Rafe’s male’s tail switched. The wind ruffled his fur. She watched his eyes. The hatred and anger receded just a little, and Catarina knew Rafe was fighting for dominance. The cat wanted her female’s submission. Rafe didn’t mind beating her, or allowing his male to beat up the female leopard, but he still didn’t want her dead, and that was an advantage – a small one – but still an advantage.

The male launched himself at her. His speed was breathtaking. The female tried to whip around, out of the way, but the leopard anticipated her movement and was on her in seconds, slamming her to the ground with his heavy body, his claws ripping into her sides, raking deep as his teeth sank into her shoulder, just behind her neck.

The pain was excruciating. Her leopard went still. Trembled. She was too new, too inexperienced, and the male was frightening. Terrifying. She simply disappeared, allowing her human to take her place.

The change happened so fast, so smoothly that for a moment, Catarina didn’t realize what happened. Pain crashed through her body. She smelled blood. Felt it running down her back and the sides of her body. She felt the hot blast of the leopard’s breath, the weight of his body as he pinned her to the ground, mauling her. Desperately she placed both hands over her stomach, trying to curl, to bring up her knees, as the claws shredded skin right down to the bone, but the leopard held her mercilessly in place.

She was going to die and there was nothing she could do about it. Rafe’s leopard killed countless women. She heard screams, horrible wailing cries of pain and fear rising on the wind. It took a moment to realize it was her voice. Her agony. His terrible claws slashed and burned through her body. She couldn’t even curl up into a little ball no matter how much she tried. There was no way to protect her head.

“You’re okay, Catarina.”

Rafe’s voice was gruff. He sounded as afraid as she felt. The weight of the male leopard was gone, but she couldn’t move. She drew her knees up under her, trying to find a way to breathe. Blood was everywhere, her body slick with it. She hurt everywhere, as if the heavy leopard had battered her, and maybe he had.

“Catarina, I need to look at you.” Rafe injected more command into his voice.

She forced her head to turn toward him, flinching with the pain of just that small movement. Her shoulder and neck felt torn. Rafe’s eyes were dark with worry.

“You can’t ever allow your leopard to leave you facing another leopard,” he lectured in a harsh tone.

She realized immediately he’d been terrified for her. Like Catarina, Rafe had feared his leopard would kill her before he could get the large cat under control. Rafe controlled his fears by going to someplace cold and barren where nothing touched him. Nothing but Catarina.

His hands moved over her body to inspect the savage wounds on her right side. “These are deep. You’re going to need stitches. Infection is a problem with this kind of wound. We’ll put you on IV antibiotics immediately. Can you move a little so I can look at your other side?”

Now that he was doing something to aid her, his tone had gone to brisk and matter-of-fact. His momentary lapse was gone and Rafe was once again in complete control.

She could barely breathe let alone answer him. Tears streamed down her face, although she wasn’t certain if she was really crying or if it was an involuntary reaction to pain. She’d never felt agony like this in her life. She didn’t know a person could live with such pain.

Rafe didn’t wait to see if she could manage on her own. He gripped her arms to shift her to one side, but his hands slipped through the blood and fell away. He cursed and looked at the puncture wounds on her shoulder. She was losing a lot of blood there as well. His cat had been savage in establishing dominance over the little female. The moment the little leopard had disappeared and the male had a human under him his instinct was to kill. Rafe had used every ounce of his own strength and iron will to pull the leopard back and allow him to shift.

“Let’s get you out of here. I have a vehicle just outside the tree line. You need medical attention, Catarina. It’s going to hurt when I lift you. If you feel yourself passing out, just do it.”

She was surprised at the gentleness in his voice. He had never been a gentle man, but he was afraid for her. She knew she was in trouble just by his voice.

His arms went around her and he lifted her. She screamed as sheer agony ripped through her. Her sides felt as if someone had ripped them apart, exposing bone and organs to air.

Rafe suddenly cursed and nearly tossed her away, but at the last minute he went down on one knee and shoved her away from him. She hit hard and rolled, leaving smears of blood in the grass. The action took what little air remained in her lungs so she couldn’t even cry out.

But she saw him. The huge black panther charging toward them. His golden eyes were deadly and focused wholly on Rafe. Already Rafe was shifting, rushing toward the black leopard as he did so to give his leopard momentum. He was fully cat by the time the two males came together in a terrible crash of heavy bodies.

Roars of challenge filled the air. The sounds were terrible. Fur flew. Droplets of blood sprayed high in the air and surrounded the two combatants. They reared up on their hind legs like two primal beasts, raking with hooked claws and biting with terrible teeth. They dropped apart and charged again, leaping into the air, changing direction in midair, using flexible spines to try to get a killing position on the other over and over.

They were both experienced fighters and strong males. Roped muscles moved fluidly beneath the loose skin that protected them from the teeth and claws of their adversaries. They hit each other so hard, driving first Rafe and then Eli from their feet, the sound horrible each time their bodies came together, like two freight trains crashing. The ground shook at times.