Trusted Bond

family.‖
    ―I know.‖ Christophe looked pained, chiming in, drawing both
    Logan‘s attention and mine from Avery. ―Simone had a lot to say about
    what I should have done and didn‘t do, and now she‘s not only my sister
    but the aset of your tribe and the yareah of a very powerful semel, and
    she‘s just… fuck.‖
    ―And her mate—he loves her like crazy.‖ Logan waggled his
    eyebrows at him.
    ―Fuck you, Logan,‖ Christophe growled. ―He dotes on her and
    indulges her and… you introduced them, and now I‘ve got this man in my
    business making suggestions because Simone thinks he should call me
    and… this thing with us…. Shit. Avery made a mistake, we‘re both sorry,
    is that enough or not?‖
    It wasn‘t much of an apology, more of a demand.
    ―I‘m being punished,‖ Avery grumbled. ―Simone requested that
    Ethan‘s sheseru and I trade places for a month.‖
    I didn‘t smile, and I was really proud of myself.
    When I had called Simone the day before, catching her up on
    everything, listening to her talk about her mating ceremony and
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    247

    honeymoon, we had chatted about her brother and Avery Cadim. Simone
    had asked Christophe to send Avery to her so she could ―remind‖ him
    about who his friends were. I actually felt bad for him. Simone could be a
    real ball-buster when she tried to be, and she really wanted to pound the
    idea of friends and family into Avery Cadim so he knew the difference.
    ―So you‘re going to New York, huh?‖ Crane cackled. ―Sucks to be
    you, man. I bet you do a lot of fuckin‘ shopping and talking about your
    feelings.‖
    Avery shot Crane a look that should have killed him right then and
    there. I watched my best friend wink at him.
    ―I‘m going to kill your beset, reah,‖ Avery told me.
    ―You can try,‖ Yuri told him.
    ―Let‘s not do the pissing match thing,‖ Christophe groaned, looking
    at Logan before he took a tentative step forward. ―When we get back, I
    want us to bring the tribes together. Let‘s pick a weekend and do it.‖
    ―Agreed,‖ Logan told him, ―and I want Domin off limits, or the next
    time I even suspect that someone hurt him, I will send Yuri to your door.‖
    ―Fine, yes,‖ Christophe agreed.
    ―Please don‘t make me embarrass you in front of your tribe again.‖
    Six months ago, Christophe had ―borrowed‖ me from Logan‘s land.
    He had wanted to talk to me, see if he could convince me to be his reah
    even after I had told him no. The only thing that saved him from being
    killed for kidnapping another semel‘s mate was that at the time he had
    taken me, it had not been announced that I was indeed Logan Church‘s
    reah. He, like Laurent Bruyere, had not known I was the man‘s true-mate.
    The difference was that Laurent had tortured me and Christophe couldn‘t
    even keep me in the room where he put me.
    ―Are we in agreement?‖ Logan asked him.
    ―Is Avery forgiven?‖ Christophe swallowed hard.
    ―For the sanctuary, yes,‖ Logan said before he moved fast, grabbing
    Avery by the throat and yanking him forward to look at him. ―But if you
    ever put tooth or claw or hand on Domin Thorne again, you will answer to
    me, sheseru of the tribe of Pakhet.‖
    ―Yes,‖ Avery gasped, his hand on Logan‘s wrist because it needed to
    be.
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    Mary Calmes

    I understood his desire; he wanted to submit to Logan‘s will.
    Dominance was something all cats of lesser station than a semel craved
    from their leaders.
    Christophe was a nice man, a good man, but he was not a leader. He
    should have been born a regular cat or maybe a sylvan, not a semel. In
    contrast, Logan was a born leader—he was strong and nurturing, but
    above all he knew he was supposed to be in charge. He had absolute belief
    in his own abilities and strengths. Christophe second-guessed himself;
    Logan did not. Logan made you submit to him. Christophe invited you to,
    hoped you would. Logan‘s power flowed off him in waves, and Avery,
    who was much too strong to submit to Christophe, wanted to yield to
    Logan. It wasn‘t sexual, but the hunger was there, the need, the desire, in
    the way he trembled. He wanted a semel he could respect and follow, and
    he did not have that in Christophe Danvers.
    And there were different kinds of strength other than raw, physical
    power, but Logan was not some brainless brute, either. He was cut from
    the same mold as Justin Cho. They were smart, they listened, and they
    truly cared about