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Her breath was trapped in her throat, closing off her airway She could barely hear anything he said, but a tantru was some kind of childish fit? Before she could find her voice and tell hio to hell, he thrust her away from him

"Fucking shift now, Sonia Do it fast and head straight back for the house You don't have a stitch on"

"Neither do you," she hissed, suddenly aware of how naked she was

"Do you think I want you putting on a show for everyone? Shift Now You pull anything like this again, or draw attention to us, I swear you'll regret it"

"Just shoot et it over with, don't threaten me"

He was back on her in half a second, looers biting deep as he gave her a little shake "You're talking suicide, Sonia Fucking suicide" His voice was low but so intense it felt as if he'd roared it If it was possible, his skin had gone pale under his per there Not in your et past the eo to take him out You will be safe from him Just come back to the house and listen to me"

He had the upper hand He'd brought six men with him, all leopards and all ready to take her down if she so much as made a move toward him She nodded, because what else could she do? But believe him? Not so much

Gatita took over, ignoring her e plantation house Evan led the way, and Gatita folloith the others surrounding her Sonia lost sight of Joshua, although she could s closely in her footsteps She thought Gatita was nificent She looked like a queen as she padded through the swa to be hurried She set the pace andit

The males surrounded her, but they couldn't force her to speed up They didn't dare shoulder her; her mate would never have permitted it Joshua was careful, now that she was inSonia was certain he knew that if his leopard tried to repriain and attack him

It took a very long time to retrace their steps to his plantation Twice, two of the leopards, one she kneas called Carter and the other Fergus, broke off froroup and backtracked, as if they suspected they were being followed That made Sonia uneasy She hadn't kept her voice down, not even when Joshua admonished her to If the hunter had heard theht be able to track theun He could shoot any of the leopards, or it was possible they would have to kill him That would be on her An innocentto find food for his family, didn't deserve to be torn apart by leopards he stumbled across

For the first tiht at that ht she didn't care if Joshua died She even thought she wanted hi them She didn't want anyone to die, least of all Joshua Conflicted, so confused by her own vacillation, she urged Gatita to pick up the pace

Fog had begun to creep through the trees, turning the dark night to a gray veil There was little breeze and the insects were abnor to stay hidden when the pack of leopards invaded their territory Sonia began to feel a kind of dread, her sto with every step they took She didn't like the way the leopards were acting, taking turns to drop back and go along their back trail She didn't like the fact that they were close to Joshua's hoet another opportunity to escape

Why are the males so uneasy?

They caught the scent of an outsider

Did you catch it? Ordinarily, when Gatita s, she shared it with Sonia

I thought, for a one within seconds Still, the others have checked repeatedly

Sonia tried to think of a question that would gain her inforhtened e followed?

Yes

Sonia's heart lurched Joshua had been right to believe the hunter ht hear her He was stealthy as well Any hunter capable of throwing seven male leopards and Gatita off his track and scent had skills

Getat us

I do not believe he will shoot

Sonia blew her breath out in exasperation Gatita was thoroughly angry with her mate She didn't want to cooperate in any way

I kicked him for you, Sonia reminded

They betrayed us There is no forgiveness Gatitame that your man was like Sasha, Shadow is equally to blame

I agree, Sonia said a little reluctantly She didn't want Gatita doing anything that would get the male to turn on her When they killed her, Sonia was determined they would kill the human, not the leopard, so Gatita wouldn't feel it as much

The back of the plantation house loo Sonia wanted to hide in Gatita's for down her spine She would have to face Joshua again It was the last thing she wanted to do, but it was inevitable

Do you remember what I did with my cell?

It was in the "go" bag

That was a different one for e around his neck It wouldn't do her ood now What did I do with my everyday cell, the one I use for work?

There was silence as Gatita navigated the branch leading to the upper deck The otherthe house so she would know she was a prisoner and if she got away a second time, she would be hunted down

Your phone was in the master bedrooe in Gatita's mind

Joshua shifted and opened the French doors to allow Gatita through, into the master bedroom He stepped back to let them inside and then closed the double doors and locked them

Get close to the table

Gatita obeyed, her tail swishing dangerously as she padded across the roo over the phone as she turned to face Joshua His face was aand gentle gone In his place was a cold, hard stranger Dangerous as hell Scary dangerous His eyes were that crystalline blue, but now arctic cold, so cold she shivered One moment he was across the roo around her wrist like a vise He tore the phone fro it across the room

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Were you planning on calling Molly? Or Bastien? Do you want to get them killed? Do you think I'd let them take you from me?"

She detested being weaker than he was He could so easily use his physical strength against her

Joshua threw his hands into the air, then pressed his fingers to his temples as if he had a headache "I've had just about all I can take froht," he said quietly "Do you need to use the bathroo to talk We have to talk"

He sighed again and ran his hand along the bloody rake mark across his chest He looked vulnerable Sad He just stood there facing her, standing ra froh Her heart contracted She was terrified of him, believed he'd betrayed her, but her heart still clenched seeing him like that

He pointed to the bathroom "Damn it, baby, I know you're scared and you have every reason to be, but please I' you Hear me out"

She desperately needed to get away fronore the fact that her treacherous body kneas close It recognized him as the one ned it, who ruled it She wouldn't have minded so much if it was just her body, but he owned her heart Her soul He'd shattered both She thought sh