The wind was blowing toward her and she could smell the humans now—the enemies—waiting in their expensive trucks to steal her child from her. Cathy and Ryan Bannaconni and the despicable Trent, probably ready to fight over her baby, unless the plan had been for Rory to return with Andraya so they would have two.

She bared her teeth and without hesitation followed the big male leopard and Kyle into the clearing. Emma’s leopard skidded to a halt some distance from the group. They were very aware of her, Trent holding a rifle on her, while Ryan Bannaconni lifted Kyle into the air, ignoring the boy’s struggles. Cathy smirked, although her fascinated gaze kept shifting toward Clayton as the leopard’s body contorted and writhed on the ground for a moment before the man stood, totally naked, all roped muscles and heavy genitals. He stood uncaring of his bare state, inspecting his shoulder where the bullet had kissed him.

As she broke into the clearing and halted, Clayton turned his hungry eyes on her. Emma paid him no attention. Kyle was the only person who mattered to her. She shifted, not quite as fast or as eloquently as the male, but she stood in her human form, naked, only her long hair cloaking her body.

Cathy gasped. Ryan lowered Kyle to the ground, still holding him prisoner.

Trent looked into the trees, shook his head and dropped the rifle to his side, barrel down, a smirk on his face. “I knew it. I knew I was right about her.” He looked at Cathy. “You said she couldn’t shift. The genes were strong, but she couldn’t shift. My family did produce a shape-shifter after all, and a female at that. She belongs to me.”

“I don’t think so, Trent,” Ryan said. “I’m the one with the bargaining chip.” He tightened his grip on Kyle and the boy cried out.

“Give me the child,” Emma said very calmly. “You’re scaring him.” She refused to cover herself up, standing as tall and as confidently as she could. Jake would come. The knowledge was her shield. He would come and no matter what, he would keep Kyle safe from these terrible monsters.

“Come to me and I’ll let him go,” Ryan answered, holding Kyle by his hair. “A fully grown female is worth far more to us than this little runt.” He actually lifted Kyle by his hair a couple of inches from the ground and shook him.

Kyle screamed, kicking out with his feet toward Ryan, his eyes glazed with fear.

Cathy laughed. “He’s not quite as stoic as Jake, is he, darling? He probably isn’t even a leopard. Jake never made a sound, no matter what we did to him.” She tilted her head at Emma. “How stoic are you, dear? When you feel the lash or the cane, are you going to scream like this worthless baby or be silent like Jake?”

Emma refused to be intimidated. She let the other woman see death in her eyes. If she had to die this night, Cathy Bannaconni was dying with her. She would not leave her son in the hands of a madwoman. “You’re insane. You know that, don’t you?”

Cathy continued to smile, but her eyes went bright and hard, a flicker of cruelty giving her away before she kicked Kyle hard in the stomach. The boy doubled over and would have fallen but for Ryan’s grip in his hair.

A low, warning growl rumbled in Emma’s throat. She felt her muscles contort and her hands curl. A wave of itching ran beneath her skin and she breathed hard to stave off the change. She forced a smile. “I wonder how you’ll scream when I tear out your heart and show it to you,” Emma said, very calmly, her voice low, meaning every word.

Cathy went pale and glanced quickly toward Clayton, as if for reassurance that he could stop the smaller leopard should it be necessary. She actually took a couple of steps toward the man but he looked her up and down with contempt. It was obvious she wasn’t getting protection from that direction.

“I own her,” Trent said. “It was my money my nephew took to bring back her mother.”

Emma glanced at Clayton, sensing his barely concealed disdain for the others. They carried the leopard blood, but they weren’t shifters, and although Clayton had sold his services to them, he didn’t respect or like them. And with her so close to heat, his leopard was reacting whether he wanted it or not. She sent him a small smile of camaraderie, even an alluring one, moving her body in a slightly sinuous manner, as if her leopard needed to get out, hoping for an ally when the fighting came. She wasn’t going to be able to take them all.

Emma turned back to the enemies, not waiting to see Clayton’s reaction. “No one owns our kind, Trent. You haven’t really learned much after all the years you’ve had to study our species. You’re so arrogant, thinking that thin blood running in your veins makes you special. Clayton allowed you to buy his services. Jake allowed you to torment him as a child. He could have crept into your room any night and killed you both. Have you ever thought about that even once? Probably not because you’re not really very intelligent, are you?

“We have retractable claws, and they’re sharp, Cathy, sharper than any other mammalian claws. Did you know that? They’re rather like stiletto switchblades. We have five on the forefeet and four on the back. A good number to take you out at the breakfast table with, don’t you think? And then there are our teeth. We can shear through muscle like knife blades. I’ll bet Clayton has more than once considered killing you just to shut your insulting mouth. Jake certainly did. A lot of times. Leopards are silent and cunning and you’d never have seen it coming. We don’t do anything we don’t choose to do.”