She started to turn toward him, but he had her hair in a fist and she couldn’t move.
“Just lie there, kotyonok.”
“What’s wrong?”
She was too connected to him. He cursed under his breath. “I’m going to talk to him now. Just give me a minute or two. He can be difficult.” He hesitated, and then made his confession. She was going to find out anyway. “That was an understatement. Dymka is moody, edgy, merciless and ruthless.”
“Like you?”
There was no accusation or judgment. There was no humor either. He had to own that one. “Like me,” he admitted. “Ania, I would never hurt you.”
“Talk to your leopard before you tell me that. I have the feeling he threatened Jewel.” There was the tiniest bit of denunciation in her tone now.
Dymka. He wasn’t going to waste any time. Why is Jewel so afraid of you?
His query was met with silence. Mitya’s anger instantly began to stir. Fucking answer me right now. You said something or did something that has her retreating. Worse, she’s willing to forgo her bond with you and find another mate.
An explosion of rage greeted that statement. That will never happen. I will kill any leopard that tries to take her from me.
Mitya was certain Dymka would do just that. His leopard was bigger and stronger than most others. He was far more experienced. He had been a fighter since Mitya was a toddler and had honed his skills over the years, fighting time and again with more experienced leopards until he was so proficient others avoided him.
What did you do? She is so frightened. Ania is having a difficult time as well.
There was a short silence. She rose in the bakery. Rather than actual words, the image of the bakery and the men in it was shown to him. The leopards wanted her. All of them. I could smell it on them. And one reached for her. She is so young she didn’t realize what she was doing, and then she liked it. She liked having rivals surrounding her. Again, there was an explosion of rage.
Dymka had a short fuse and wouldn’t tolerate much from his wayward mate. Mitya sighed. In some ways, he was the same. He wasn’t giving Ania room to wiggle around. He wanted her where he could see her every minute, and after the display of stealthy disobedience, of independence, slipping through his security guards to follow them, he had to plan for other ways to keep her safe.
Mitya also knew, every time Alessandro Caruso got close to Ania, Mitya turned as murderous and as vicious as his leopard.
If this is her first life cycle, Dymka, she is afraid and doesn’t know what to do.
Then she should rely on her mate.
Mitya nearly groaned aloud. That sounded just like him. He wanted Ania to rely solely on him and, in fact, he demanded her trust. He hadn’t given her reason to trust him, built that connection between them over time. No, he’d demanded it.
Who was the driver? Mitya? Or Dymka? Was each making the other worse? Mitya made every effort to be very relaxed and calm in the hopes that his moody leopard would listen to him. Jewel is so afraid of you that she is desperate to escape. Did you threaten her?
There was another short silence and Mitya’s heart sank. That answer had to be yes. The male had said or done something to spook Ania’s little female.
I knew you would be angry with me, Dymka formed visual images in Mitya’s mind. I know I shouldn’t have. She is very afraid as it is. I told her I would give her the beating of a lifetime if she ever flirted with any other males or, worse, allowed them to touch her.
Mitya drew in a deep breath. He knew his leopard, and there was more to it than what he had admitted to Mitya. What else? I want all of it right now, Dymka. He rarely used that tone with his leopard. Dymka had saved his life so many times. More, he’d taken countless beatings when Mitya was a child to save him.
I told her Ania would suffer even more, that you would beat her as well to pay for the things Jewel did. The admission came out in a rush, as if the leopard wanted to get it over with.
The images of Mitya standing over Ania, his fists poised and fury on his face, Ania on the ground, sickened him. He couldn’t imagine how young Jewel felt. No wonder she was desperate to protect her human counterpart. Fury burst through him to rival the rage of his cat.
I would never hit her. Or harm her in any way. I would remove any threat to my bonding with her, but no matter what she did, I wouldn’t hurt Ania. After living with Lazar, do you believe threats like that work?