"And I won't," he warned."Bane said I need to be honest with you and I have a feeling you're going to feel like I'm manipulating you."He reached out and placed a hand over hers."I'm not.You need to know the consequences of any choice you make."
Lola bit the inside of her cheek and then nodded."Okay.Let's hear it."
"The Creator has changed the way our people mate."
"Umm," Katy started.
Maddie snapped her fingers and shook a finger at her."Get your mind out of the gutter."
"Please," Katy laughed."As if you weren't thinking it."
"To be clear," Roan said with a smirk, "I wasn't speaking about mating as in sex.I'm talking about the way our people bond.”
"Try again," Katy laughed.
"Humans called it marriage," Roan said dryly.
"Otherwise known as the marriage bed.Carry on."Katy held out a hand and slightly bowed her head.
Roan shook his head and looked back at Lola."For as long as we have existed, our kind found their other half much like humans.They met, fell in love and then chose to spend their life together.There are, of course, some differences."
"Naturally," Maddie mumbled.
"What differences?"Lola asked.
"For starters, mated pairs bond on multiple levels.There's not just a physical bond or emotional bond.There's a soul bond that can only be broken in death, and even then, it leaves such anguish many beastwalkers choose to follow their mate into the afterlife."
"That's so romantic and tragic at the same time," Katy sighed."To have someone that desperate to be with you."
"So, what's changed?"Lola frowned."You said thatwasthe way mating happened.How does it happen now?"
He seemed pensive as he spoke."Due to some poor choices our kind made, there are consequences to our actions.Though Visata has also blessed us for our decision to right our wrongs."
"Consequences first, please," Maddie said as she took her seat back on the floor.
"It's not that simple," he explained."It's all combined.Our kind can no longer look for a mate that they canchoose.Visata is givingonemate for each male.She will be his and his alone, and he will be hers.However," he rubbed his forehead as he looked down at the floor.Lola noticed his hand shook as he rested it on his leg."The female can choose to reject her mate.She can choose to have a human life.A Shaman can Null her and the magic inside of her will be taken away.She will no longer be the other half of that male.She would not bring forth the animal inside of him and their souls would not be able to bond."
"Holy crap on a dragon," Katy said slowly.
"And the male, he will never find another mate,” Roan continued.Lola heard the pain in his voice.He cared for Callon and didn’t want to see his friend hurt.“He will lose his chance at ever being bonded, not to just his soulmate, but his animal as well.He would live only as half of what he was created to be."
Lola's lungs felt like they were caving in and her throat seemed to be choked shut.She desperately tried to take a breath, but none of the air seemed to get to her.Her eyes widened as she glanced at Katy, and then Maddie, and she grabbed her throat with her hands as if it could somehow help her inhale.She sprang up from her seat, thinking that standing up would make it easier for her to breathe.
"She's having a panic attack," Katy said as she rushed to Lola.“She used to have them when she was a kid, because of jackass kids who made fun of her beautiful skin.”She grabbed her face and forced her to look at her."It's okay, Lo.Focus on relaxing.No one is going to make you do anything."
Lola felt tears gather in her eyes.Katy didn't get it.She wasn't worried about anyonemakingherdoanything.She felt hands on her back and warmth flow into her.Suddenly, everything relaxed, and she sucked in a breath.It sounded strained, but it was getting through, and she didn't feel as if she was on the verge of passing out.
"You good?"Maddie asked as she pushed Lola's hair away from her face.
She nodded and looked up.Her eyes collided with Bane's and she felt the pain that radiated in them.He’d truly hoped there might be a chance for them.But Lola had never doubted that Callon was the one for her."I'm sorry," she said softly.
"You have nothing to be sorry for,Sazzi.”Bane patted her hand.
"If you want to live,nevercall her that again or touch her."His words were low and menacing.But she didn’t get the feeling it wasRoanthat would be killing Bane.
Lola turned to look at the Shaman."Callon called me that."
"Callon had the right," Roan said."No other male does."
