Trusted Bond

you.
    ―Hey.‖ I smiled at him. ―How‘s the training going with Yuri? You
    think you still wanna be a sheseru, or you gonna give up?‖
    His eyes narrowed as he closed in on me. ―My semel, Kellen Grant,
    he took for his mate a yareah, a woman he picked himself, not a reah that
    was destined for him from birth. He does not have a true-mate. He doesn‘t
    have a reah.‖
    ―Sure,‖ I agreed, tipping my head back at the stove. ―The spaghetti‘s
    not as good as Logan‘s mom makes, but it‘s okay. You want some?‖
    He didn‘t answer, instead moving in closer, pressing me back,
    crowding up against me.
    ―Abbot?‖
    ―A true sheseru is meant to be the enforcer of the semel and the
    protector of a reah, is he not?‖
    ―A sheseru does as his semel demands,‖ I clarified for him. ―Could
    you maybe step––‖
    ―I read the law. A sheseru is a reah‘s champion.‖
    ―If the tribe has a reah,‖ I corrected him. ―If there is no reah, then––‖
    ―A sheseru is lost without a reah.‖
    ―No, they just guard the yareah instead….‖ I couldn‘t concentrate; I
    was wary and on edge. ―Could you maybe… could you step back just a
    little,‖ I suggested, certain that he had no idea how uncomfortable he was
    making me.
    ―A sheseru is meant to be the protector of a reah,‖ he said flatly,
    encroaching further.
    8

    Mary Calmes

    ―Stop,‖ I said gently but firmly.
    ―I thought it was the same,‖ he said, his voice dropping low, his
    fingertips grazing the side of my neck. ―Reah or yareah… I had no idea
    there was any difference until I came here.‖
    ―Abbot.‖ I said his name as two men I had never seen in my life
    walked into the kitchen.
    ―What are you––‖
    ―It‘s not the same. A reah is… a miracle, and after being here, with
    you, a true reah, I see and feel the difference. I must remain here, at your
    side; Logan must accept me and banish Yuri.‖
    He was out of his mind, and before his hand could close around my
    throat, I stepped back the final amount of room I had, bumping into the
    counter behind me. ―Yuri is Logan‘s sheseru and will be for as long––‖
    ―Since Logan‘s been gone, it‘s like you‘re in heat,‖ he whispered,
    and I saw how huge his pupils were, marked the shudder that ran through
    him. I wondered vaguely where Yuri was. ―I think a sheseru cares for their
    reah in all ways when the semel is gone.‖
    There was almost no white at all, just big, dilated eyes swallowing
    me. It was creepy, almost scary, and what the hell did the all ways
    comment mean?
    ―I think you need me…. Your body cries out for mine.‖
    Who talked like that? ―You should go watch some TV in the living
    room,‖ I suggested softly, watching him, the hair on the back of my neck
    standing up as I glanced at the other two men. ―And take your friends with
    you, unless they want something to eat first.‖ I was working hard to keep
    my tone neutral, calm, and upbeat.
    ―I have never wanted a man before,‖ he confessed, his voice
    dropping low. ―But neither have I ever seen a man who looked like you,
    Jin Rayne.‖
    I went cold. And not because I was scared. I was furious. How dare
    he treat Logan this way? How dare he violate the sanctity of his home? I
    was the mate of the semel, completely untouchable, and now this man
    thought to claim me? My mate was the strongest male panther I had ever
    come across, and this man thought he could usurp him? Take me? He
    presumed to think I needed anything more than my mate? It was obscene.
    ―Get out of my house,‖ I ordered, my voice cold, hard.
    Trusted Bond

    9

    ―Reah.‖ He cut me off before he lunged at me, knocking the plate
    from my hands as he grabbed my face and yanked me forward. His mouth
    was on mine, his tongue forced between my lips as he bent me backward
    over the counter.
    I pushed and fought, but he was so much bigger and stronger than
    me, his hands everywhere as I managed to dislodge his mouth from mine.
    ―Stop,‖ I rasped out, trying so hard not to yell, terrified for him, for the
    transgression he was committing. I had gone from anger to fear for his life
    in seconds. I could have shifted and gotten away easily, but if anyone saw
    me they would wonder why I needed to be in my panther form in my own
    home. What would prompt me to shift into my animal? Why would I need
    to fight? And as soon as the question arose, my sheseru, Yuri Kosa, would
    kill them. So I didn‘t want anyone else to see