Page 65 of Damien’s Mate

It wasn’t what he wanted. It was what he had to do.

During the next few days, Damien didn’t even know what to hope for. Sometimes, when Lila was brittle and falsely optimistic, he wanted Remy to find a way to contact the Makek-Dur Lion Guard, so she could finish her mission.

But mostly, deep down inside where he wasn’t the best guy in the world, he wanted Remy to find out there was nothing there. For the Makek-Dur to be wiped out, like that other clan they’d talked about. The Al-Maddeiri.

So Lila could stay here, where he might have a chance to make her his.

He knew it wasn’t common for shifters to mate with humans, but it wasn’t unheard-of either. It could happen.

So Damien began working on a special carving up in Titan’s cabin. Something to let Lila know how he saw her, and how he felt.

That way, if she didn’t get to go home, he could show her that maybe, just maybe, there was something here.

For both of them.

Chapter 26

It was afternoon and Lila was showering after fight training. She was just toweling herself off when she heard an odd chiming sound, like a Buddhist alarm clock.

It was coming from the bedroom.

The communication device. A cold, tingly feeling stabbed through her stomach—a mix of shock, excitement and dread.

Grabbing her robe, she ran in there, raking her wet hair back with her fingers. The orb was pulsing with a bluish-white light, still emitting that regular chime.

Her calls had registered on the matching orb in the Lion Guard headquarters, and they were calling her back.

Lila’s fingers were trembling so hard she fumbled the ball. Finally she had it cradled in her palm. She took two deep breaths, composing herself, and then said in Draken, “Receive.”

The light stopped pulsing, and a man’s face appeared in the shimmering depths of the sphere. He was about her father’s age, or a bit older, with the heavy features of so many male lion shifters. His graying hair was cut short, and he had a thick, full mustache.

His voice was authoritative and demanding. “This is Lieutenant Commander Rodan of the Lion Guard. Who is this?”

She opened her mouth to make the response she always made to her father as her superior officer, but just in time she realized she wasn’t officially Lion Guard. Pretending to be was a flogging offense.

Instead she straightened up and said in a clipped, respectful tone: “Lila Mondray, adjunct to Kester Mondray of the Fourteenth Regiment, Lion Guard, House of Makek-Dur. I’ve called to make a report.”

“Where is Kester Mondray?”

She took a deep breath. “I regret to inform you that he was killed in action.”

The Lieutenant Commander’s voice grew hard. “That’s impossible. Kester Mondray was dismissed in disgrace. He has had no part in any Guard action for twenty years.”

Lila swallowed hard. It’s only what he told you to expect, she reminded herself. It will be different when he understands what Father has accomplished.

“Begging your pardon, sir, my father never wavered in his loyalty to the Guard. He spent seventeen years working to atone for my uncle’s crime, tracking the Calebite Artifacts with the mission of returning them to their rightful owners and restoring our family’s honor. He died before he could complete that mission—”

“Then we have nothing further to discuss.”

Lila plowed on before he could disconnect the call. “—but I completed it for him.”

There was total silence at the other end. The seconds ticked by.

Finally the Lieutenant Commander said, “You’re telling me that you have the Calebite Artifacts in your possession right now? All of them?” His voice was incredulous.

Lila sat even straighter with pride. “Yes, sir. I do.”

“You must surrender them immediately,” he snapped. “I will send a team to—” He broke off, sounding suspicious.