Honored Vow

back.
    He nodded.
    “So maybe he can finally see Yuri.”
    “God, I hope so,” Mikhail sighed softly. “I want it for him so fuckin’
    bad.”
    “You want what?”
    “I want Yuri to get what he deserves.”
    We were silent and heard the rustling, the movement, as two bodies
    that had been involved in something that resisted cold were finally at a
    stopping place and so were assaulted by the frigid air.
    I held my breath, and so did Mikhail.
    When it was quiet again, both of us lifted up because, shit, we had to
    look. We had to see.
    Domin was on his side and Yuri was spooned around him, his face
    nuzzled into Domin’s hair, his bicep under the smaller man’s head. I
    watched Yuri’s nostrils flare, Domin’s scent causing him to sigh contently.

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    I sat back down at the same time Mikhail did.
    “You know, you worrying about Yuri’s happiness—that’s kind of
    great.”
    “It’s what you do for your friends.”
    And when he turned and smiled at me, I fell in love with him just a
    little.

    204

    Mary Calmes

    Chapter Fifteen

    THE trial of blood was vicious. Everything I thought it would be was
    wrong. I had pictured a sheseru in the center of the pit standing still using
    only his pheromones and willpower to basically calm the raging panthers
    that came at him one after another. From the texts, from everything I had
    ever read, that was my understanding.
    What I sat and witnessed was simply an attack. The sheseru was put
    into the pit and eight panthers were released, and he used brute force to
    either wrestle them into submission, render them unconscious, or kill
    them. When I realized that all it was, was a brawl, I was thankful that Yuri
    had worked so hard, day and night, building up his stamina, his muscles,
    and his agility. It did not make it easier to watch.
    The khatyu were all from the tribe of Rahotep, and I was thankful at
    least that these were men loyal to Ammon and not members of the tribe of
    Khertet. I didn’t like the idea of the host tribe losing members because of
    my household even if it was a trial. Normally any cats participating in a
    challenge where they attacked another were paid menat, or tribute, and
    this was passed to their families. So if Ammon’s men were killed, their
    families would be compensated. I hated the practice that seemed, in my
    opinion, a way for the semel in charge of the challenges to feel better
    about the fact that even if men were dying, their families would be cared
    for. And while I liked that, liked knowing that the tribe itself would care
    for its own and take responsibility, I understood that trials themselves
    were antiquated and, as Logan’s little brother was fond of saying, barbaric.
    Watching Yuri fight for his life amidst snapping jaws and shredding
    claws, feeling the bloodlust that filled the pit, was brutal. I held my breath

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    knowing that one slip, one wrong turn, a second of hesitation, indecision,
    would allow my sheseru to be slaughtered. I was nauseous watching it, but
    to look away, even for a second, would shame Yuri. My regard was as
    important as his defense of Logan and the display of his power so that
    others could see that the tribe of Mafdet had a fearsome sheseru.
    When it was finally done, Yuri Kosa still stood, washed in blood, his
    and others’, but the important part was that he was on his feet. The second
    the priest called his challenge done, they released Logan into the pit with
    him. This was the final stage, to see if the shifted semel in his werepanther
    form would tear his bloody, bruised sheseru to shreds.
    Logan flew over to Yuri, who slowly went to his knees, and when he
    was there, staring up at Logan Church, he simply waited for whatever
    came.
    My mate slid a clawed hand down his sheseru’s throat, leaned in,
    inhaled the scent of blood and sweat, nuzzled the wet hair, and then turned
    away, looking for me. When he saw me, he called out, and the long
    painful roar was hard to listen to after the carnage I had just been forced to
    witness.
    I wanted Yuri the hell out of there, I wanted Logan out of there, and
    I wanted us all on a plane flying home. When the priest proclaimed the
    trial concluded and Yuri victorious, I ran from the edge so I could throw
    up without anyone seeing.
    It was Yuri’s trial first, and then the sheseru of the tribe of Nebthet,
    and then the sheseru of the tribe of Reshep. It would take all day.

    AS IT turned out, I was not the only one