Change of Heart

forgiveness, semel-re, for disturbing your home and for the daring to speak to your mate without permission," one of the two men I didn't know said quickly.
    "Had I my own reah, I would kill any who dared to touch her, and I know that the life of my sylvan is forfeit to you for this breach. I will say that as my sylvan is your reah's father, I'm sure he was momentarily overcome with seeing his son again."
    "The lies and hatred that were spoken make me doubt your words, but as I don't know you, I will assume you speak from a place of sincerity."
    "Thank you, semel-re." He bowed his head to Logan.
    "Rise," Logan said darkly.
    "Will you forgive my sylvan his grave insult to your reah?"
    Logan nodded. "This once, but never again."
    The man put his hand on my father's shoulder before looking back at Logan. "May I address your reah?"
    Just a slight dip of Logan's head, but it was enough. The man stepped forward, offering me his hand. "I am Archer 289
    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    Pike, semel of the tribe of Anuket, and it is a pleasure to meet you Jinnai Rayne."
    "It's just Jin," I corrected him, taking his hand, watching his jaw clench, his nostrils flare. "Only my mom calls me Jinnai."
    Archer Pike was a tall, gaunt-looking man, and his face was not kind, even when he smiled—or tried to—and there was a cold, predatory feeling that rose off him. The slate-blue eyes, now fixed on me, held no warmth either. They looked instead like two pieces of colored ice.
    "I have never seen a reah. No one told me that there had been one in my tribe. Had I been semel of the tribe when you revealed yourself, I can assure you that the treatment you suffered at the hands of my brother, your father, and the others would not have occurred."
    "What treatment?" Yuri asked from behind me, and because he startled me, I instinctively tried to pull my hand free of Archer's grip. But he tightened his hold so I couldn't move.
    "My sylvan told me on our flight here that his son was beaten and left naked on the road by my brother and the tribe."
    I winced inwardly. I would have preferred Logan had gone his whole life without knowing that piece of information. Why did people always feel the need to share?
    "You beat your own son?" Yuri growled, his voice rising as he advanced on my father, his hand on my chest as he moved by me. He pushed me gently backward, out of 290
    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    Archer's grip, back against Logan's chest. "Did you beat him until he bled? Was he conscious when you left him?"
    Logan's arms wrapped around me as he drew me back against him, his stubbled cheek rubbing over mine as he bent to kiss the crook of my neck. "They beat you?"
    I opened my mouth to say something, but my father commanded all the attention in the next moment.
    "He's filth," my father spat. "He's a perversion, and your tribe will suffer if you call him your reah! Your semel is not blessed, he's cursed by a love that is sick and twisted and wrong. People will flee the tribe of Mafdet in droves."
    "Actually, they're coming in droves, you ignorant ass."
    Mikhail chuckled, lightening the mood as he stepped forward.
    "Being a reah cancels out all else. Man, woman, it doesn't matter what a reah is. They're blessings, and our semel is semel-re because of your son. He found his mate, and your semel is weaker because he didn't. A mated pair leads the strongest of tribes, and you know that just as well as I do."
    My father had no argument. There was none. The facts were indisputable. I was a reah, Logan, a semel, and we were a mated pair. It was truly a miracle that we had found each other, and I had to start treating it as such.
    "I'm the reah," I breathed as Logan squeezed my shoulders and stepped around me to face the others without me between them. "I am the mate of the semel of my tribe."
    All eyes were on me as I looked around.
    Logan groaned softly. "Did that finally just sink in right this second?" He was scowling at me.
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    "Pretty much, yeah." I grinned back, not put off by the furrowed brows.
    He rolled his eyes before he turned back to look at my father. "You, sir, are the abomination. A father loves his son no matter what. This is maat ."
    Mitchell Rayne would have spoken in his defense, but Logan's lifted hand left no room for argument. My dad's time to speak was ended. "As for you, semel," Logan's gold eyes moved to Archer Pike, "take your sylvan and go. Do not return without invitation. I have no