One by one, four more panthers appeared in the room. There was no way to tell them apart as they fought with Romeo and Dante. Roars and growls echoed in her ears and the scent of blood filled her nostrils.
Two more panthers appeared.
How she wished she knew if they were friend or foe. All she could do was grip her axe and pray.
The one panther she thought was Dante appeared to maim the one he was fighting by snapping the hind leg of his opponent. A baleful whine filled the air as the panther evaporated from the room.
The victorious panther turned to another that was fighting with the two new panthers. With his powerful jaws, he grabbed it by the neck and slung it away from the two.
He charged the downed panther, using his shoulder to drive it farther away from her and from the other two who snapped behind him.
His enemy tried to claw at his head, but the panther ducked his head and bit into his opponent's throat.
The opponent became wild, thrashing before she heard something break. It went limp.
Two more panthers vanished instantly.
The remaining four turned on the one panther that had been left behind and cornered it. It roared fiercely, then poofed out as well.
Terrified of what that meant, Pandora tensed as the four panthers turned to face her.
She watched them, determined to fight to the bitter end as they stalked nearer.
Three of them fell back while the fourth approached her.
"Dante?" she asked hesitantly, hoping it was him.
He collapsed at her feet before he placed one large paw on her foot and licked her ankle.
She sobbed in relief as she slid down the wall to pull his head into her lap.
The other three flashed into Romeo, Leo, and Mike.
"How badly are you hurt?" Romeo asked the twins.
They were a bit scuffed up, with bruises and bloodied lips and noses, but weren't hurt nearly as badly as Dante had been.
"We're okay, thanks to Dante."
Romeo approached her slowly.
"He's unconscious," she said quietly as she kept her hand on Dante's ribs to make sure he was still breathing. "There were eight of them in the beginning. He fought them alone."
"Dammit, Dante," Romeo snarled as he picked the panther up in his arms. "Why didn't you call us sooner?"
"Put him in my bed," Pandora said, moving to pull back the covers.
"Are you sure?"
She nodded.
Romeo set him down, then ordered Leo to keep watch at the door in case the others came back.
"Mike," he said to the other twin. "Go grab Acheron and tell him I need a favor."
Pandora crawled into the bed beside Dante. Part of her was terrified to be so close to him in his animal state and yet the other part of her wanted only to comfort her mate.
She'd never been this close to a panther before. It was scary and yet not.
