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LENGTH: Mid Novel
SENSUALITY: Sensual

Cover art (c) Eliza Black 2006
ISBN 1-58608-949-8
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Deep in the rain forest of Southern Belize, high in the Maya Mountains, live the Jaguar people. Descendants of the ancient Maya, they are Nahual, born to walk as cat and man.

Devante, prince of the Jaguar, carries the blood of Itzamna, the Jaguar Sun. In order to inherit the throne and save his people, he must join his line with that of Ixchel, the Jaguar Moon. Only one carries this blood.

Miakoda is Leguar, born into a new race of hybrid cats. Half jaguar and half leopard, she was banned at birth by the jaguars for her tainted blood. Now she must join with their prince in order to save the hybrid cats from the monster that created them.

Rating: Contains graphic sex, language, violence, and adult content.

JAGUAR MOON

Scent of a Mate

By

Teri Adkins

© copyright September 2006, Teri Adkins

Cover art by Eliza Black, © copyright September 2006

ISBN 1-58608-949-8

New Concepts Publishing

Lake Park, GA 31636

www.newconceptspublishing.com

This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

Dedication:

For the strength and courage of today’s women, who dare to have it all.

Prologue

Maya Mountains

Southern Belize

In the hours before dawn, Miakoda was slated to die. Devante knew it, just as he knew with her death would go all hope for the Jaguar people.

He had stood witness to it once tonight. The grandparents--the spirits of his ancestors--had shown him every slash across her golden skin, every drop of blood that spilled from her lifeless body. He knew precisely which slice of the claw would be her deathblow.

He cursed his gods, the council. Cursed himself as he slammed his fist against the steering wheel. Why show him the damn vision if he was helpless to prevent it?

The drive through the mountains was taking too long. Giving his pilot time off left him stuck in his old jeep, plowing down vines and trying to ignore the incessant shaking of the front end.

He should have junked it years ago. Served him right for sentimental stupidity, hanging on to the first thing he had ever earned, when he could buy a dozen of them now.

Sweat beaded on his forehead as he tried to maintain control around the curves. The road was no more than a dirt path, rutted from rain and time. With the descent down the mountain, he was gathering more speed.

When he heard the loose rocks beneath his tires, he forced his foot to ease back. With the way his luck was running tonight, he would probably plunge over the side. Yeah, he would be a lot of use to everyone dead.

There were those out there who would be delighted with such news, but he was in no hurry to appease them.

He hit redial again on his cell, praying this time he would hear Ethan’s voice. Knowing all along that if he did, it would mean Ethan was not doing his job. He listened to the constant ringing, then punched end before throwing the phone across the seat.

At the bottom of the mountain, Devante slammed on the brakes. He jumped from the jeep, shifting before his feet touched the ground.

His body was strong with solid muscles to eat away the miles. It would save valuable time cutting through the jungle. The strength and agility of his jaguar would serve him far better tonight than the jeep.

Was he too late? It would be his fault if Miakoda died. Only a fool put off the inevitable. Responsibility had been shackled to him from the moment of his birth. He never resented any of the demands made on him until now. Until Miakoda.

Silently he vowed to reach her in time, even as he forced his body to the edge of tolerance. Well-trained muscle struggled to meet his demand.

Ethan watched over her. He would protect her. Devante trusted his friend with his own life, and had never been let down. Of course Ethan would protect Miakoda. After all, Ethan had not been the one to fail his own sister.

Chapter One

Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary and Jaguar Preserve

Central Belize

Miakoda stood at the edge of the jungle, her predatory eyes scanning for movement. In the darkness, she heard the yelp of the puma. Her lips curled as she mewed her response to the invitation to come play.

This was her favorite time, when the creatures’ songs filled the air, and imperfections were hidden behind the veil of darkness. Her ancestors, the ancient Mayans, believed day and night were two separate worlds. She agreed.

Tonight was the black moon, the darkest night, without reflection from the sun or earth to give the moon a glow. It was invisible, but palpable in each breath Miakoda drew, every beat of her heart.

She didn’t need the moon to light her way. Her cat eyes were made for the dark, bouncing the tiniest of light back to the sensors for a second round of processing. They brought to life a world rarely seen by others. Her world.

The robe slid from her shoulders to pool around her feet as the cool wind danced across her bare skin. Caressing, teasing.

She leapt into the shadows with a fluid motion indiscernible to the human eye, and then moved swiftly through the dense undergrowth. She was a leguar, half jaguar and half leopard. Her eyes held the intelligence of the cat but the wariness of man.

Silent and deadly, she jumped over a fallen log to avoid the white-tailed fawn frozen in fright. He had nothing to fear. She wasn’t the hunter tonight.

Like the jungle, she was edgy. It echoed through the rain forest in the sudden silence.

Miakoda lifted her head, scenting the wind as the hair on her neck stood. No scent was detectable but the threat was there. Somewhere in the dark, a pair of eyes was trained on her. She didn’t need to see them to know they were there. It wasn’t the first time she had felt someone watching. Waiting.

The hunter in her stirred as she crouched low, her eyes scanning shadows in search of prey.

The leguar stepped out, arrogantly blocking the path in obvious challenge to her territory. It was the first time she had seen one of her own.

Excitement welled in her chest as she rose from her crouch and instinctively crept toward him. The shining blue hue of his black coat glistened with tiny drops of rain. After searching for years, she had found the one thing she desired most.

His energy crushed against her, and she felt the man beneath. He was a shifter. The first she’d come into contact with since the day she had buried her parents. She knew of the shifters presence in Belize, but she had made no attempt to contact them, just as they had made no effort to reach out to her. Until now.

She felt his exhilaration in finding her, followed by anticipation of the fight to come. It wasn’t surprising that he expected an unfriendly welcome. Cats in the jungle usually fought for dominance or territory. She wanted neither.

Another step brought her close enough to look into his eyes. They were black, not warm like the night, but sinister and cruel. Empty. She froze.

Opening herself up, she allowed his energy to soak into her. Contact against skin activates sensory receptors, producing the touch sensation. Miakoda’s receptors were sensitive to the unique energy emotions create. Without blocking, she could absorb this energy and read emotion. It was a gift, or a curse.

His hatred hit her with a force, nearly knocking her to her knees. Slowly she began to retreat, pushing away the negative energy sapping her strength. Like all good things, the gift came at a large price.

It was hard to back away from him when there were a million questions she wanted to ask, things she yearned to understand. He advanced toward her, and she accepted the inevitable. If she intended to see the dawn, she would have to kill him before asking a single one.