Ashaya looked up in surprise when he returned. He took Keenan, holding a finger to his lips. “Grab on to me, K-Man.” When the boy obeyed, Dorian quickly scaled the tree and put him in the crook of a branch. “I’ll be back with your mom.”

A nod, not as much fear as he would’ve expected. Trust, he thought, his heart clenching, the kid trusted him. Going back down, he found Ashaya already halfway up. She let him help her the rest of the way. Once beside Keenan, she put her arms around their son’s tiny figure, and gave him a questioning look.

He made a circle with his finger. Surrounded. Unlike the Psy, these humans weren’t so egotistical as to come into leopard territory expecting easy prey. They’d brought a small army.

He watched as Ashaya settled Keenan more firmly into his little spot, then put her back to him so he’d be protected by her body. Holding the gun awkwardly in one hand, she lifted the other to show Dorian three fingers, then five.

Fifteen minutes until backup arrived.

Dorian mentally counted his ammo, the number of hunters out there, and knew he couldn’t take them all out, not with his gun alone. It might come down to hand-to-hand combat. He bared his teeth-no one was getting up here. Nodding to Ashaya, he moved quickly away and lower down the tree.

Finding a good spot, he lay along the branch, put his rifle in position. And waited.

The first man showed his head a minute later. His brains exploded over the forest floor an instant after that, the shot silent, the kill precise.

Everything stilled and he could hear them break their radio silence and talk for several seconds. Then nothing-as if this army was organized enough to get itself under control. They were more careful after that, but he was a cat, and this was his territory. Despite their camouflage gear, he picked off three more before getting up and moving.

Ashaya’s worried eyes met his as he climbed up to take a position along her branch. He took out four more men before they realized he’d changed position. They got wary after that, and his job got harder. He moved again, only managed to take out one.

He knew they were going to be able to pinpoint which tree he was in, very soon.

He put his lips to Ashaya’s ear. “Regrouping. Few minutes’ grace.”

She nodded. “Ten minutes.” It was more the shape of her lips than sound.

He gritted his teeth, knowing he wasn’t fighting amateurs. These people wanted Ashaya, and they clearly wanted her alive. If they rushed the tree, he’d certainly manage to kill most of them. But not all.

Not all.

CHAPTER 51

Making another quick decision, Dorian swung the rifle over his head and onto his back and pointed upward. Ashaya’s eyes went wide, but to her credit, she gave him Keenan and began to climb, displaying the lithe skill that had saved her life from the lynx all those weeks ago. “Dorian?” A boyish whisper against his ear.

“Yeah?” He followed Ashaya, Keenan clinging to him like a monkey, not a tear in sight. Dorian was fucking proud of the boy’s courage.

“I want a gun.”

He winced, wondering what Ashaya would say to this new development. She’d been “rather surprised” to wake up the other day and find Keenan trying to copy Dorian as he went through his martial arts workout-the memory of those small legs kicking determinedly was almost enough to make Dorian smile even now. “We’ll talk about it later.”

Seemingly satisfied with that, Keenan kept his silence as they continued the climb. When Ashaya took a seat on a branch a couple of meters from their previous position, he nodded. Handing her Keenan, he jumped up beside her, shifting so his back formed a protective wall. “Makes it harder for them to rush us.” From here, he could pick them off one by one. Even the best human climber wasn’t leopard-fast.

He could hear Ashaya’s heart thudding behind him, the scent of her sweat fresh and clean. She leaned onto his back and, to his surprise, pressed a kiss to his nape, tucking the spare gun into the waistband of his jeans at the same time. “After this is over,” she whispered, her confidence in him a vibrant beat in his heart, “I’ll lie in the sun for you.” Grinning despite the danger, he leaped lightly onto the branch below theirs and began hunting again. This time, he moved after each shot, scattering their attackers’ defenses.

The scent of blood and flesh drifted up. Then the gunshots started. Every time he made a hit, that position was riddled seconds later. They were reacting quicker and, with the fifth kill, he was nicked in the arm. Swearing lightly, he told himself to move faster. It would be at least seven more minutes until backup arrived.

He checked his ammo again and realized he’d have to stop shooting if he wanted to keep something in reserve. Teeth bared, he crawled along the branches until he was in prime position to protect Ashaya and Keenan. The hunters began moving faster the instant they realized he wasn’t picking them off anymore. Probably thought he was down.

The first ones who attempted to climb the tree found their faces shot off. The others drew back and he heard low-voiced conversation. Not low enough. A mistake at last.

“Can’t have much more ammo.”

“Who’s gonna volunteer to find out?”

“Shoot into the tree.”

“And kill the target? Genius.”

“Why the fuck didn’t anyone know we were dealing with a sniper? He’s supposed be fighting with claws and teeth.”

“Shut up, all of you.” A furious voice. “Maintain silence. He’s a cat.”

The men obeyed. Resisting the urge to swear, Dorian spread out his senses again and waited for their next move. Several shots were fired into the trunk.

“We want Ashaya Aleine alive,” a male voice said. “That’s all. We don’t want to harm her.”

Then you fucking shouldn’t have shot at her and our child. Dorian used the speaker’s voice to get a lock on his position without the benefit of a sightline.

“Give her to us and we’ll let you-”

The voice cut off as Dorian shot through the tree and hit his target. The sound of bullet meeting flesh was close. They’d surrounded the tree.

“Fuck this,” someone said. “Shoot!”

And suddenly the tree was a war zone. Dorian moved swiftly up. They weren’t aiming high enough yet but sooner or later they’d figure it out. He put his body in front of Ashaya’s, intending to tell her that they’d need to move. There was a possibility he could jump them to another tree. But before he could get to that, he caught a familiar scent on the breeze. His leopard snarled, but the man grinned. “Damn wolves.”

Ashaya made a questioning face. “Wolves?”

“Wolves.” Knowing backup was on the way, he leaped back down to a lower branch and began to pick off the attackers once more. They were close to getting a fix on him when the first scream sounded. He hoped to hell Ashaya had Keenan’s ears blocked, because the wolves were being noisy about their work. Then the cats arrived.

In spite of the fact that the fight was now over, Dorian didn’t lower his guard. It was a good thing he didn’t. One of the human hunters had evaded everyone. Dorian caught the man’s scent from his left, and realized he’d climbed over from a neighboring tree. Not wanting to chance a shot going haywire, he stalked the man with quiet leopard focus. A whisper of air was the last thing the man heard as Dorian snapped his neck. The body crashed through the branches and to the ground.