Leopard Moon

Chapter Fifteen

Sek panted in the close, humid air. He and his father circled each other, snapping jaws and bared claws feeling the other out, looking for a weak spot. Bomani and Sek's witness, Masud, remained in human form, watching and waiting for the outcome, bound by ancient rules not to interfere.

Darius plowed into him, tangling the two of them up. His father in leopard form was strong and fast, and Sek was momentarily stunned by the ferocity of the attack. He fought the chokehold his father tried to get on him, slashing out with his back feet. Sek caught a lucky angle, raking at Darius' tender belly. They broke apart, circling each other again. His father's blood dripped onto the packed earth, but Sek knew it was a glancing blow at best.

They came together again, two black snarling balls of muscle and sinew, each fighting for leverage against the other. Sek had expected the fight to be over quickly; he was younger and stronger than Darius. He had originally planned to strangle his father into unconsciousness using his powerful leopard jaws, but release him while he was still alive--only his father wasn't cooperating. So be it. He would prove he was the right cat to run the clan the hard way.

His father slashed at him and Sek responded in kind, catching him across the face, blinding him in one eye and scoring red lines down his muzzle. Darius snarled in pain and pulled away. Sek followed after, pressing his advantage, but his father was fast. Sharp claws latched onto Sek's right flank and tore through fur and muscle. He ripped away, leaving a spray of blood in his wake.

Sek had lost count of how many times they rolled and sprang apart, how many times they crashed together and slashed each other. He bled from a dozen different gashes, but the worst was that large gash on his leg that was beginning to hamper his mobility. His father wasn't much better. The eye that Sek had clawed was useless. They were both tired.

Sek knew that this would be his last pass--whatever happened. His leg threatened to give out; he had maybe one more leap left in it. He launched himself at the other leopard, coming at him from his blind side. Sek bowled him over before he could recover and locked his jaws around his father's throat. Instead of holding on, Sek yanked backwards, tearing out his father's throat in a spray of blood and muscle. Darius went limp, his blood staining the ground in great gouts.

Sek stood still, coated from nose to chest in his father's blood. He triggered his transformation, the pain from his leg making it more difficult to navigate the pathways back to his human form. Then he stood, naked and human, over the dying wereleopard.

He watched as the life drained out of his father. He knew the smell of that much blood would soon draw the other beasts and scavengers that lived in the swamp. He turned to Bomani and Masud, standing beneath the sliver of the moon covered in gore. He had won. The clan was his now.

"By rite of challenge, you are now the one to lead us," Bomani intoned, his expression unreadable. Sek knew that he had been Darius' counselor for decades. He wondered what was going through the man's mind. Then he dismissed it; he was the clan head now and Bomani was duty bound to advise him until the next counselor was appointed. Counselors sometimes served four or five clan leaders before stepping down, depending on how bloody-minded or contentious the clan was.

"By rite of challenge, I am now the one to lead you," Sek replied in a tired voice. He felt a great weight settle onto him and looked back at his father's leopard body. He had thought he'd feel different, released. Instead he felt more caged than ever before.

He thought of Kess. She was why he had done this. She was the hope of their clan and now he had the means and authority to bring her home. He turned away from the body and began to clean himself with the water they'd brought with them. He was anxious to be gone from there, to begin the work that would need to be done to secure their territory and the clan's continued survival.

Bomani knelt beside the dead leopard, beginning to gather it up for transport back to the house and proper burial. Sek snapped, "Leave him."

"Sekhmet?" Bomani sounded unsure, as though he'd misheard.

"Gators have to eat. Leave the body." He finished cleaning himself and walked to the cars, not waiting to see if the others followed.