12
 

 

 

 

I opened my eyes. Antonio wasn’t by my side, which was a first as well. I felt a small pang of disappointment. I was hoping to wake up with him holding me, and then we’d go for a round of morning sex before the day began. 

I didn’t sense him in the house either. 

Anxiety spiked in me, even though I didn’t remember when was the last time I’d felt so refreshed.

“Antonio?” I called.

No answer.

I bolted up from the cushion and went to check the bedroom. He wasn’t inside, though he’d cleaned everything.

Did he go for a run? It had been nearly two weeks since he’d been confined in the room with me. It must have been extremely hard for a wolf.

It was hard for me as well.

He should have taken me with him. I could also use a good run.

I pulled on an olive-colored sweat and a pair of stretch pants and strode into the front yard.

This was a new day for me. I wanted to smile and wave at everyone.

But I didn’t see anyone. Maybe everyone was trying to recover from the hangover from last night’s party.

Guarding wolves were scarce this whole week. Most of them had gone with King Marrok to guard the Witch Tower. The Wickedest Witch had become their wolves’ priority. If she was dead, there went their only hope of leaving Pandemonium.

I would help in any way I could. I would work harder than anyone to gain the wolves’ trust and hope to make some friends eventually.

As I treaded along the fence to the back yard, I spotted Antonio running toward me with two plates of food.

“Antonio!” I shouted.

He grinned. “Here, love!”

My stomach grumbled. I’d relied only on my mate’s blood for the past two weeks, and now I could have real food like a normal person.

He’d even managed to bring me a mug of coffee.  

It was a luxury, according to him.

“I know you crave it,” he said, a self-satisfied smile ghosting his sensual lips. “Your ship stored the coffee beans.”

“You raided my ship,” I said matter-of-factly.

“We claimed it,” he said, and there wasn’t the slightest guilt in his voice.

I sighed. It would take a while to get used to the lawless’ rules on this planet. The strong would always take from the weak.

I had to be the strong one if I didn’t want to be prey. I was sick of being a victim.

But for the moment, I didn’t dwell on thoughts of survival. 

I would enjoy breakfast with my mate.

We sat down, and we ate. His food was gone in a second since he was ravenous.

“You can have a piece or maybe two pieces of my bacon, Antonio,” I offered.

“No, you need them to rebuild your strength.”  

The shifters had stocked food, but they rationed every meal. It wasn’t like ships fell every day. There hadn’t been a ship come for months before mine crashed. In this post-apocalyptic city, the main food source came from crashed ships.

I pushed my plate toward him. “I haven’t had solid food for a while. I can eat only a small portion, or I’ll be sick.”

He thought about it as he eyed both me and my food longingly. “If you lie and just want me to have your food, I’ll spank you hard.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll have to eat lightly in the beginning. But I’ll have my full coffee.”

“You can have mine, too,” he offered.

Would this be our new life—having a normal breakfast?

I took a swig of my coffee and sighed with a small happiness, though I found the taste was a bit off. The shifters didn’t know how to brew coffee. I’d have to show them.

But still, coffee was coffee.

Antonio smiled at me with all the sunshine in him, then he took my plate and swallowed down half of my food.

I watched him with tenderness in my eyes.

“I’ve cleared your status with King Marrok,” Antonio said. “You can walk anywhere in the Keep now.”

“Thank you.” I beamed. “My pretty leopard wants to run beside your wolf.”

He laughed. “You can run with me any time you want. But let’s take baby steps. I don’t want you to go outside the fence when I’m not around. I want the wolves to get used to you first.”

“Fine,” I said. I’d learned not to push my luck. It was already a huge improvement for me.

“I have other news,” he said. “Since you don’t need to be guarded anymore, I was called back to duty this morning. We’re low on soldiers. The Wickedest Witch and Dark Prince Desdemona have declared war on each other.”

I snarled at Desdemona’s name.

“Easy, Bella.” Antonio put down his fork, moved toward me, and pulled me into his arms. “We’ll get him. I’ll avenge my mate. I’ll cut off his fucking head and feed it to the worms!”

In his warm arms, I kissed him.

Lust filled his eyes.

“I can’t fuck you now, baby,” he said. “I’ll have to go to the Witch Tower soon. Lady Fiammetta is closer than ever to finding the portal. We need to keep her alive.”

“I want to join you. I can fight.”

“I won’t deny your right to fight beside me, Bella, though I very much want to lock you in the safest high tower. But today is not the day. Be patient, baby.”

