Rob tried to close the apartment door on him. Jeff caught it.
“Hey,” said George’s thin voice from behind him, “we don’t want any trouble, here—”
Jeff took Rob by the collar and shoved him up against the wall.
George’s whiny voice faded into the background as Jeff looked down at the asshole who had abandoned Leah and Emily, who’d put that shuttered, exhausted expression on Leah’s face. His leopard growled.
His fingers were twitching with the need to let out his claws and teach this guy a real, permanent lesson.
“Jeff.” Leah’s voice cut through the bloodthirsty haze.
Jeff tracked Rob’s movements as he twisted in the iron grip holding him against the wall. “What?”
“Don’t hurt him. He’s not worth it,” Leah said. “And I have a better idea of what to do with him, anyway.”
It took almost more effort that Jeff had to force down the rage, the desire to hurt the man who’d hurt his mate. But he made himself do it, for Leah.
Rob protested as Jeff hauled him away from the wall, turning to Leah with a hint of his usual good humor. “We’ll do anything you want. Is there a cliff nearby that we could toss him off?”
Leah’s mouth quirked in a smile as she looked Rob up and down. “I can think of something that would hurt more.”
***
Leah would never get tired of watching Jeff’s transformation. The way his muscles rippled and his figure blurred, the way the smooth fur of the snow leopard emerged from the shifting form.
And the snow leopard was so beautiful. Leah thought about the coming winter, wondering if Jeff would mind transforming some snowy evening, so that she and Emily could curl up against his furred midsection in front of the fire. She thought about Emily playing in the snow with the leopard...and having this powerful predator protecting her and her daughter for the rest of their lives.
Just like he was doing now.
Rob shivered and whimpered, clutching at a tree. They were in a little wooded area just past George’s building, where no one could see them from the road.
“I wouldn’t run,” Leah advised. “He’s fast.”
“What is he?” Rob whined.
Jeff growled. Rob jerked back in fear.
“He’s the one who’s going to come after you if you don’t get yourself to a courthouse,” Leah said. The words filled her with immeasurable satisfaction.
“After we set this up, I don’t ever want to see your face again,” she said. “But you are going to pay for what you did to Emily. And I mean that literally. Or you’ll be seeing him again.”
Jeff padded up to Rob and bared his teeth. Rob pressed himself back against the tree, as if he was trying to disappear into it.
Leah couldn’t understand what she’d ever seen in this man.
Fortunately, it looked like she wasn’t going to have to see anything of him anymore.
“Are you going to do this?” she asked.
Rob couldn’t take his eyes off Jeff’s teeth. “Yes,” he whispered.
“Then move it.”
Rob moved. Leah met Jeff’s leopard eyes, alight with satisfaction, and smiled.
***
The drive back was blissful.