Arslan held his breath, but no words came.The only answer he received was a rapid little shake of the head.
“Ryland?”
Very slowly, Ryland finally managed to look up and met his gaze.Pain filled his deep blue eyes.“I’m sorry, sir.”
It took the hearing of a lion to make out the words.
Arslan stared down at him, desperately trying to work out what had gone wrong.No one could have accepted the touch of a lion more easily or more naturally.No human could have shown better instincts or such a strong desire to follow them.No man had ever felt so right against his skin.Ryland was his mate, Arslan knew it all the way down to his bones.
A frown gathered on his brow as he realised that really was all Ryland intended to say on the matter.He dropped his hand away from Ryland’s shoulder and took a step back from him.His head swirled with just as much confusion as he saw in Ryland’s eyes.
If he hadn’t been right about anything else that night, Arslan knew he had been right when he’d said Ryland was different to all the other humans who’d been thrown to them over the years.No other human could have ever inspired him to make such an impossibly rash offer.
Anger at his own stupidity flared inside Arslan.Damn it, he was more than old enough to know that there was no such thing as a human who was that good at following his instincts.Forgetting that when he was with the only human who would ever actually matter to him—it was inexcusable.
“Sir, I—”
No.A moment’s foolishness didn’t mean he needed the details of his error explained to him as if he was a cub who didn’t know better.“No explanation is necessary,” Arslan cut in.
The other lions were still watching them.Even if he’d just made a spectacular fool of himself, Arslan was still the leader of the pride.He was still responsible for what happened to any human who was thrown to them.The most important thing, the only thing now, was to get Ryland out of there.
“The car will be waiting for you outside.”His voice came out perfectly calm and level, as if the world hadn’t suddenly fallen down around him.
Ryland stayed exactly where he was.
It didn’t seem like refusal to obey as much as a temporary inability to do anything it all.Seeing no other option, Arslan led the way, walking out of the room ahead of him.
It worked.Ryland snapped back into reality and followed him into the hallway.Then, he promptly stopped in the middle of that room.Arslan paused by the front door and turned back to him.Ryland made no attempt to catch up.He wrapped his arms around his torso in some effort to keep himself warm in the cooler space and stayed exactly where he was.
“Sir, if I could just—”
Arslan silenced him with a shake of his head.
Ryland finally took a step forward—towards the door, towards him, Arslan wasn’t sure which.
“I believe the humans have some arrangement where they return you to wherever you left your clothes.”Arslan had never really thought too much about it before, not in all the years he’d run a pride.That was between the humans.His responsibility for the men who came to them ended as soon they were returned to the vehicle.And, tonight, he had no choice but to pretend the same standard applied to Ryland.
Ryland looked past Arslan.The car had returned to collect Ryland, but he really didn’t look enthusiastic about leaving the house with whoever was driving it.
If Ryland didn’t want to be in the car with the man, he wasn’t going to be in the car with him.Arslan didn’t need to think about it—all the decisions he needed to make were completed long before the thinking part of his brain had even processed the facts of the matter.
The traditions surrounding humans being thrown to the lions were all well and good, but Arslan would be damned before he saw Ryland put back into the hands of a human who made him even the least bit uncomfortable.He might not be able to fix much that had gone wrong, but he could at least solve that problem.
Striding out into the darkness, Arslan watched the driver’s look of boredom turned to one of panic as Arslan pulled open the driver side door and glared down at him.
“Your presence is no longer required.”
“Kershaw said I was to come back and take the kid home when you were finished with him.”
“And I’m telling you to leave.Kershaw isn’t here.I am.Which of us do you wish to obey?”He made no attempt to keep the snarl out of his voice.
The man backed away so far, he was halfway into the passenger seat.“Right.No problem.Leaving right now.”
Arslan stood in the driveway, watching until the car navigated the corner at the end of the road.When he turned back to the house, Ryland was waiting for him in the doorway.Arslan caught hold of his wrist as he stepped past him into the hallway.Ryland made no objection to being led to the seat next to the coat rack.“Sit there.Don’t move.”
Resisting the temptation to take the stairs three at a time, Arslan left Ryland alone in the hall and made his way to his bedroom on the floor above.Alone for a moment, he closed his eyes.
He’d watched Ryland so patiently, for so long.Somehow, he’d allowed himself to start believing that meant he truly knew the boy.But he didn’t—not on a human level—not in any way that might allow him to predict how Ryland would react to the instincts that being with a lion had raised inside him.
