His hands soothed her, moving over her gently, shaping her curves, stroking her skin. He rubbed some kind of ointment into the bites and covered them both with Band-Aids. Clearly he’d come prepared. He kissed his way over her shoulder and down her back, slowly allowing her top to drop back into place. He turned her into his arms and pulled her tight against his chest. Ania did her best to calm her ragged breathing.
“What just happened?” Her voice was muffled, but she didn’t care. She needed him to hold her.
“Your female is going into heat, Ania. Were you aware of your leopard?”
Was she? She knew about shifters. Her father was one. Once, he’d showed her how he could shift, and he told her never to be afraid if her leopard suddenly revealed herself. He claimed it was freedom to run in the form of a leopard. It was one of the reasons they had bought so many acres there in the hills rather than having a home in the city.
“I don’t know. Sometimes I felt her,” she admitted. She ran every evening after she spent time with her father, mostly to rid herself of excess energy and the ever-present grief and anger she felt after seeing the once-vibrant man slowly reduced to a vegetable. When she ran, she was faster than she believed was possible. She could leap distances and could often jump over fallen tree trunks when they were in her way.
“She will be emerging soon.” Mitya kissed the top of her head and walked her back to the table. “When she does, my leopard will act on his claim. They are a bonded pair.”
Ania sank into the seat and pressed her hand over her eyes. She had always hoped she would have a leopard, that she was born with the shifter genes, but now, she wasn’t so certain. When she thought Mitya wanted her for her, it was heady, wonderful and an unexpected gift. She felt so alone all the time. Even if she knew on some level that it wasn’t a good idea to give in to her attraction to him, it was amazing to have a sensual man like him want her. She needed to feel as if she was his entire focus. Now she knew it wasn’t her at all. It was his leopard and her female.
“I see that your mind is busy setting up barriers between us once again,” Mitya said, picking up his knife and fork. He regarded her steadily with his unusual blue-green eyes.
“I don’t do that.” She could hear the lie. The steady gaze never left her face, and she found herself turning red and squirming. “All right, maybe I do. But in this instance, I think I need some breathing room to think this entire thing through.”
“What’s to think about? I’m still here because you are the only woman I want to be with.”
“And it just so happens that I have a female your leopard wants.”
“When I was a young boy, my father would force my leopard out to protect me and his leopard would viciously rip him to shreds. This happened over and over. I was beaten and sometimes even attacked by his leopard. I have the scars everywhere.” He touched one of the slashes on his face and then rubbed his palm over his chest. “The things he did to my leopard were worse than what I suffered.”
Ania forgot all about why she was feeling hurt. “Why would he do that?” She was shocked that anyone would treat a child that way. She’d been loved by her grandparents and parents from the moment she was born.
“The lair where I was born belongs to the bratya. They believe the bratya comes before family, a woman, anyone. To prove loyalty, they take a wife, usually one they buy from another lair, or get as a favor, and breed her for sons. If a female child is born, that child is doomed to the same fate as her mother, if she survives at all. When he gets his sons, to prove loyalty, he murders his wife with his own hands. Often his sons are expected to participate.”
She was shocked, and she knew it showed on her face. He spoke matter-of-factly, distancing himself from his childhood, but she could see and hear that he was telling her the truth. “Mitya.” She whispered his name, one hand going defensively to her throat.
“The leopards are turned into killing machines. They are always denied their true mates. Eventually, the cats become unmanageable. They are allowed, even encouraged, to hunt human enemies. Sometimes they are taken into another territory and let loose to kill as many as possible. They rage day and night, raking and slashing at their human counterparts, and of course they are extremely strong. Controlling one every second of the day and night becomes more than challenging.”