead, he turned his snout back toward the dock and let out a low, mournful wail.

Mate…

I know, I replied, sharing his pain.

It would be a long day fighting the instinct to return to the ship just to be closer to her.

And then what happened tomorrow?

Would I fight this excruciating urge to be near my mate for the rest of this cruise?

What about after she left?

No… I couldn’t go there. Couldn’t bear to think of that separation just yet. A shifter rejected by his mate… I gulped.

Come on , I urged my shifter. We don’t have much time out here.

My jaguar prowled through the tall grasses while birds sang and fluttered through the trees above. He sniffed for small game, but the thrill of the hunt did little to distract him. Within a few minutes, he turned his paws back toward the Moonlight Siren.

She needs space, I told him, the words bitter in my mind.

I thought what we had together was real. That it went beyond pretend. But maybe I was wrong. I was nothing but a distraction. A diversion.

What a fool I’d been to ever think that someone as sophisticated and elegant as Celeste would be interested in a singing buffoon like me.