The Moon Goddess' Chosen

418 Watching Over Me

The trio stared at the jaguar’s catlike eyes, each of them barely moving an inch caught in a stalemate where none of them did a thing. When they arrived, the Jaguar had taken on a defensive position allowing a view of the three wolves.

Even then, however, the cat’s claws hadn’t drawn its claws yet which struck the wolves as odd. Nevertheless, this was a jaguar. The creature itself was far from its natural habitat, to begin with.

If it hadn’t been for the wilderness classes that Lina had taken in preparation for the Trials, she wouldn’t have known what kind of animal faced her. But that didn’t explain their sudden run-in with the big cat.

As far as she knew, jaguars didn’t live in this part of the empire and yet, there it was, clear as day. Blood rushed through her system twice as fast as it normally did, pumping adrenaline into her system and slowing everything around her.

Lina noticed the alpha’s brows knit and his muscles tense up suddenly. To her, the man was moving in slow motion, but Lina could tell his intentions from the slight body movements, “Don’t challenge him.”

The cat itself showed no fear towards the three wolves. Even when outnumbered, the jaguar looked relaxed. Lina wasn’t so sure they could take on the creature even with their numbers. The fabled power of the jaguar was almost unimaginable.

From what Lina had learnt from Alpha Jackson, animals rarely attacked without provocation. Any harm that came to the jaguar was bound to be their fault.

Lina had called on her companions through the mind link when she found the jaguar and they’d come to her aid only to find her and the big cat staring each other down.

“What then?” Wyatt asked through the mind link, feeling the ground under his claws as though getting ready for anything to happen.

.....

“Don’t move a muscle. I don’t sense any hostility coming from him. Perhaps, he’ll just choose to walk away,” Lina replied through the mind link.

Being werewolves of significant rank, they weren’t smaller than the jaguar, but the jaguar wasn’t weak either. Among the creatures of the wild, it stood among the strongest of apex predators. It was agile and stronger than most creatures out there, perhaps the strongest. And it would be foolish for a werewolf to pick a fight with it.

“What do you mean, ‘wait’? It’s a jaguar, Lina. We should be running or attacking. This thing will...”

“Stay quiet,” Lina barked through the mind link. The alpha ground his teeth in frustration but adhered to the princess’s orders.

It seemed the jaguar held the gaze of one wolf, in particular, Lina while leaving the rest in peripheral vision. Perhaps it had recognised the alpha of this group or it simply kept its eyes on the first wolf to come across it.

The air was so tense that none of them could think of something other than their survival... which was why Crysta and Wyatt were both shocked when the Royal White wolf standing between them took a step forward and bowed to the black jaguar, completely lowering her guard in the process.

“Lina...” Crysta internally screamed, but the girl completely ignored her. ‘Now what? That’s reckless...’ her thoughts thundered. Her frustrations were soon snuffed out by an unexpected turn of events.

To their surprise, the big cat relaxed and dipped its head, mirroring the princess’s gesture before prancing away from them, gone from sight... as though the jaguar had never existed. Lina rose up and stared at the place the jaguar had been in only moments prior.

A strange excitement as well as a tinge of longing filled her. A wave of nostalgia washed over the princess. Savouring the joyous emotion, the girl turned back and started jogging back in the direction of the camp, “Crysta, let’s try lighting the bonfire without a match.”

Crysta looked between the empty void of black where the jaguar had been and the alpha beside her, trying to understand what had just happened. When it was clear Wyatt was not going to offer her an opinion, she also turned toward their camp.

There was a change in the mind link too. Lina was in high spirits now, compared to the rage that had filled her when she’d left them. ‘You’d think facing a jaguar would leave someone terrified,’ Crysta thought to herself. When the two wolves reached the camp, they found Lina seated cross-legged by the fire pit blowing a small ember over dry grass.

It was only moments before the small ember erupted into a decent flame. The princess tended to the flame, humming to a familiar tune until it was a decent campfire. “Help me cut up the meat. We could roast it over the fire. I at least remember seeing salt in your bag. We should be able to eat something nice tonight,” Lina skipped over the bag that belonged to Crysta and started ruffling through it in search of a pack of salt.

The delta hummed in reply and walked up to the skinned deer. With Wyatt’s help, the two got to work preparing their supper. Lina went about setting up the fire for roasting the meat.

She placed two large flat-topped stones on two sides of the fire. Narrow sticks were set on one of the stones and the princess was sharpening each of them with a spare knife she found in Crysta’s bag... ‘Meat skewers,’ Crysta thought when she caught on to the princess’s idea.

The process moved rather quickly and before they knew it, Lina, with a little help from Wyatt, had prepared a sumptuous meal of roasted meat. The peaceful smile Lina carried never once faltered, “Someone’s in a good mood,” Crysta observed when they were done with their meal.

Lina was quiet for a moment before replying, “Yeah... I haven’t felt my sister’s presence in nearly two years.” In her mind, ‘At least I know she’s watching over me...’ the princess unconsciously looked up at the moon high in the sky, ‘Just watch me, sister. I’ve come so far...’