The last time I’d tried to get out of the compound like this, I’d been caught. The difference was this time, Mom wasn’t with me. After we were caught, Malcolm had her beaten, and I’d been forced to watch it helplessly as Eddie held me back.
This time, I had no doubt I’d get through without being caught. It was a matter of life and death. I had to get back to Six, and I had no choice but to trust that he’d help me get my mom out.
The first thing I heard as I walked up to the clubhouse he’d taken me to was the sound of animals, big cats—angry big cats. The smell of blood hung in the air. When I approached the front door, I saw the guy they called Kitty. He looked highly agitated.
“What’s going on?” The crash of furniture knocking over had my heart pounding. Somehow, I knew what was going on had something to do with Six.
“He wouldn’t let me use my ability to calm him. Maybe if he sees you.”
Kitty led me inside the building, I could tell he was uncomfortable with the tension, and the unease that filled the dim interior of the room was palpable for anyone who wasn’t an empath. I couldn’t imagine what Kitty was feeling being in the large room with all the potent energy buzzing in the air.
I heard the low growls of big cats, but I couldn’t see over the shoulders of the massive bikers around me. Quickly, I grabbed a nearby chair and climbed up into it. The sight in front of me made my stomach churn. Two leopards were in the middle of the room, one was massive with angry golden green eyes and a slash across his cheek. Six.
The slightly smaller cat had bright golden eyes. They were filled with anger and something I couldn’t put my finger on. She was just as pissed off as Six was.
My change was happening before I could stop it. I felt my bones popping and reshaping. The agony of my body morphing into something else entirely took over. I gave in to the pain, knowing fighting it would make it worse. My clothes ripped around my changing form, and I fell onto all fours. Where my hands once were, I had smaller paws with small razor-sharp claws. I felt my face and my body elongate into the gray fox that hid inside me.
When the change was done, I ignored the startled glances around me and streaked across the room toward my leopard. My mate. Six. That was the only thought going through my mind. We had to get to him. Claim him. Protect him. It didn’t matter that he was a leopard five times bigger than us, and more than able to protect himself. He was ours, and we had to get to him.
90
Six
Her smell flooded my senses. The memory of her wrapped up in my arms while she slept. I couldn’t escape it. I didn’t want to. My cat was on the edge of insanity, he’d wanted to claim her—to mark her as ours, but I’d held him back. She’d asked me not to, and I didn’t. She evaded questions and giving herself to me, and I hadn’t pushed hard enough, afraid I’d scare her away. She ran anyway.
Serafina might be a foot shorter than me in human form, but her cat is a vicious beast. It’s why she’s my sergeant at arms. We were circling each other, ready to pounce. She knew I was spoiling for a fight, and she was happy to give me one.
I saw her paw coming at me, and I was about to deflect it, but something charged in front of me.
That smell! I rolled Twistie’s fox under me, taking the slice of Serafina’s paw straight down my back. I gritted my teeth, my stomach wrought with the pain. My cat released a low rumble of discomfort as my coat and skin split.
The smell of iron filled the room. It was nothing new for the Dark Leopards to bleed each other. Emotions run high sometimes, and fighting is an outlet for us and our animals, but this wasn’t a strike that Serafina was intending to land. She’d expected me to knock her away, not roll myself protectively around a fox.
“Fuck.” I heard her voice after the telltale sounds of her shifting. “Sorry, Pres. Who the fuck let a fox in here?” She sniffed the air and moved back, recognizing the scent.
My back burned from the scratches now going down the length of it, but I forced myself to move back from Twistie’s curled up body.
“Damn, I got you good, Pres. You need to stay still. Someone get Papa!”
My cat rumbled. It hurt like a bitch, but there was no way I was going to hang out in cat form for him to patch me up. I closed my eyes and let the change happen. My leopard body gave way to my naked human one.
I gasped with pain when the shift was complete. Everything hurt from my neck down.
“We need to stitch you.” Papa came out from the kitchen with the med kit.
I looked down at the smaller gray fox, looking up at me with those deep brown eyes. She was beautiful. I’d never seen a fox shifter before. Hell, I didn’t even know they existed.
“Twistie.” I reached over toward her, and she hesitantly nuzzled my hand with her nose. “Don’t change out here, wait till we’re in my room. These fuckers don’t need to see what’s mine.”
If a fox could roll their eyes, I swear she did it. It’s nothing new for shifters to be nude, but I didn’t want my brothers to see her. My cat was as possessive of our mate as I was. He was already chomping at the bit to put a claiming mark on her neck.
Serafina moved to
