Trusted Bond

as being about me for Crane, but now he
    had the chance to slaughter his rival. He would make the best of his
    opportunity; the animal that lived inside of him demanded it. When my
    eyes flicked from them back to Yuri, who was being attacked by Abbot
    and another panther, I saw what my sheseru did not.
    Shifting to panther form, I darted around the room and dived onto
    Yuri‘s back, pounding him down hard, flat on the floor under me,
    shielding him from the attack of the third panther. Teeth were buried in the
    back of my neck as claws were driven into my side. Sharp, searing heat
    washed through me as the panther and I rolled off Yuri and I was thrown
    into the stove. Abbot‘s teeth missed my jugular by a fraction, but he was
    wrenched away before he could complete the second strike. Yuri was
    there, keeping him off me, even as the other panther hooked his claws
    deep into my back. The pain was like a pulse of electricity running
    through me, constant, swelling. The bite into my shoulder, hard and
    piercing, made me howl in pain.
    The shudder tore through me as my head smacked the floor hard,
    everything swimming around me for a second before the weight lifted and
    was then gone. Turning my head, I saw a man lying beside me on the
    floor, his throat torn out. That fast, the moment he died, he had shifted
    back. In death, the form of the man was revealed.
    Yuri was suddenly above me, his gold fur washed with blood. I
    understood I was looking at my savior even as I panicked. Where was
    Abbot? Where was the other panther? One had bolted before the fight, one
    was dead, and that left Abbot and another alive. When Yuri leaped away, I
    had my answer. I watched two panthers bolt through the swinging kitchen
    door ahead of him at the same time Crane tossed Markel through the bay
    12

    Mary Calmes

    window Logan had put in just a month before. They had fought on,
    oblivious to my life-and-death struggle, able to help at any time but
    neither having noticed. Further, they had managed to destroy something
    Logan Church loved. He had created a place in the kitchen just for him
    and me, a quiet nook, a refuge for us to have breakfast together, complete
    with a window to look out onto the woods. I cherished it for the thought
    that had been put into it, and now it was gone.
    Shifting back now that the threat was gone, I found myself alone,
    naked, and trembling with pain as I struggled to rise. At that moment, I
    had been terrified. I was bleeding, and my body temperature was dropping
    fast. In those fleeting seconds, I was afraid I was going to die.
    ―Wait.‖
    I wasn‘t sure when I had started talking, when me remembering
    events in my head had translated into a monologue, but from the flat sound
    of Mikhail‘s voice, I understood that I had said far too much.
    ―Let me understand,‖ he said, and in his tone was a stillness I had
    not encountered before. ―You were attacked in your home by panthers
    from the tribe of Selket.‖
    ―Four at first, three in the end, but… yeah,‖ I sighed.
    ―Does Kellen know?‖
    ―I don‘t know.‖
    ―How can you not know?‖
    ―I left it to Logan‘s father.‖
    ―Why? You‘re the reah.‖
    What could I say? ―I had to… rest.‖
    ―Rest,‖ he repeated. ―You?‖
    ―Yeah.‖
    ―You heal faster than any panther I know.‖
    ―Sure.‖ I cleared my throat, not wanting to trade specifics with him.
    ―Is he dead?‖
    ―Who?‖
    ―Abbot, of course.‖
    ―No.‖
    ―Where is he?‖
    Trusted Bond

    13

    ―Probably with Avery.‖
    ―Avery? Avery Cadim? Christophe‘s sheseru?‖
    ―Yes.‖
    ―Why? What does the tribe of Pakhet have to do with this?‖
    ―Crane said that Abbot and the other guy––I don‘t know his name––
    took refuge with Avery in Reno and asked for sanctuary until their semel
    arrived. I have no idea where the third one is. He ran away before anything
    happened.‖
    ―Wait. Kellen Grant is coming here?‖
    ―Yes.‖
    ―When?‖
    ―I don‘t know.‖
    ―What do you mean you don‘t––‖ He stopped himself abruptly, and I
    knew the reason was because he didn‘t want to yell at me. ―Where is
    Yuri?‖
    ―I sent him up to the mountains with Ivan and the other khatyu to
    hunt.‖
    ―Why?‖
    ―Because I didn‘t want him leading a hunting party onto
    Christophe‘s land.‖
    ―It would be his right as sheseru of this tribe to hunt down and kill
    the man who dared to put his hands on––‖
    ―I don‘t want that.‖
    ―I