by Mary Calmes
I nodded because it was the right and best thing to do for my friend.
“As Crane Adams remains forever the beset of a reah, he is able, under that aegis, to defend my honor in the pit should there ever come a time. So I choose for the maahes of the tribe of Rahotep the beset of the reah of the tribe of Mafdet.”
“Thank you, semel-aten.” Crane bowed low.
I sucked in my breath as my best friend threw away all propriety and bolted toward me. He filled my arms and hugged me tight.
“I love you,” I told him, whispering urgently.
“Me too.” He nodded, squeezed me tighter, and kissed my cheek and then the side of my neck.
He let go first, and when I let my arms fall away, Mikhail was suddenly there, and Taj. There was a time to honor tradition and a time to let it fall to the wayside. I hugged the other two men and then watched Logan embrace them all as well.
“You will all always have a place in my tribe,” he told them. “And you, Crane, will remain beset of my reah from this day forward. You will never be replaced.”
He couldn’t speak. No one could, and as Domin joined us, the two semels shook hands.
“I’m not done taking from you.” He smiled at my mate.
“I know, but I approve.”
“Which means more than you know,” Domin said, gripping Logan’s bicep tight before he released him and turned around to face Yuri, standing still and alone.
He moved quickly, stopping in front of my sheseru, staring into his eyes. “Come with me. Artem will care for your company; I talked to him last night.”
Yuri just stared at him.
“Your reah has his mate to protect and care for him, don’t worry about your duty.”
Yuri’s eyes flicked to mine, and I smiled and nodded. Go, don’t hesitate.
“If you come,” Domin said, sucking in his breath, “you will be the mate of the semel-aten.”
Mate.
“I want you at my side forever.”
I held my breath and watched Yuri’s jaw clench even as he looked at Logan. He had to honor his semel even as what he wanted more than life itself was offered to him.
Logan nodded, just as I had.
Go.
“I love you,” Domin said, in front of everyone, loud and clear. “You know I do.”
With that, Yuri lunged at Domin, the emotion too much to contain.
And if the priest was surprised at Domin’s choice of mate, he had the presence of mind to say nothing. Because, really, with Domin having made Ebere mastaba, he already had his children, as he had laid claim to hers. The priest could make no claim that Domin needed a yareah, as procreation had already been dealt with.
Domin Thorne was always thinking, and sometimes I missed how critically fast his mind worked.
When Yuri released Domin, I was surprised that the smaller man grabbed his face and bent him forward into a kiss. “You’re mine,” he said, looking up into Yuri’s eyes. “So says the mark I put on you, so says everyone here to bear witness. You belong to me, Yuri Kosa. Never forget it.”
He let him go then, and Yuri turned and came for me.
Not for Logan, for me.
He grabbed me and crushed me in his arms. I lifted my head and kissed under his chin, and he shuddered hard.
“I’ll miss your face.”
“And I’ll miss yours,” I murmured. “But I’m so happy for you. Take good care of him and make sure he takes care of you.”
“I’ll look after Crane.”
“Look after all of them. You’re his mate, Yuri, your position is highest.”
“It will take time to sink in.”
“I suspect so,” I sighed deeply.
He hugged Logan after me, and the two men stood for long minutes before Domin told him they had to go.
We promised to visit before the next feast of the valley. Domin said that there would always be a place for all of us with him, and Logan told him that it was the same for all of them. Wherever he was, all of them were welcome. We all bowed low and then watched them all start walking away. But when Domin stopped suddenly, everyone had to; he was the semel-aten, after all. He turned and looked at Logan.
“Semel-netjer,” he called formally over to Logan, putting on his sunglasses. “I will give your mate’s father your regards when we reach Sobek.”
“Please do.” Logan smiled in return.
“And I will give your regards, my reah,” Yuri told me, as Domin took his hand, “to the father of your beset.”
The look in his eyes, deadly and dark, let me know exactly what would transpire. When I found Crane in the crowd, I saw the bittersweet smile. He would be able to stand before them, his father and mine, and let them see that they had not broken him, before they were put to death. It was fitting and final.
I had no more tears to shed for my father or Crane’s. “Show them who you are,” I called over to my best friend.
He nodded, turned away to follow after Domin, and lifted his hand one final time in farewell.
Logan’s fingers were threaded into my hair, and when he tugged gently, I lifted my brimming eyes to his. “I haven’t cried this much in years.”
“It’s okay,” he told me as he lifted his other hand to my cheek and brushed the tears away with his fingertips. “We all cry when we lose something, and you just lost half of your family.”
Yes.
