Primal Call Read Free Page B

city on Shagal sufferance. It was his duty to be circumspect.
    And polite.
    He had to put everything and everyone but Barak Shagal out of his mind right now. He’d get back to Athena as quickly as he could. He adjusted his features into mortal form as quickly as he’d changed. And gave a deep, respectful bow of his head.
    “Elder Barak,” he said. “The Moon Lady’s blessings on you, sir.”
    “The Desert Lord’s protection on you,” Barak answered.
    The Shagal Clan’s history went back to ancient Egypt, and they kept their connection to the jackal-headed god Anubis. James’s Family didn’t claim anything so fancy in their background.
    Around them a great deal of modern nonsense was going on—dancing, fooling around, drinking, the ingesting of controlled substances. Who among the mortals here would guess such old-fashioned, ritualistic conversation was going on at Jimmy Wilde’s reserved table?
    He gestured for Barak to take a seat. Gennie and Mimi greeted the elder Prime, then made themselves scarce. A vampire’s mortal daughter and a werewolf wisely stayed out of an Elder’s business.
    James ached to get back the connection with Thena Blaise. “What can I do for you?” he asked Barak.
    Barak was a big male, stern at the best of times. His frown didn’t lessen any when he put a smartphone on the table in front of James. He turned it to show James a photo on the screen.
    “Your eyes are showing,” he told James.
    James looked at the picture of himself. In the restaurant. A few hours ago. Holding Thena’s shoulders. “My eyes are glowing.” That was not good.
    “The Corbett twins tell me that several pictures like this have popped up on the Internet, from different angles. So this is not a lone phenomena.” His last words came out as an accusation.
    So, he’d been ratted out by the Corbetts. Which made sense, as the media-manipulating geniuses of the paranormal world worked for the safety of the whole population, not just their individual clients. Still, James couldn’t help the twinge of betrayal, or the annoyance that he had to deal with the Shagals when he had something more important to do.
    But deal with Barak of Clan Shagal, he must.
    “I didn’t realize I had changed when the incident occurred.”
    And why hadn’t Athena noticed? They’d been gazing into each other’s eyes.
    He realized why, and smiled.
    “This isn’t a joke,” Barak said.
    “No, sir,” James said. “I wasn’t being amused. I was being—happy.” His smile widened.
    “You’re happy because of reckless behavior that could put us all in danger?”
    Barak’s fury hit him like a blast furnace. James held up a hand in conciliation. “No, sir. I’m not normally reckless. You know that.”
    “Are you sure playing at being a Hollywood playboy movie star isn’t taking over your Prime nature? Being in the public eye is not safe for you. And not safe for our society if you screw up.”
    “I know that,” James answered.
    He’d had to defend himself to Barak before, and to Barak’s bondmate, the Matri of Clan Shagal, who was the female head of the Clan who ruled the territory. He didn’t want to get sent packing, thrown out of his nice mansion, and the profitable and emotionally satisfying persona he’d established.
    “The very nature of what you’re doing is reckless and stupid,” Barak said.
    “The Matri of my Family approves of it. The needs of my Family have to come first for me. That said,” James went on quickly. “I apologize for this.” He tapped the image on the screen. “I didn’t realize I was doing it at the time, but I can explain why I reacted on instinct.”
    “Instinct?” Barak was skeptical.
    James kept smiling. He couldn’t help it. “I believe I met my bondmate today. The woman in the photo. That’s her. I’ve never felt anything so strong as the connection between us when I touched her. If I vamped out, well, how could I help it?”
    Barak’s annoyance instantly turned into