Change of Heart

fighting was taking on him. His fur was soaked with blood, his walk was stilted, broken, and he could not lift his head any higher than his shoulder. As the panthers advanced on Logan like a pack, I realized that Domin was close to my mate's size, and the four other golden panthers at his side were just as big as he was. It was only a matter of time before they killed Logan; there were just too many.
    I saw Domin's snarl pull his lips back from his teeth, saw the long sharp fangs dripping with blood at the same time I finally understood the cause of Logan's limp. His right shoulder was shredded, and all his weight was being carried on his left front leg. In that second, my anger evaporated; only protecting my mate mattered. I flew down the stairs, came up behind Domin and landed on his back, slamming him down to the floor, my fangs buried in the back of his neck, my claws beside my mouth. His cries of pain made the others stop and turn. All of them lifted out of their attack positions, standing there staring at me on top of their semel as I held him pinned to the floor. I tightened my jaws and Domin moaned painfully, loud and long.
    Logan was shaking with fatigue; there was no telling how long he had been holding off all five, counting Domin, alone, but he didn't collapse. He held his ground, his eyes locked on me. Domin shifted under me, and I looked away from my mate, my adversary trying to upset my balance by shrinking and changing his body mass quickly. I slipped into my werepanther form with him and twisted around and under him, the claws of one hand still buried in the back of his neck, 212
    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    the other driving up into his chest. He staggered forward and collapsed on top of me. Had I been in the pit alone, I would have never taken him by surprise, but the others were concentrating on Logan and so could not offer him any help or advantage. I lifted my head and sank my teeth into his throat, tasting his blood on my tongue.
    When Logan roared, it caught me by surprise.
    There were more, streaming into the pit, and had I thought about it even for a moment, from what I knew of Domin's tribe, I should have known that as they were rabble instead of a family, that they would take this opportunity to kill Logan. He fought valiantly, but there were just too many.
    He was still standing, even though he only had three good legs, but with the addition of five more panthers, ten in all ripping at him with claws and fangs, he finally went down, buried under a mountain of fur. No one from his tribe came to help; they knew he wouldn't want any of them to die for him.
    I had no such reservations. Shifting to panther form, I kicked with my back legs and hurled Domin off me so hard that he hit the rock wall with enough force to shake pebbles loose. He was unconscious when he hit the ground. Turning, I ran for Logan. I hit the mass of muscle and bone that covered my mate and tore into it, biting, clawing, pulling, and yanking, trying to free him. But I was inconsequential, only one trying to move so many huge predators. I could not hope to make an impact. But whereas they were in the frenzy of bloodlust, I was clearheaded. When the fire flickered in the corner of my eyes, I knew instantly what I had to do.
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    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    I used my powerful back legs and leaped as high up into the bonfire as I could. There were screams and shouting, and I was certain that everyone thought I was killing myself because I believed that Logan was dead. The sacrifice was normal and expected for the reah, the semel strong enough to live without their mate, the reah not. While it was romantic, very Romeo and Juliet , my focus was on life, not death.
    The heat was blistering, the air stifling, and the smoke was trying to choke and suffocate me, but I was clearheaded; I knew how to keep myself alive. Once I was at the top of the burning mountain of wood, I shifted and then shifted again and then again, over and over, ceaselessly, without a break in rhythm. Man, werepanther, panther, from one to the other fast enough so that the fire couldn't catch me, couldn't burn through one body before there was another in its place. I ran on top of the flaming mound, my legs under me singed and then changed, and it hurt, and yet, it didn't, the piercing, devouring pain like electrical shocks, there and gone almost before my brain could register it.
    My vision blurred and my skin felt liquid as it formed and reformed