Trusted Bond

don‘t care. Abbot‘s life is forfeit to Logan. Jin, you––‖
    We both heard the roar at the same time. Without even the benefit of
    an explanation, I knew that Logan had gone into the kitchen and seen the
    destruction.
    ―Mikhail.‖ I sighed as I got into the Jeep and started it up. ―Just tell
    Logan that I‘ll call him in the morning and––‖
    ―Jin––oh, wait….‖
    I knew better than to wait. I hung up instead. If Logan ordered me
    home, commanded me as the semel of my tribe to appear before him, then
    I had no choice but to go. I was his reah, his mate, and his word was law.
    His dominion over me, over all of us, was absolute. But if I didn‘t actually
    14

    Mary Calmes

    talk to him, then I didn‘t have to do what he said. It was cowardly, but it
    would work.
    Six months ago, my world had been turned upside down when I met
    the leader of the tribe of Mafdet, Logan Church. Panthers, cats, did not
    mate for life with the exception of the leader of the tribe, and then only if,
    or when, they found their mate. Their true-mate. Their reah.
    The chance of a semel finding his reah was very slight, so slight in
    fact that perhaps one in a million ever even saw one. I certainly had never
    thought, when I made the first trip up the mountain from where I worked
    in Kings Beach to Logan‘s home in Incline Village, that the second I saw
    the man my heart would be his. It turned out that everything I had thought
    about love and commitment and belonging was wrong. Being in love
    made you strong, not weak, and belonging to one man made me feel like I
    could fly. But there were problems, differences that needed to be ironed
    out as well as other situations that came from those around me.
    I needed time to figure out what I was going to do about the love
    triangle in the house. Delphine, Logan‘s sister, could not seem to decide
    between my best friend, Crane Adams, and the former sheseru of the tribe
    of Menhit, Markel Kovac. Delphine needed to choose which man she
    would accept courtship from, handfast with, and eventually, if they fell in
    love, mate with. It could not go on as it was, clearly. My home would not
    survive. Already my bay window was destroyed; I could only imagine
    what would be next.
    Personally, I didn‘t understand her hesitance to tell Markel that
    Crane was her choice. There was no comparison between the two men.
    Markel was brooding and dark, cold and abrupt, Crane the exact opposite,
    warm, loving, and kind. The man lit up a room just by walking into it. It
    didn‘t hurt that Crane was beautiful to look at as well. Markel was smaller
    with less muscle, leaner. I found nothing appealing about the man at all,
    but apparently Delphine did. Not that I had bothered to look; I barely even
    saw him.
    When my phone rang as I drove toward my friend Eddie‘s
    apartment, I realized that I was looking at Crane‘s number on my display.
    I really needed to give everyone a ringtone so I wouldn‘t need to check
    anymore, but it was so far down on my to-do list that it was doubtful that I
    would ever have the time.
    Trusted Bond

    15

    ―Hey,‖ I greeted him, uneasy, irritable, wanting more than anything
    to see Logan, be wrapped in his arms. ―I‘m so glad you‘re finally calling–
    –where are you?‖
    He ignored my question. ―You sound upset.‖
    ―Where are you?‖ I repeated.
    ―I‘m at home,‖ he groused at me, ―and you‘re not.‖
    I let out a huff of laughter. I couldn‘t help it. ―You picked today to
    show up?‖
    ―Shit.‖
    ―That‘s kinda funny,‖ I grunted. ―The timing, I mean.‖
    ―I know what you mean.‖
    ―You leave and blow me off for a week and don‘t––‖
    ―I didn‘t blow you off! I felt––feel like a fuckin‘ idiot. I‘m supposed
    to be your best friend, and even more importantly––I‘m your man. I‘m
    beset of a reah, and when it came down to it, did I protect you? Was my
    concern for you? Fuck no, the only thing I cared about was trying to kill
    Markel. You could have bled to death on the floor in the kitchen, and I
    would have never even known. I never even checked on you. If Yuri
    hadn‘t been there… if Russ hadn‘t been home to feed you and get the
    water in you and––‖
    ―It‘s fine,‖ I said, cutting him off. ―I don‘t care about any of that. I
    just want you to come home.‖
    ―Wish granted,‖ he said sarcastically. ―I‘m home––where the hell are
    you?‖
    I chuckled. ―You picked a bad day to