Arslan watched, frozen in place as several lions circled the young man in their midst.The lions were so focused on whatever game they were playing, they hadn’t heard him enter the building.
His roar caught them all off guard.
Chapter Five
When he launched himself through the doorway, Arslan was entirely human.By the time he landed in the middle of the scattering pride, he was all lion.Shaking out his mane, he impatiently cast aside the torn remnants of his clothes.
Only one person had remained in place while the others fled.
Ryland.
The boy stood stock still in the middle of the hearth rug, eyes once more hidden behind a blindfold, wrists once more trapped by cuffs.It probably wasn’t so much bravery as a prey’s instinct to freeze when he heard a predator’s roar that had kept him in position.Even knowing that, Arslan still found himself feeling proud of his pet for holding his ground when the lions surrounding him hadn’t.
As Arslan glared into the corners of the room, none of the younger lions dared to raise their eyes.Not one of them moved.Even Blaine and Luther seemed to have realised that they had gone too far this time.Circling Ryland, surrounding him when they couldn’t have failed to sense his fear…
Arslan snarled as he circled Ryland himself, his claws catching at the hearth rug as human anger mingled with a lion’s instinct to protect his mate, and both demanded to be given free reign.The other lions pressed themselves back into the farthest edges of the room as their understanding of the situation apparently deepened.
A log crackled in the fireplace, and Ryland’s startled gasp called Arslan’s attention back to his pet.Morphing seamlessly back into his human shape, Arslan stood up and ran entirely human eyes over every inch of Ryland’s naked body.They saw nothing his lion’s sight had missed.The pale skin bore no bruises, no scars.
Taking a deep breath, Arslan filled his lungs with Ryland’s scent, filled his mind with Ryland’s emotions.The boy was tired and anxious, but that seemed to be the worst of it.Ryland was back.He was safe, and to all appearances, unharmed by his time away from the pride.Arslan let out the breath as a sigh as relief flooded though his veins.
Ryland turned his face towards Arslan, even though there was no way he could see him past the leather covering his eyes.“Sir?”
Arslan’s relief was intense, but it wasn’t anywhere near enough to wipe away all the other emotions that had burned their way through his mind while he’d searched so frantically for Ryland.“You disappeared.”The accusation hung between them, each word laced with a depth of anger Arslan was incapable of keeping hidden.
Ryland swallowed rapidly but didn’t say anything.
Arslan couldn’t take any more silence from him.“Speak!”He completely failed to keep the roar out of the command.
A shocked little noise escaped from between Ryland’s lips.He swallowed and tried again.“I gave the money back, sir.”
Arslan frowned at as much of Ryland’s expression as was visible to him past the blindfold.It was impossible to get any real sense of what the boy was thinking while his eyes were hidden away like that.
A second’s work on the buckle, and Arslan tore the leather away.Ryland blinked up at Arslan, but only for a moment.He quickly looked down.
Arslan studied his pet for several long seconds.Ryland was afraid now.Not scared the way he had been when the other lions were circling him.His scent made it seem as if he was far more afraid of explaining his actions to his master than he had been of anything else.
“Out.All of you,” Arslan snapped.
He was vaguely aware of the other lions slinking out of the room and closing the door softly behind them, but he didn’t break eye contact with Ryland to watch them leave.
“You’re back with your master now; you’re safe,” Arslan promised.
Ryland didn’t seem to take the reassurance he should have from the statement.Arslan ran his eyes over the boy’s body once more.Every instinct he possessed told him that Ryland hadn’t been physically hurt while he’d been away from his pride, but right then, his instincts didn’t feel like enough—not with a human.The idea that Ryland might be injured and that he would be unable to tell clenched around Arslan’s stomach like a giant fist, and he didn’t even know how to demand the truth from Ryland.
Humans weren’t lions.They had to be protected and cherished and kept safe in the centre of whichever pride took them in.Arslan was acutely aware that he had already failed Ryland on that score once and his determination that it should never happen again doubled over and over inside him.And it was only exacerbated by his sudden uncertainty over how well he could read a human from his scent.
He couldn’t look after Ryland the way he should if Ryland was going to disappear without warning.He couldn’t retrieve his pet from whatever trouble he’d got himself into if Ryland didn’t provide him with suitable information when the opportunity presented itself.
“Did you know where you were?”Arslan asked.
Ryland hesitated.
Arslan frowned.The answer should have been a formality.Ryland shouldn’t have had to hesitate before letting him know that he couldn’t be blamed for whatever had happened.Arslan’s gaze narrowed.“When you left your message, did you know where you were?”he pushed.
Ryland nodded, just once, a movement almost too small to be perceived.
“You didn’t tell me where to find you.”Arslan tried to keep the anger out of his voice.He wasn’t entirely successful.His hands clenched into fists as his sides.Desperate to reach out to Ryland, he stopped himself short, wary in a way he’d never have been if standing face to face with a feline lover.
