“Boss says track her but don’t get close. His male is a fuckin’ killer, Vitaly. I kid you not. That’s his woman and you get near her, his male will tear you to pieces,” Timur said, his voice tight.

The guard swore out loud in Russian, and Evangeline was fairly certain he said far worse than she had. She kept moving, a little slower, a little lower to the ground, trying to move with the wind instead of against it. She didn’t want her female broadcasting to every male in the vicinity.

Not all me. You’re fertile as well.

Great. She’d had unprotected sex like a complete idiot and she was fertile. She came to the edge of the shrubbery and found herself right at the very tip of the grove of trees. They were tall and thick and formed a dark, intriguing forest with the canopy high and the branches intertwined, forming a highway for leopards.

She knew exactly what she was looking at. Arnotto had deliberately cultivated the trees to grow for an emergency escape route. The dark was inviting, but there were a number of male leopards on the property. More than she’d realized just staying in the house. Alonzo was well protected, with a security force of leopards and soldiers that were human but loyal.

She was going to have to do her thinking on the run, not the best of circumstances, but sooner or later the leopards would corner her. Once they shed their human form, they could track her very easily. Without broadcasting pheromones, she would have stood a chance, even bet she had even odds, she knew she was that good, but not dousing everything she touched with “come hither” scent.

She wanted time with Alonzo. That’s what it boiled down to. Time without men trying to kill her or going into heat and having their leopards take over. She needed a foundation with him, and she needed it to be solid if this thing between them was going to work. She had to trust him with more than her body. She had to want to be with him for more of a reason than wanting to be the one to give him something he’d never had before.

She melted the moment he was around. No, it was worse than that. Hearing his voice. Seeing his face on the screen. She had no idea how other women felt, but she always wanted to hold him close in her arms and offer him—everything. Was that even normal? She didn’t know. She’d never witnessed a relationship between a man and a woman. She’d heard about it from Saria, but only in brief terms, and most were simply that Saria was crazy in love with Drake.