“Fine,” I said. “But promise you’ll return to me safely.”

I was back to the easygoing leopard princess, if no one pushed me into a corner.

“I promise,” he said. “I’ll return to you. I love you more than anything, Bella.”

He gave me another passionate kiss before he took off.

I cleaned the plates and practiced martial arts for an hour before I strapped on a dagger Antonio had left for me. I walked out of the house that had confined me for two weeks.

I was finally a free woman, and that felt damn good.

Even the gloomy sky, bleak city, and air that smelt of ash and smoke couldn’t ruin my incredibly good mood.

I stalked out of the fence and scanned the fortified compound protected by high walls.

Antonio had told me they’d taken this place from another clan when they’d crashed in the arena in the City of Nine. When the usurper king Jeroboam had banished them, they had been a bunch of children, and their exiled king had been seven years old.

Marrok and his brutal general had proved to be brilliant leaders. Together, and with the pack’s strength, they’d guaranteed the wolves’ survival.

But if they didn’t leave Pandemonium soon, they’d go extinct, as was their legacy. 

There had been three meteorite hits on the City of Nine during the two weeks I’d been locked inside the house.

The place was going to go up in flames.

No wonder the wolves had poured their main force to guard the Wickedest Witch. That was why the Keep was so quiet now. That was why I barely saw any patrol guards.

I strode by some structures that had to be where most of the wolves resided.

At the far end of the courtyard was a two-story, violet stone house with an open roof. I immediately knew that the house belonged to King Marrok and Queen Kaara. Marrok must love Kaara very much. He’d even painted the house the same color as her hair.

Antonio had told me how Marrok and Kaara had hooked up. Just like Antonio, Marrok had never thought he would meet his fated mate in his lifetime. . When Marrok had joined a ship-raiding—he seldom did that, as it was mostly Antonio’s job—Marrok had watched Kaara charge into the arena and fight the cannibal Kruids. She’d been on Pandemonium for nearly three years, but it had been the first time he’d seen her. Marrok had tried to blame Antonio for not informing him of her existence.

“Kaara was shrewd even before she became Marrok’s queen,” Antonio had complained to me. “She always waited until we had cut down almost every competitor in the arena and then led her soldiers charge into the fray to get a share of whatever was in the ship.”

“So, she charmed you each time.”

“Are you jealous?” Antonio had looked at me incredulously, then laughed. “No, she could never charm me. No one can except you. But somehow, I wanted her to survive, so I gave her a small share each time. It was as if in the back of my mind, I knew she was connected to the pack and she’d lead us out of this place one day. It turned out I was right on all counts. And she’s Marrok’s destined mate. Like you’re mine. And you came for me.”

Antonio was always so sure of everything and himself. It was annoying and adorable at the same time.

I’d rolled my eyes. “Maybe Pandemonium not only attracted meteoroid showers, but also clueless mates.”  

Antonio had laughed darkly at my vampire sarcasm.

But this morning, he had laughed so brightly.

I could gaze at him and listen to his laughter all day long.

From now on, I would always make him laugh. He’d given me back my life.

And the sex was incredibly hot.

I twirled and danced at the reverie, feeling my cheeks heated even in the chilly air.

Antonio had only been gone for a couple of hours, and I already missed him.

As I wheeled, I saw the two towers in the distance.

The black one belonged to the vampires. I remembered how I’d laid on the operational table helplessly while the Dark Prince’s venom had pumped into my veins inside that tower.

The gray tower was where the witch dwelled and Antonio had gone to.

The compound was between the towers. If the Wickedest Witch had allied with the Dark Prince instead of the wolves, it would have been disaster for the pack. 

I did a mental calculation on how far the Witch Tower was from here. I would seek Antonio out if he didn’t return tonight. I needed to know that he was safe. 

I strolled toward a red wooden house in the center of the square. It had the sign A Wolf’s Howl & Dream above the door. Okay, that was the famous bar, actually the only bar in the City of Nine.

I chuckled at the name and pushed at the door. It was closed.

Of course. The wolves had all gone to the Witch Tower. And the bar opened only when the king and queen required it when they had a guest, or when the shifters had a successful raid from the fallen ships.

I detoured to the side, pressed my nose against the window, and looked inside.

It had a long bar, wood and brass, and old paintings on the wall.

Even on this godforsaken planet, the wolves had tried to maintain the illusion of civilization.

