Page 3 of Fated to the Panther (Mated to the Monster: Season 3)

Chapter

Three

TEN MINUTES EARLIER

KARA

D emons.

Scarred skin, knubby horns and claw-tipped hands pushed ferns back as they launched themselves toward me. Stumbling, I was nearly knocked on my ass before I recovered my balance and my nerves.

Shit.

Spinning in the opposite direction, I ran until my lungs burned. Until my legs threatened to give out. Until I could no longer see more than a couple feet in front of me. And then I heard laughter and vile, taunting words that slithered like a snake along my overheated back. Shivers wracked my body in the over hundred-degree heat. Not a good sign.

“You’ll never escape us, witch.” The slimy sounding voice only intensified the creepy moment.

While I processed that I wasn’t going to be saved at the last second by an Indiana Jones wannabe hero bursting through the overgrown ferns and vines, an animalistic scream filled the humid air. It sounded close, but it hadn’t come from the demons chasing me. And it oddly sounded as if it said, “ M-a-a-ate .”

It was exact distraction I needed as the demons slowed their pursuit. A second burst of energy propelled me forward until a monster-sized bobak tree blocked my path to freedom. As I frantically looked left, then right for an opening through the dense undergrowth, a voice filled my head. “Start climbing.”

Seemed as good an option as I’d ever get. I’d never considered myself athletic, so I was surprised that my first leap landed me high enough to grab onto the lowest branch. My thighs screamed as I half walked, half climbed, using a thick vine as my anchor, scrambling to the next branch, then the next.

I don’t think I even took a breath as I made my way into the tree’s canopy, praying the leaves hid my retreating form. A shimmer of purple light appeared above me like a beacon amidst the dense foliage.

Freedom and safety were so damn close, but before I resumed my climb, I heard the sounds of fighting, screams, and the growl of a cat. No, not a cat, a panther. I scrambled higher, but when my pack slapped hard against my shoulders and back, I couldn’t hold back a whimper. I sent out a quick prayer that the soulless monsters hadn’t heard me.

More screams filled the humid air as the last struggling rays of light winked out. Now in near total darkness except for the glowing barrier, I continued to climb, no longer caring that my poor hands bled from the sharp spines peppered along the tree’s trunk.

Higher and higher I went until I remembered these things could grow to over two hundred feet. But there was no time for an anxiety attack. I needed a hiding place that no one, not even underworld kidnappers, if that’s what they were, would think a botanist on her first assignment into the rainforest might hide.

Reaching for the next branch, the sensation that always preceded my power emerged, followed by a bloodcurdling scream. Was it from one of the demons or the panther? Unsure of why it mattered which one had been mortally wounded, as both were a danger to me, something was calling to me that I didn’t understand. I looked down and when I did, I was gazing into the black panther’s glowing green eyes, not yellow as was typical. The connection overwhelmed me and I almost lost my grip on the vine.

Suddenly, the air around the panther shimmered and a man appeared in its place. Tatted down the entire left side of his body with spots resembling the panther’s, he was ripped and handsome beyond belief. Muscle upon muscle covered his huge body. His naked body.

The spectacular male bellowed, “Keep climbing!”

My whole being vibrated and for a moment I thought I heard a voice in my head, his voice. “My mate!”

I knew safety was guaranteed if I listened, but the need to find out who, or what the man was, had me hesitating. Torn between the onslaught of feelings bombarding my senses and my body as I stared at the man now passed out with blood oozing from a shoulder wound and gloriously naked, I knew no matter how crazy it sounded, that my life would never be the same from this moment.

And it would begin with me doing the most insane thing I could have ever done. Wrapping the vine around my right wrist, I made my way toward the unknown.

A few feet from the matted forest floor, I surveyed the area around him and noticed a black goo-like substance covering the now dead demons. As the visual sank in, I realized how close I’d been to the end of my life.

That voice rang in my head again and I swore it sounded like, “ Get your sweet ass back up the tree and into the treehouse, now! ”

Treehouse? That was crazy. He for sure wasn’t Tarzan and I certainly wasn’t Jane. Maybe he’d suffered a head wound I hadn’t noticed? Maybe I had?

But it didn’t really matter. There was no way I was going to allow my rescuer, naked or not, to become victim to men, er, demons, who wanted me for what reason I had no clue. They knew I was a witch, but other than that, why’d they put their lives on the line to come after me was a mystery.

That was something I’d figure out later because all of a sudden the forest came alive with screeching and squawking. Getting us both to safety was now key to figuring out what the hell happened, and that meant scaling the massive tree.

Jumping to the ground, I barely had time to get my balance when he stood up and shouted.

“Dammit, Kara, I said get up that tree right now!”

Who was this man and how did he know my name? Why should I accept that he wasn’t as evil as the demons after me? “Who are you to order me like this? I’m fully capable of taking care of myself.” The words, of course, were ludicrous considering what had happened, but I would not be treated like a child. I had skills and if I wanted to use them, I could levitate a fallen tree and blast it toward him. If I wanted to.

“You are my mate and you will do as I say when your safety is at risk.” The man swayed for a moment before recovering, and remained standing, his eyes glowing green like the panther’s.

I should be freaked out by how massive he was, and that I’d witnessed him shift from panther to man. Yet all I felt was an urgent pull toward him. As if my future, my life, depended on reaching him. Maybe I wouldn’t knock him out…yet.

I stepped closer, my fear gone.

He wrapped a beefy arm around my waist as soon as I was close enough. He grunted, “Do you ever do what you’re told?” The words were whispered against my ear right before he yanked me to his side, letting loose an otherworldly growl that made all my girl parts stand at attention as he unbelievably carried me back to the tree.

The ascent was dizzying, electrifying, and I should be terrified, but when I searched down deep, all I encountered was a calming acceptance from his presence. Unexpected, yes, but it was as if a piece of my soul, one I’d never realized was missing, had clicked into place.

The scientist in me waged war with my inner witch who had no trouble accepting the supernatural connection tickling my senses.

Did this man know what I was? If he didn’t, what would I do when he found out? There were many in the supernatural world who didn’t trust witches, but still had no trouble paying for our spells and potions.

How crazy was it that in the middle of a South American jungle I’d not only faced imminent death by demons while pursuing my dream of discovering a long searched for miracle plant, but I’d been saved by a shape-shifting man claiming I’m his mate? I mean, what in the shitstorm of a day is my life right now?