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She turned her head to look at him. “But surely there are others elsewhere?”
A muscle tightened in his jaw. “A few in zoos. But the Florida panther is still one of the rarest and most endangered animals in the world. Unfortunately, developers don’t care about that. Fortunately, on the other hand, we have Big Cypress. An adult male needs two hundred seventy-five miles of territory, but that can overlap with the females.”
Marie looked out the window, wondering why the subject of male territory was causing heat to rush into her cheeks again. “Females, plural, you said? And is that true of the male shape-shifter as well?”
“For some, it can be,” he said flatly. “I’m not one of them.”
Marie winced, remembering what Bastien had told her of Ethan’s mate who’d been killed by the vampire. “I am sorry, Ethan. I was not thinking. My condolences on the loss of your mate.”
There was a long silence, then finally he spoke. “Yeah. Well. Fallon deserved better than what I had to offer her and certainly better than how she died.”
Marie caught a glimpse of something large and golden red moving through the trees as they passed. “What is that? Is that one of your panthers?”
Ethan whipped his head to the side and then yanked the steering wheel to pull the car to a sudden stop on the side of the road, knocking Marie forward against her seat belt.
“I’m sorry. Are you okay?” He leaned over and grasped h
er shoulders, raking her with that intense golden gaze.
“Yes, of course. But why have we stopped?”
“We’re having a problem with someone or something attacking our panthers, and I’d like to check this one out. I’ll just be a few minutes. Stay here with the doors locked,” he commanded.
His tone conveyed his expectation of perfect obedience, and for some reason it irritated her. “Fine. I’ll stay here. But you might remember in the future that I am not a member of your pride, and my submission is not your right,” she snapped.
The edges of his lips quirked into a grin. “I’ll be glad to submit to you, ocean girl. Just name the time and place.” Then he leaned into her and pressed a quick, hard kiss on her lips. “I’ll be right back.”
In seconds he was gone, and Marie leaned back against her seat, pressing her fingers to her lips. She was, perhaps, in more trouble with this man than she’d realized.
She shook her head, suddenly remembering what he’d said. Lock the doors. She examined the side of the door, wondering which of the many buttons was the lock, but suddenly the door jerked open and a pair of denim-clad legs stood in front of her. Startled, she stared up and into the grim face and crazed eyes of a man who was very definitely not Ethan. “What—”
“Get out of the car,” he said, his quiet voice almost shockingly contrasting with his wild-eyed demeanor. “Now.”
“But—”
He leaned into the car, unfastened her seat belt and ripped it off of her, then grabbed her arm and forcefully pulled her out of the car. Marie fell hard onto the gravel road when her legs tangled as he pulled her off balance. The immediate sharp pain focused her thoughts and snapped her out of the dazed state of shock the man’s presence had caused. She evaluated him carefully. Taller than her, he was all muscle. Not someone she could hope to overpower. Dark auburn hair twisted in unkempt strands down to his shoulders, and his oddly pale yellow eyes burned with hate or some other equally intense emotion.
And—for whatever reason—it was directed at her.
“I’m not playing with you,” he said, still in that calmly polite tone that was so at odds with the fury raging in his eyes. Then he fisted his hand in her hair and yanked her head up painfully. “Stand up now, or I’ll kill you right there on your knees.”
Marie called on the Goddess for strength and courage and forced an expression of calm to match his to her features. “Of course,” she said, as she pushed up off the ground, ignoring the burning pain in her knees and hands where she’d scraped the skin off them. “Although I think perhaps you have the wrong—”
“Shut up.” He released her hair and lifted his hand, clenched into a fist. A hint of madness twisted his features into a caricature of their former calm. “I’ve never punched a woman in the face before, but I can make an exception for Ethan’s newest whore. Are you the slut he turned to after he let my pride-sister die? Or were you fucking him while she was still alive?”
Marie blinked, completely lost. “What? I don’t understand what you’re talking about. I only met Ethan today, and—”
He smiled at her and shook his head. “Wrong answer,” he said, almost patronizingly. Then he pulled out the knife.
Ethan ran into the trees, following the strong scent of panther. More than one—some were shape-shifters. Maybe he’d finally catch them. He leaped into the air and shifted, landing on the ground on powerfully muscled panther legs. The scent immediately intensified, since his animal senses were far superior to his human ones. There were many of them, and they’d been congregating in this area recently. The scent was different from that of his own pride, but familiar.
Maddeningly familiar. He stalked around the area, head down, trying to make sense of the myriad individual scents, when he heard a female scream from the direction he’d left Marie in the car.
Marie.
He snarled and raced back toward the car, feral thoughts of ripping his prey into shreds whirling in his mind. Rage nearly blinded him as he crashed through the brush with no thought of stealth.
If they’d hurt her, they would die.
