Bane made a noise that was definitely not human and Dog gave Bane his own tilted head look.
"Are you talking to him?"Katy asked.
Bane made another noise and Dog flicked his tail.Turning, he walked away with his chin held high in that snobby way he sometimes did.
"Not in the way that you mean," Bane told her as his bright-green eyes looked at Katy again.
"What are you doing here?"Lola asked again.Bane looked back at Lola, and to her surprise, he started to climb through the open window.She backed up quickly so he wouldn't bump into her.He was incredibly graceful considering his size and the fact that the window was not all that big.
"Holy bat babies," Maddie breathed out as she scrambled to her feet.
"Or cat babies," Katy said.
"Are they all this big, Lo?"Katy asked."Because you didn't mention that part."
"My bad," Lola said dryly."I was more focused on the fact that he totally seduced me with the whole soulmate thing, and then dropped my butt like a bag of bricks all in less than twenty-four hours.”
“Okay,” Katy nodded.“That trumps you mentioning their size.So, as much as sitting here and staring at you sounds like a good idea, we need to know some things.”
“And lucky you,” Maddie grinned, though it wasn’t a very nice grin.“You’re the one who’s going to let the cat out of the bag.”
Katy put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes on Bane.“If we had a bag big enough, we’d totally put you in said bag, just for kicks and giggles.”
“Would you like to give him some catnip while you’re at it?”Lola asked as she walked over to the phone she’d left on the floor.She connected it via bluetooth to her speakers and turned on some music.Hopefully, her parents wouldn’t come to check on the deep voice rumbling from her room.She also walked over to the door and locked it.Turning, she folded her arms across her chest and leaned back against the door.“Now, since you’re here, you might as well make yourself useful, and show these two that I’m telling the truth.Thenyou can tell me why you’re in my bedroom.”
“You opened the window,” he answered simply, as if that was reason enough.
“That wasn’t a freaking invitation,” she huffed.“Can you just show them, please.”
Bane stared at her for a long time before he spoke.“They cannot scream.”
“Theyare right here,” Katy pointed out.“You don’t have to talk about us like we’re not in the room.”
Bane looked at her and then Maddie, “Could you please go stand next to Lola?”
Without a word, both girls walked over and leaned against the wall on either side of her.They mimicked her pose, their arms folded in front of them.Lola knew that there was no way to truly prepare them for what was about to happen.No matter how many times she’d said shifters were real.Seeing it was something incredible.
“I won’t hurt you,” Bane said.“Our beasts are larger than the natural ones of the human realm.Please don’t be alarmed.”
“Why do I feel like this is like getting a shot?”Katy asked.“The fear of the pain to come is much worse than theactualshot.”
The words were barely out of her mouth when– from one breath to the next– Bane was a man and then he wasn’t.He was a massive, black panther.
“Okay,” Katy whispered.“Nothing like a shot.”
“No friggin way,” Maddie said as she slid down the wall to the floor, as if her legs could no longer support her.“That’s– he’s– I mean, it can’t,” she stumbled over words, unable to complete a thought.
Bane’s large panther form sat down on his haunches and stared at them.Lola wondered if he was allowing them to adjust to the impossible being real.He opened his mouth, stretching it wide in a big yawn.His long fangs gleamed in the light from her ceiling fan.
“Does he understand us?”Katy asked.“I mean, is he like, completely an animal right now without any human reasoning?”
“Callon spoke to him when he was in this form at the estate where they live,” Lola said.“He spoke in English, and in another language that was definitely not human.”
“Wait,” Maddie said.“If you can shift, then that means you have ananimus.”
Lola stiffened.She thought about what Callon had said to Bane when he’d come in to tell them he’d finished washing the car, which he had not.Still made her smile.Callon had mentioned he was sorry for the pain Bane endured.And also that their kind didn’t cheat.
“Bane,” Lola said gently, “did your mate die?”
