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ASHE was still reeling as Raphael left through a narrow door on the far side of the roo since the doctor had called with the shocking news of her pregnancy

That was one of the reason&039;s she&039;d gone to the hotel instead of trying to convince her mother to let her return home

She&039;d needed a few hours to consider her options in private

But instead of a few hours of peace, she&039;d been accosted by the nated her, discovered he was a creature she&039;d long believed to be a riled from his touch

Okay Maybe it wasn&039;t entirely fair to claied him to ease the desire that had been on a slow simmer for the past six weeks

And if she were honest, she&039;d ader to repeat the perforet the hell away fro man

Nonot man

Pantera

Beast

Absently she reached over her shoulder to touch the scratches that had seeled with a pleasure that was as disturbing as the implication that Raphael had deliberately marked her

Yeah She was in dire need of so to where they&039;d first entered the room, she placed a cautious hand on the silver doorknob

She didn&039;t knohat she&039;d expected

Ringing alarators An electric shock

So the private rooe area, there was nothing to break the silence beyond the thundering beat of her heart

Still, she ree as she tiptoed to the outer door It was quite possible a silent alaruards outside that she hadn&039;t noticed when she&039;d first arrived with Raphael

And, of course, there was thehih away from the bizarre creatures she would have to take extra care

Surprised yet again when the door opened easily, Ashe crouched low as she darted down the steep staircase, and headed directly toward the cars that lined the narrow street

She shivered, feeling a strange chill of pre her every et back to the hotel

She was going to get dressed, get her car keys and head out of this town as fast as possible

After that

Well, she&039;d worry about that once she was far, far away

Pausing to tuck the sheet tighter around her body, Ashe sucked in a deep breath and gathered her shaken courage

She&039;d endured a childhood of neglect interspersed with episodes of terrifying violence from a mother who&039;d never loved her She&039;d been huhout school She&039;d been forced to work as a secretary for a bastard who couldn&039;t keep his hands to himself, just to keep a roof over her head

She had truly discovered thebehind &039;what didn&039;t kill you only ave one last glare toward the shabby bar that glowed in the neon lights

"Behavethe folds of the sheet away froe of the swah the ers that haunted the bayous But she couldn&039;t walk down the streets in a sheet without attracting unwanted attention, not even in this podunk town

She would have to skirt the swamps until she was closer to the hotel

The decisioninto the soles of her feet God alht had barely for flew past her ear She waved an is that filled the night air

Sorew to the size of small birds

It wasn&039;t until there was an audible thwack in a cypress tree just behind her that she turned her head to stare at the arrow stuck in the trunk

She stumbled to a baffled halt

It wasn&039;t that unusual for the locals to hunt with bow and arrow

So in the traditions of their forefathers So old-school And soun

But ould be out hunting this tiht?

And ould they be so close to town?

Stupidly, it wasn&039;t until the second arrow clipped the top of her shoulder as it whizzed past that she accepted that she was the prey, not soht Raphael&039;s buddies would actually try to kill her

Unless it wasn&039;t his friends, but his supposed enemies?

But ould they shoot at her?

Not that the hat or where mattered at the moment

With a muffled cry she darted toward the nearest cluh the thick branches

It was too dark to see ht she could see so the roof of the closed lu between those trucks?

Oh god

For a crazed second, panic threatened to overwhelm her

She had no phone, no clothes, no weapons that could help protect her

Worse, she didn&039;t know if a screaer

Then her hand unconsciously slid to her sto her spine

Da duck

She had a child to protect, whichthe bottom of the sheet around her arm so it was above her knees, she scooted backward If she could reach the actual bayou she had a chance of shaking the bastards

She ignored the sound of approaching footsteps, and the strange sust Her only hope of survival was slipping away before her stalker could pinpoint her precise location

Concentrating on backing away as silently as possible, Ashe froze when a low, enraged snarl reverberated through the air

It was the sort of full-throated roar that caused a terrified hush to spread through the area

A feral predator on the hunt

Barely daring to breathe, Ashe listened as she heard a muttered curse fro, followed by the unun Either the person wasn&039;t the sa arrows in her direction, or he&039;d decided that approaching danger orth pulling out the big guns

Literally

But, even as she prepared herself for the deafening blast of the gunshot, there was another snarl and a blood-chilling scream that she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt would haunt her drea, Ashe straightened to peer over the top of the bush It wasn&039;t soHell, no She had a hideous suspicion it was going to be awful But she needed tooff the rabid animal to notice her escape

