Change of Heart Read Free

sure people would be talking about for years. I would not be caught dead there.
    "I'm looking forward to checking out the hunting lands on top of your mountain," Crane told Andrian. "Other panthers from your tribe that I've met say it's beautiful."
    "It is." He smiled at Crane. "At the feast, I'll show you."
    "Thanks."
    "You know, uniting two tribes, that's a great thing he's doing." I said sincerely.
    "Yep." He smiled, and I saw how pleased he was. "The man's brilliant, and that was why we were all so worried."
    "Whaddya mean?" Crane asked him.
    "Well, we want Logan to have a son. We wanna know that our semel's bloodline will continue, so we were all waiting around for him to take a mate. But then he didn't, and more and more time's passing and he's like thirty-two already and nothing."
    "Thirty-two is still really young," Crane assured him.
    "Yeah, but c'mon, most of us are mated by twenty."
    Crane shrugged. "True enough."
    "Yeah, so we were all gettin' a little worried, ya know, and then all of a sudden at our last gathering, he announces his mate, and it's Christophe's sister. So not only will we get an heir, but we get a tribal union out of the mating, as well. It's like winning the goddamn lottery."
    My friend chuckled. "You guys wanna grab somethin' to eat with us? That's what we were doin' out here to begin with."
    I could have killed him for suggesting we spend any more time with Andrian and his friends, but he missed the company 16
    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    of other panthers, and so his natural inclination had kicked in before his brain. He didn't even notice me glaring at him, as excited as he was. When he suggested a really good late-night burger place he knew, everyone was on board.
    After calling the driver out of the car, there were introductions all around, and we decided to walk the two blocks to the diner. It soon became apparent that the others could not detect my presence at all. The realization that I was safe calmed me, and as usual, the minute I relaxed, the others felt it, completely at ease in my presence, each jockeying for position beside me as we walked. All my life, it had happened, and maybe it was the same with all reahs, but I had never met another one to ask. When I glanced over at Crane, he just rolled his eyes.
    "So," Andrian said, sliding an arm around my neck, drawing me closer to him. I doubted he even knew what he was doing. It was simply the pull of a reah on a regular cat.
    "How long have you two been members of Christophe's tribe?"
    "Six or seven months," I exhaled.
    "Christophe's been away." He squinted at me, inhaling deeply. "Did he accept you and Crane, or did his sylvan?"
    "Both his sylvan and sheseru were too busy to even meet with us." I smiled at him. "We were accepted by Christophe's yareah, Therese."
    His mouth fell open. "Are you kidding?"
    "Nope," Crane told him, laughing softly as the others joined him. "We've never even met the man; we wouldn't know him if we passed him on the street."
    17
    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    "That is fucked up," one of Andrian's friends said. "Our semel... he knows every person in our tribe, swear to God."
    "Which is why you think he's great," I told him. "A leader that truly cares about his people is hard to beat."
    "I agree," Andrian said, letting me go as we all filed into the diner.
    Crane waved at the waitress, who told him to take his regular seat. I got a smile and a wave from her as well. At the table, Crane slid in beside me before anyone else could, and Andrian took the seat across.
    "So lemme get this straight," Andrian smiled at me. "If Logan tells Christophe to commend two members of his tribe for saving his sister and gives him your names, he wouldn't even know who you guys were."
    "Nope," Crane assured him before he explained that the mushroom burger and the Amarillo fire burger were the best things they served. The consensus was to trust him. No one even looked at a menu; they just ordered one or the other and