Honored Vow

airplane. “And I love you back.”

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    Chapter Eight

    I WALKED in the front door of my house and suddenly had an armload of
    sobbing Delphine. Apparently, from what Markel said minutes later, first
    they had been angry tears, then sad, and then humiliated, and now, finally,
    they were relieved. I hugged her so tight she calmed, and when I asked her
    if we were okay, if she still loved me, she started crying all over again. Of
    course she loved me, always would, had never stopped even for a second.
    I was relieved and told her so over and over. Everyone walked away from
    us in disgust.
    I wanted to see Crane, but it was very late, and I was told by
    Mikhail, who had been watching him, that he was finally asleep. In the
    morning I could see him. Domin was on his way to his car, parked with
    many others in the snow, when Logan ordered him to use the room that
    was still his and spend the night. The lure of family and warmth was a
    hard temptation to fight, but Domin shook his head and thanked his semel
    for feeling sorry for him, but he was no charity case that needed pity. He
    was leaving.
    “No,” Logan barked at him, brows furrowed, his scowl intense. “I
    want you here, and tomorrow we’re gonna talk about you moving back.”
    Domin staggered up the steps, as exhausted as the rest of us. “Do
    you really think—”
    “Yes, I think it’s a very good idea,” Logan said, reading the
    argument in the head of his maahes. “I hate you not being here, and I’ve
    lost one brother, I won’t lose another.”
    I watched Domin absorb the word.
    Brother.

    88

    Mary Calmes

    Logan had called him his brother. Russ was gone, and Logan wanted
    Domin close. No one turned down the semel-netjer; no one argued and
    tried to wiggle out of things except me. I was the only one allowed a
    voice.
    “Come,” Logan ordered.
    Domin moved forward until his semel could reach him, and when he
    could, Logan put a hand on the bicep of his maahes and dragged him
    close. I watched my mate lean in, press his nose into Domin’s thick brown
    shoulder-length hair, and inhale. The tremble that followed, the flutter of
    lashes, the clench of Domin’s jaw, was all very telling. Oh, how the man
    needed to be held tight and told he was beloved. The need was etched in
    every line of his long, lean frame. Hard not to notice the beautiful picture
    the semel and his maahes made, the golden, chiseled, muscular leader, and
    his dark, lithe, sleek second-in-command.
    “Okay.” Domin gave in, walking into the house.
    I smiled at Logan, so very pleased with him for seeing that Domin,
    too, needed a slice of Logan cake, needed his attention, validation, trust,
    and to be told, once and for all, that he mattered, that he, too, was
    necessary.
    “Jin,” he called me, and I moved fast.
    Logan had e-mails to answer and needed to check on his actual
    business and so left me with a kiss to lock himself up in his office for a
    while.
    Yuri was exhausted, and I followed him and Domin upstairs after
    receiving a welcome home hug from Markel and a shoulder squeeze from
    Mikhail. When I asked where Logan’s parents were, I was told that they
    were still happily on their cruise in Europe. They would be home before
    we all left for the sepat in eight weeks.
    Yuri gave me a smile before opening the door of his room, and at the
    other end of the hallway I saw a door open, and Koren appeared in jeans
    and nothing else. He stood there watching, waiting, in silent invitation.
    Domin walked by without a glance, disappearing into his room seconds
    later. We all heard the lock.
    Koren slammed his door hard, and I put on a really good show of
    going to my room to go to bed. Once there, behind closed doors, I threw

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    everything on the bed, kicked off my shoes, and slipped back out. I was
    outside Crane’s door in minutes.
    The idea that I would wait and just go to sleep while my best friend
    was right there where I could see him was ridiculous. Surely Logan knew
    me better than that.
    I stepped into the room and locked the door behind me. I heard a low
    snarl and turned to look toward the bed. He was in his panther form,
    curled up by the headboard, and every light in the room was on. I got that.
    If he accidentally fell asleep, when he woke up, he would be in his cat
    form, and he would instantly be able to see, to make sure that the
    nightmare was not reoccurring.
    He must have shifted at least once to light the room, but that