Aztec Treasure

Maria Meztli’s POV

Arrowhead Pack Lands

After discussing it with Alpha Chase, we agreed the only open home was not suitable. It was the lake home the Pack is buying just outside the back entrance. Chase said it was too far from the Pack protection I still needed.

Instead, I accepted an offer from Roadkill and Possum to move into the mother-in-law apartment in the basement of their lake home. It was two houses down from the Alpha’s home and directly below the pool portion of the Pack House. It put me a little closer to the front gates of the property, but it was defensible. The tunnel system entrance was in Roadkill’s man-cave, just outside the two bedrooms and kitchenette we were renting from them.

It had taken only a few hours to move across the point with the help of available Pack members. The rooms in Vic’s home we vacated backfilled with senior members of his team. It was a win-win for everyone, including Rori’s mother and stepfather. They got a live-in toddler to spoil when the grandchildren weren’t over.

As promised, my settlement came through, and my bank account reached new heights. I hired an investment manager, using her to build my fortune and set up a trust for Maritza. I kept almost two million in liquid investments on her advice to handle home construction and other expenses coming my way.

That led to the next challenge. Chase gave me a copy of the site plan for Arrowhead Pack lands and asked me to select a location for a homesite. Once I’d picked a spot, I’d pay the Pack for the hundred-year lease and submit plans for my home so they could ensure it ‘fit in’ with everything else. After all, the Pack buildings all used natural materials that blended into the surrounding rocks and forests. It wouldn’t help to have a steel and glass, modern-architecture abomination in the middle of it. Add to that required setbacks, elevation restrictions, sightlines, lake contours for docks, and sunlight? We had a lot to do.

We needed to make some decisions quickly. Lance and I walked along the rocky shoreline as Maritza played in her cat form along the water’s edge. Now that we had a link between us, she could get permission to shift without waiting for me to do it first. Jaguars love the water, and she was trying to trap minnows under her big paws as she trotted along. Roadkill was in the group since he would have to handle connection power, sewer, and escape tunnels to any spot we chose. Possum came along to help watch Maritza and to add her advice. Vic was with us for security. Finally, we had a general contractor, Jack Gleason, and one of the architects who had worked on the original Pack buildings, Audrey Meadows.

The Pack owned a swath of shoreline across the southern shore of Arrowhead Lake. The Pack House and the main buildings were on a point extending a hundred meters out into the lake; the Alpha’s home was on the tip. That left two shallow coves on each side. On the eastern side was where we started, moving along the empty lakeshore from Roadkill’s home. The shoreline eased around until it faced the north again, running about two hundred meters more until it reached the boundary and the front gate. Just on the other side was a ‘cabin’ (think a large second home with plenty of room for entertaining). This chunk of land belonged to the Oxbow Lakes Pack Alphas, a gift from Rori to her Aunt and Uncle. Although not our territory, it tied in with our security systems as our Packs were close allies.

The lake was shallow in this section, with mud and rock base. After walking the length, we stopped to talk about it. “I’m not thrilled about the northern exposure,” I said. “With the land sloping down, getting winter sun will be more difficult. The only spot I like is next to yours,” I told Roadkill. There were two lots undeveloped there, and the back of them would face east or northeast, granting them morning sunlight.

“That works better for us since the tunnel doesn’t extend this far yet,” he said. “Utilities are easy, as they all come in from this side. You’re also facing the human homes across the lake, so you need to be a little more careful you don’t freak them out.”

I snickered at that. “Anyone looking out a window now can see a spotted cat from the Amazon jungles playing in their lake, and it’s no big deal. They know about us.”

“Let’s try the other side.” One of the Omegas picked us up in a van and drove us towards the back entrance, past the beach, RV park, party pavilion, and boathouse. We skipped the outside properties but looked at the sites between the beach and the back entrance.

“It’s quiet out here,” I said as we walked along the shore. This section had sand or sand/gravel mix shoreline that gradually dropped into twenty feet of water.

“It is until the campground fills up and the jetskis start,” Roadkill said with a chuckle. “The real issue here is security. You’re farthest away from the safe room and armory, and extending the tunnels is very expensive. I’ve been talking to the Alphas about it, and we think we’re going to have to put a safe room slash storm shelter out here near the RV park. The land doesn’t rise high enough to put in the tunnels, so those people will have to run for shelter outside.”

We moved to the other side of the Pack marina, where there was room for a dozen homes along the south shore until you reached the current construction. The difference was that the tunnels did come out close enough to connect. “What do you think?”

“One of those spots next to Roadkill. You know Maritza will want to be close to the pool, and we can easily put a dock in for our boats.”

“Boats? When did a jet-ski become boats?”

“His and hers jetskis, a speedboat, and a fishing boat,” he said.

I rolled my eyes. Boys and their toys. “Possum, would you mind neighbors who get a little loud while mating?”

She laughed. “You can design your home with extra soundproofing,” she said. “I’d love to have your little girl nearby. It makes it easier for Grandma to watch them all.”

Alpha Rori’s voice pushed into our heads. “Good choice, Maria. We figured you’d want to be close to the pool, so our lawyer is already drawing up the paperwork for the lease.”

I just laughed at myself; eighteen years old and already predictable. “It makes the most sense, but I didn’t know if you’d want us that close. We aren’t Beta-rank, after all.”

“Don’t worry about that, Maria. Work with the architect to figure out what you want out of your house and get it. We’re excited to have you with us and to have you in the neighborhood.”

