Change of Heart

forever from the moment they see each other."
    47
    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    "Are you kidding?"
    "No, I'm not kidding. Why would I be kidding?"
    "Shit."
    I nodded. "This is what I'm saying."
    "Tell me about this mark."
    "Why?"
    "'Cause you never talk about this with me, and I kinda like it."
    "Can we walk at the same time?"
    He started down the sidewalk, answering me with his action.
    I followed quickly. "Okay, so when a semel finds his reah, the reah is marked with a bite on the back of the neck." The bite, I understood, was as brutal as it was orgasmic and left a scar that could never be mistaken for anything but the brand of the leader on his mate. I never wanted one.
    "One bite, big deal. I can just do it and it'll look the same.
    We'll tell them your semel did it, and we're good to go."
    I shook my head. "Thanks, but no. I'm never letting anyone put a mark on me."
    "But if it'll help us out, why not?"
    "No." I was adamant. I would never let anyone brand me.
    It seemed hypocritical.
    He threw up his hands, annoyed with me. "So fine then, just don't let him check for a mark. I'm thinking he can't do that within the rules of hospitality anyway. Where does he get off doubting that another semel has marked you?"
    48
    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    "Because he'll be able to tell that we're lying to him and if he says, 'prove it, show me your mark', then we're really screwed."
    He shook his head. "I don't think he'll make us see him.
    We saved his sister, after all."
    "You still don't get it," I sighed heavily. "I'm a reah and—"
    "So you actually told that guy Yuri that I was your mate?"
    "Can we focus, please?"
    His smile was huge as he shook his head. "You're such a dumbass. All they hafta do is look at me to know I'm not a semel."
    "But hopefully they won't get the chance to see you."
    "I see, so you were just stalling for time."
    "I was."
    He nodded. "You know, I was told once that maybe one semel in a thousand ever finds their reah. You're so rare, Jin."
    "Yeah, great. Can we go?"
    "Don't you ever wanna find your mate?"
    "No," I said before I started jogging.
    He kept pace with me as we headed home.
    "Can I ask you another question?"
    "Can I stop you?"
    "What are you gonna do someday if one of the guys you meet is your mate?"
    "Never happen." I sped up so he had to work to keep up with me. I didn't want a mate, so God willing, I would never find one.
    49
    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    When we finally reached our apartment, we were stopped when Crane almost tripped over a guy crouching on the second floor landing.
    "Oh," he said as he stood up. "Sorry."
    "It's okay," I said, seeing his badge, wondering what a policeman was doing in front of our apartment. "Can I help you, Officer?"
    "Are you Jin Rayne?"
    "Yeah. Is there a problem?"
    "No, Mr. Rayne, we're just out here following up on a complaint from your neighbors."
    My neighbors were complaining about me? How was that even possible? I was never home. "Am I in trouble?"
    "Or me?" Crane asked.
    He squinted at us both like we were stupid, and his tone suggested the same thing. "No, neither of you are in trouble.
    I'm from Animal Control."
    I saw the badge more clearly and saw the words on it, actually looked at what was embroidered on the parka he was wearing. Not a policeman, not there to cite me for God knew what, instead he was investigating some kind of animal concern.
    "You see these?" he said, moving aside to point at the ground. "How long have you guys been seeing the tracks around the stairs here?"
    "Tracks?"
    He scowled then. "You have noticed the tracks, haven't you?"
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    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    I must have looked as lost as I felt, because he let out a quick breath.
    "They're all over your stairs here, Mr. Rayne," he said as he knelt down.
    "I guess I'm not crazy after all. I told everybody that I've been hearing something out here at night," I said to the officer. I had to come up with something plausible before he started thinking that I was acting weird, which I was.
    He looked up at me from his crouch. "So you've heard noises, but you haven't noticed the tracks? How is that possible?"
    "These are the first tracks I've seen." And I wasn't lying. I had never noticed anything out of the ordinary, but there, outlined in the snow right outside our apartment, were paw prints—huge paw prints, which could only have been made by a very large, very heavy panther. There were claw marks, urine stains and traces of hair where it looked