Blaine tilted his head slightly to one side as he tried to work that out.
“You know what would make me feel really safe?”Marrick said after a few seconds.
Blaine nodded encouragingly and waited to be told.
“You untying me.”
Blaine looked to the cuffs.Yes.He should have thought about that before.They weren’t like the cuffs he’d worn with the lions—they obviously meant something different here—something bad.They should definitely be removed
He reached for the first buckle.
“Marrick?”
Blaine glanced over his shoulder.Several men stood in the doorway.None of them looked happy.Anger poured off them, clouding the entire room with their scent.Turning to face them, Blaine placed himself firmly between them and Marrick.
A glance at Luther showed that his friend had also half turned to face them.The man he had pinned to the wall seemed to sense that Luther’s attention was split, and he made a hurried bid for freedom, but Luther easily held him in place.
“Let him go.”
Blaine looked across to the group of men again.One of them wore a red band around his arm with the letters DM emblazoned across it.The others appeared to be waiting to see what he’d do, just as the lions in the pride watched Arslan.It seemed safe to assume that he was some kind of leader within the group.
Blaine glanced across at Luther.He shrugged slightly.They’d get in trouble with Arslan if they hurt him too badly.Returning the man to his pride was their only real option.Pulling the man away from the wall, Luther spun him around and pushed him toward the group.
“Marrick?”the possible-leader asked again.
“It’s fine,” Marrick said.“I’m fine.And he’s untying me.Right?”
Blaine looked over his shoulder at their pet.
“Right?”Marrick repeated, his voice just a little bit more strained.
Blaine couldn’t blame their human for being scared of being bound before so many strangers.He undid the cuff wrapped around Marrick’s right wrist, never completely taking his attention away from crowd in the doorway.Another cuff, then those around his ankles, until the last one fell away from Marrick’s skin.
Marrick slowly turned away from the diagonal cross.For the first time, Blaine was able to look at their pet properly face to face.
“That’s good, Marrick,” one of the men on the other side of the room said.“Come here now.”
Blaine put his hand in the centre of Marrick’s chest and nudged him gently back when he would have tried to step around him.
Marrick looked up and met Blaine’s gaze.Up close and without the blindfold, his eyes were a stunning, piercing blue, but they were open just a fraction too wide.He was smiling.But the smile was too broad, too forced.He didn’t actually look happy.His expression didn’t improve when Luther joined them on the stage.
Even on the other side of the room, Blaine could hear muttering between the humans that congregated behind their leader.The word “lions” floated across to them, loud enough that even a human would have been able to hear it.
“Lions?”Marrick echoed.“You’re the lions from…”
Blaine tilted his head to one side as he studied him, wondering who the hell Marrick had thought they were before.
“You’re the damn lions!”Marrick muttered again.He looked from him to Luther and back again.
Luther looked just as confused by his reaction as Blaine felt.
Their pet took a deep breath and let it out very slowly.His scent slowly changed.The fear faded from him until it was hard to remember that it had ever existed.
“Marrick, you know them?”one of the men in the doorway demanded.
“Yes.No.I…” Marrick shook his head as he looked from Blaine to Luther and back again.“You’re them—you’re the lions.I…” He lifted his hand and rubbed his fingers against his forehead.Leaving Luther to keep an eye on the other humans, Blaine gently moved Marrick’s hand away from his head and inspected the skin he’d been rubbing at, trying to see if he was hurt.
“Marrick, if this is part of some scene…” The lead human sounded angry now.Blaine snarled at him, unwilling to let anyone put a trace of fear back into their pet’s scent.
