There was a long silence while everyone watched the life go out of Gaton’s leopard. Elijah studied the faces. “Does anyone want to challenge for leadership of the lair?” he asked quietly. “Joshua will spare your life even if you challenge him.”

The five men all took a step back simultaneously as if by standing where they were, that might mean Joshua’s leopard would come for them.

“Then you need to swear your allegiance to him or leave now. That woman will be returned to her uncle and cared for. Money from this lair will be given to the family for her counseling and medical care,” Elijah said. “That means if he wants it to come out of your salaries, it does. You knew what was going on and you didn’t do a thing about it.”

“Gaton would have killed us,” one said.

“Then you should have gone to Drake. You know his reputation. You know he would have done something. Leopards aren’t allowed to act this way. We have our own rules and we follow them, even in this business.”

Joshua shifted, caught the jeans tossed to him and tugged them on. “A lot of things will be changing around here. Starting with our neighbors. No more shakedowns. No more ruling them with fear. We keep our lair and our neighborhood clean. You want to stay in, all to the good. If not, get the hell out now, but you won’t be coming back.”

The men looked at one another and then nodded. Each of them, one by one, in front of witnesses, swore their allegiance to Joshua.

“I want all the bodies burned and the ashes taken out to sea. Even the humans. I don’t want any evidence of this battle. So when the bodies are taken care of, and there are a few in the house, get out your tools and repair the damages to the house. I’ll bring in some men to help us get set up. When we’re ready, we’ll do some recruiting, both human and leopard. I’ll need your input because all of you know the men around here. We don’t want killers. We want soldiers who are loyal and who will get the job done.”

The five nodded and immediately went to drag the bodies of the four fallen leopards closer together.

Elijah and his crew stalked up to the house. Evan had set the charges to do the least amount of damage to the building and the most to anyone trying to enter. There were bodies strewn on the ground, but little damage to the actual house.