Leopard 03 - Burning Wild

howling shriek caused Andraya to bury her face against Emma’s neck. Kyle screamed and threw himself at Evan, who immediately wrapped his arms around the little boy.
    “The wind seems to be blowing harder,” Emma said, uneasy. “Do you think the helicopter got off all right?”
    “I’ll check for you,” Evan said and stepped to the window to look outside at the helipad. “The lights are gone, Emma, so Jake is on his way back.”
    “Thank God,” she breathed and for the first time all day, she truly relaxed. She hadn’t realized how much she really counted on Jake and his strong presence. There was just something invincible and powerful about him.
    Kyle wiggled and turned boneless, trying to escape Evan to get back to Emma. Evan put him down so he could run to her.
    Evan reached out his hand. “Come on, Kyle, give Mommy a break. I’ll put you in your high chair.
    Emma, you look like you’re going to fall down, and your neck is bleeding through the bandages.”
    Emma reached up to press her fingers against the bandages where the puncture wounds were and came away with smears of blood.
    Susan gasped. “Here, Emma.” She held out a small handkerchief.
    Emma half turned toward her when she heard Evan grunt and she spun back around. She saw his large body stagger. Emma ran toward Kyle as Evan toppled to the ground, firing the gun in his hand at a large, snarling cat as it leapt toward Kyle. Emma’s hand missed the back of Kyle’s shirt as the leopard snatched him on the run and nearly slammed into the door, one hand shifting to open it. Evan rolled over and started to fire a second time, but Emma screamed, “No! You might hit Kyle.”
    The leopard flashed through the door with her son, leapt over the flowers and the low garden wall to disappear into the night.
    Susan screamed. Andraya became hysterical. Emma caught Susan by the shoulders. “Lock down the house and do your best to help Evan. Tell Jake what happened. I’m going after them.”
    “You can’t,” Susan protested. “Wait for Jake. You’ll be killed.”
    Evan tried to catch her leg as she ran past him, but he missed, cursing. He tried to get to his feet, but his ribs were broken and it was difficult to draw a breath. Susan crouched beside him, looking warily into the night.
    “I can’t see her anymore.”
    “Don’t worry. Jake and the others will come running. They had to have heard the shot.” He couldn’t get to his feet, so he dragged himself to the door in an effort to close it.
    Jake, Conner and Joshua burst out of the darkness as if the wild wind had driven them, howling at their heels every step of the way. They were soaked, barefoot and shirtless, running flat-out, yet hardly winded. Susan screamed again and backed away as Jake towered over Evan, his face a mask of fury.
    Crouching low, he nearly jerked Evan off the floor, his fists twisted in the front of Evan’s shirt, death in his slashing gaze. “Where is she?” He bit out each word distinctly, his teeth sharper, his canines longer in the dim lighting.
    “She went after the leopard.” Evan had to gasp out every word. “He took Kyle. I couldn’t stop her, Jake.”
    Jake swore, and let go of the man. “Lock the fucking door, Susan.” He pressed Evan’s fingers around the gun. “Shoot to kill next time.”
    Jake spun around and ran into the night, Conner and Joshua following close behind. They found Emma’s robe just outside the flower beds and they picked up their pace, peeling off their jeans, shedding them just beyond the yard and shifting as they ran.
    The scent of blood was strong in a couple of places, along with that of the male leopard. This, then, was Clayton, the other man hired by the enemies and Trent. He was flat-out running, holding Kyle in his mouth. It couldn’t have been easy; the boy had to be squirming and fighting, although he might have been so scared he had gone limp.
    Jake ran with his heart in his throat and the taste of terror in his mouth. His son. Kyle. He had held the boy in the palm of his hand. Changed his diapers. Fed him. Looked into his eyes—eyes so like his own.
    He’d told himself he didn’t love anyone or anything, yet his son had managed to wrap himself tightly around Jake’s heart and refused to let go. Just because Jake hadn’t acknowledged the way he felt out loud—or even to himself—didn’t mean it hadn’t happened. He couldn’t live without the boy, without that trust in his eyes and the love and eagerness