Trusted Bond

Laurent
    Bruyere‘s crimes for everyone, the murmurs and cries of outrage made me
    wonder how traumatized I was actually going to be. When Delphine
    grabbed my hand and clutched it tightly, I squeezed it back.
    ―I‘m here,‖ I told her. ―I‘m fine.‖
    Her shaky breath as she nodded made me glance at her before
    Markel‘s quick pat on my knee turned my eyes to him.
    ―Look at Logan; he needs to know you‘re watching.‖
    I looked back at my mate to see his chest swell before his ears
    flattened and the blood-curdling snarl was released. The sound sent a
    shiver down my spine. He was going to kill the man who had hurt his
    mate; it was the only truth he knew in that moment. I was his, and the
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    Mary Calmes

    panther before him had tried to take me. It was all there was.
    As the priest announced to the assembled audience that the challenge
    between Logan Church and Laurent Bruyere was one of blood, he also
    stated that once it began, he would not interfere until it was done and only
    one challenger was left standing. This was not a challenge that would end
    in a marking or exile or a draw—it would end in death.
    Hamid named Koren as the next in line to the tribe of Mafdet should
    Logan fall and Laurent‘s cousin Adam as the successor to him. Laurent‘s
    brother David could not succeed him as he, and all the others who had
    helped him and not me when I was beaten and bleeding, had been
    sentenced to become khatyu of the semel-aten. They would never leave
    Sobek, having sacrificed their entire lives for their crime. Their mates and
    families were allowed to choose whether to relocate to Egypt or to say
    goodbye. I was glad they were given the choice. I would have wanted one
    if Logan‘s judgment were ever faulty enough that his rank was stripped
    from him.
    In his sick quest to have me and hurt me, Laurent had ruined many
    lives beyond his own. He had requested another, final, last-minute
    audience with me that Logan had strictly forbidden. I wasn‘t sure why he
    wanted to see me—everything, I felt, had already been said—but before
    the trial began, the priest had pulled me aside and told me that Laurent
    Bruyere was in no way repentant for any of his sins against me.
    ―He‘s a madman, reah, and I see now that you are lucky to have
    escaped with your life. Any cat without your reservoir of strength would
    not have survived.‖ His eyes darkened suddenly as he looked at me, and
    his breath, when he inhaled, shook. ―I spared your mate the horror of the
    retelling of the atrocities committed. Listening to the semel‘s brother and
    friends, I thought I would be ill. It was only their honesty, however, which
    made them khatyu and saved them from execution.‖
    I understood then that the priest of Chae Rophon would watch Logan
    take Laurent Bruyere apart without a flicker of remorse. It was not as easy
    for me.
    Even as I remembered every bite, cut, and beating that Laurent had
    delivered, it was hard to watch Logan attack him. Mercifully, it was over
    quickly. Logan, who had told me that he would make the man writhe and
    suffer, did nothing of the kind. Once the priest yelled for the challenge to
    begin, they flew forward, meeting at the center of the arena in a flurry of
    teeth and claws. Seconds later, Logan‘s enormous jaw clamped down on
    Trusted Bond

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    Laurent‘s throat and twisted. There wasn‘t even any blood, the killing
    stroke delivered with a quick snap of bone, Laurent Bruyere‘s neck broken
    and his life extinguished. He crumpled in a heap, returning instantly to
    human form, lifeless and ruined. Logan dipped his head to the priest,
    turned, and walked back the way he had come. The priest called over to
    Adam Bruyere, had him stand and join him in his box. He received the
    tribe of Dendera as his, the new semel. He was asked to speak, and when
    he did, I was surprised that I was addressed.
    ―Jin Rayne,‖ his voice echoed through the coliseum, ―accept the
    apology of the tribe of Dendera, and know that myself, as well as my
    sheseru and every other man, woman, and child bear you only gratitude
    for your survival so that we would know the true horror that was in our
    midst, poisoning our very survival.‖
    They had known, they had all known, that Laurent was a
    psychopath, but righteous indignation would help nothing. When I rose
    and bowed there was thunderous applause. His bow in return brought a
    smile to the face of the priest.
    I wanted to see Logan and hoped he