Emma knew from extensive reading that a courtship between leopards was noisy, but the sounds the female was emitting shocked her. To the male, the vocalization seemed quite alluring. She hissed another rebuff and he retreated further, giving her more room. She continued rubbing her fur along every object she came in contact with. When she reached the floor at the bottom of the stairs, she rolled seductively and stretched.

The male approached, chuffing softly, trying to entice her, and she immediately leapt to her feet, delivering a swipe toward him with her outstretched claws. The male circled her as she continued to tease and play in the seductive manner of the leopard during courtship. She could smell him, a blend of cat, sex and man, all rolled together.

She rolled again, trying to ease her way from the stairs, leading the male toward the great room where the windows were larger and much more abundant. Every few steps she crouched, nearly offering herself to him, but when he tried to come in close to rub his body along hers, she swung her head, hissing, raking with claws, forcing him to leap away from her.

His circles became tighter as they passed the marbled foyer that opened into the enormous great room. As lightning whipped across the sky, the floor gleamed for a brief moment, white with small threads of gold running through it. Propelled by the fury of the storm and the enticing scent she was giving off, the male rushed her, broadsiding her without warning.

Emma staggered, using her flexible spine to turn even as she went down. The male was on her in an instant, gripping her neck with his teeth, biting down hard enough to draw blood as he blanketed her, using his superior weight to crush her body beneath his and hold down. Emma slashed with her claws, trying to rake his belly or sides, going for his legs, but the teeth drove deeper, trying to force her to submit.

She fought with everything in her, continually attempting to rear up like a horse on her hind legs to throw him off, using the powerful ropes and bands of muscles to aid her. Blood ran down the back of her neck and seeped into her fur, the smell of it overpowering in the room. The male leapt away to keep from killing her as she thrashed and raked at him. He knocked her back with a heavy paw, the claws raking her side again, the blow hard enough to knock the female sideways. She rolled and came up on her feet, head down, sides heaving.

Emma knew another battle was imminent and she would lose. She had to find a way to kill him. She hadn’t expected his superior strength. In her leopard form she felt so powerful and strong, and she had thought she could match him in battle. He had lived most of his life in the rain forest, and he’d been shifting for years. She was new to it and had no real experience fighting.

She turned her head slowly and looked into his eyes. Her heart slammed hard in her chest. She felt her leopard pull back as well. The yellow-green eyes held triumph, gleamed at her with evil satisfaction. He was wearing her down, exhausting her, and then he would have his way. He was fully leopard now, even his cunning intelligence defeated by the maddening thrall that was on him.

The male began circling again, vocalizing his interest, his eyes staring directly into hers. She hissed, warning him off, turning with him to prevent him leaping onto her back again. Behind her, she heard the roar of another male. Rory spun, his accordion spine giving him the ability to nearly fold in half. He had recognized the sound before she did and had already launched himself at the intruding male.

Emma caught Drake’s scent before she registered the sound of his voice and she flung her body at Rory, slamming into his side in an effort to keep him from getting to Drake, who had only partially shifted. His back legs refused to shift and he was at a severe disadvantage. He’d left the doors to the house open and the other leopards couldn’t fail to hear the noisy battle.

Rory turned his fury on Emma, delivering a powerful cuff that staggered her, and then he leapt on her back and drove his teeth into her throat in a suffocation grip. Instantly she went still beneath him, recognizing his ability to kill her. Drake shifted to his human form and stopped Conner and Joshua as they burst into the house.

“Let her go, Rory,” Drake said, recognizing the man from the rain forest. A traitor who had thrown out the code their people lived by and had chosen to use his unique abilities as a mercenary, to hire himself out to the one who would pay him the most.

Joshua and Conner, in leopard form, closed in from either side of the male leopard, each roaring a full-throated challenge.

Emma felt the larger male press tight against her, urging her to move toward the entrance Drake guarded. She took a step, then a second, before her legs went out from under her. The teeth raked her throat, caught and bit down again. Rory sunk his claws deep into either shoulder, dragging her back to her feet. Her coat was streaked with blood, dark now with stains. Her sides heaving, Emma struggled to keep moving toward the door.

“Damn it, Rory, let her go,” Drake entreated. He stepped aside, but just enough to allow the two leopards to slip through.

Rory took a firmer grip on Emma, half dragging her past Drake. At the last moment he dropped her, whirled and slashed across Drake’s thigh with a powerful blow, ripping muscle and tendon down to the bone and dropping the man like a stone. Blood sprayed across the floor and up the walls.

Emma sank her teeth into Rory’s leg from where she lay behind him. Even as Joshua and Conner sprang forward, the male leopard had her by the throat, gripping hard, furious now, ready to kill. Conner shifted back in order to save Drake as blood pumped from the massive wound.

Drake shoved at him. “Not me. Save her. If he takes her out of here, he’ll kill her out of spite or take her with him.”