The golden leopard rolled fast as the larger leopard drove after him, Remy relentless, wanting to end the fight fast without killing a member of his lair. Remy followed up his advantage with a punishing slap of his paw, claws slashing the side and neck of his adversary. Streaks of blood instantly matted fur. Robert kept rolling until he slipped into a tight opening in the brush.

Remy’s leopard slammed into the shrubs, ripping through branches and leaves, using his superior weight and heavy muscles. He landed on the back of the golden leopard, driving him to the ground. Instantly, he flipped the smaller leopard and settled his teeth around Robert’s throat. Silence instantly descended in the swamp until there was only the sound of ragged, hot breathing coming in gasping puffs.

The two leopards stared at one another, Remy not giving an inch. It wouldn’t be difficult to bite down and suffocate the smaller male if he made one wrong move. His leopard raged at the control he was imposing, furious that the intruder had challenged him for his mate. His mark was on her, his scent. There was a code of honor within the lair, and Robert had ignored it. He was within his rights under their laws to kill the challenger.

Movement to his left had him biting down a little harder in a threat. He hadn’t smelled Robert’s brother Dion, but they were rarely separated, although he’d noticed that more and more Dion had seemed upset by his brother’s bullying ways. His gaze shifted for just one moment. The little female watched intently, curled up to make herself smaller. Bijou had risen closer to the surface, and he could scent fear along with the female’s excitement of the courtship rituals. The female trembled, her coat damp.

There was no way to reassure her in his present form. Killing Robert in front of her wouldn’t give her cause to trust him either. Beneath him, Robert’s leopard suddenly relaxed and submitted. Remy held him that little bit longer to warn him not to be stupid. It took everything he had to hold his leopard back from the kill.

Disgusted, his leopard dropped the golden leopard’s throat and backed off, snarling as he did so. Twice he charged the smaller male, roaring as he did, swiping his enormous paw in the grass and leaves, sending vegetation into the air. It took a few minutes for the leopard to settle enough that Robert could get up cautiously and slink off into the heavier brush and sprint away.

The moment he was gone, the female leopard took off in the opposite direction as if running for her life—and maybe she felt as if she were. He couldn’t imagine what it was like for Bijou to discover at such a late date that she had an animal form living inside of her. She didn’t know how she could move between forms, how she would come to control her leopard and keep the animal’s emotions from affecting her too much. Her leopard was probably just as confused and scared as she was.