Change of Heart

sure where to touch me, but he picked me up, getting blood all over his clothes, 181
    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    and carried me to his car. He hid me with friends who didn't understand why I wasn't in a hospital but, being young, didn't question him. Crane was the oldest of our group; he was eighteen, the rest of us younger, and so he was deferred to, his popularity working in our favor so that everyone kept quiet and accepted my injuries as normal. We knew a lot of rich kids with rich parents who were always away. It was easy to hide out in pool houses and cabanas and spare rooms. It took me a month to heal all the damage.
    Crane and I were exiled, considered dead, and could never return to the tribe, but because the tribe could not have questions asked by outside authorities, Child Protective Services, our principal, our teachers, or the police, an apartment was rented for us downtown, close to our school.
    But that was all that was done. We had to pay to keep the heat on, pay for our food, our clothes, and college, if that were where we were headed. It was hard for us at sixteen and eighteen to work full time and go to school, but we looked trustworthy so I was given the graveyard shift at a copy shop, and Crane took a job as a security guard. We both graduated with athletic scholarships; I could swim like a fish, and Crane was an amazing defensive lineman. We left for Arizona as soon as we could. I had decided as I flew away from Chicago that never again would I concern myself with any part of being a werepanther. But now, because of Logan Church, everything had changed.
    In a matter of days, Crane and I had gone from belonging nowhere to belonging to a tribe again. It was too good to be true, and the moment I let myself be happy, I was terrified 182
    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    that something would go horribly wrong. I never let my guard down, I had never trusted any panther after that day when I was sixteen, and I never breathed another word about being a reah to anyone. When Crane and I accidentally came into contact with other panthers, we parted company quickly before they sensed anything out of the ordinary. I had been careful, scary careful, Crane told me often, until I had smiled at Yuri Kosa. It was the first time in eight years that I had willingly revealed what I was.
    "Jin."
    I came out of the fog of my memories to see the face of Logan's father.
    "I'm sorry that you heard my harsh words about you to Logan. If I could take them back, I would, but I cannot. I will only ask that you give me a second chance."
    I nodded because I was afraid to speak.
    "Everyone makes mistakes."
    "Yes," I barely got out.
    "And now look."
    I watched him, saw the delight there as he gestured around the room, saw Logan crossing the floor to me, smiling wide. I realized that just seeing the man made my heart swell.
    "Morning," he said as he took a seat beside me, leaning in to kiss my forehead. "Can you believe it?"
    I squinted at him, and he turned to look at his father. "You didn't tell him?"
    "I was getting to it. I wanted to apologize first."
    "No, you don't have to," I told him.
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    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    "Yes, he does," Logan said flatly, his voice lowering to almost a growl. "You were afraid to stay with me because of what my father said. He will make amends."
    "Jin." Logan's father rose and then knelt in front of me.
    "When everyone heard that Logan had found his mate, meaning his reah... suddenly they all wanted to join our tribe.
    Twenty people came before any of us were even awake this morning. I got up and found them all on the porch freezing."
    He smiled at me. "And then more and more people came, all of them just waiting around to see you, meet you." He took a breath, staring at me. "I forgot that a semel who can find his reah is considered semel-re, and that any panther would choose to be a follower of his."
    I didn't trust that it was going to be this easy. Things were never easy for me.
    "Baby, look at me," Logan ordered.
    I turned to look into the honey-colored eyes of my mate.
    "Because of you, our tribe will be bigger than either Christophe's or Domin's, even if they unite. Everyone wants to be in a tribe with a semel and a reah."
    "Why?"
    "A semel able to find his mate is a blessed man, and so is his tribe. A semel with a reah is the kind of man people want to follow."
    I nodded.
    "So now I only have to meet Domin in the pit, and everything will be finished."
    It took me a second.