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

Ren knew that Francesca liked getting the foundational work done here, under controlled conditions, with all her tools, lotions and potions around her, and a steady light source. She probably could, maybe even should, have created a space like this on set, but Franny always said she liked to be mobile during filming, staying where she was needed, ready to fix things on the fly.

She worked fast, and within a few moments, he was ready. He hadn’t objected, which he knew was abnormal. They usually went through a little routine of banter while she fixed him up, but today, for some reason, he just didn’t have the energy. No, all his focus was elsewhere. On the human, as Franny had called Kat.

He was going to kiss her today. He’d kissed hundreds of women in his years in film. Maybe even thousands, though he certainly wasn’t counting. That would just be tacky. Still, something about the idea of kissing Kat made him pause.

And, for the first time ever, his inner cat was interested, too. The jaguar had been watching Kat out of Ren’s eyes. He’d been sizing her up. For what purpose, Ren wasn’t really sure. His inner cat wasn’t quite as at peace with his human half as he probably should have been by this age. There was something still very wild, very restless, about his furry side.

It showed in his eyes. The famous green of Ren’s gaze was sharpened and crystalized by the cat’s energy, showing through. In any other profession, that would have been a detriment, but in Hollywood, people just assumed it was some kind of cosmetic affectation. Maybe a bit of photographic enhancement, even.

Ren couldn’t figure out why the cat was so interested in the human woman. If Ren were more in-tune with his wild side, he might understand better, but as it was, he and his inner cat had always had a somewhat tense relationship. Mark Pepard, the jaguar Alpha, claimed Ren’s inner beast might settle down more if he found his mate. Ren wasn’t so sure.

He’d looked. He really had. He’d dated many different women, from all sorts of backgrounds. Shifters of every species. Humans. Even a white witch or two. He hadn’t really been looking for forever, but if it happened to find him, he believed he had been open to it. Like anyone, he didn’t fancy being alone for the rest of his life. He wanted a mate. He just didn’t know how he was going to find one when no woman he’d met since attaining adulthood had ever stirred the mating instinct.

Hell, before now, no woman had even roused the interested of his jaguar. So, then. Why now? What was it about Kat that made the jaguar take notice? Was the beast assessing her as some kind of threat? Or was there something more…potentially life-changing…going on?

He wished he knew, but he and his cat had never really been in complete sync. The cat seemed like an observer, just along for the ride in Ren’s body, when he was in human form. When he was in jaguar form, the human side looked out from the cat’s eyes in the same way, but somehow, it worked.

Ren knew it wasn’t ideal. He knew most shifters had much more symmetry with their beasts, but it’s just how it always had been for Ren and his inner fur ball. He didn’t know any other way.

Would a mate change that? Would a mate change him? He wouldn’t know, for sure, until it happened, and he was almost at a point where he’d given up on it ever happening. There had been so many women in his life that he thought might’ve been perfect mate material, but none of them had ever stirred the cat’s interest.

“Something’s up with you today,” Franny said as he got up from the makeup chair. “Are you all right?”

Ren gave her a smile and did his best to hide his innermost thoughts. “I’m good. Just a little tired. I didn’t sleep all that well.”

She wasn’t buying it. He could see the suspicion in her eyes, but she seemed to be willing to let it pass, for now. Thankfully.

They walked together to the waiting van that would take them to the location. Katrina was already inside, waiting for them. She’d chosen to sit in the front passenger seat, next to the driver, precluding any closer contact between them while they were driven to work.

Ren guessed he deserved her skittishness. He’d let the cat show a little too much this morning, he supposed. He hadn’t meant to, but he’d probably given her a good scare. Not that she would know what she was frightened of, but many humans had good instincts about sensing predators in their vicinity. Self-preservation was a strong instinct in many prey species.

He knew he really shouldn’t think of humans in those terms, but his cat was a big influence, even if they didn’t always merge seamlessly into one being. Because of his lack of peace with his cat, Ren was more comfortable among shifters, though his work brought him into contact with all too many non-magical folk, more often than not. His fame gave him a good excuse to hide out on his estate, away from people, when he wasn’t actively working on, or promoting, a film.

They were driven to the location, and Katrina took off for the costume trailer. Ren followed behind while Franny frowned at them both. Ren just shook his head. Franny could frown all she wanted. He was going to have to deal with this...whatever it was...between himself and Katrina.

Sonia pulled Franny aside as they watched Ren stalk after Katrina, heading for the costume trailer.

“How’s it going?” Sonia asked, her gaze narrowed on the pair walking away.

“Something’s in the air,” Franny replied. “Ren’s inner jaguar would not stop staring at Kat. It got a little too obvious, I think.”

“Kat is a total innocent. She knows nothing about shifters or the magical world,” Sonia said quietly.

“Regardless, she