“We’re taking the lot next to Possum and Roadkill’s house,” I told everyone. We drove back, and I dried and dressed Maritza up on the way back. Possum volunteered to play with her downstairs while we worked with our building team. We walked the site again, talking about how the slope and the setbacks would affect the design. If we dug out the rocky hillside for a full basement, we could fit two stories above it, each level over 2500 square feet.

Jack Gleason started talking construction. We wanted the roof and exterior to match the existing houses and were willing to use the same Structural Integrated Panels to expedite construction. “We’ve already lost a month of the building season, and we’ll lose another month getting a custom design and approvals. It’s easier since Arrowhead is essentially a sovereign territory, but you’re on a lake, so the state still gets a say. If you want to finish this before next spring, there a few things you could do.”

“Like what?”

“Using a poured-in-place foundation and structural panels is a great way to get weathertight faster. If you do that with standard or slightly modified home plans, it will get us building weeks earlier,” he said. “You’ve got examples around you, and using existing plans cuts down the expense and uncertainty. You can still work with Audrey on interiors, room sizes, and things like that. What I need to get going on is a foundation and exterior panel designs so I can start ordering and digging.” He excused himself, needing to get back to a building site. “Let me know what you decide, and I’ll make it happen.”

“Thank you.” We spent the next three hours with Audrey and her computer. We ended up picking the home design Coral had built that was now Spider Monkey’s place. It utilized much of the lot, and I knew I liked the open design. There was one thing I wanted that was different, and it took a few sketches to get it right. I wanted a bright, tall, and warm four-season porch to get through the winters that would help our cats get through the winters. That meant floor-to-ceiling windows on the south end. We ended up taking a corner of the home and notching out the second floor to make a tall, narrow space with room for cats to play. Inside this area, we’d put a hot tub, a table to eat breakfast, a circular staircase to the master bedroom, and a tree for our cats to climb and nap on. The rest was pretty standard, with lots of bedrooms, a workshop at the back of the garage, a huge master suite, and a big kitchen.

We finally sent Audrey back to her office to start working on the drawings. “Call or email me if you have any new ideas or changes, and you will,” she said. “A few clicks on the computer is a lot cheaper than moving walls.”

“We will,” I promised before she drove away.

We ate dinner with the Pack and wore Maritza out in the pool, but there was something else my cat and I wanted to do. Maritza went to bed, and Possum agreed to listen for her waking up. It was a warm spring night, and the moon was out. “Care to run about the woods with me?”

Lance smiled. “Absolutely.” He talked two of tonight’s patrol wolves into providing discrete protection for us. No longer did the Pack have to hide shifting, so we shifted and had Possum let us out the door. Two patrols in wolf form flanked us as we headed to the center of our Pack lands.

Jaguars aren’t suited for running all day like wolves are. We like to climb and swim and ambush. I struggled to keep up until I saw where Lance had led us; a small meadow near a creek. He stood tall and proud in the center and waited. Running was wolfy foreplay, so he was ready. A normal werejaguar female was only sexually receptive in cat form during her heat. I wasn’t normal anymore; I’d been ready since we left the house.

I crept into the clearing, moving without a sound until I was rubbing my cheek against his side, marking him with my scent. He was bigger than me, and I didn’t resist when he climbed over my raised haunches. His long cock pushed into my waiting depths, making me growl in pleasure as he hilted himself in me. He took me hard and fast, holding me by the neck until he filled me with his seed.

We lay together, talking over the link and watching the stars until his knot receded enough for us to disengage. I shifted back, and he turned with me. It didn’t take long for my hand and mouth to bring his erection back, and this time I rode him. “Do you trust me?”

“With my life,” he said.

“Good. Don’t freak out; you need this.” He lasted a long time, allowing me to reach bliss three times before it got to be too much for both of us. I grabbed his wrists with my hands, pinning them to his sides, and then I focused on a partial shift. My head sprouted fur, and my jaws elongated, and my moans became growls. I moved faster, and he pounded up into me as we raced to a mutual orgasm of epic proportions. “Move your head to the side,” I told him.

He did, and when he started painting my insides, it put me over the edge. I moved down, clamping my jaws around the junction of his right shoulder and neck, and bit down. Warm blood filled my mouth as my teeth penetrated his flesh. I felt something shift inside me, and his eyes got wide open as the full potential of the mate bond coursed through him.

I released the bite as I regained control of my body, shifting back to normal as I collapsed onto his chest. I licked the blood clean of the punctures, and but they didn’t stop bleeding. “We should get those looked at,” I said. “I’m sorry. Big, strong teeth.”

“You marked me. I’m sure it will scar well.”

“Gotta keep all those horny bitches away from MY man,” I said with a smile. I got up and went back to cat form. Lance walked around the clearing to verify his shoulder was all right. “Let’s take it easy and enjoy the walk,” I told him.

Side by side, we returned home an hour later. We shifted on the porch, and I could see the blood still oozing from the wounds. “Jesus, you got him good,” Possum said as we walked in. She led him to the kitchen and sat him on a stool while I got the first aid kit out of the bathroom. She cleaned and disinfected the four puncture wounds, and then we pressed gauze over them until they stopped bleeding. “Normally, I’d put stitches in, but mating bites should be visible.” She taped gauze over them and sent us off to bed with instructions to take it easy for a few days.

He tucked me into his side as he slept. I could sense the bond between us strengthening and smiled as I fell off to sleep.