“But we’re about to build a new one,” he said, tipping his head up, and I saw that he was looking at Danny and Yusuke. “He will make a good sylvan, and she will make a wonderful maahen, don’t you think?”
I was surprised. “You’ll have a princess of your tribe instead of a prince?”
“You disagree?”
“No, I think it’s wonderful.”
“Her loyalty to her mate was boundless until he broke the bond between them. Now her oath will be to me, and I can return her status and power. She’ll be strong and devout and terrifying to anyone that would ever think of attacking me or my tribe.”
He was right, and as Yusuke became aware of his regard, I watched her smile before giving him a slight bow. The eye patch she wore was white and blended well with her porcelain complexion. She was still a stunning woman, but harder than she had been, with steely strength now on display, hidden no more. I liked the way she looked at Logan, the reverence there for anyone to see. He was the instrument of her resurrection, and she would never forget that he, and he alone, had provided shelter in the storm.
And Danny’s smile as he looked at me was bright and full of hope. With my father’s training and our acceptance, yes, he would make a very capable sylvan.
“What if, when we visit, Yusuke asks to stay with Crane? It might be love between the two of them someday.”
“I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. As for now, they can see if corresponding strengthens their new bond or destroys it.”
“You could just let her go with him now.”
“She’s not ready,” my mate informed me. “And neither is he, not really.”
I believed him. “So are you going to ask Artem to be sheseru?” I asked as Logan began leading me toward the semel of Khertet and his yareah to say our goodbyes.
“No. Artem shifted too easily with your power, and besides, I have someone else in mind.”
“Who?”
“Avery Cadim.”
I was surprised. “But he’s Christophe’s sheseru. You can’t just take the enforcer of another tribe, and I doubt that Christophe would ever release him.”
“He will. If word got out that he was keeping Avery against his will, he’d lose honor in front of his tribe.”
“But Avery hates me.”
“No, he doesn’t,” Logan assured me, “and he wants to be my right hand very badly, and if you gave him a chance to be your champion… I think he would make an excellent one.”
“He was just married, you know. His mate might not take too kindly to him becoming the sheseru of a gay man.”
He scoffed, brushing his lips over my forehead. “The lady in question is one of Delphine’s good friends, Jin, and a member of our tribe that I had to give permission to join Christophe’s.”
I didn’t recall that.
“You’ve been dealing with your power for some time.” He smiled, easing me forward so I could shake Khongordzol’s hand and thank her.
“Saikhan zochluullaa,” I said, using the words Danny had taught me.
“Zugeer.” She smiled at me, telling me it was nothing, patting my hand. “Sain yavaarai,” she finished, wishing me a safe journey.
“Sain suuj baigaarai,” I sighed, hoping that she would, of course, stay well.
After Logan thanked Orso Bataar for his gracious hospitality and extended an invitation for he and his family to come and hunt with him on his land whenever they wanted, we headed toward the waiting Jeeps.
“So.” Logan picked the conversation back up. “I know Avery’s mate well; she will be thrilled to see Avery change tribes so she can return to her own.”
“What if Avery doesn’t want to be your sheseru?”
Logan chuckled as he held open the door of the first Jeep for me.
And he was right; I knew how badly Avery Cadim wanted to be Logan Church’s sheseru. He would come running when Logan called. To be the hand of the semel-netjer, his enforcer, the protector of his greatest treasure, me. Oh yeah, Avery Cadim had been praying for the chance to take Yuri’s place, and finally, the opportunity was there. If Logan called for a challenge in the pit, which he never would, Avery would kill anyone who stood in his way.
“There will be new faces in our home, Jin,” he said, leaning me against him once we were on our way, making the long drive back to Ulaanbaatar from the semel of Khertet’s home in the mountains. “But it will always be our home, and the people in it will always be a family.”
I nuzzled against him and felt his hands in my hair, stroking.
“And now I get to have my mate share my name and see the birth of my child,” he said as he inhaled my scent. “But for me, wherever you are, that’s my home. I see you, and I’m home.”
I pressed into him, my face burrowed in the side of his neck as he held me tight.
“I love you, Jin Church. You’re all there is.”
And he was the same for me, and I didn’t need to tell him.
About the Author
MARY CALMES currently lives in Honolulu, Hawaii, with her husband and two children and hopes to eventually move off the rock to a place where her children can experience fall and even winter. She graduated from the University of the Pacific (ironic) in Stockton, California, with a bachelor’s degree in English literature. Due to the fact that it is English lit and not English grammar, do not ask her to point out a clause for you, as it will so not happen. She loves writing, becoming immersed in the process, and falling into the work. She can even tell you what her characters smell like. She works at a copy store but has been unable to incorporate that into a book… yet. She also buys way too many books on Amazon.
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