I’d like to sit at the bar with Antonio like a normal couple one day.

“What are you doing?” a harsh voice rose behind me.

I startled and wheeled to see three shifters, who formed a half circle around me.

The questioner was a pretty brunette around my age. She was a little shorter than me but heavier.

“I don’t mean harm,” I said. “I’m just curious. By the way, I’m—”

“We know who you are,” the brunette said, her voice dripping loathing and hatred.

The other two—a short-haired woman and a bulky, bare-chested man—also glared at me with hate.

“I’m not a vampire anymore,” I said, raising my hands in a gesture of surrender. The last thing I wanted was conflict with any wolf. I didn’t want Antonio to lose more of his people’s love because of me. “King Marrok and Queen Kaara permit me to walk freely in the Keep.”

“It doesn’t matter,” the brunette said. “You’re still the murderer Leopard King’s daughter. We’re here because of him and Jeroboam.”

I’d told Antonio and Marrok all about Jeroboam when they’d asked. I hadn’t had anything to hide even when I’d been a vampire. And I hated Jeroboam and was grateful to Queen Kaara’s protection.

I knew some of the shifters knew who I was, but I hadn’t expected everyone to learn about my identity.

The brunette must have seen my wounded expression and sneered. “You think Antonio really cares about you? We wouldn’t have known your little dirty secret if the general hadn’t told the pack who you are—our sworn enemy’s daughter.”

Antonio had told the king and a few shifters who I was before he’d brought an army to rescue me from the vampires. The brunette was trying to drive a wedge between my mate and me.

“I no longer have ties with my father,” I said, my voice parched, and turned around to leave. “I’m going back to my house now.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” the other woman said. “And it’s not your house. You don’t belong here. The Keep has never been a place for outsiders, let alone an enemy.”

“I’m not your enemy,” I said, steel in my voice.

“You are our enemy, Princess. It doesn’t matter you’ve been spreading your legs for the general,” the man said. “The general was well respected until you came and tainted him. Today, you’re going to pay for your father’s sin.”

Rage surged in me, but I held back. I still wanted no conflict with the wolves.

“King Felim is a bad man and a bad Leopard King,” I said, resorting to reason. “That’s why I escaped him. I won’t carry my father’s sin. If you attack me, my mate Antonio will revenge me. Plus, I’m under Queen Kaara’s protection.”

“No one will know, Princess,” the short-haired woman said with a smirk. “There aren’t many wolves in the Keep at the moment. Guards are on the other side, busy flirting with our friend Tonya. After we tear you to pieces, we’ll toss you out like the trash you are for the cannibals. Every bit of you will disappear without a trace. Even our beloved king will believe you ran away at the first possible opportunity. And when the general grieves for you, our little Gina will go comfort him and take back what’s hers.”

I flicked my gaze to the brunette. So, she was Gina. Had she been Antonio’s lover before I came? I shoved a stab of jealousy aside by sheer will.

I couldn’t catch a break, could I? Just as I thought I could start a new life with Antonio, his old girlfriend was going to end me with her cronies. I couldn’t take all three of them, and I didn’t want to hurt any wolf either, considering what my father had done to them.

But I also needed to save myself.  

My heart pounded so hard it almost burst open from my rib cage, and my mouth had tasted bile.

“Listen,” I said. “Just let me go, and we’ll forget all about this. We have a bigger, common enemy, and I’m not—”

Gina laughed. “The princess is begging. All your life you’ve never needed to worry about a meal or anything, but you had to come to my world and take my man.”

“Gina, be reasonable,” I said. “If he were truly your man, I could never take him from you. If I could, then he was never truly yours.”

She snarled, a true wolf’s snarl. I hadn’t persuaded her. What I said had only made her fume. Her face twisted in a jealous rage.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

But I hadn’t scorned her. Antonio had done that. So shouldn’t she go seek him out and fight him instead of me? Antonio could handle the fight better than I. He lived and breathed on the battlefield, and I’d been a princess. Other than practicing martial arts for fun in my former royal palace, I hadn’t really fought anyone. 

And I’d done a poor job defending myself when I’d crashed here. I’d fled, then I’d been tracked down and fucked, then I’d been captured by vampires.

When Antonio had taken me back from the bloodsuckers, I’d fought him briefly and within seconds he’d overpowered me.

That was my experience of one humiliation after another. I never wanted to feel that helpless again. I’d been working really hard for the past two weeks, and Antonio had been a strict, yet excellent teacher.

