FireStarter
Jaguar Secrets Book 2
Penny is hunting the firestarter who lit the fire that killed her parents. She’s caught others, but ten months after her parents’ deaths, this one firestarter remains elusive. With a single-mindedness she’ll live to regret, she tracks him to a fireground-where she goes from being the hunter to the hunted.

Marshall, a jaguar shape shifter, has known for years that Penny was destined to be his mate. But he’s always held back from her out of fear his past as an abuse victim would be too much to fight. But then Penny goes missing, and all those fears suddenly seem so stupid. He should have been with her, keeping her protected.

When Marshall turns to Clayton, his adoptive shifter-brother, for help in finding Penny, Clayton reveals secrets Marshall could never have seen coming, and everything changes-for all three of them.
Penny
With my heart beating fast, I sprinted between charred trees that appeared out of the smoke filled air as I ran. How on earth had I
thought this was a good idea? I could hear the heavy thuds of a man's boots behind me, and I forced my legs to pump faster.
Ten months ago I'd lost everything. While I'd been driving down to Ceduna for a job interview, some moron had set a fire in my
hometown. It had been over forty degrees Celsius that summer day, and there'd been no controlling the flames once they got going. My small
hometown of Red Gum Springs had been obliterated.
Not one house was left standing.
Including the place I’d shared with my parents.
They'd made a run for it, of course, but they'd left it too late and had gotten caught in the thick smoke. Firefighters found their burned
out car smashed around a tree.
With both my mum and dad inside.
Blinking back tears from both the smoke and my emotions, I focused back on my current situation. I'd been tracking a firestarter on my
own. The police weren't doing enough. Every fire this guy was responsible for, the authorities could never work out how it had been started.
They often found where, but never how. That meant someone was either collecting the remaining evidence soon after the fire passed through or
they were using something that burned away without leaving a trace. I'd been close enough to this one that when I heard the call over my police
scanner I came up behind the fire to see if I could find the ignition point and, I hoped, some evidence to nail this bastard.
But I hadn't been fast enough. Or perhaps, I’d been too fast. Because all I’d managed to do was to disturb the damn firestarter. I licked
my dry lips and dodged around another tree. When I first spotted him, crouched over what must be the ignition site, I'd recognized his face
immediately. When a flash of awareness ran through me, I stupidly gasped. Of course he’d heard the sound and come after me. Now I was
trying to outrun one of the area's best football players, and one of my two high school crushes. Clayton Hunter.
I cursed under my breath when the smoke around me got heavier. I’d unintentionally run toward the flames. Not the smartest move. I
turned a sharp right and headed that way. I hoped it meant I was now running parallel to the fire front. I'd studied up on fire behavior since that
horrific day. I knew if I stuck to what had already burned I was as safe as I could be. At least from the fire anyway.
Between the crackling of the nearby fire and the wind in my ears I couldn't hear anything else. I risked a glance over my shoulder to see
if Clayton was closing in and screamed. I barely managed to stay upright as I stumbled over something on the ground, but I didn’t care. All my
attention was focused on the fact a huge black jaguar was right behind me and there was no sign of Clayton.
Sucking down a lungful of smoky air, I put on a burst of speed, using all my remaining energy to get away from the wild cat. I didn’t
get far before the animal’s solid body slammed against mine, his large paws on my upper back pushing me against a thick blackened tree
trunk. I cried out when the heat of the recently burned wood seared my palms.
A low growl filled the air, and the heavy weight pinning me lifted. I moved away from the tree and shook out my stinging hands.
Gulping a breath, I turned to face the animal. Fear had my skin prickling as I ran my gaze over the sleek creature that paced around me.
The air began to shimmer around the thing and suddenly the cat was gone and Clayton stood in its place, fully clothed.
“What the fuck?”
Shocked into complete stillness, I didn’t move as Clayton stepped up to me. Had I been knocked out and this was a dream? Maybe I was
hallucinating after inhaling so much smoke. My inner monolog was cut off when I found myself slung over his shoulder. Winded, I lay there for
a moment trying to catch my breath and get my brain to function after determining I was definitely awake, and this was really happening. A
man I’d crushed on for years was trying to kidnap me.
Ignoring the pain in my palms I thumped his back with clenched fists while I tried to kick at him with my feet. I didn’t care who, or
what, he was. I wasn’t going to let him take me without a fight.
"Let me go!"
I made as much noise as I could, hoping a firefighter was close enough to hear me. Although it was doubtful with the roar of the fire that
anyone would. He stopped short, and I glared up at him when I landed on my ass after he tossed me down roughly.
"Shut the hell up before you force me to do something I don't want to."
Ignoring his words, and the fact that he could apparently turn into a jaguar, I twisted over to run again, but when I pressed my palms on
the ground pain shot up my arms. My elbows gave out and my eyes blurred. Panting, I sat back and shook out my hands again. Damn burns.
The pain cleared my mind of everything but that. I wiped my eyes against my shoulders to dry them, so I could inspect my burned flesh. They
didn't look too bad. I wouldn't need hospitalization, but they could certainly use some cool water and burn cream.
Clayton’s low growl had me refocusing on the larger threat to my safety. Him. "What are you going to do with me?"
His shirt pulled tight across his wide shoulders as he rested his clenched fists against his hips. The sight distracted my hormones for a
moment, but I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I needed to focus. I'd never considered this man to be physically dangerous, but then
again, I'd also never considered he'd light bloody fires for the heck of it. And I definitely never thought he’d be able to turn into an animal.
"I have no fucking clue, Penny. Heaven knows Marshall will have my balls if I hurt you, not that I ever would, but I can't leave you
wandering around here for someone else to get their hands on you either. So, it looks like you're coming with me for the time being."
Fear had the hairs on my arms tingling. I swallowed past the lump in my throat while I carefully curled the fingers on both hands into
loose fists that didn’t put pressure directly on my burns. I had to get away. I couldn’t let him take me captive.
As fast as I could, I twisted and pushed myself up using my knuckles against the ground. Gritting my teeth against the flare of pain, I
took off again. I made it a whole five steps before a strong arm wrapped around my waist and hauled me back against a hard male body. The
wave of arousal was sudden and intense, and left me breathless and struggling.
"Dammit, Penny. You've forced me to do this."
"Do what? I'm not making you to do anything! Let me go!"
He gripped my chin and turned my face so I looked into his blue irises. I frowned as his pupils dilated and opened my mouth to scream
when a sensation like I was falling swept over me. Before any sound made it from my lips my eyelids slid closed and my brain shut down.
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