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He didn’t have a choice but to engage. The odds were not in his favor. His animal might be bigger, but he wasn’t immortal. These lynxes could seriously hurt him, and then what would happen to Caroline?
His front paw connected with the lynx’s face, but he was thrown back by a hit from his opponent. He went skidding across the lawn, managing to right himself seconds before he crashed into a tree.
Ryland lunged at one lynx again; this time, his hit missed. Distracted, he didn’t see one of the others jumping on his back. He threw himself down, trying to dislodge his attacker, but soon, yet another was on top of him. Ryland used every trick he knew, clawing, kicking, biting until finally, he was free.
The larger lynx flew at him, and when his head connected with the stone ground, he knew he would be lucky to see the sun ever again.
His vision blurred as he fought the darkness in his head. He couldn’t pass out. He had to fight on. Caroline’s life depended on it, and he wouldn’t let her down. He rose on unsteady legs and tried to attack his foe. As he struggled to keep four attackers at bay, he saw a blur of floral material in the corner of his eye.
The sound of a gunshot rang out in his ears. The fighting stopped as each turned toward the origin of the sound.
A woman with a cloud of white hair on her head and a slight curve to her back aimed a gun at one of the lynxes. “I’ll do it,” she said in her native tongue. She fired another round and began loading the barrel again. Ryland was sure the lynxes would pounce on her. They didn’t. “Last warning.”
The scarred lynx nodded to the others, and they stalked off. Ryland sat back on his haunches, watching them go. He closed his eyes and memorized the scent of each lynx. He couldn’t go after them now when he was outnumbered, but he would destroy them when the fight could be fair.
With honor.
Not like some skulking beast who stalks women and threatens them in a bathroom. Not like some goons who would threaten an old man.
The woman shot again, and the lynxes took off at a run. “I’ll stay out here and make sure they don’t come back,” she said to him.
Ryland tipped his head in thanks. He ran into the house, but there was no one there.
Caroline’s scent was cut through with so much fear that he barely recognized it. His stomach rolled.
They’ve taken my mate.
Ryland let out a ripping cry that resonated across the fields. He had let this happen. Caroline was in danger because he hadn’t kept her safe.
If anything happens to her …
The thought was too terrible to entertain.
* * *
Ryland was still catchinghis breath when the old woman found him in the bathroom. She looked at the broken window and the trashed bathroom and nodded. “They took Salvatore too?”
“Yeah,” he croaked. “I’m really sorry. I wasn’t prepared. Why the fuck wasn’t I prepared?”
“Swearing won’t bring her back,” the old woman chided. “My brother-in-law knew the risks of living on this land.”
“How come they didn’t harm you?”
“I’m Paolo Bonetti’s wife. The lynxes have an agreement with the Bonettis. No one of the name can be harmed.”
Ryland frowned. “And why is that?”
She shook her head. “I’m not sure I can tell you that.”
“Please. I need to know. Anything will help. This has got to do with the Vases of Destiny.”
“You know about those.”
“I do,” he said. “I know that some of them might be buried on this land. That’s why the lynxes were here, isn’t it?” He waited for Mrs. Bonetti to confirm his suspicion. “They believe the vases are here, and they are threatening the family.”
She only gave a small nod in response. “And now that you went looking where you weren’t supposed to look, you’ve lost your woman.”
“My woman?”
