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

Ren knew that Kat would be on location for the rest of the day, even though she didn’t have any more scenes to film. She was scheduled for costume fittings, which were best accomplished in the trailer right now, as the whole costume department had set up shop there for the duration of the shoot. Ren was filming one of the fight scenes with his band of Merry Men, so he was kept busy all afternoon, but now that the secret was out, the other shifters helped him keep tabs on Kat.

Inviting her along to the island was about as clear a declaration of intent as he could make at this point. His Clanmates knew, without being told in so many words, that he was looking at Kat as a mate, not just a temporary girlfriend. They were supportive and helped him stay sane by reporting her whereabouts throughout the afternoon. His inner cat wanted to be with her. It wanted to keep her in his sights at all times, but the human side knew he couldn’t turn stalker on her. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her off.

No, now that he’d found her, he had to play it cool. She didn’t know about his shifter side. She seemed completely innocent of the magical world. He had to find just the right way to make her aware of the bigger world out there and his place in it… And the place he wanted her to have, at his side, as his mate.

His inner jaguar calmed when he noticed Kat sitting in the crowd behind the cameras, watching the fight scene unfold. They had to do many, many takes to get all the action and the various angles Sonia wanted, and anyone who wasn’t working had come out to watch. There were many moving parts to this scene, and Ren’s bit with his Merry Men was very athletic. He refused to have a stunt double, so he went through the routine over and over, as many times as Sonia needed to get all the shots she wanted.

When she finally called it quits, the watchers broke into applause. Sonia waited for it to subside then thanked everyone for their hard work and telling them to get dinner and be back for the night shoot, if they were in it, at nine p.m. Ren was looking forward to it. He had another scene with Kat. But, first, dinner.

Franny caught his eye and motioned him over to where she was standing with Kat and a few other Clanmates. Ren went, aware that he was sweaty and really needed to get out of his costume.

“We’re heading back to the hotel,” Franny told him. “Kat’s going to join us all for dinner in the hotel restaurant. Want to meet us there?”

He looked at the rapidly filling shuttle busses and then back. “If you’re willing to wait for the next van, I’ll go with you. I just need to change.”

Franny made a show of looking over at the vehicles then nodded. “Sounds good. Meet us by the vans. We’ll wait for you.”

Ren loped to the costume trailer, shrugging off his shirt as he went. A few of the women in the cast gave him a wolf whistle as he passed, but he was beyond noticing. His inner cat was urging him to hurry so he could be with his mate again as soon as possible. He dumped his clothes in the waiting hamper and shrugged into his street clothes, tugging on the T-shirt as he leapt down the steps of the trailer.

Covering ground quickly, he got back to the group that included Kat even before they’d made it to the loading area for the vans, in the front drive of the old church. He sidled his way up to her, and she looked around, surprise on her expressive face.

“That was super fast,” she told him. “What did you do? Streak through the picnic pavilion?”

“Just about,” he confirmed with a grin. “Didn’t want to take the chance that you guys would leave without me.”

“I wouldn’t let them, even if someone suggested it,” Kat confided. “That would just be rude.”

“Thanks,” he told her, meaning it. He was touched that she would have stood up for him, even on such a small matter.

The next van pulled up, and they loaded on, one behind the other. Kat went up the steps first, and Ren was right behind. The numbers worked out so that she got the last seat in one row, and he had to sit in the next row forward, but he could easily turn to chat with her and the others behind her during the short ride.

Which was just what he did. They stuck to neutral topics, like what they planned to order for dinner and the night shoot that was scheduled for tonight—which promised to be a full moon, as well. The windows on the luxury passenger van were darkened so that no one could see in, but they could still see out. As they pulled up at the hotel’s front entrance, Ren saw a small group of people with cameras hanging out, waiting for a chance to snap photos.

“Looks like the paparazzi have found out where we’re staying,” one of the men commented as Ren suppressed a growl.

He really didn’t want to have to deal with this garbage tonight. His life had changed fundamentally today, and he wanted to enjoy it, not do battle with pushy photographers who might somehow hurt Kat with their aggressiveness or by publishing a bad image that might embarrass her. She was still so new to this life. He didn’t want anything to shake her confidence before she really had a chance to find her feet.

“Let me go first. I’ll distract them while you all scoot inside,” Ren offered. What he really wanted was for the rest of them to look out for Kat, but they were all Clanmates, so they understood without him having to come out and