by Mary Calmes
There was a knock on the door, and I called out to whoever it was.
“Jin, it’s me, Justin.”
“Okay, lemme—”
“Don’t come out; I’m on the phone with Logan, just wait.”
I moved close to the crack between the frame and the door and listened.
“Yeah, I’m here,” he said, and when the door bumped, I realized he was standing against it, leaning his back into it. “And Sean’s with me, and my other two men, along with Miguel Garza and his, but Logan, what the fuck? Was he like this when you left? Did you leave him like this?”
There was a silence, and I realized that he must have been listening to my mate.
“You don’t understand. I have never in my life felt like this, I want to be in that room so fuckin’ bad I’m choking on it. Miguel went back downstairs because he was that close to going through me.”
More quiet.
“Well, the good news is that you no longer have to make amends to the tribe of Deshret or its semel; he understands that Jin wasn’t doing it on purpose, you can feel it as soon as you get close—it’s raw animal power, there’s no gentle pull like it was when I first met him, this is furious and carnal and—God, what….” It was like he was searching for a word. “Throbbing need.”
It was quiet again for a moment.
“Yeah, well, the problem is now that there’s too many men here. I can’t calm Sean down without doing it physically. I will have to make him submit to me, but to do that, we’ve both got to be in our panther forms. I can’t shift in the middle of this fuckin’ hotel.”
I shivered at the man’s voice, the power of him, and the semel that he was called to me.
“You fuck! Why would you do this? Why would you let him out of your sight if he was like this?”
There was more silence, and I knew that Logan was telling him everything. It took long minutes during which I listened to Justin breathe on the other side of the door.
“Okay, okay, I get it, but right now, right this very second, I don’t see how I’m getting your mate out of this hotel in one piece unless I can get him to stop filling the air with his fucking scent. I mean you sent me here so I could put him on a plane back home to you but… Logan, do you have any idea what he smells like? What his skin must taste like?”
I wanted to smell Logan, see Logan, taste and touch him. I needed him.
“Oh fuck!” Justin yelled, startled. “Jin, get away from the goddamn door!”
I took several steps back as I heard something bang the wall outside in the hall. After a few minutes of silence, there was a sharp knock on the door.
I moved back close. “Hello?”
“Jin, it’s Yuri, open the door.”
He was the only person my semel had given permission to open the door for. When I cracked it the blue-eyed glare of my sheseru was the first thing I saw. “Hi.” I smiled at him, so happy to see him.
He growled at me, grabbed the door, and gestured for me to step back.
I walked away, across the room, to the window, and when I turned, he was following and several other men had come in.
Yuri stepped closer than he normally did, then turned and went down on one knee. He was so big that even when he was kneeling, the top of his head was at my waist. Instinctively, I put my hand on his shoulder. His deep breath turned my head.
“Okay.” He took a breath as Domin joined us, stepping in front of me, completely blocking my view of the room, hands on his hips and, from the tip of his head, seemingly bored, though I couldn’t see his face.
“I’m Domin Thorne, maahes of the tribe of Mafdet,” he announced loudly. “All of you, everyone in this room, speak your lineage to me now.”
“I’m Miguel Garza,” a voice answered, deep and husky, “semel of the tribe of Deshret; this is my sylvan, Adam Manuel, and my sheseru, Taylor Pang. I have many khatyu in the hall, as is my right.”
“I’m Justin Cho,” I heard Logan’s friend say, his voice resonant and smoky-sounding, “semel of the tribe of Qebui from San Francisco, and I have my sheseru, Sean Li, with me, and two of my khatyu. I am here at the request of your semel.”
Domin nodded and cleared his throat before he bowed and stepped sideways. I was suddenly facing the room. I looked over at the man I didn’t know, Miguel Garza. He was tall and handsome with dark-brown hair, broad shoulders, and warm eyes. I went down to one knee.
“I beg your forgiveness, semel; I did not mean to drag your people through the shift and meant no disrespect to them or you by my actions. I am not myself and apologize deeply.”
His jaw clenched as he took one step forward.
It happened fast: a hand fisted in my hair, and my head was yanked back sharply. I couldn’t stifle the gasp.
“Would you leverage your power against that of his semel?” Domin asked.
I realized that Domin held me, and even though I could shift and get free, it felt too good to fight. I could feel the heat rolling off of my maahes, and inhaled his delicious smell. I had no idea the man’s scent could become warm vanilla and salty sweat all at the same time. And he was so strong, I could feel it, not just physically but inside… he wouldn’t break; he would stay, he wouldn’t run. The man was powerful, and I needed my mate to be, or I could never submit.
“Domin,” I breathed out, wanting him to hold me tighter, hold me down. I wanted to feel the weight of him and the heat of his body…. I needed….
“Yuri,” was all he said.
Instantly, I was lifted and slammed hard into the cool glass of the window. The shock of the motion, the cold surface on my skin, cleared my head.
“If I can control my shift,” I heard Miguel say, “then I will be allowed to taste him. You have no say. There are two of you; if the semel of Qebui and his men join you, then six, but even now I see his resolve crumble.”
