Pandora tightened her grip on the axe, then realized she wasn't sure which panther was Dante.
Not until one attacked her. Assuming her mate wouldn't do such a thing, she swung the axe with every ounce of strength she possessed.
It made contact with the beast's shoulder.
The panther howled as he limped away.
"Pandora!" Dante snapped in her mind. "What are you doing?"
"I'm saving my mate," she said between clenched teeth as she went after another panther. "You're not Dante, are you?"
"I'm behind you."
"Good." She swung at the panther in front of her who dodged her first blow but was caught by her second one.
Before she could swing again, she found herself back in the handicapped bathroom stall, this time with two women who were trying to unlace a female Klingon costume.
They both gaped at her as they stared at her bloodied axe.
Too worried over her mate, Pandora paid them no attention.
"I'm getting tired of this!" she said, then wished herself back to Dante.
Dante cursed in her head as she reappeared in his room. "I'm going to take that damned ring from you."
A panther leaped at her.
Pandora started to swing, but caught herself as the panther flashed to Dante's naked, human form. He wrapped his arms around her and flashed her into her hotel room.
"Dante?" she said, her voice shaking as she realized he was covered in blood from the fighting. He looked terrible. There were bite wounds and scratches all over him.
Dante wanted to speak, but in truth it was taking way too much of his powers to assume human form while injured. His human body ached and throbbed.
He had to protect Pandora.
Closing his eyes, he summoned Romeo.
But no sooner had he sent out the call, than his human legs buckled.
"Dante?" Pandora asked as she pulled him into her arms.
He had no choice except to return to his panther's body.
To his surprise, she didn't release him or flee in fear of his animal form. She held him tight and stroked his fur.
He licked her chin, but couldn't muster any more strength. He was in way too much pain.
Pandora's heart stilled at the way Dante was acting. He had to be hurt badly to not even move.
A flash of light startled her. She reached for her axe, then hesitated as she saw Romeo in human form by the bed.
His gaze narrowed on her as he saw his brother's limp form and the bloody axe. "What did you do to him?"
"Nothing. The other panthers came for me and I tried to help Dante fight them off."
Something hit the door, then flashed into the room. Romeo whirled as a panther rushed them.
Dante leaped out of her arms so fast that she shrieked. He went straight for the panther's throat as Romeo changed form.
Pandora grabbed the axe from the floor and scrambled to a corner.
One by one, four more panthers appeared in the room. There was no way to tell them apart as they fought with Romeo and Dante. Roars and growls echoed in her ears and the scent of blood filled her nostrils.
Two more panthers appeared.
How she wished she knew if they were friend or foe. All she could do was grip her axe and pray.
The one panther she thought was Dante appeared to maim the one he was fighting by snapping the hind leg of his opponent. A baleful whine filled the air as the panther evaporated from the room.
The victorious panther turned to another that was fighting with the two new panthers. With his powerful jaws, he grabbed it by the neck and slung it away from the two.
He charged the downed panther, using his shoulder to drive it farther away from her and from the other two who snapped behind him.
His enemy tried to claw at his head, but the panther ducked his head and bit into his opponent's throat.
The opponent became wild, thrashing before she heard something break. It went limp.
Two more panthers vanished instantly.
The remaining four turned on the one panther that had been left behind and cornered it. It roared fiercely, then poofed out as well.
Terrified of what that meant, Pandora tensed as the four panthers turned to face her.
She watched them, determined to fight to the bitter end as they stalked nearer.
Three of them fell back while the fourth approached her.
"Dante?" she asked hesitantly, hoping it was him.
He collapsed at her feet before he placed one large paw on her foot and licked her ankle.
She sobbed in relief as she slid down the wall to pull his head into her lap.
The other three flashed into Romeo, Leo, and Mike.
"How badly are you hurt?" Romeo asked the twins.
They were a bit scuffed up, with bruises and bloodied lips and noses, but weren't hurt nearly as badly as Dante had been.
"We're okay, thanks to Dante."
Romeo approached her slowly.
"He's unconscious," she said quietly as she kept her hand on Dante's ribs to make sure he was still breathing. "There were eight of them in the beginning. He fought them alone."
"Dammit, Dante," Romeo snarled as he picked the panther up in his arms. "Why didn't you call us sooner?"
"Put him in my bed," Pandora said, moving to pull back the covers.
"Are you sure?"
She nodded.Romeo set him down, then ordered Leo to keep watch at the door in case the others came back.
"Mike," he said to the other twin. "Go grab Acheron and tell him I need a favor."