Maybe it was time for me to put all my training into action.

If I defended myself well, I might earn their respect. But how could I fend off three battle-hardened warriors?  

“Wait, let’s talk about this,” I said. “Violence isn’t the solution for everything.”

“Shut up, bitch!” the male shifter spat. “Violence is the only solution.”

Wow, that was really impolite. And I realized that no matter what I said, they wouldn’t let me off the hook.

“You shut up, dick,” I said. “Oh, maybe I shouldn’t call you dick since it must be so small that you have to gang up on me with two bitches.”

The bare-chested man growled, ready to lunge at me, but he wanted to let Gina have the first punch.

I should take him down fast. He was much bigger than the others, so he posed the bigger threat.

“Gina, kill her now,” the woman said. “We don’t have much time. The others will return soon.”

Gina hesitated.  

“Do you want to take your man back or not? If you don’t have the guts to do it, we’ll do it for you. Just so you know, you’ll owe me.”

“Gina, don’t listen to them,” I said. “Think about this. They’re giving you lousy advice. If you murder me, will you sleep well at night?”

From the expression on her face, I realized that she would sleep better once I was gone.

I sighed. “Gina, you’re very pretty. If you really want Antonio back, you can have him. The three of us can sit down and talk about this and solve it like adults.”

Her eyes widened.

Right, where was my pride? No other shifters would solve their differences like that. That had to be new for them. The wolves relied on brute force and physical strength. Marrok and Antonio were the most reasonable wolves, but even they resorted to iron fists to solve problems.

The other two shifters snickered in disdain. 

“Or, if you want, Gina, we can share,” I said. “I don’t think Antonio will object to that. He’s insatiable in bed.”

Sharing my mate? Not a fucking chance. I would claw out any female’s heart rather than share Antonio with her.

Her eyes went wild. The other two shifters burst into laughter. I’d just proved to be such a coward.

“The more, the merrier, right?” I asked with a grin and charged forward like a flash, my dagger appearing in my hand before my opponents could blink.

I buried the sharp blade in the man right above his heart. I didn’t want to kill him, but I needed to incapacitate him to make sure he had no chance to come after me again.

His raucous laughter froze in his throat when he went down.

At the same time, I booted Gina in the face before I pulled out the dagger from the guy. I heard the crack of bone. Gina’s nose would never look the same. I could have killed her by kicking the cartilage into her brain, but I chose to let her live.

Poor Gina didn’t get the sweet chance to throw the first punch. 

What I had learned from my weapon master and Antonio had merged into my every action seamlessly.

Before I could stab the short-haired woman in the back while she was recovering from her shock, an alarm rang through the Keep.

Had Antonio realized I was under attack and come for me?

Had our mating bond flared a warning so he’d received it even in the distance? He should have sensed my fear.

Please come faster, Antonio. I need you!

Wolves howled some blocks away, then all of them howled in blind rage.

I didn’t hear Antonio’s holler among them. I would recognize it if he did.

So, he hadn’t returned for me. He hadn’t known I was in danger. And I was handling the situation okay on my own.

Gina’s face paled while her nose bled profusely. “The vampire hordes have broken through the Keep! They know we’re lacking manpower.”

She traded a look with her friend, as if trying to decide if they should take me down first or protect the Keep. The woman’s gaze lowered to the male shifter on the ground. He panted hard and pressed his hand on the wound to stop the bleeding.

“Try to fight me again and see how it ends,” I snarled. “I could have killed him, but I let him live. I would have slashed your throat if the alarms hadn’t rung. We can settle this after we slay the vampires, any time, any place.”

The woman swallowed, knowing I was right. Her eyes darkened.

“Before I let you go,” I said. “I have to give you something to remember me by, for I don’t like leaving a debt unpaid.” 

I moved, faster than any of them, and slashed my dagger across the female shifter’s face, making my mark.

I’d always been a sweet princess, but I could also be vicious.

Before she had a chance to retaliate, two vampires had zoomed in from the distance and lunged at us, their speed amazing.

My enemies!  

Wrath filled me, and my leopard roared. I tore off my clothes and shifted for the first time in my life.

My silky fur was golden with a red hue that shined in the dim light. I’d never seen any other leopard with a color like this. I looked at my paws and claws, waved them to test their strength and swept my tail in giddiness.

Payback time.

I bared my fangs, roared, and tore into the first vampire.

