“I’ll find him,” Elijah said, and made it a vow.

*   *   *

SIENA floated in a sea of pain for days, moving in and out of awareness. Once she opened her eyes and Elijah was there, his hands stroking her hair, whispering softly to her, assuring her he was there. That she was safe. At times she thought she was dreaming, but that time she knew he was really in the room with her. She couldn’t bear his touch. Couldn’t stand the idea of facing him. She would never be safe again. She would never look the same again. She closed her eyes and he was gone.

Another time she heard muted weeping. It was heartbreaking. She wanted to get up and go to the person to comfort them. They sounded so alone and wept as if their world was gone. It was only when she felt a hand on her forehead, brushing back her hair, and heard Elijah’s voice soothing her that she realized she was the one crying.

She surfaced a few more times and always he seemed to be there, no matter if it was dark or light. She had to have been dreaming, but it was such a strange thing to dream that she wanted to stop. She didn’t even want the man in her dreams, let alone in her hospital room—and she knew she was in a hospital. She remembered what had happened to her—every single detail.

In the car, Paolo had tried to rape her. She fought him hard, but when he hit her in the face, nearly knocking her out, her leopard had pushed forward to save her and she’d allowed it. It had angered Paolo that her leopard had already emerged. His male leopard had immediately attacked the little female. Her female had only come out twice before and had no clue how to fight off a huge male, and he wanted to mate with her. The attack on the small female leopard had been brutal and Siena couldn’t stand it; she’d shifted again to protect her cat.

Siena didn’t want to think about it. She didn’t want to remember the pain knifing through her when the cat mauled her. She didn’t want to think about her grandfather’s death and how her demands of allowing her to have a different choice for a husband had precipitated his death.

Siena tried to force her body back to wherever it had gone, but she could hear the sound of machines and the noise was persistent. A heartbeat. Drumming. And then there was the pain. She wanted to move, to try to get away from it, but found it impossible. She took a breath and forced her eyes open. She found herself staring at a wall. She was hooked up to all kinds of bags with all sorts of liquids in them, and none seemed to be the painkiller that she needed desperately.