The Snow Leopard's Heart (Glacier Leopards 4)

When he got to the main road, he could see the crowd of men a ways down. They were clustered around someone else. Joel started forward, speeding up as he went. Were they harassing someone, getting ready to beat someone up?

When he got close enough, though, he saw who it was.

The waitress. Nina.

She was glaring at all of them, but that didn't hide the fear in her eyes, or the way she kept searching for a way out. She was poised to run, but they hadn't given her an opening.

"Now, honey," the ringleader was saying, "you didn't give us the time of day when we were inside. So we're thinking we'll just take that time of day from you right now."

"Or time of night," another one put in, and they all laughed.

Joel's lip curled. Men who harassed or intimidated women were the worst of the lowlifes to him. It was a sign that the man was a lonely, pathetic coward who couldn't bring himself to face the possibility that a woman wouldn't want him.

And anyone who could see the fear on Nina's face and decide that that was what he wanted—

These men had just sunk down below any human consideration, in Joel's opinion.

"Hey!" he shouted. His voice echoed down the street, and the group spun around as one. Six of them, Joel counted, utterly disgusted. Six of them facing down one lone woman.

The ringleader saw him, and his face twisted. "Oh, look, it's your boyfriend from the diner," he said to Nina. "Is he here to save you?"

"I'm here to give you the thrashing you deserve," Joel bit out. "Unless you're afraid. Can you face a real man, or do you have to get your kicks scaring women with five of your friends?"

The men were coming forward to face him, Joel noted approvingly, turning away from Nina. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her edge backwards. He kept his gaze firmly on the group's leader, not wanting to look directly at her and remind the men that she was there.

"I can take you," the ringleader blustered, although he was eyeing Joel up and down like he suddenly wasn't so sure. He was noticeably shorter and skinnier than Joel was. Joel was pretty sure he'd have been able to take him even without shifter strength and reflexes.

"Alone?" Joel asked, lifting an eyebrow.

The man's eyes shifted nervously. "Aw, come on. You're like twice the size of me."

That was a huge exaggeration, but Joel just nodded seriously. "Okay. You and one of your friends. Pick any of 'em."

All of the friends suddenly found something else to look at. Behind them, Nina paced back a few more steps. A few more.

She was still frightened, Joel could tell. She wasn't taking her eyes off the men, wary of what they might do. Joel made the decision for them.

"Well, if you can't decide," he said, and waded in.

Joel had been a troublesome, rebellious teenager, and it had gotten him in some trouble. He regretted a lot of the choices he'd made back then, but there was one thing he'd learned, and it was how to fight a crowd of guys when you were just one skinny kid with shifter reflexes and a burning determination to win.

This was far easier than any of those fights had been. They were all cowards, just as he'd figured. He laid out the ringleader with one heavy hit to the stomach, and brushed aside a few sorry attempts at punches from the rest. Once two more of them were moaning on the ground, clutching their jaws, the rest scattered.

When he looked up from the fight, Nina had disappeared. He had no idea which direction she'd gone.

That was good. Joel was glad she'd gotten away.

Even though another part of him was wishing she was still here, so he could talk to her. Ask her if she was all right.

Joel shook his head to clear it. What was it about that waitress?

He made himself focus on the present. Casting a critical eye over the remaining assholes, he decided they were out of commission, and weren’t going to get up. It was a shame, almost; he couldn’t hit them when they were down, even if they did deserve it.

He left them behind before the temptation became any greater, and headed for the woods.

Getting out into the wild air of the forest felt good, and shifting felt even better. He always felt lighter in his leopard form. Not in weight, but in himself. Like all of his problems had flown away.

He let that random thought go, and set off at a trot to explore some of the territory to the south of the cabin. The place was well below the tree line, but he might scale a bit higher to spend some time in the rocky, cavernous area above.