Page 68 of Beasts of Mine

“Apparently I've hired security,” I muttered to the three leopards, shaking my head as I pulled my legs onto the cot.

You did not hire us, the amber-eyed leopard told me, opening one eye from his position near the entrance while his tail stretched across the boards.

“You're right. Hired security usually expects payment. You're volunteer feline security,” I told the amber-eyed leopard, lying back and pulling the mosquito net into place around me.

Feline? the amber-eyed leopard asked me, raising his head as his ears immediately angled backward.

“Cat family,” I explained to the amber-eyed leopard, tucking one arm beneath my head while a smile spread across my face.

His ears went farther back.

Interesting.

“Oh, does that bother you?” I asked the amber-eyed leopard, rolling onto my side to see his reaction more clearly through the net.

Sleep, Cat told me, cutting across whatever the other leopard had been preparing to say while his deeper voice carried easily through the insects and distant animal calls.

“You're very bossy for unpaid security,” I informed Cat, settling deeper against the thin pillow as my eyes began to grow heavy.

Sleep, Evie, Cat repeated, meeting my gaze briefly before returning his attention to the darkness outside camp. Something in my body felt lighter. There wasn't anything strange or complicated about it. They were still leopards, and that fact wasn't remotely confusing to me. I simply felt safer with them nearby.

I'd spent enough nights in tents, blinds, and field shelters that the sounds of the rainforest usually didn't keep me awake, but part of me always listened anyway. A snapping branch, a sudden silence among insects, the change in an animal call—some piece of my brain stayed awake enough to notice.

Tonight, it didn't seem necessary.

Cat was listening. So were the other two. Their scents had collected around the small camp during the hours they'd spent there, and even through my blockers I could distinguish them when the breeze moved through the shelter. Cat's familiar cedar and rain-damp earth lingered closest to the steps. The amber-eyed leopard carried warmer notes of wood, crushed citrus leaves, and spice, while the darker leopard's scent was calmer, sandalwood softened by fresh herbs.

My Omega instincts settled around those scents with surprising ease. Apparently three enormous cats had become something my body associated with safety.

Wonderful.

Somewhere beyond the mosquito net, three sets of ears continued tracking every sound in the rainforest while I drifted off without bothering to listen for any of them myself.

Apparently, I had three feline security guards now.

There were worse problems to have.

CHAPTER TEN

EVIE

I woke the next morning to something dragging quietly across the wooden platform. For several seconds, I stayed exactly where I was beneath the mosquito net, trying to decide whether the sound was worth opening my eyes for. Nothing outside sounded alarmed. Birds were already calling through the canopy, insects buzzed somewhere near the canvas wall, and the forest had settled into the ordinary noise of morning.

Then something scraped across the boards again. I opened one eye and found the amber-eyed leopard backing down the steps with something bright blue hanging from his mouth. My brain took several seconds to identify it before I sat straight up.

“Is that my lens cloth?” I demanded of the amber-eyed leopard, shoving the mosquito net aside while he froze halfway down the steps with the microfiber cloth dangling unmistakably from his teeth.

His amber eyes met mine.

No, the amber-eyed leopard told me around the cloth, remaining perfectly still as though refusing to move somehow strengthened his defense.

I stared at him.

He stared back.

“You are holding it in your mouth,” I told the amber-eyed leopard, swinging my legs over the side of the cot while Cat raised his head from where he'd been lying beneath the edge of the platform.

Found it, the amber-eyed leopard told me, backing down another step and adjusting his grip as if the distinction mattered.