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

that live near his home, we could probably devise a story that will help T.J. account for the lost time,” Ren thought aloud, inserting himself into the conversation. “We have connections almost everywhere. Plus, we could ask them to keep an eye on him.”

“Ah,” Monty said, diverting his gaze to meet Ren’s. “That thought has merit.”

Ren felt the impact of Monty’s regard. Ren was an Alpha, but Monty was an ancient. He had a real presence that was hard to miss.

“The bigger problem is the mage who put the spell on T.J. in the first place,” Ren reminded them all.

“I got the feeling,” Sonia spoke again, “that he or she wasn’t local to Virginia, but perhaps the investigation into Mr. Cochran’s movements these past three weeks will turn up some sort of lead we can follow. For now, unfortunately, the mage is out of our reach, unless and until we discover more about them. We must be vigilant, everyone,” Sonia warned them all, looking around the table to impress them all with her serious words. “Someone sent Cochran after Ren and Katrina. Whoever that person is, they likely will try again.”

*

Thankfully, the rest of the filming went smoothly, and within a few weeks, Katrina’s part of the film wrapped. She stayed in England a few extra days to be with Ren, but eventually, she made the decision to go back home and prepare the way for Ren with her parents. Parting from Ren was harder than she ever would have believed, but he had arranged for a private jet, complete with a jaguar shifter pilot, so she’d be as safe as possible while they were apart.

Ren had more scenes to do before Sonia would have enough material to start putting the film together. He’d still have a bit more work to do later, as well, but Sonia was willing to work with them so that he could be introduced to Katrina’s parents sooner, rather than later. The current plan was for Ren to join Katrina in New York the following week. She just hoped she could hold out that long without him.

The sooner Katrina could get her family to realize that she was involved with Ren and that it wasn’t just a film set fling, the sooner she could be with him. Her family needed to meet him and accept him before they’d understand why she was dropping everything to be with him. With any luck, they’d love him as much as she did, though she was a bit worried that her folks would be suspicious of the speed at which the relationship had deepened. Then again, Ren could charm just about anyone. She was confident that he’d win over her parents given just a little time and perhaps some effort.

What she hadn’t anticipated was that Ren would send along a bodyguard to keep an eye on her, but that’s just what he’d done. Sitting next to her in the luxurious cabin of the private jet was one of the Hilliard brothers. Bryan was back at the castle assisting Monty’s people with data retrieval while Dave had been tasked to babysit Katrina. She’d gotten used to Dave a little more over the past few days, but he was still a bit of an enigma. He didn’t talk much, and he seemed ultra-serious most of the time.

“How am I going to explain you to my parents?” she wondered aloud, murmuring to herself as she sat across the aisle from Dave. The jet was halfway across the Atlantic, and she was already missing Ren more than she could bear.

“I have bodyguard credentials from the film company,” Dave said unexpectedly, making her start. He gave her a little smile as she looked at him. “We have really good hearing,” he remarked, subtly explaining that he had heard her murmur something she had considered inaudible over the engine noise.

“Sorry.” Katrina could feel her cheeks heating with a blush. “I was just thinking aloud.”

“Understandable,” Dave allowed graciously. “But, if anyone asks, I’ve been assigned by the production company to make sure you’re safe until they no longer need you for the film. We’re blaming the extra attention on Ren’s participation. We like to blame everything on Ren.” Dave chuckled as he rolled his eyes.

“That’s not really fair,” Katrina protested lightly, enjoying seeing a little bit more of the human side of this enigmatic man.

“That’s why it’s fun,” Dave insisted. “You have to understand. Ren has been me and my brother’s friend since we were boys. We all grew up together. When he decided to work in the human world—with those animal eyes of his—we were sure Ren was going to blow everything for all shifters everywhere. Instead, he proved us wrong in grand style. Then, he said I told you so one time too many, and it became our running joke that everything was always his fault.”

Katrina liked the peek into the men’s relationship that went back farther than she’d realized. It also told her a bit more about Dave.

“I’m glad he has friends like you and your brother,” she told him, feeling the truth of her words. “It makes me feel safer knowing that you and your brother are looking after him.”

“Oh, he can look after himself pretty well, but I take your meaning. Since Mr. Bright Eyes became a movie star, his life has gotten weird. It’s been fun to be along for the ride, even though we all know it can’t last too much longer. Another couple of decades, and the human world will start to suspect he’s a bit different.”

“Yeah, we talked about that a little,” Katrina admitted. “That’s when he’s going to retire to Mark’s tropical island and reinvent himself.”

“It’s reassuring to us all to know he won’t be living there alone. Some of us will search for our mate all our lives and never find them. Seeing happy pairings gives the singles among us hope that we’ll find our perfect mates, too.” A tiny bit of wistfulness moved across