Gina and her friend also shifted into wolves. I worried they might attack me from behind, but they had enough sense to focus on the bloodsuckers instead. 

The first vampire looked surprised at my transformation. I recognized him. He was one of the vampires who had transported me to another location, then fled when Antonio had led a wolf army to rescue me.

I could see it in his eyes— confusion and wonder. How was I no longer a vampire, but a shifter?

It took a miracle, babe.

I took advantage of his hesitation and opened my jaw really wide and bit off his head. Blood misted the air.

I continued my killing spree. I was faster than the other shifters—red and gold lightning darting across the land, coating the streets in black and red.

Maybe that was the benefit of being a late bloomer. It had made me far more powerful than other shifters.

The two wolves—Gina and her friend—fought beside me, snarling and tearing our foes.

A new horde of vampires appeared, surrounding us.

Judging from the chaos, howls, and snarls all around the Keep, I estimated we had over a hundred vampires within our compound walls. Whilst the majority of the wolves had moved to guard the Wickedest Witch so she could secure the portal, vampires had come to take the Keep.

But the Keep was my mate’s home and thus mine. I wouldn’t let the bloodsuckers destroy it, even if it killed me.

My only regret was I didn’t get to say goodbye to Antonio and tell him how I felt about him. I’d fallen in love with him.

Just as I pinned a vampire down, he jabbed his sharp claws toward me, slicing through my flesh above my heart. My warm blood poured from my chest, and his eyes turned crimson, fangs growing in his mouth.

Another vampire behind me rammed his iron fist toward me. I wheeled around to avoid the strike and felt it whoosh past me. When the vampire on the ground was about to get up, I shifted to my true warrior form—a seamless, massive half leopard and half human—and yanked his heart out.

“Sweetie,” my hybrid self said. “When I say down, you need to stay down.”

Shifting like this was pure instinct. I hadn’t known this warrior form, but I did it under the circumstance. I realized then that my best talent was adapting to new situations.

I grinned wildly as five vampires surrounded me.

I shook my head at them. “Not cool.”  

The vampires widened their eyes. A bit freaked out.

They got used to shifters fighting them, not talking to them.

I was again my old self, one who liked to express her opinions in any situation. 

“I’ve only seen the Wolf King have a hybrid form,” a vampire hissed. 

“Wrong,” I said. “The wolf general has a superb hybrid form as well.”

Perhaps I shouldn’t have told them that, but I didn’t intend for them to leave the Keep today.

“Are you the Wolf Queen?” demanded another vampire, who had never met me before.

“No, sucker. That position has been taken. Not that I want it,” I said, sweeping my sharp claws toward the neck of the vampire next to him.

He jumped back with a snarl. “Bitch!”

“That’s not gentlemanly,” I said. “I’ll have to teach you how to treat a lady.”

They glared at me icily.

Vampires and gentlemen didn’t go together, and my joke was lost on them.

They closed in on me with murderous hunger in their eyes.

A brown wolf—Gina—crashed into one of the vampires, which gave me an opening I needed. I dove and picked up the dagger I’d dropped earlier.

Now that I had this warrior form and a dagger, I would be unstoppable.

When I rose, my dagger lashed out and glided through the neck of the vampire who had thought I was the Wolf Queen. His next question was replaced by blood bubbling past his lips. 

I was the only leopard shifter on this planet, and I was going to kill every last vampire.

“I’m the lightning flame who rides thunder and shoots fire into you leeches deadbeat hearts,” I announced, and pierced my dagger into the third vampire’s heart backwards.

I had never imagined I could fight this well. It was as if something snapped in me and rearranged every piece of me in the right way. But then I’d been converted back and forth a couple of times since I’d crashed into the City of Nine. 

I continued fighting as if I was featured in a noir dream where I was the master.

The wounds I incurred didn’t slow me, but the wounds I inflicted cut down hordes of vampires.

I was fulfilling my promise that I’d kill as many vampires as possible. I regretted the Dark Prince hadn’t come, but instead he was cowering in the dark tower.

Another blade came at my back while I was fighting another. It cut deep, nearly severing my spine. Blood ran down my legs from the wound.

I wouldn’t last much longer.

I needed another weapon. I spotted a drained shifter, dead and lying on the ground. As I sprinted past her to attack another vampire, I scooped up her dagger.

I crashed into a cluster of vampires, meeting them with my twin blades.

