Trusted Bond Read Free Page B

Where was
    Abbot? Where was the other panther? One had bolted before the fight, one
    was dead, and that left Abbot and another alive. When Yuri leaped away, I
    had my answer. I watched two panthers bolt through the swinging kitchen
    door ahead of him at the same time Crane tossed Markel through the bay
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    window Logan had put in just a month before. They had fought on,
    oblivious to my life-and-death struggle, able to help at any time but
    neither having noticed. Further, they had managed to destroy something
    Logan Church loved. He had created a place in the kitchen just for him
    and me, a quiet nook, a refuge for us to have breakfast together, complete
    with a window to look out onto the woods. I cherished it for the thought
    that had been put into it, and now it was gone.
    Shifting back now that the threat was gone, I found myself alone,
    naked, and trembling with pain as I struggled to rise. At that moment, I
    had been terrified. I was bleeding, and my body temperature was dropping
    fast. In those fleeting seconds, I was afraid I was going to die.
    ―Wait.‖
    I wasn‘t sure when I had started talking, when me remembering
    events in my head had translated into a monologue, but from the flat sound
    of Mikhail‘s voice, I understood that I had said far too much.
    ―Let me understand,‖ he said, and in his tone was a stillness I had
    not encountered before. ―You were attacked in your home by panthers
    from the tribe of Selket.‖
    ―Four at first, three in the end, but… yeah,‖ I sighed.
    ―Does Kellen know?‖
    ―I don‘t know.‖
    ―How can you not know?‖
    ―I left it to Logan‘s father.‖
    ―Why? You‘re the reah.‖
    What could I say? ―I had to… rest.‖
    ―Rest,‖ he repeated. ―You?‖
    ―Yeah.‖
    ―You heal faster than any panther I know.‖
    ―Sure.‖ I cleared my throat, not wanting to trade specifics with him.
    ―Is he dead?‖
    ―Who?‖
    ―Abbot, of course.‖
    ―No.‖
    ―Where is he?‖
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    ―Probably with Avery.‖
    ―Avery? Avery Cadim? Christophe‘s sheseru?‖
    ―Yes.‖
    ―Why? What does the tribe of Pakhet have to do with this?‖
    ―Crane said that Abbot and the other guy––I don‘t know his name––
    took refuge with Avery in Reno and asked for sanctuary until their semel
    arrived. I have no idea where the third one is. He ran away before anything
    happened.‖
    ―Wait. Kellen Grant is coming here?‖
    ―Yes.‖
    ―When?‖
    ―I don‘t know.‖
    ―What do you mean you don‘t––‖ He stopped himself abruptly, and I
    knew the reason was because he didn‘t want to yell at me. ―Where is
    Yuri?‖
    ―I sent him up to the mountains with Ivan and the other khatyu to
    hunt.‖
    ―Why?‖
    ―Because I didn‘t want him leading a hunting party onto
    Christophe‘s land.‖
    ―It would be his right as sheseru of this tribe to hunt down and kill
    the man who dared to put his hands on––‖
    ―I don‘t want that.‖
    ―I don‘t care. Abbot‘s life is forfeit to Logan. Jin, you––‖
    We both heard the roar at the same time. Without even the benefit of
    an explanation, I knew that Logan had gone into the kitchen and seen the
    destruction.
    ―Mikhail.‖ I sighed as I got into the Jeep and started it up. ―Just tell
    Logan that I‘ll call him in the morning and––‖
    ―Jin––oh, wait….‖
    I knew better than to wait. I hung up instead. If Logan ordered me
    home, commanded me as the semel of my tribe to appear before him, then
    I had no choice but to go. I was his reah, his mate, and his word was law.
    His dominion over me, over all of us, was absolute. But if I didn‘t actually
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    talk to him, then I didn‘t have to do what he said. It was cowardly, but it
    would work.
    Six months ago, my world had been turned upside down when I met
    the leader of the tribe of Mafdet, Logan Church. Panthers, cats, did not
    mate for life with the exception of the leader of the tribe, and then