Pandora crawled into the bed beside Dante. Part of her was terrified to be so close to him in his animal state and yet the other part of her wanted only to comfort her mate.
She'd never been this close to a panther before. It was scary and yet not.
Somehow it seemed right to be here.
His black fur was so dark, it reminded her of midnight velvet. She carefully brushed the whiskers of his muzzle back, then sank her hand in the soft fur of his neck.
Even though she knew it was true, it was hard to believe this was the same gorgeous man who had made the tenderest love to her.
And he had risked his life to protect her.
Her heart swelled with joy and with something she thought might be the first stirrings of love. No one had ever protected her. Not like this.
Pandora placed her hand near one of the vicious bite wounds above Dante's shoulder. "Will he be okay?" she asked Romeo.
If she didn't know better, she'd swear she saw pride in his eyes as he watched her.
"He's had worse."
"Really?"
"Really."
Romeo reached out and took her left hand so that he could see Dante's ring. His grip tightened on her hand. "That belonged to our brother Donatello," he said quietly. "I've never known Dante to take it off."
"He put a spell on it so that I could come back to him any time I wanted to."
Romeo smiled at that. "You have no idea just what a completely unbelievable feat that was for him."
"No, I think I do know." It ranked right up there with her lying beside him right now when she was terrified of panthers. This wasn't something she would have done even a few hours ago—and now…
Now she accepted the fact that this was her eternal mate. And for the first time in her life, she was beginning to understand exactly what that really meant.
Someone knocked on the door.
Pandora jumped.
"Relax," Romeo said as he moved to answer it while Mike stood aside. "The bad guys don't knock."
Pandora frowned as Romeo let in Leo and the gorgeous Goth man she'd seen downstairs. Leo went to stand beside Mike while the Goth came toward the bed.
"Pandora," Romeo said, "meet Acheron Parthenopaeus."
Acheron inclined his head to her.
She gaped. "You're the ancient Dark-Hunter?"
Acheron gave her that same wicked grin he had given her earlier. "The one and only."
A weird ripple went through her. "You knew me downstairs when our gazes met, didn't you?"
He nodded.
"If you knew I was looking for you, why didn't you say something?"
His gaze went to Dante. "Because it wasn't time for you to meet me yet." He glanced to Romeo. "And it's not time for you to lose another brother."
Pandora watched as the wounds on Dante healed instantly.
Romeo smiled in relief. "What do we owe you for that, Ash?"
Acheron shrugged. "Don't worry about it. I'll call the favor in at a later date."
Dante flashed into human form. He looked up at her with a tender expression that melted her.
"Ash," he said, without looking at the Dark-Hunter. "Could I trade another favor for you to watch my mate for me while my brothers and I take care of something?"
"Absolutely."
Dante placed one large, warm hand against her cheek, then chastely kissed the side of her face. He got up and gathered his brothers to him.
"We'll be back in a minute."
Before she could ask him where he was going, they vanished.
"What is he doing?" she asked Ash.
"Knowing Dante, I'm confident he's going to guarantee that your 'friends' never return to threaten you or anyone from your pack again."
It didn't take Dante long to find the rogue pack of Katagaria panthers. They were camped in a small, isolated commune just outside of Charleston.
Ironically, they even had a sign up declaring the area a wildlife preserve.
With his three brothers behind him, he walked through the wooded area until he found the first panther he'd fought. The panther was lying wounded with a human woman tending him.
"Who leads this pack?" he asked the pair.
The panther didn't answer, but when the petite, blond woman did, Dante recognized a voice that was almost identical in tone, accent, and cadence to Pandora's. "Aristotle is the regis. He's sleeping over there." She pointed to a tree.
Dante inclined his head respectfully to her, then went to the tree to call down their leader.
Aristotle responded by only opening one bored eye. "Who are you?"
"Take human form when you address me, you bastard." Dante said harshly. "Or there won't be enough left of your pack to even start a new one."
The panther flashed into human form, then moved to stand before Dante in a stance that said he was ready to fight. He was four inches shorter than Dante and had short black hair that matched his black soulless eyes.
"Who the hell are you?" he snarled.
"Dante Pontis."
Aristotle's eyes widened as he took an immediate step back.
Dante's brutal, take-no-prisoners reputation was known far and wide, and it was respected or feared by all their kind.
"To what do I owe this honor?" Aristotle asked.
"A group of your strati tried to take my mate from me. Now I'm here for blood."
Aristotle sputtered. "There was some misunderstanding. My men went after an Arcadian whor—"