I leaned sideways around Yuri and saw Justin shivering with pain.
It was all my fault.
I was about to put Domin and Yuri in danger, and that could not happen. They would both sacrifice their lives to keep me safe, to honor me and Logan, and it was shaping up to be a very one-sided fight.
Shit.
Without a word, I stepped around Yuri. “Come, semel, I will let you feel my power, if that is what you would have me do, but bring your yareah so she might see.”
“You mistake my need as mine alone, reah. My yareah and I will devour you together.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, that is so. Show me your power and then I’ll show you mine. I will have you there on that bed, and your men will watch and do nothing.”
My stomach twisted into a knot of cold anger.
“I will call my yareah; she’ll be pleased. Normally we have other women in our bed; another man will be a nice change. She will take you inside of her while I bury myself in you,” he said as he leered at me. “I cannot wait to feel you wrapped around my cock.”
“My mate will kill you for this trespass.”
“He can try.”
Logan.
At the thought of his name, I was all reah again but with the nekhene’s simmering anger.
Where was the reah’s mate?
“You will be mine reah.”
No one would ever disrespect Logan Church. The rage that had been rising slowly boiled over in an instant, rolling over my skin and exploded out of me like a furnace blast, engulfing the entire room in heat.
Domin went to his knees; so did Justin and his sheseru, falling forward, hands on the carpet, bracing against the flash of scorching power. All the others were on the floor, writhing in pain, the semel, sylvan, and sheseru of the tribe of Deshret already beginning their inexorable shift to panther.
“How dare you think you can touch me? Only my mate touches me,” I roared at them all.
“Yes.” Miguel’s voice was garbled as he sought to control the shift by changing into his werepanther form, but I still understood him.
“Only my mate!”
His scream was horrible, his transformation freakish as his body contorted into an animal. He was not strong enough to hold onto his werepanther form.
“Yuri,” Domin cried.
“Jin.”
I turned to look at my sheseru when he spoke my name, and found him still on one knee, taking deep breaths in and out.
“I would allow no man to touch you, my reah.”
My breath caught with the sincerity of his promise.
“I will slaughter any that even reach a hand toward you.”
And I knew that, and so I instantly calmed.
“Oh thank God,” Domin gasped, sitting up, hands on his thighs, closing his eyes and breathing. “Please, Jin, calm down.”
“Yes,” Justin agreed, letting his head loll back as he, too, exhaled deeply.
I watched Sean, Justin’s sheseru, claw free of his clothes, roll to his paws, and take a seat behind his semel. He was a beautiful, sleek golden panther. There were many in the room. Years ago I had found that my black color was as rare as being born a reah. Every panther I had ever seen was gold.
“You trust me,” Yuri said.
I nodded.
He closed his eyes, and I saw the tremble run through his massive frame. My faith washed over him, and his certainty of his place as my guardian anchored me. We were bound together, the two of us, and every day the bond got deeper and stronger.
“Once everyone shifts back,” Justin said after long minutes, his eyes on me as he took long steadying breaths, “I think we will all wait here for Logan’s arrival.”
I nodded.
His smile wavered, but it was there. “You have to be a very strong panther to withstand your pheromones, Jin; I feel very privileged to have passed this test, though had it gone a second longer, I, too, would have succumbed.”
“No, you wouldn’t have.”
His eyes were locked on mine. “Oh yes, I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anything or anyone as badly as you.”
I looked away, unable to hold his gaze. My eyes found Domin.
“You are the mate of my semel, Jin,” he said tiredly. “I don’t think of you as a man but only as my reah.”
“Yes,” Yuri said, and when I looked at him, he nodded. “Your power is painful to bear, but I can withstand pain; I was made to stand between you and anything, even yourself.”
The tears came fast as I squeezed his shoulder.
“Imagine how strong Logan Church is to have such a mate.” Yuri smiled, and I saw him glow with pride.
“What now?” I asked Justin.
“Now we all wait for Logan.”
“I’ll order some food,” Domin suggested, climbing unsteadily to his feet. “I’m starving.”
I walked over to the window as Yuri rose to his towering height, positioning himself between me and everyone else.
“Tell me how Crane looks,” I asked him.
His eyes, when he looked at me, were slits. “He’s broken, Jin, he won’t shift back.”
Shit.
“His father was the one with the knife.”
I braced myself on the wall.
“If I see him, anywhere, at any time, I’ll kill him. Pit or no pit, Crane’s father is dead,” he said, and his voice was dark with purpose.
I nodded my agreement.
Chapter Six
THE knock on the door came just minutes after nine that night, and Artem Varda, Yuri’s second, walked through the door a moment before Logan. I stood, the whole room stood, and my mate waited. It was my place to go to him, and when I moved, everyone stepped back. It was like I was a leper or something; no one wanted me to touch them.
Logan drew me up against his side, tucking me there, and I inhaled him, his scent, put my hands on him and leaned.
“Please.”
I opened my eyes and saw Miguel reach for the edge of the table and grab it tight.
