Chase Read Free Page A

would be safe in the tree until they took care of her other would-be-suitors.
    * * * *
    Nenita couldn't figure out what the newcomers were. If it hadn't been for their collars, she would have thought them to be native-but-familiar animals, but when they shifted and stood, all similarities between them and leopards back home disappeared.
    The creatures stalked the two men who were arguing in the clearing. She winced when the blue male scented something an instant before he was forced to the ground, his limbs bleeding from the attack.
    The other male tried to press keys on his armband but was distracted by his arm being ripped from him by the jaws of his attacker.
    With their opponents incapacitated, if not dying, the two creatures turned back in her direction and shifted into their leopard forms. Huge, graceful cats approached her hiding place and they paced beneath her refuge in slow and lazy patterns.
    Nenita looked down the expanse of the tree and swallowed as the two beasts lay down to wait. There went her chances of a bathroom break.
    She settled back and watched them through half-closed eyes. Napping was dangerous in her position, but she rested as best she could. She wouldn't have a chance with both of those predators. Even the other males hadn't had a hope in hell of fighting the two shifters off.
    * * * *
    How long do you think she can remain up there, Hexar?
    I don't know. She has been up there close to an hour if not over it, by my guess. The two that she stunned next to the pool were the first.
    She did a good job on them. Brax and Neffer were always too full of themselves. It served them right to be taken down a peg.
    You may want to clean the blood off your mouth before you shift. She probably won't enjoy seeing you covered in blood, Drioth.
    You have a point. Clean your paws. You are covered with Henir's blood.
    The two shifters began the arduous task of cleaning their fur. Blood stained horribly if you let it dry.
    * * * *
    Two hours later and Nenita couldn't stand it, she had to pee and there was no getting around it. The two cats had dispatched the other seekers with speed and returned to the small clearing near the base of her tree.
    She moved her stiff limbs and turned to face the trunk, seeking and finding the path down with her arms shaking from fatigue.
    If the cats came at her, she would try to stop them, but she really had to attend to nature first. She kept her collar looped over one arm. She would only have one chance to make her escape and until then, they needed to know where she was. The moment they came looking for her, she would have the collar back in place, but she would make sure that it didn't work the way Nishino anticipated.
    The cats remained seated as she got closer to the ground. When her bare feet pressed against the moss, they watched her while she staggered for the cover of the shrubs.
    Tears of relief sparked in her eyes as the torment of the last few hours was eased. Now that she had attended to the nagging need, she peeked back through the shrubs to her alert followers.
    Nenita weighed her options. She could make a run for the tree, run off through the woods or confront her followers. Her limbs were too sore for running, so that left option three.
    She took four paces out past the shrubs and faced them, hands on her hips. "Fine. You caught me. You win."
    The cats looked at each other and stood on their hind legs, stretching into the form of well-toned men.
    "Technically, you surrendered, we didn't catch you." The one with pale brown hair looked down at her with amusement in his blue-green eyes. The thick collar on his neck was banded for expansion and his trousers and boots seemed to be part of him, they shifted when he did.
    "I am too tired to run."
    The one with black hair and peculiar gold eyes smiled. "We will have to arrange for you to run at another time. We enjoy a good chase."
    She rolled her eyes. Innuendo was not something she was in the mood for. "Wonderful. Who and what