She needn&039;t have worried

Theto be firing arrows at her or anyone else

Paralyzed, Ashe&039;s gaze roaround, his throat ripped out and his face htlessly at the star-studded sky, his arun in one hand and his eed, a hand pressed to her risly sight

She&039;d never seen a dead man before

Especially not one who had been mauled by a wild animal

Then her shattered disbelief was distracted as a sleek for toward her with an uncanny silence

"No," she breathed, taking in the sight of the large cat in stunned alossy in the olden eyes that studied her with an unnerving intensity His body was chiseled s and a tail that was tipped with black

Any other tiht

Lethal certainly, and due proper respect, butbeautiful

This wasn&039;t any other ti the deadly predator with his round between them only ratcheted up her fear

She held out her hand Like that was going to help

"Stay back"

"Ashe?" She jerked at the sound of her na to watch Bayon appear froe cat The male came to a sharp halt as the aniaze focused on Ashe as she took a step toward hi a fierce shake of his head "No, don&039;t move He won&039;t hurt you"

"How do you know?" she demanded, her voice as shaky as her nerves "Is this your pet?"

"Pet?" A humorless smile twisted his lips "No"

"Then how do you know he&039;s not going to hurtto protect you"

Her heart slaan to for to protect aze "He may be wild, but he&039;s not entirely an animal"

"Don&039;t" She turned her attention toward the cat who had moved to stand directly between her and Bayon It was one thing to be told of humans who could transform into pumas and another to see it in the flesh Literally "You can&039;t seriously expect reen eyes blazed with sheer ravation "It doesn&039;t matter what you believe"

"But-"

"Who was that riaze to the bloody corpse "I don&039;t have a clue I assu, Bayon leaned forward to spit on the dead man "Tell me what happened"

Yikes So not a friend

"Idecided to return to the hotel"

He narrowed his gaze "And Raphael just let you go?"

She tilted her chin Arrogant ass

"I didn&039;t have to ask for his perlare "Or yours"

He went rigid, seely startled by her words "You opened the doors?"

"Of course I did I&039; intensity "The locks are specifically designed to respond only to Pantera They should never have opened for you"

She frowned, recalling her own amazement that her escape had been so easy

Was it possible

No

God She was so tired she couldn&039;t even think straight

"Then theyshe was a breath away fro

He hesitated, as if he wanted to press her, but ave an impatient wave of his hand

"What happened next?"

"I was trying to get back to the hotel without everyone realizing I altzing through town in just a sheet when this" She waved a hand toward the corpse "Whack job started shooting arrows at me" She shook her head "I un?"

"So unwanted attention"

Her breath tangled in her throat Oh Yeah Good point

She shivered, vividly aware of how close she&039;d co to sneak ahen I heard a roar and-" Her words trailed away as she glanced toward the puolden eyes

"Raphael?" Bayon helpfully supplied, his own gaze trained on the big cat

"He attacked"

Bayon shook his head "Astonishing"

"Astonishing?" She made a choked sound "A lare "Ato kill you Would you rather Raphael had allowed him to finish his task?"

No The answer caainst her belly To protect her child she would have done anything

Including killing thetoward Bayon She ht not trust him, but she desperately needed a hot bath, a warm bed and a return to sanity

Instantly the pu his mouth to display his impressively sharp teeth

"No," Bayon snapped "Stay there"

She scowled in frustration "If it&039;s Raphael then why is he keepinght you were friends?"

"We are, but his beast is convinced you&039;re his ly allow another ers to her throbbing te"

"You have no idea," Bayon muttered

"What&039;s that supposed to mean?"

"A Pantera can only shift e&039;re in the Wildlands"

Ashe stared at hi wrap her brain around the whole &039;shifting&039; thing

"This town is part of the Wildlands?"

"No"

"Then I don&039;t understand"

"Neither do I" There was a dangerous edge in his voice "But I intend to find out"

Keeping his gaze trained on the cat, Bayon began to whisper in an unfa deep inside her, like a bell being struck

Ashe bit her lip, ignoring the terrified voice in the back of her head that urged her to flee while Bayon was distracted

Where would she go?

Certainly nowhere that she wouldn&039;t be constantly looking over her shoulder for fear there ht be an arrow trained at her back

Besides, she couldn&039;t avoid the truth any longer

Raphael was a e the fact

Or the chance that the child she carried was going to be one as well

She had to find out as oing to keep her child safe