Change of Heart

to deal with. Where is Domin, by the way?"
    "Koren's been watching him; he's still sleeping. I'm surprised you're not."
    I shrugged. "I heal fast."
    "And shift fast, and run fast. I've never seen anything like you."
    "After a male reah, how much weirder can it get?" I smiled at him as Mikhail walked up beside me. I turned to go, but his hand on my shoulder stopped me.
    "Come home soon, Jin. Logan's not the only one that needs you."
    It was a nice thing to say. "Do me a favor."
    "Anything," he said sincerely.
    "Will you watch over Crane?"
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    He nodded. "Of course. He's on his way up from the guest house to see you; maybe you want to stay and speak to him, eat something.... Eva's dying to feed you."
    The man was trying so hard to stall me. I smiled at him and put a hand on his shoulder. "No, just have her feed him, and you keep him safe."
    "I will, Jin; I'll take good care of him."
    "Thank you, sir," I said softly, walking out the door that Mikhail held open for me. Treading through the snow with Logan's sylvan beside me was peaceful until he started talking.
    "He's right. We all need you, and we all want you with us.
    Now that we know what we can have, a mated semel and reah, it's hard that you're not here. I feel it like I'm hollow inside and a cold wind is gusting through me."
    I turned slowly to look at him, arching an eyebrow.
    He flipped me off and then smiled wide.
    "Little too poetic, ain't it, sylvan?"
    He let out a deep breath. "You make a joke of the love I feel, and I want to tell you to go to hell, but when you smile, I can't resist you. Just seeing you brings me joy. It must be overwhelming for Logan."
    I kept silent.
    "He must be in thrall to you."
    "I don't know about that."
    "He loves you. Isn't that enough?"
    I wasn't sure if it was.
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Chapter Fourteen
    Friday night at work, and I was trying, as usual, not to think about Logan Church. A whole seven days had come and gone without a word. While it was good—I had moved into a new studio apartment since Crane was no longer my roommate, accepted the general manager position, and hired five new waiters—I still could not get my mate out of my head. I told myself that when things calmed down for both Logan and me, work for me, the tribe for him, that we could get together and talk. I told myself that every night when I went home to an empty bed.
    I was coming out of the kitchen, in the process of my usual rounds of checking on everyone, headed toward the bar, when I was intercepted by one of my new servers.
    "Hey boss," Tanya Greeley smiled. "Two really hot guys at the host stand asking for you."
    I looked around and saw Domin, a toothpick hanging from his lip, and Koren, standing there scowling beside him, arms crossed, waiting. I jogged across the restaurant and was greeted with a hug by both men. It was surprising, more so from Domin, the change in him pronounced, warmth having replaced malice, his smile engaging, his eyes glittering.
    Standing there, all six-feet-two of him, thick, wavy brown hair, chocolate-brown eyes, smiling lazily at me, he had never looked better.
    "Hey," he said warmly, and I was struck by the ease radiating off the man. "We miss you, reah."
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    "What are you guys doing here?" I asked, leading them back outside to the wraparound porch in front of the building.
    "We just thought we'd say goodbye on our way out of town," Koren answered, his hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently. "How are you?"
    He looked so much like his brother that, for a minute, I stared. And while Koren Church was a stunning man, the oldest of the Church men was the one that had me spellbound. Only Logan's eyes burned me up.
    "Jin?"
    "Sorry. What were you saying?"
    "I asked how you were."
    "I'm fine." I coughed. "Where are you going?"
    "New York. We're going to meet with a friend of Logan's, a semel," Koren told me, studying my face with his olive eyes.
    The scrutiny was nice, like he was worried.
    "What do you need to speak to another semel for?"
    "Simone," Domin yawned, giving me an eye-roll to drive home his point of boredom. "She needs a mate, and since you made her aset , the only mate she can have now is a semel."
    I looked at Koren as he dropped his hand off me. "But why're you traveling with the maahes? The law doesn't call for him to be escorted when he makes covenant bonds with other tribes."
    "Because I don't trust