“Semel-netjer, I ask your forgiveness for my trespass against your reah and humbly beg you to remove him from my territory. I have granted your brother the status of duat and will offer him no further jeopardy as long as he honors his place and never shifts.”
“What trespass did you make against my reah?”
“May I speak?”
Logan turned his head to Domin, who was standing between Yuri and Artem. “The semel of the tribe of Deshret has given to your brother; let us return the favor and depart.”
“Can we go home now?” I asked my mate.
“Yes,” Logan said quickly, his arms tightening around me. “Are you packed?”
“I never unpacked,” I told him.
The nervousness in the room was palpable, and I understood that it was because they were uncomfortable sitting there in clothes from overnight bags or ones that someone had had to go and fetch for them. Miguel Garza and his people had all shifted; ripped through the clothes they came in, and were wearing new ones procured from stores close by. They wanted to leave, wanted to rinse away the night and forget that another panther had turned them inside out, pulling them through their shift, rendering them powerless. It was humiliating, and every instinct screamed at them to simply slink away and hide. But that wasn’t the law. The law said that Logan had to be greeted, and so they remained. If Miguel had left to go home and shower, he would have looked weak in front of my mate, so he stayed even though the reek of sweat and come and pain and arousal clung to his hair and skin like a sticky July afternoon. Sitting there, waiting for him to give the word that they could go, had to be maddening.
“I accept your terms, semel,” Logan said, stepping away from me, walking over to Miguel Garza, who rose to shake hands with my mate. “And thank you for your care of my brother.”
He sighed deeply. “Your reah is dangerous, semel-netjer, and though I would like to seek justice for the shift that was forced on myself and my house, I also saw you in the pit in Sobek and do not want to challenge you.”
“May I offer you some other reparation?”
“I would accept any that you would see fit to offer.”
“I will have my sylvan contact yours and set terms.”
He bowed his head, covering their joined hands with his other. “My thanks, semel-netjer.”
I trembled because it was over and I could go home to Crane.
“May I present to you my sheseru and sylvan?”
I crossed the room, away from the others, and looked out at the lights of the pier while Logan met Miguel’s household.
“Are you well, my reah?”
I lifted my eyes to Artem. He was tall, almost as tall as Yuri, but leaner, and I liked his dark-brown beard and mustache. They were striking on him. “I am. How was your trip?”
“Quick,” he said, smiling at me. “I’m glad you’re coming home, Crane needs you. He won’t shift back, and we can’t let him out to run on the grounds because we’re afraid of what he might do to himself.”
I nodded. “So he’s locked in a room in his panther form?”
“He’s not locked up, all he has to do is shift and he can get out.”
“But he won’t.”
“No.”
I took a breath. “I just want to go home.”
He was looking at me, staring, and I saw his brown eyes bleed to cat green a moment before he dropped to the floor.
I had not been there to protect Crane. I had let him be taken and violated and maimed. How could I have done that? He was my best friend, the closest thing I had to a brother.
“No!” Miguel shouted, and it was chaos in seconds, everyone yelling, the fear and panic drowning me, choking me.
“Jin!”
I lifted my head, and Logan was there and I was wrapped in strong arms and held tight.
“Logan!” Justin roared.
“Baby, I’m here,” my mate told me.
I clung to him, pressing against him as hard as I could, freezing suddenly, wanting to draw every bit of warmth I could from him.
“You’re panicking, and you don’t need to,” he soothe
d me. “I’m right here. You’re safe.”
I was trembling, my teeth chattering as he tightened his hold so I could feel his heart beating. I felt a hand in my hair, his other arm around my waist, and his lips on my forehead as he tried to soothe me with his presence, with his body. He smelled like stale air and musk, with a faint trace of the cologne I had bought him for Christmas. I wanted to crawl inside him where I knew it was safe. I clutched at him, my fingers digging into the hard muscles of his back, holding on.
“Logan!” Justin yelled. “Either claim your reah or step aside!”
“He’s mine!” Logan roared out his ownership, and the primal sound sent a flush of heat through me, my mouth opening on his throat.
“Show me,” Justin challenged him.
Logan’s low growl was answered by my moan that was part growl, part purr.
I was spun around hard and slammed against the window, only my hands splayed on the glass keeping me from going face-first into the hard surface. My sweater was yanked and tugged, and I heard the ripping and then the cool air on my skin as the shredded garment slid off me and fell to the floor at my feet. Logan fisted my hair and pushed my head down, causing a shudder to tear through me.
“Mine,” he whispered in a voice more animal than man as fangs were driven deep into my skin, holding me there hard, pinned, under his teeth.
I whimpered and whined, my cock so hard and needy that, that fast, I was leaking in my jeans.
“Clear the room!” Yuri commanded.
I pressed back against Logan, rubbed, and ground against the now-hardened bulge in his dress pants, sliding my crease over his arousal.
“No.” Justin’s voice was cold and hard. “The law states that any semel may watch another semel take his mate at any time. Miguel and I will remain.”
“Yareah,” Domin Thorne answered him, his voice just as icy as Justin’s had been moments before. “Not reah, never reah. No one shall bear witness to a semel taking his true-mate.”