I slashed, ducked, and jabbed. Blood splattered my face and arced into the air. I wielded my weapons as if I was born to do this. 

I’d never felt so good.

Rage drove me, urging me on. The sight of blood only fueled the fire.

Gina fought beside me, watching my back.

I was glad she’d come through, but I hoped she hadn’t taken my suggestion at sharing Antonio too seriously.

Her female friend was nowhere near, and I had no idea what happened to the male whom I’d stabbed. From Gina’s fury, I guessed the female shifter was probably down.

On the other blocks, wolves howled and snarled as they fought toward us.  

Then a familiar, furious howl reached me.

My mate had returned.

It was about time.

He’d either heard the wolves’ howls or heard the call from our mating bond.

I didn’t need to figure out which one had gotten to him first as long as he’d come back for me.

Antonio in his enormous white wolf form charged toward us like a god of thunder, slamming away the vampire who locked onto me. He tore him apart, ripping limb from limb.

And I’d thought I was a vicious fighter!

My powerful, splendid mate!

I joined his side, fighting next to him as it was meant to be. For a second, I was almost distracted thinking how he perceived my new form. 

Antonio singled out the ringleader of the vampire horde.

The leading vampire drove his blade-like claws toward Antonio with precision and brutal force. That vampire had cut down several wolves.

A warning tore through my throat.

I wouldn’t be able to throw my dagger at the bloodsucker in time, and Antonio was too close to him.

My mate ducked to the side. I’d forgotten again how incredibly fast he was.

He leaped toward the vampire, intending to use the impact to throw his foe to the ground and pin him down, but the vampire also dodged, faster than a flying shadow, and let the white wolf pass.

Before Antonio wheeled around, the vampire was upon him.

In that instant, Antonio had turned larger and erected into his warrior form.

My mate got into a pounding match with the vampire ringleader, beat by beat. The vampire was obviously well-trained, and with his speed and strength matching Antonio’s, one couldn’t be sure who would perish first. 

Fear clutched my chest.

I needed to finish the leech who engaged me and go aid my mate. 

I dodged a blow and moved behind him like a red flash. He wheeled ninety degrees and thrust his claws into the side of my shoulder. If I backed away, I would miss the chance to cut him. I wanted to end the duel with him as soon as possible. 

Sharp pain tore into me, but I ignored it, swung my twin daggers, and closed them around his neck. I cleaved off his head then the hand that pierced my flesh.

Antonio and the leading vampire exchanged another wild barrage of punches. By the way he fought, the vampire had to be a top ex-militant before the vampires had turned him.

The head vampire slashed again, and Antonio caught his wrist, threw his weight on it, and pushed it forward.

A loud pop.

Antonio broke the vampire’s hand and elbow, and his opponent snarled in pain and rage, fangs bare. The vampire’s other claws swept at Antonio. As my mate locked with him, the claws opened his side.

Fear and rage shot through me. I dashed toward them.

Antonio stabbed his hand into the vampire’s chest, tearing through his clothing, flesh, and tissues. When the hand came out, a throbbing heart still beat on his large palm.

The leading vampire dropped in a heap, a scream dying on his cruel lips.

The rest of the vampires fled like fleeting shadows as soon as they saw their leader go down. We didn’t have enough guards to pursue them.

We locked down the Keep.

We lost over a dozen shifters, including Gina’s female friend who had tried to kill me then fought beside me. We had slain more vampires.  

I didn’t know if I’d earned a place in the Keep today, but I doubted any wolf would challenge me soon.

Antonio shifted to his human form. “Baby, you’re hurt. You’re bleeding all over. I need to tend to you.”

I was already healing.

I shifted to my leopard form from my warrior’s. My every muscle hurt, but my leopard wouldn’t give up her fun just yet.

“Bella?” Antonio blinked and stared at me, and my leopard slowly swept her red-golden tail along his hot body before she bolted for home.

I would clean myself at home, regenerate, then mate with Antonio.

“Bella!” Antonio called, and gave chase. “No matter what form you take, I love you!”

A few seconds later, a large white wolf double my size caught up to me just as my leopard leaped across the fence.

My leopard wasn’t paying attention since she was looking at the splendid wolf over her shoulder to admire him or show off her skill, so she slammed into the door.

Out, she was out! No more ruthless fun for her.

I shifted to a naked woman.

A naked man scooped me into his arms and carried me through the broken door as I gazed into his deep blue eyes that were full of starlight and sexy promises.