Honored Vow

But then when
    Domin shifted, Yuri knew who he really wanted in the whole forever-and-
    ever way.”
    I nodded. “And when Christophe shifted?”
    “Christophe’s shift came so long after Logan’s and Domin’s that by
    then Logan had asked me to be his sylvan and Yuri to be his sheseru, so
    we were all separated already.”
    “How did Domin choose Ivan and Markel?”
    “He met Markel at a club, and they got in a fight that ended with
    Domin holding him down and asking him to be his sheseru, and Ivan was
    the son of Domin’s father’s sylvan, so it made sense.”
    “I see.”
    “It’s great that Logan’s going to make them both akers when we get
    home, they deserve that.”
    “Yes, they do.”
    He waited for what I would say next.
    “So because Logan and Domin had a history, that’s why he made
    him his maahes.”
    He widened his eyes, gave me a subtle nod of his head.
    I heard breath catch from the other side of the ger, there was a hiss of
    pain/pleasure, and then purring, whining, and soft, urgent whimpering.
    Scents came as well, the tell-tale smell of semen and sweat.
    Leaning sideways so I could see around the mound, I saw Yuri’s
    head twisted back, over his shoulder, and Domin kissing him hard,
    grinding his mouth down over my sheseru’s, claiming him. Yuri’s tears
    surprised me, as did his trembling and the low moan that escaped as
    Domin fisted his hand in the bigger man’s hair, holding tight. The angle,
    the pressure, Domin’s weight—the entire action was suggestive of a kind
    of domination that I would have never guessed that my hulking, scary
    sheseru wanted.

    Honored Vow

    201

    Low growl, and I turned back to Mikhail. “What?”
    “Stop that,” he scolded me.
    “But they’re so pretty together.” I smiled at my sylvan. “And hot.”
    His scowl was dark.
    “You knew, all this time.”
    “Of course.” He squinted at me. “Like you know Crane, I know
    Yuri.”
    “And so Yuri’s been what, pining away?”
    “Not pining, hoping.”
    “Hoping that Domin would get over Koren?”
    “And every other guy,” Mikhail grunted, and even in the quiet I
    could hear the bitterness in his tone. “Yuri’s been breaking his heart over
    Domin since he was sixteen, like I said.”
    “Sex changes nothing.”
    He shook his head. “It will, you’ll see. Domin’s not stupid anymore,
    when he feels the love that’s there, ready, waiting, he’ll claim it. Before,
    when he was a semel, he was a self-destructive, vain, egoistical piece of
    shit. But when Logan beat him in the pit, made him maahes, he started to
    change. I mean, Yuri died a little when he started up with Koren, but I
    knew it was only a matter of time.”
    “What?”
    “I knew it wouldn’t last.”
    I studied his profile in the darkness.
    “Jin?”
    “Domin wanted Koren for a long time.”
    “And my guess is that it was mutual.”
    “But?”
    “But this is Koren we’re talking about.”
    I thought about that.
    “What?”
    “I was so happy when Koren finally stood up for Domin, when he
    took a stand and said that Domin was the one he loved.”
    “He never said that,” Mikhail corrected me. “He showed the man
    affection in front of the rest of us, but there were never any words. You
    told Logan’s father that if Koren became Domin’s mate it would be cause

    202

    Mary Calmes

    for celebration, but Koren never chimed in that that was what he wanted.
    Think back, it wasn’t.”
    And he was right, but I didn’t want him to be. I still wanted to think
    of Koren as wanting Domin at least at one time.
    “Koren’s always been like that, Jin. He’s different from Logan and
    Russ and Delphine; he’s never had any backbone at all. They all look
    alike, even her, but that’s as far as it goes.”
    “You don’t like him.”
    “No, I never did, but I didn’t start hating him until he was dicking
    Domin around, because while he was doing that, he was killing Yuri too.”
    I stared at Mikhail and realized that we never talked, just him and
    me. I had really been missing out.
    “But this time, Koren made it permanent. He finally cut deep enough
    to sever the bond between him and Domin.”
    And I had felt that too.
    “Domin’s finally over it. He grew his spine back, and for once I’m
    glad.”
    “Yeah.”
    “Did you see him that last night with Logan before we came here?”
    I had, I just didn’t think anyone else did. “He seemed like he wasn’t
    bleeding over Koren anymore,” I whispered