Trusted Bond

longing for him, knowing he
    was somewhere on the grounds of the mansion, villa, whatever it was,
    feeling the same warm night air on his skin, breathing in the same scent of
    jasmine and wanting me just as desperately as I wanted him.
    ―Please,‖ I replied, my voice low and husky.
    ―Please what?‖
    ―Please, semel-aten, allow me to accompany you to the museum and
    marketplace.‖
    ―As you wish. You only need to make your requests to me reverently
    as befits my station. To make demands is a mistake.‖
    It was, and I had to be smarter, I had to play his game. ―You said
    earlier you had met one other reah, counting me. Who was the reah, if you
    don‘t mind me asking?‖
    ―Her name is Amirah, and she was my wosret for a time.‖
    ―What happened to her?‖
    ―Last year at the feast, we were walking together through the roof
    gardens, and her eyes locked with those of the semel of the tribe of Ariat.‖
    I looked at him.
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    Mary Calmes

    ―That was all there was, just a single glance. I saw her face, I saw
    his… had I insisted she stay, I would have had to live with knowing that
    every moment of every day, she longed for another.‖
    ―So you understand why I need my mate,‖ I said hopefully, blessing
    Amirah wherever she was for opening this door for me.
    His brows furrowed. ―She is a woman, her mate a man; it is a natural
    state for both to be drawn to one another, and so their stations as semel
    and reah are enhanced by their union. The same bond cannot possibly
    exist between you and your mate. Yours is a perversion of nature and can
    be seen as nothing else. I do not doubt that you are truly a reah, as my own
    senses tell me it is so, but to say that you need Logan Church as Amirah
    did Terrance McCord is a gross exaggeration, for it cannot be.‖
    Because Logan and I were both men we couldn‘t possibly love the
    same as a man and a woman… this was his feeling, his truth. I almost
    broke down. To have the most powerful semel in the werepanther world
    not believe in the love between me and my mate was overwhelming.
    I couldn‘t eat anything more. Rising and then falling to one knee, I
    softly asked his permission to retire for the evening.
    His brows furrowed. ―I have many questions, reah.‖
    ―Oh,‖ I said innocently, making my eyes big and round. ―Of course I
    will answer any that you have, as my need for sleep pales in comparison to
    your need for answers.‖
    His lips pressed together in a hard line. ―I will allow you to retire and
    will have the servant here to summon you to the main dining hall in the
    morning. I expect you to wear the keffiyeh that was placed in your room
    for you, as well. It is unseemly for a reah to have their head uncovered in
    any company but their mate‘s.‖
    ―Then I will leave you at once and cease to offend,‖ I said, rising
    fast, bowing quickly and turning away back toward my room.
    ―Reah.‖
    I stopped and looked over my shoulder at him.
    ―The game you find yourself playing will not sway me from my
    course. I will have you whole and well and have your life illuminated for
    me before I return you to your mate.‖
    I stared at him.
    Trusted Bond

    129

    ― If I return you to your mate,‖ he clarified. ―I promise you now, reah,
    that if your safety cannot be assured, and if your semel is found lacking in
    the pit, then he cannot claim such a prize as a reah. I would be remiss in
    my duty to you, as would the priest, to not assure your continued well-
    being.‖
    ―Only the priest can part a mated pair,‖ I corrected him as I had
    Jamal as well. ―And only if the reah requests it or seeks sanctuary. You
    know that.‖
    ―The semel-aten, as the leader of all werepanthers, may change the
    law as he sees fit.‖
    It was crap and he couldn‘t but getting into a pissing contest with
    him would get me nowhere.
    ―And as I said before, your well-being is my only concern.‖
    My well-being had everything to do with Logan and nothing to do
    with anything else. He didn‘t understand, it was beyond him, and so trying
    to explain it to him was a waste of time.
    ―As you say,‖ I replied, walking without stopping again back to my
    room. I drew the gauzy curtain behind me so there could be no mistake
    that he was not welcome to follow.
    Collapsing down onto the bed, I felt hot tears of frustration well up
    in my eyes. If for some reason the priest saw fit not to return me, I
    wondered how long I could live without Logan before I went