Catarina’s eyes were closed. Eli bent his head to her. “Look at me, Kitten. I want to see your eyes.” He used his commanding voice, the one that always made her shiver. The one she obeyed without question.

Her lashes fluttered and lifted. His heart tripped. Tight knots formed in his gut. She was fading away from him. Instinctively his hands tightened on her, holding her to him. He bent his head, his eyes drilling into hers.

“You will not leave me. You understand, Catarina. You will not leave me. I need to know you understand.” His tone was implacable. He wouldn’t lose her. He didn’t allow fear into his voice, but it was there, deep inside, eating him up. He could barely breathe with terror edging his mind. “Say it. Say it to me right now.”

Her lashes fluttered, but she didn’t look away from him. Her gaze clung to his as if he was her anchor, and he intended to be. He knew leopards who had shared a past could eventually be so close they were psychically connected. He pressed into her mind. Used his male shamelessly to press into her female’s mind. He had to find a way to keep her with him, keep an unbreakable thread between them.

He heard the helicopter now, the whop-whop of the blades as it cruised through the air to get to them. Jake was on the radio giving orders. None of it mattered. She hadn’t answered him.

“Catarina, you fucking promise me right now. You won’t leave me.”

She gave him the faintest of smiles and it broke his heart. Her tongue touched her lips. Clearly just moving hurt, but for him, she reached for her voice. “Can I promise that?”

“You can.” He was adamant. Demanding. Arrogant even. “If you give me your word, I know you’ll keep it.”

The helicopter was down, and Eli cradled her as close as possible to keep from jarring her as he ran with her through the clearing to the open field. Her teeth came together and he could see the pain in her eyes, but she didn’t cry out again. She was limp, a rag doll, not holding herself at all, her arms and legs clearly lead, all strength gone.

He pushed down fear as Jake climbed into the helicopter and held out his arms for her. Eli shook his head and made the leap, landing in a crouch, Catarina against his chest. Eli couldn’t take the chance of losing contact with her.

Almost before he was seated, the helicopter was in the air, turning in a wide circle back toward town and the hospital. Jake was on the radio, calling ahead for an operating room and doctors he trusted.

“I know it hurts like fucking hell, Kitten,” Eli whispered, his head bent to hers, his mouth against her ear. “I know you’re suffering and it feels easier to let go. I’m asking you not to. I’m telling you I need you. For me. You have to live, do you hear me, baby? I need you. I don’t want to do this without you.”

He didn’t give a damn if he was baring his soul to her. Hell, it was the raw truth. He couldn’t live without her. He hadn’t been alive until she came into his world. Her laughter had brought him to life. Damn her, she wasn’t going to leave him alone now that she was wrapped so tightly around his heart.

She moistened her lips again. I hear you, Eli, she whispered. Or did she whisper it? Did he hear her soft whisper in his mind? Had he managed to find a way to connect them? If so, he wanted to grab hold with both fists and hold her so close there was no way for her to slip away.

The helicopter landed on the pad on the roof of the hospital. The gurney was waiting, just as Jake had instructed. Eli was reluctant to place her body on it, knowing they would take her from him, but he had no choice. He ran with the gurney, his hand hard around hers, his eyes on hers, demanding. Forcing her compliance.

She kept her eyes open, but there was so much pain he felt sick. She was so cold he felt her slipping away. Her pulse beneath his seeking fingers was thready and weak. Don’t leave me, baby. Stay for me. I need you. Need you so much.

She was gone. They took her through double doors, forcing him to stay back. He felt her slip away from him. Felt the breath leave her body. Felt the moment her heart stopped beating and the pulse went quiet in her body. He felt her leave him. He knew he wasn’t making it up when he heard the voices shouting instructions, all a calm, but frantic fight for her life. He almost lost it, shoving at the two men who stepped in front of him, but Jake was there, one restraining hand on his arm.

“Let them do their job, Eli,” Jake advised. “Both surgeons and their team are well aware of what she is.”

“She’s pregnant. I know she is. I didn’t tell them.” Eli shoved both hands through his hair in agitation. “Maybe a month.”

Jake immediately approached one of the two men who had stopped Eli from entering the surgery rooms. The man turned and rushed through the double doors.

“They’ll take care of it,” Jake assured again.

He’d been there with Emma. The same waiting room. He remembered standing in front of the window, his world bleak and gray. Waiting to know. Waiting to hear if she was alive. He’d prayed for the first time in his life. He knew what Eli was feeling, a gut-wrenching sorrow. An agonizing fear. Terror that the one person who made up his world could be taken from him.

Eli was grateful Jake was there, but he couldn’t talk. He needed quiet. He needed to find the invisible thread that he’d made psychically with Catarina. No one had come to tell him she was dead, so they had to have got her breathing again. He would know if she tried to fade away again, and he would do everything in his power to stop her. She had to love him that much. Enough to endure whatever was necessary in order to stay with him.