“I can do a lot of things.”Roan shrugged.
Lola pointed at the lion in the room.“Can you turn him back into a man?”
Callon growled.Apparently, that question offended him.
Roan gave her a dry look.“No.ThatI cannot do.”He pulled his phone from his pocket and swiped the screen before putting it to his ear.
“We have a problem,” he said.
“Actually, we have several problems,” Lola corrected.
Callon sat down beside her, his head so much higher than hers that she had to look up at him.His eyes were narrowed on Roan and Bane.
“They’ve bonded,” Roan paused and pinched the bridge of his nose.“Yes, it is good news.Except for the fact that he can’t seem to shift back, Katy, a human friend of Lola’s, has been taken by the KOV, and we have a big-ass lion stuck in a small New York apartment with two humans that do not know he is here.Or that we’re here for that matter.”He paused again.“Yes, Bane is still here.No, he didn’t kill him.”
Callon bared his teeth at Bane.
Lola nudged him.“Less snarling, please.You’re not as quiet as you think you are.”
“We think they took her because she’s ananimus,” Roan continued.“She had a wolf tattoo on her shoulder she got at Wild Ink,” his eyes rose to hers.“When Lola got hers.”
Lola frowned.“Like it’smyfault she got a freaking tattoo and might be ananimus?I mean, she always said she couldn’t see the things I saw.Andyouwere around her.I thought you said you could tell when a female was ananimus.”
“No,” Roan sighed.“I don’t think she, or the other friend, are going to let us go after her without coming.”
“Damn straight,” Lola snapped at the same time Callon let outanotherrumble.
The door to her room pushed open and Maddie squeezed through it.“Your parents think there’s some sort of bad wreck,” she said glancing at Roan.“They claim tostillbe able to hear the sound of an ambulance and fire truck.Thankfully, she said she’d just turn on their second box fan to drown out the noise.”
Lola let out a sigh, relief hitting her.There was no way she’d be able to explain Callon to her parents.
“Umm,” Roan said as he looked at Lola.“Okay,” he drew the word out.Stepping towards her, he stopped quickly when Callon swiped out a paw.This time with no sound and it was almost lazy.As if he knew no one was even a tiny threat to him.
“Your Prime wants to talk to her.”
“Slide it,” Lola said, motioning to the floor.
Roan did as she asked.She picked up the phone and put it to her ear.“Uh, hello?”
“Congratulations are in order,” Taras said, “but finding your friend obviously takes precedence.”
Lola appreciated his brisk manner.“Yes.”
“Lola, you’re the only one who can get him to shift back.He must have had some intense emotions going on when he felt you were so threatened that he shifted.”
Her face flamed as she thought about what had been happening just before the door had opened.“You could say that.”
“How long had the bond been complete when he shifted?”
Callon made some weird noises in his throat.
“I understand it’s personal, Son,” Taras said, obviously able to hear and understand his son.“Lola, how long?”
“A couple minutes, maybe,” she said slowly, and refused to look up at the people in her room.“But we weren’t, I mean, we didn’t– shit,” she breathed out and then squeezed her eyes closed.“Sorry, didn’t mean to say that.”
“Normally,” Taras continued, not phased by her word vomit or cursing, “shifting back wouldn’t be an issue.It’s second nature.But so is protecting you.Since you just bonded, and his animal soul just merged with himandyou, his emotions are heightened.The need to protect you is overriding his logical thinking.”
“Okay, so what do I need to do?”
