Kian snorted.“Oh, you think she’d let youbondwith her after all that?You think the female whose maleyoumurdered because he won her heart before you did, wouldeverlet you in her bed?”
Callon narrowed his eyes on the male.“Once she realized I’m the better male, she’d move on and forgive me.”
Kian shrugged.“Next pride meeting I’m totally recommending that classes be taken by the single males in regards to human females and what they expect from a mate.”
“I know what a female needs,” Callon rumbled.
“But do you?”Kian’s lips pursed.“And even if you know what theyneed,do you know what theywant.Because, sometimes the latter is more important.”
Callon stepped closer to the door in hopes of hearing Lola’s voice.“What makes you such an expert on human females?”
“I work with them everyday,” Kian answered confidently.“A tattoo artist isn’t just the person giving someone a tattoo.We’re also their venting person, their therapist, their relationship advice expert and body positivity coach.”
Callon glared.“What the hell is a body positivity coach?”
“Exactly my point,” Kian pointed at him.“You need information.You need to know whatyourfemale needs and wants, so thatyoudon’t screw up and wind up sleeping on the steps of her porch all your long life, forever unable to shift because you killed the male whodidknow what she wanted.”He paused, then tilted his head to the side and glanced at the door.Callon couldn’t help the growl.It’s a damn door, pull yourself together.But his female was just on the other side of that door with her shirt up exposing her skin.His growl got louder.“Although, it might be different for you,” Kian added.
“Of course it is,” Callon lifted his chin.“I’m not those other idiot males you keep referring to who don’t know what their female wants.”
“Okay, you just learned absolutely nothing,” Kian said, his voice filled with exasperation.“But that’s beside the point because something different happened.I was totally side tracked by first,” he held up a finger, “your ridiculous tantrum, and then second,” he held up another finger, “you’re incredibly dimwitted– no offense, Your Majesty– view of how to win your mate over.But now I remember.”He snapped his finger.“Something happened with Lola that’s never happened before.”
Callon took a long step towards the panther.“Choose your next words carefully, Kian.”
To the male’s credit, despite the slight tremble he didn’t step back, he didn’t act like prey.“I mean with the ink I drew for her.I got a feeling, like I do”
“Like you do,” Callon said, motioning with his hand for the other male to get on with it.
“And so I started drawing before we even discussed what she wanted.”
Callon’s eyes widened as he remembered part of the reason he’d gotten angry.Not just because Kian had been about to touch Lola, but because he said he’d drawn a tattoo that matched another one, a previous one Kian had done.Kian never draws the same tattoo twice.There are always variations.Always.“What was it?”he snapped.“Whose was it?”
“Lift up your shirt and look in the mirror,” Kian motioned towards Callon’s chest.“She’s even getting it in the exact same spot.”
The beast inside Callon roared.If he’d let the sound out, it would have shaken the walls with its intensity.“Identical?”he asked Kian.
Kian nodded slowly.“Every single line.It was as if I had gone back in time and was drawing yours again.But I didn’t even realize it until I was finished and stared at the final product.”
Callon headed for the door again.He started to push it open but a strong hand wrapped around his wrist.“You can’t go in there.She’s not clothed.”
“She’s mine,” Callon snarled before he could censure his reaction.That was an idiotic argument.Of course he shouldn’t see her in such a state before they’d been mated.But he wanted to see her.He wanted to see the image Kian had drawn.“Go get your notebook,” he ordered.“I want to see it.”
Kian started to go around him, but they both realized at the same time that he couldn’t go either.The panther pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped the screen.Less than a minute later the door pushed open just enough for an old, wrinkly hand to come through, tossing the notebook without care.Callon managed to catch it before it could hit the ground as the door slammed shut behind Jaxine.Then he heard the click of the lock.Callon looked at Kian.“Did she just lock us out?”
Kian smirked.“You know better than to piss off Jaxine.You’ll be lucky if she lets you back in her shop in the next decade.”
The panther wasn’t wrong.Jaxine could hold a grudge and seemed to enjoy them.Callon wondered if that was a spider thing.Felines liked laying in the warm sun, perhaps arachnids enjoyed spurning others.It seemed like a spider thing to do.
“Are you going to look at that or just stand there looking perplexed?”Kian asked, pointing at the notebook in Callon’s hand.
He looked down and was met with a blank page.
“You have to flip it over,” Kian said, sounding like he was talking to a young cub.Perhaps, Callon could just give him a good swipe with his claws.Callon chose to ignore the other male’s tone and slowly flipped the notebook over.His eyes roamed over the drawing on the page.It was like looking at the image on his chest, only done in pencil instead of the black ink put in his skin.Every single line, every hair, every shadow.Identical.
“By the creator, Visata” he said softly as the possessive feelings he had for Lola magnified to an unhealthy level.Perhaps they were already unhealthy but he could only deal with one emotional revelation at a time.Asking more of him was just ridiculous.“She bares my beast over her heart.”His voice sounded hoarse to his ears as he tried to puzzle through what it meant.How had this happened?Mates were chosen, not fated.Their own kind courted in a similar fashion to humans.Sort of.Okay, not really, but it still wasn’t something that was predestined by Visata.Had something changed?Orhadthey always been fated, designed for their mate not even realizing it, simply falling in love naturally?Callon looked up from the book and his eyes met Kian’s.
“Whoa,” the other male took a step back.“Your eyes look like your father’s just before he lets his beast take over.”Kian took another step away, and when his back hit the door that stood between him and his female, Callon snarled.He couldn’t close his mouth and he realized his teeth were too large.“O-o-okay, that i-is new.”Kian pulled his phone from his back pocket.“Just, hold on, Callon.”
“Move,” Callon didn’t even recognize his own voice.
