His Defiant Leopard

Published by Evernight Publishing at Smashwords

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright© 2014 Marie Medina

ISBN: 978-1-77130-913-4

Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

Editor: Karyn White

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

DEDICATION

To J

HIS DEFIANT LEOPARD

The Year of Eyes, 3

Marie Medina

Copyright © 2014

Chapter One

Valladora

3152, The Year of Eyes

Thanos closed his book and sat up on the grass, turning his head to listen. For a moment, he heard nothing but the wind rustling the leaves above him, but then he heard the sharp cry again. An animal was in distress, perhaps not in pain, but seemingly trapped or cornered in some way. He stood, tucked the green gilt-edged book into his bag, and looked around as he put the well-worn brown leather satchel over his shoulder. The sound originated behind him, and he saw something white and fluffy. He thought it might be a rabbit, but he’d never heard a rabbit make a sound like that. As he got closer, he could see black spots on the white fur and make out a swishing tail. It raised its head to let out another yowling cry, and Thanos recognized it as a snow leopard. He stopped and looked around again. Where was its mother? And what was a snow leopard doing so far from the mountains? They typically lived farther north and at much higher elevations. It might be a shifter, but if that were the case, it had very irresponsible parents. How could they leave the child alone in its shifted form at such a young age, when it would have trouble controlling its shifting abilities and need both guidance and protection? Had something happened to them?

Thanos approached slowly, and the cub did not seem scared of him. It kept looking down a hole and wailing sharply. I’m here to help. What’s wrong? Thanos knelt beside it, and the cub looked back and forth between him and the hole, as if pointing. It must be a shifter to be so intelligent and recognize that I want to help. Thanos gazed down and saw an almost identical cub. The one in the hole, however, had one solid black ear.

Turning to the cub beside him, he said, I’ll get your friend out. Everything is all right.

The cub stopped its mewling noises and sat down, watching him.

Definitely a shifter. Thanos looked around for something big enough for the cub to climb on, but in the end he shimmied down into the hole and picked the cub up. He was tall enough to set the cub on its feet on solid ground, the top of the hole coming to roughly an inch above his head. Climbing out proved hard, and Thanos slipped and fell several times. After four tries, he made it out, though mud coated his robes and matted his dark hair.

The two cubs sat watching the entire time, but once he stood and began straightening his clothes, they came over and appeared to be trying to thank him. They propped their front legs on his legs, pawing at him and batting at his robes. They then rubbed against his ankles, and the one with the black ear even did a sort of joyful, frolicking dance, obviously happy to be free. Thanos couldn’t help but smile at how cute they were. Since he was already filthy, he got on his knees to talk to them.

Where is your mother? Your father?

The cub with the black ear covered his face with his paws, while the other cub looked down.

They’re gone? Thanos asked. He didn’t want that to be true, but he could come to no other conclusion based on the responses from the cubs. Obviously something bad had happened, which was how the cubs had ended up alone.

They both made mewling sounds again, and Thanos didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t just wander all over the forest with them in hopes of finding their parents, who might not even be there to find. To his knowledge, no leopard shifters lived in his dominion. However, his steward, Sebastian, was a fox shifter, so an entire family of shifters lived and worked in his castle. Perhaps they could help him. Snow leopards were not rarer than golden leopards, but he would never blame any shifter for being guarded, especially with children involved. The aid of other shifters might be his only hope to find out if the cubs had anyone left to care for them. He prayed the parents were not dead, but he could think of no other reason for the cubs to be alone.

My name is Thanos. I’m the vampire lord here. Do you want to come home with me?

The cubs looked at each other, and Thanos wondered how much they understood. He could not tell how old they were. As leopards, they were little more than babies, but in human form they might be older. He simply didn’t know enough about shifters. His brother Ladon would be much more useful in this situation.

The cub with the black ear came over and gave a short cry, and then he looked to the other cub, who soon joined him. Thanos looked in his bag and shifted his books around, and then he put it on the ground. He pointed inside of it.

Get in. It will be faster. When we reach my castle, I’ll have clothes so you can shift.

They hesitated a moment, but then they both climbed inside. Watching them get in headfirst and then right themselves, both at the same time, made Thanos laugh. Once they were settled, he carefully put the bag on his shoulder and headed back to the castle. He held the bag against him with one hand, and both cubs playfully nipped at his thumb repeatedly along the journey. He scratched them both behind the ears, which they appeared to love. The one with the black ear proved more vocal and curious. The other stayed hunched lower in the bag, wary of its surroundings yet seemingly content with the situation.

They both grew still and quiet once Thanos entered the castle, and soon his servants followed suit.

My lord? Sebastian asked as he approached.

Thanos looked to his steward and smiled. We have guests, and I will be needing your help to find out how they got here.

Sebastian leaned over to look closer, taking a deep breath to catch their scent, as Thanos had seen him do many times. They’re shifters. I see. I’ll go to my brother and talk to him. There aren’t any leopards around here, at least none we know of.

They were alone, and one of them had fallen into a hole. We need to find out what happened. They couldn’t have gotten here alone.

I’ll make arrangements for clothes to be brought to your rooms, and food as well. He eyed the cubs. I’ll send Meredith with lots of sizes. I can’t tell how old they are. Probably still toddlers, I’d guess.

Thank you, Thanos said.

Sebastian bowed and hurried off, summoning a maid to his side as he went. The other servants watched a moment longer but soon went back to their tasks. Thanos looked down to the two cubs, who gazed up at him with expectant green eyes. Well, let’s get you two settled. Then you can shift and tell me all about yourselves.

The cubs snuggled down together, and Thanos headed for his rooms. He’d left the castle that day because he was bored, and he had definitely found something to relieve him of that.

****

Thanos paced on the rug at the foot of his bed, occasionally glancing to the sleeping cubs. Why wouldn’t they change to human form? Were they frightened? Sick? They had eaten heartily, and they’d tried to play with every servant who had entered the room. Sebastian’s son, Micah, had even come in to see them. He’d shifted to his fox form, played with them, and then shifted back. This action had not surprised the cubs, but they didn’t seem to understand that everyone wanted them to change to their human form.

Raised voices caught Thanos’s attention, and he went to the window to look down into the castle’s courtyard. In the open area