February 1st
“Hey, Mama,” said Antonio as he made his way into her kitchen.
“Hey, baby.”
Maria Chavez circled the top of her coffee cup with her finger. She watched as her oldest son pulled a beer out of the refrigerator and chugged it back. Sweat beaded on his forehead.
“Long day, baby?” she asked.
“Uh huh.”
Antonio worked for the timber mill. It was the main source of income for their jaguar leap. As the nephew of the leap’s prime, he could have any job, but he didn’t want preferential treatment from his uncle. To say they didn’t get along was to say that her mother-in-law’s chili recipe wasn’t hotter than holy hell.
Maria bit her lip, loath to bring up the next topic, but knowing that she had no choice. Roberto, the prime, had ordered it, and she couldn’t say no.
It was a tradition that went back over a century, long before humans were even aware of shifters. Back then even though the jaguars were in hiding, they could not always contain their inner beasts, and they were often spotted and hunted by humans.
After one too many of their members had been killed, the small jaguar leap fled from Los Lobos to avoid detection and made a life for themselves on Honey Blossom Mountain. To keep them safe, leap members were forbidden from leaving, and they lived that way, contented for a while.
But, infertility and a high infant mortality rate for females meant that the leap soon struggled, and they found they had many male jaguars and not enough females to mate with. The leap elder suggested that once a year the eligible males would be permitted to visit Los Lobos, find a female and bring her back on Valentine’s Day.
Hence the start of the bride snatching, which still continued to that day. The rules for the jaguars had relaxed somewhat, but this was a tradition nobody seemed to want to get rid of.
Maria could attest to how jarring the tradition could be. One moment she had been flirting with a handsome man and the next she was on her way to her new life. Not that she was complaining… anymore.
“Baby, it’s February first. Valentine’s is in two weeks, which means…”
Antonio leaned against the refrigerator and closed his eyes. “I know, Mama.”
“This will be you seventh year. Prime says…”
Her son let out a growl, which she ignored. “Prime says you cannot put this off any longer. You must find someone this year or…”
He grunted and finished his beer, tossing the empty into the recycling. Women in the leap weren’t officially allowed to earn money. Prime considered that their time was better spent breeding, cooking, cleaning and taking care of the males. But Maria did what she could to earn extra money, including taking their empties to the recycling plant and baking cakes and cookies to sell at a roadside fresh produce stand run by a local bear shifter. Prime didn’t need to know about that money.
“It might not be such a bad thing. Your father had to do this and look how it turned out - we were very happy.”
Antonio slid golden eyes in her direction. “Really?”
Maria reached out and took one of his huge hands in hers. “Yes, I loved him, and I love all my children. My life here was better than it ever could have been if I’d stayed in Los Lobos.”
“Not all females would agree with you.”
“No, the trick is to find the right one. She’s out there somewhere, just waiting for you – the man of her dreams – to sweep her off her feet.”
Antonio looked doubtful, but Maria felt confident he would find the right woman, bring her home, and they would all be one big happy family.
*
February 3rd
“Your ad guaranteed a love match!” snapped Hester.
“Well, usually we can,” spluttered the beaver shifter on the end of the line.
Hester barely bothered to listen to his pathetic excuses. Instead, she raised one of her legs and waggled her foot, admiring her new patent leather, red pumps. Gorgeous. She was glad she had maxed out her pathetic ex – Derrick’s credit card buying them.
Dick.
You date someone for over a year, and they turn around and tell you they want to see other people. Never mind that Hester had it in her head he was going to propose bonding. Nope, apparently, he was desperate to put it to his new hyena assistant. Well, apparently he hadn’t shied away from ‘putting it’ to several other women during their relationship. A fact he disclosed when she started throwing things at him. Double dick sneered her cheetah. That just made her throw harder. Perhaps she should have known it was doomed given that he nicknamed her ‘Hectoring Hester’ on their first date. But the clock was ticking, and at that point, she’d considered that any male would do as a mate. Now with only a month until her thirtieth birthday, the clock wasn’t so much ticking as readying to explode. She needed to find a mate – pronto!
“We will refund your money in full,” said the beaver – the owner of what was supposed to be one of Los Lobos’ best dating agencies.
“I don’t want my money back; I’m looking for what I was promised,” Hester said through gritted fangs.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Carter, but we, ah, we’ve run out of men, and as for the feedback we got from the men we set you up with, well…”
Hester could feel her inner cheetah pacing furiously. “Yes?”
“Words like terrifying, bossy, scary were the most common.”
She huffed. Wusses.
“Perhaps if you reapplied in another year, we might have some more men on our books, and we’d be happy to give you a discount…”
“Forget it.” She hung up.
Oh, her mother would love this. She’d been on her ass to find a mate since Hester turned twenty-one. Another month and she’d turn thirty, and according to the laws of her cheetah coalition, she’d have a mate forced on her, and she wouldn’t have a choice who. As a lawyer she’d fought against the stupid laws, citing that they were outdated and misogynistic. But the elders shot her down – of course, they did, they were all male.
So now that dickish Derrick was out of the picture time was running out, and apparently, the dating agencies in Los Lobos couldn’t handle her.
Idiots.
A knock sounded at her door, followed by Director Sanders.
She used to practice law but made a move to the Supernatural Enforcers Agency over a year ago. Now she provided legal advice. In court, punch-ups had reduced ninety percent after she stopped practicing.
He raised an eyebrow at the foul look on her face. “Bad time?”
“I don’t have any good ones at the moment. You need me?”
“The mother of a bear shifter we arrested about nine months ago just marched in here demanding to speak to someone. She’s threatening to sue. Says the agent who arrested her baby boy was unnecessarily aggressive.”
“Hmmm, seems like a delayed reaction. Cutter arrest him?” Most of their complaints were about the wolf shifter.
“Nope.”
“Isis?” The tiger shifter was second in line.
“Nope.”
“Hmmm.” She tapped a pencil against her desk. “You seem a little too happy with the situation. It wasn’t the mole shifter from narcotics was it?” Like most moles, he was tiny and had very poor eyesight.
“Nope.”
“I give up.”
“Erin.”
Hester barked out a laugh. “You’re kidding?”
Director Sanders shook his head.
“But she’s human, and back then she had to be pretty heavily pregnant.”
“Yep. The woman’s clutching at straws. I have numerous other witnesses – both SEA and the public who can attest that Erin was the kindest she could be while arresting him, and at no time did they see the tiny, pregnant human rough up the seven-foot bear shifter. But she brought a lawyer with her, and I could use your advice.”
“Sure. Who’s the lawyer?”
Gerry grinned. “Happy Herb.”
“Jeez, the ambulance chaser who advertises on Channel Cinco Y Cinco?” It just got better and better.
“Yes, I met him down in the lobby, he was talking millions in a settlement.”
“Oh well, crushing him should be fun.”
“My sentiments exactly.”
The day was looking up. Plus, it would distract her from the ticking time bomb on her single status. Maybe she should put an ad out in the paper – strong male wanted for a mate. Pussies need not apply.