Crucible of Fate

your teeth hurt.
    I wanted to see what Koren was going to do, but Jin was the real attraction. I saw him close his eyes and take a breath. He didn’t even have to see Logan to know that his mate was there.
    “Don’t have a pissing contest,” I coaxed him. “Just get up and go to him.”
    His eyes closed, and I saw tears slip from under the thick black lashes.
    “Jin, don’t you miss him? Don’t you miss your son?”
    “It’s not that easy, Domin. I—”
     “Yes, it is. That’s the only man in the world who can deal with all your bullshit.”
    His eyes met mine.
    “Hurry.”
    He rose fast, turned, and ran.
    Logan stopped and had just enough time to open his arms before Jin flew into them.
    The instant they touched, we were all hit by a blast of air that smelled like freshly cut grass, jasmine, burning wood, and a crisp fall breeze all wrapped up together. A feeling of happiness and contentment rushed through me, and I had to grip the edge of the table not to fall forward.
    “Jesus, how does he do that?” Taj asked.
    “Who?” I teased.
    “Seriously!” He scowled at me. “What kind of power do you have to have that it feels like that when you’re happy?”
    It was like being caught in a sonic boom, and we were all reeling from the power of the reah reaching his mate.
    “It is scary to contemplate the nekhene cat unleashed in anger.”
    “Yes, it is,” Yuri agreed.
    “Is it safe to allow him to leave Sobek?” Kabore was concerned.
    “Yes,” I said as I observed the semel and his reah. “As long as Logan is with him, Jin is contained.”
    “He should scare you, my lord.”
    “Never,” I murmured. “Look at them.”
    Logan had one hand on Jin’s right hip and he had wrapped the other in his mate’s long glossy hair. He yanked his head back and then bent and kissed him. It was possessive and dominant, and I saw Jin tremble and clutch at Logan.
    “My brother never cares who sees him claim what belongs to him,” Koren commented. “I envy that ability to just not fuckin’ care.”
    I checked faces, eyes: the way people stood and watched, and how they suddenly had to clutch a loved one to them. Love, so clearly on display, affected everyone staring at the semel-netjer and his nekhene cat. I had never seen so much obvious adoration and complete acceptance. When Logan lifted his mouth from Jin’s, the smaller man’s eyes slowly drifted open. Logan took his chin in his hand and studied his face before he bent and touched his forehead against Jin’s and began talking. I was glad to see Jin nodding.
    “I don’t understand why you aren’t frightened,” Kabore said suddenly, sounding confused.
    “Because,” I replied as Logan gazed down at his mate a moment longer before taking his hand and walking toward the table. “You don’t understand all the things he is.”
    “My lord—”
    “Jin is a complicated mess,” I maintained. “And only Logan understands him.”
    “Speaking of complicated….” Yuri cleared his throat.
    “What?” Koren groused.
    “Oh, for heaven’s sake.” I gestured at the younger man. “God, Koren, you’re such a prick.”
    He was fighting getting up, and the indecision was annoying me and killing Danny.
    “If you make him cry, I’ll end you,” Yuri warned him.
    “I thought he had the hots for Mikhail,” Taj inquired.
    “It changed,” Koren muttered as he got up. “He changed, I changed—it’s all different now.”
    We could all see that adorable, doe-eyed, luscious little Danny was almost vibrating with need as he stood by the fountain, worrying his bottom lip. He could not have been gazing at Koren with more heartbreaking longing if he’d tried.
    “Oh, come on, Church,” I prodded my ex. “Time to step up, huh?”
    “It’s not that easy to—”
    “So you’re gonna do what?” Yuri chortled. “Let another man have that?”
    “Fuck no,” Koren growled, and I liked the sound. It suited him, some commitment, finally.
    We all watched him rise and then saw Danny tremble even as he lifted his chin and squared his shoulders.
    “That sort of makes sense,” I said, yawning. “Both Church men have mates who are Raynes.”
    “Jin’s not a Rayne anymore, he’s a Church,” Yuri reminded me.
    “Oh, that’s right.” I agreed, watching Koren reach Danny.
    The younger man hesitated, hooded eyes missing nothing, but when Koren gestured for him to come closer, Danny didn’t hesitate. He leaped at him.
    I had never seen that particular