“Not being able to find you scared him,” Kefir added.His tone of voice was unfailingly polite—Ryland was still left in no doubt that the little lion wasn’t impressed with anyone who upset his leader that way.
“The bond, that’s what makes you feel uncomfortable when you’re away from…” He sighed his frustration.He didn’t even know the right words to talk about it with Kefir, let alone to understand it well enough to make things work with Arslan.Imagining that everything would be easy now he was back with the professor had been stupid.
He looked up and caught Kefir’s eye.The little lion nodded his understanding.Arslan hadn’t been the only one who hadn’t been happy while they’d been apart.It didn’t seem to convince Kefir that Ryland’s disappearance was acceptable, but it seemed to make him ever so slightly less standoffish.It offered Ryland a little hope.
“Arslan has agreed that allowances won’t be made for my mistakes just because I’m human,” he offered.
Kefir tilted his head to one side as he considered that idea carefully.Ryland held his breath until Kefir smiled.He nodded.“Yes.Arslan will be happier if—
The door swung open without any warning.Arslan strode in.A nod to Kefir dismissed him from the room.He didn’t even look at Ryland before he hurried to obey his leader’s command.
Still hampered by the cuffs, Ryland was far slower, but he managed to stumble up onto his feet on his second attempt.
Arslan closed the door behind Kefir very softly, with very careful control.
Ryland glanced toward the door.“Kefir said you wouldn’t hurt them because they hadn’t laid a hand on me, sir.”
“I didn’t hurt them,” Arslan agreed.“I explained the situation to them—there’s a difference.”
Ryland made no comment.
Arslan’s lips twitched.“Sometimes, lions explain things to each other very loudly.I’m sure you’ll get used to it as you spend more time with us.”
“You explained things quietly to me, sir.”Ryland did his damnedest not to make it sound like an accusation, but he wasn’t sure if he succeeded, not while Arslan’s agreement to treat him like a lion was so new and fragile.
“You’re going to be my mate.”
Ryland hesitated.
“I have no desire to speak loudly to my mate—regardless of his species.”
Ryland looked down as he nodded his understanding.
“Do you have any questions for me before you give me your answer?”
“You said I should trust my instincts, sir,” Ryland reminded him
“It doesn’t come so easily to humans.A lion might know how he feels about someone the first moment he sets eyes on them.Perhaps it takes humans a long time to work out if they feel the same?”
“I knew,” Ryland whispered.“That first night—if I thought I deserved it, I’d have begged you to let me stay right then.”Ryland looked down.He’d known he was in love with Arslan from that first night, too, even if he didn’t have the courage to confess as much right then.Hell, he was pretty sure part of him knew it all from the first time he’d caught a glimpse of Arslan on campus.He sure as hell hadn’t attended months’ worth of history lectures because he’d really wanted to know more about the politics of the Middle Ages.
Arslan stroked Ryland’s cheek with his knuckles.From the look in his eyes, Ryland was pretty sure they were both thinking the same thing.
One last caress, and Arslan finally reached around behind Ryland and undid the cuffs from his wrist.As the bondage fell away, Arslan indicated at the door.“Let the others in.”
Ryland walked across the room and opened the door.Several lions looked up at him.Real lions.Not men who could theoretically turn into lions.Not men who looked a bit like lions with their hair ruffled up and wild like a mane.Honest to God—the kind of things you see in wildlife documentaries eating wildebeest—lions.
Ryland’s eyes travelled over the pride very slowly, taking in every detail.
Two were lying in a tangled heap of limbs.Luther and Blaine.One was smaller and fairer with a shorter mane.Kefir.Ryland couldn’t recognise any of the others, but as they all stared at him, Ryland could swear he saw a question flash in all their eyes.
Chapter Six
“Arslan says you may all come back in.”
Arslan let out the breath he’d been helplessly holding ever since Ryland opened the door.The boy sounded far calmer than he’d expected, all things considered.
As Ryland walked back across the room to him, Arslan studied him carefully.All the things he’d been taught about human pets still echoed around inside his head, but now, they were mixed in with how the pet, himself, believed a human joining a pride should be treated.
