Free Stroke of Midnight by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Lori Handeland, L. A. Banks, Amanda Ashley Page A

a portal in the handicap stall downstairs that allows people to drop in from alternate universes. I was in there with Amanda helping her with her costume when this woman popped in, holding an axe. She immediately popped back out."
    Dante laughed at that, even though a fierce pain cut through him at the memory.
    Only his pantheress would be so bold as to defy his orders.
    "I better go pay for that axe before someone puts out an APB on my mate," he said to Ash, Cas, and Simi.
    But as he got up and headed down to the dealers' room, he couldn't squelch the need he felt to find Pandora and bring her back.
    He wouldn't do that to her.
    Dante was nothing if not a panther of his word.

CHAPTER 5
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    Pandora spent two days in La Costa with her sister and the other females while Leo and Mike tutored them well on how to use their powers. They also tutored some of the unmated females on things she didn't even want to think about.
    But none of her newfound freedom made her happy.
    In fact, the longer she stayed here, the more her heart ached. Every time her gaze fell to her marked hand, she thought about the panther she'd left behind.
    No, she thought about the man. The one who had given her so much.
    "How's Dante doing?"
    She paused outside the sliding glass door that led to Mike and Leo's room. The two panthers were in there alone and she wasn't sure which one was which. One of them was resting in a blue recliner, while the other appeared to have just ended a phone call.
    That one tossed a cell phone to the dresser before he shrugged. "Romeo said he's still screwed up."
    The one in the chair sighed heavily. "Yeah. I can't believe he didn't tell Pandora about his phobia."
    "What phobia?" Pandora asked as she came through the door to confront them.
    The twins looked at her sheepishly.
    "It's not nice to eavesdrop," the one in front of the dresser said in a reprimanding tone.
    She was in no mood to take that from him. "And it's not nice to talk about people either, but since you're talking about my mate, I'd like to know what you mean."
    The twins exchanged a pained look.
    "What do you think, Mike?" Leo was the one who'd had the cell phone.
    Mike leaned back in his recliner as he silently debated for a few seconds more. "Might as well tell her, I guess. I don't see what it would hurt."
    Leo let out a loud breath before he spoke again.
    He looked at her. "When Dante was a cub, he and his litter and a group of our cousins escaped their babysitter and went out prowling on their own. After a few hours, they got lost and one of the females with them got really scared because it was getting dark. She didn't want to try and find her way back until morning so Dante agreed to stay with her and keep her safe. Our brother Sal told Dante he'd be back with help and then led the others off."
    Pandora frowned at his story. "Why would that make him phobic?"
    "Because it was a cruel prank," Mike said bitterly. "As soon as Dante went to sleep, Tyla snuck out and they all headed back home without him. Dante woke up alone and had no idea what had happened to her or how to get home. He was terrified."
    Pandora was appalled at how mean his siblings and cousins had been to leave him behind. A cub on its own could be picked up by humans and put in a zoo or, worse, killed by any adult wild animal that came across it.
    "They left him there by himself for a solid week," Leo continued with the story. "Every time someone asked about Dante, they made up some lie about where he was. When Donatello found out what they'd done, he went back to the woods to get him. He found Dante practically starved to death. He'd been living off scraps and having to keep predators away with no help. He was weak from exposure, but still he'd kept searching for Tyla, afraid something had happened to her."
    His face sad, Mike shook his head. "Romeo has always said that that was what made Dante so damned selfish. After they returned, Dante was freaky about ever running out of food or