Trusted Bond

shifted, showered, and changed
    quickly. I sent Markel to check on him but stayed in my seat, as I had Yuri
    and Crane‘s matches to watch.
    The moment Yuri crossed the arena floor to the center, there were
    gasps and murmurs from the crowd. Abbot George had entered first, and
    watching Yuri join him, his size almost double, had stunned the assembled
    throng. I watched Abbot tremble and would have stood and gone to the
    priest if he had not lifted his hand and called for the smaller panther‘s
    immediate submission. It was not surprising that he rolled over on his
    back instantly, prepared to accept whatever punishment Yuri saw fit to
    deliver.
    I was surprised when Yuri pinned him to the dirt, shoving his face
    down hard, his jaws locked around the smaller panther‘s throat. He held
    him there for long minutes and neither moved and everyone was surprised
    except me. Yuri‘s size, his strength, made people think he was a brute but
    I knew better. The man always knew exactly what he was doing except
    when he was drunk as he‘d been at our very first meeting. Sober, Yuri
    knew what he was all about, and in that moment he would show the
    smaller, weaker man his true power. Originally he had wanted to
    eviscerate Abbot George but now he wanted him terrified instead. Now he
    wanted him cowering in fear in front of every werepanther in attendance.
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    Mary Calmes

    He wanted to strip away his dignity and his pride and all semblance of
    self-worth. As Abbot‘s bladder betrayed him and he spilled onto the sand
    below him, there was no doubt to everyone watching, that the man was
    terrified.
    The priest called for Abbot‘s immediate submission. I watched,
    everyone watched, as Yuri shifted back into his human form and bent and
    spoke to the smaller man. I could guess what was said, the threat, the
    warning, the absolute truth of the bond between a sheseru and his reah. If
    Yuri ever saw him again, found him on his land or anywhere near me, he
    was dead. It was a promise that he made.
    Yuri was declared champion moments later and cheering followed.
    My sheseru stood with Abbot still frozen on the ground and bowed low.
    He then shifted back to panther form and stalked from the arena.
    ―Look at him strut.‖ Delphine smiled at me, releasing a deep breath.
    I let mine go as well. I hated challenges, all of them, no matter how
    well they turned out.
    The priest allowed Abbot to be returned to his semel and therefore to
    his tribe, reminding Kellen Grant in the process that he was to meet Logan
    in the pit the following day.
    ―God, what‘s taking Markel so long,‖ Delphine complained, fanning
    herself as she looked around the arena for him. ―How hard is it to check on
    Logan and come back?‖
    I watched her try and cool herself with the leaf-shaped bamboo fan
    for a moment before the priest called for the next two challengers.
    Crane was a handsome man, at least I thought so, and if the number
    of women that fell into his bed was any sort of gauge, then it was a
    reasonable conclusion to be drawn. The only form that was more beautiful
    than his human one was him in his golden panther glory. He was sleek and
    muscular and moved fluidly, not with the swagger that he had when he
    was a man. Everyone could see how full of joy he was, and while it was
    out of place in his present circumstance, I couldn‘t help but smile.
    ―Oh for crissakes, Jin, does the idiot know he‘s about to fight?‖
    Delphine snapped.
    He did, and he was damn happy to be there.
    ―Where‘s your father?‖ I asked absently, not taking my eyes off my
    best friend.
    Trusted Bond

    213

    ―Logan sent him home after we all saw the priest together. He was
    escorted out of Sobek. You won‘t see him until we get home.‖
    ―I‘m sorry Logan‘s so mad,‖ I told her.
    She scoffed. ―Oh, that‘s gonna be nothing compared to how angry
    my mother‘s going to be.‖
    I looked at her. ―You told your mom about our plan, didn‘t you?‖
    She scowled at me. ―Yeah, and she told me you already told her.‖
    I groaned. ―I had to.‖
    ―So did I, she‘s my mom.‖
    ―And I knew she‘d be so happy knowing that she would for sure
    have grandkids from her oldest child.‖
    ―You see‖—she rolled her eyes—―we‘re both worthless when it
    comes to Eva Church.‖
    We all were. Making Logan‘s mother happy was an affliction we all
    suffered from.
    ―When she finds out that my dad went to the priest… ohmygod, dead
    man walking. I mean