He sat, his spine rigid as he folded his hands in his lap.“Yes.My mate has gone to be with our Creator.She’s been gone now a couple of decades.”
“I’m so sorry,” Lola said.
“Decades?”Katy blurted out.“You don’t look over twenty-five at best.Does your kind mate young?Age different?Or simply come out of the womb already grown?”
Lola pinched the bridge of her nose.“And here I thoughtIneeded a filter.”
“To be fair,” Maddie said.“You usually do.Cut us some slack, Lo.We just realized that all of the crazy you’ve been spewing is real.”
“Lola doesn’t seem like the type to lie,” Bane pointed out.He didn’t know Lola, obviously, but his animal could pick up on things like deceit, ill intentions, nervousness as well as other emotions.The only thing he’d sensed from Lola had been longing for Callon and then anguish.It left a bitter scent in his nose and it made him want to take a chunk out of his Prince’s hide.
“She’s not,” Maddie agreed.“But, this is crazy.Humans that turn into animals?That’s not a thing.”
“We’re not human,” Bane told her.“We’re not animals either.We’re Damarians, beastwalkers,– shifters– if that’s easier to understand.But, you have nothing to fear from us unless you do something that requires we defend ourselves or our kind.Just as humans would defend themselves.”
Katy took a seat on the carpeted floor and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees.“I need to marinate on this for a minute.If you don’t mind.That also means I’m going to stare at you.But it’s not because you turn into a big, freaking panther.”
Lola groaned.“Katy, don’t say i—”
“It’s because you’re unearthly-good looking,” Katy continued, obviously unconcerned with Lola’s words.“We live in New York and work in a pizza place that caters mostly to construction workers.Our daily view is less than pleasant.So, if you would be so kind as to sit and look like that,” she motioned to his whole form.“And just let me ponder the fact that my best friend has fallen in love with one of your kind, he professed to want her, then basically told her to take a hike, and now here you are, for whatever reason, sitting in her room.”
“Alright,” Bane said.It’s not like he had anywhere else to be.He’d been commanded to guard Lola.What better way to guard her than be with her?Although, he had a feeling if Callon found out that this was the way Bane had chosen to look after Lola, he wouldn’t consider it a reasonable idea.That made Bane smirk.
“Okay, none of that,” Katy shook her head.“Smirking is forbidden.”
Maddie nodded.“Agreed.The smirk is an unfair advantage that totally takes our mind off of the necessary questions that need to be asked.”
“Shoot me now,” Lola muttered as she took a seat on the floor as well and leaned back against the door.“Okay, now that we’ve established that I wasn’t off my rocker, Bane, can you please tell us why you’re here?”
“That’s a good place to start,” Maddie agreed.“But that’s the tip of the tiger’s tail.”
Bane had to admit the females were quite amusing and intriguing.There was something about them that had his beast perking up, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
“I told you,” he looked at Lola.“I was told by the Prince to protect you.”
“But why?”
“Because you’re ananimus.”
“Andthatis the next question,” Katy said.“‘He Who Must Be Pushed From A Fire Escape,’ explained some of it to her.But I think we can do better than his description.And not to bring up a painful topic,” her voice softened, “but you had a mate, so aren’t you better qualified to explain?”
“My mate was not ananimus,” Bane said as his mate’s beautiful face filled his mind.“She was one of our kind.”
“Okay, I’m just going to stop talking now,” the brunette pulled her hair back from her face and twisted it up in some sort of knot.“Considering I’m just sticking my foot in my mouth.”
“Welcome to my world,” Lola said with a snort.She thought of all the times she’d said things, and then wished the ground would swallow her up.Katy rarely felt embarrassed by things she said, but she wasn’t heartless.She’d obviously seen the pain in Bane’s eyes when he spoke of his mate.
“I can try to,” Bane began, but another sound came from the direction of the window, only this time it wasn’t a tapping.This was a knock on the window sill, because they hadn’t closed the dang thing when Bane had come in.
Bane was out of his seat and standing in front of the window before Lola had time to think about it.His speed was comparable to that of Callon, who she had seen move quickly.
He reached through the window and drug another huge man through it.Lola sucked in a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding when she saw that the man didn’t have long, wild hair streaked with various shades of browns and blond.
“Stand down, Bane,” the deep voice growled.
Lola recognized it immediately.“Roan?”
The man she now knew to be a Shaman stood up as Bane released him and straightened his clothes.
