Change of Heart

lucky and Christophe Danvers's yareah just so happens to come into our club one night with all those other women, ladies night out or whatever, and you end up convincing her to let us into her tribe without having to appear before her semel."
    I stopped on the stairs, turning to look down at him. "She enjoyed it. She didn't even know she could admit members into the tribe until I told her."
    "Yeah, I know," he said, shoving by me to take the lead as we climbed the flights up. "And once you got her all pumped up about the idea, and you went all charming and seductive on her, she couldn't resist. I didn't know gay men could turn women into putty."
    "She's a panther first, woman second, so I——"
    20
    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    "She's a woman first and you played her."
    "I nudged her a little."
    He groaned loudly, which made me smile as we reached our door. "I just hope that doesn't come back to bite you in the ass."
    "And by me you mean you, of course," I clarified as I unlocked it and walked into the dark two bedroom apartment.
    "That's right." He yawned as I turned on the lights, and he collapsed onto the couch. "It's all about me."
    "Well, I think we're good," I called out, walking around the back of the couch through the door to my bedroom. "I'll tell Ray tomorrow that I'll take the job managing the restaurant, and we can move to King's Beach and not be around to bump into Christophe Danvers."
    "And Logan Church won't bug us because Andrian will tell him that we're members of Christophe's tribe," he called back, making sure his voice reached me.
    I shed my jacket and sweater and came back out in only my jeans, T-shirt, and socks. "So see, it's perfect. I don't have to meet any semels, and you can hang out with panthers like you've been wanting to since I got thrown out of our tribe and you followed me."
    "What was I supposed to do? Let my best friend leave forever without a forwarding address?"
    I sighed deeply. "You would have been sheseru someday if you stayed."
    "Fuck that," he yawned loudly. "It's more fun to see what kind of bullshit you're gonna get yourself into with all your plotting and scheming."
    21
    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    "You're hilarious. I'm goin' to bed."
    "Wait." His voice stopped me before I closed the door.
    "What?"
    He turned around on the couch to look at me. "You never miss it?"
    "I don't know what we're talking about."
    "A tribe, asshole; you never miss being part of a real tribe?"
    "No," I lied flatly, and even knowing me for as long as he had, I knew he couldn't tell I was lying. Of course I wanted to belong to a tribe. I wanted it just as badly as he did, but since it was never going to happen, longing for the day when I would be accepted was futile.
    We were silent for several minutes before he suddenly cleared his throat.
    "You know, it's too bad that Logan Church is giving in and taking a yareah to be his mate." He was changing the subject to some neutral topic that meant nothing to either of us like he always did. "If I was a semel, I'd never do that. If I was a semel, I would wait forever for my reah. Who wants a fake mate?"
    "Somebody you choose isn't a fake," I corrected him, leaning against the doorframe. "Millions of people do it every day."
    "I guess, but still, a semel is supposed to mate with a reah. That's how it's supposed to be. Settling for anything less goes against the nature of a semel."
    22
    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    "But if a semel never finds his reah, then he's supposed to do what? Just live without a mate, live and die without a family of his own?"
    "I'm just saying—I would wait for my reah."
    I nodded. "Sure you would."
    "I would."
    "Okay," I indulged him.
    "Why are you being a dick?"
    "It's just that anybody can say what they would do if they were a semel." I sighed. "And I'll bet you that every semel said the same thing before they took over leading a tribe."
    "You're so cynical."
    "I'm a realist. When you have responsibilities to no one but yourself, it's easy to say what you would and wouldn't do, but when your tribe is looking at you and waiting for an heir like Andrian was saying earlier about Logan Church... I mean, when your bloodline needs to be secured, no one can be strong under that kind of pressure."
    He squinted at me. "So you're saying no semel can afford to wait for his reah."
    "Realistically, no, they're too rare. The chances of finding one are too small."
    "And yet," he said with a flourish, "there you stand."
    I flipped