He kept his gaze trained on the site where he knew he’d left her, worried now. If this strange male had spotted her, it was possible Paolo had as well. A few moments later, the sound came to him. He didn’t see her, but he heard the slide of a body moving in the grass, moving away from the grove, back toward the house. Siena hadn’t even given him a full half hour before she was on the move.

He knew if he heard that slide of fur in the grass, the other two males, already on alert, would hear as well. His large male launched himself, going for the kill, landing on the lighter-colored cat, teeth sinking deep, claws digging into the sides to ride him down as the branch broke.

They hit the ground hard, Elijah’s leopard driving the other one so deep into the ground one leg snapped and the shifter’s back broke. Elijah leapt off him, not taking the time to deliver the killing bite, which would have been merciful. Elijah didn’t have mercy in him. He had fury. Absolute fury. Paolo Riso was about to pay for his multiple crimes against Elijah’s woman. The beating. The mauling. Every broken rib. Every laceration and scratch. Every scar on her body. Every moment of her terror. Elijah planned to retaliate tenfold.

He dropped the screaming cat just as Paolo’s large male, with a dark, almost charcoal coat and even darker rosettes, leapt from the tree he’d been in and landed a few feet away. Instantly he attacked, rushing Elijah’s leopard. Elijah turned to meet him, running at him, gaining momentum. He’d learned speed in the rain forest. He’d learned how to utilize his flexible spine and how best to protect his body while tearing apart his opponent. He didn’t plan to simply kill Paolo. He didn’t want a clean kill. He wanted him to feel everything Siena had felt, including helpless terror.

At the last second before the two male leopards came together, he swerved, sliding past the other cat, raking a deep wound with his claw from shoulder, across the length of the heaving side to his opponent’s tail. He made certain the claws went deep, well beyond the loose skin, almost to the bone. He dug out four furrows of flesh, fur and sinew. Two steps and he spun, raking the face of the cat, from the top of his head, down across his eyes to his nose. That fast his male sprang away a second time.