Page 79 of Damien’s Mate

Damien felt a surge of gratitude. Maybe he hadn’t fucked up beyond repair.

Brandon snapped. “I will be responsible for him. I already said he could join the crew.” He fastened his gaze on Damien, and his eyes were flashing panther green. “But I am the alpha. You do what I say, and you do not make any more stupid decisions without talking to me first. Or I will bleed you.”

He stalked out. Kitty blew a kiss to Damien and went with him.

Damien waited for Brandon to slam the door behind them. Then he turned to the others.

“On a scale of one to ten, how much trouble am I in?”

“From Brandon?” Colt asked. “He’ll cool down. He just has an outsized sense of responsibility, and a grumpy nature.”

“From your lion, though?” Remy gave a soundless whistle. “That’s one dominant beast. He’s gonna give you a run for your money.”

The twins looked at each other. “Well, fun’s over. I guess we should leave you two to discuss this.”

“Or fuck some more,” Callie murmured.

“Or that,” Colt agreed.

They all trooped out, leaving Damien and Lila alone. Damien sat down on the bed. “Whoa,” he murmured.

Lila sat down next to him. “Yeah.”

Damien looked down at his hand, which had so recently been a paw. “I was a lion,” he said, still unable to quite believe it. “I am a lion. I’ll be a lion forever.”

Somehow it hadn’t seemed real, before. He’d crossed a line into unknown territory, a line that couldn’t be uncrossed. He’d have to live with shifters forever, he realized. Or on his own.

He couldn’t fuck this up, with Brandon and the crew. This was his shot.

Lila put her hand on his thigh. “You were a gorgeous lion,” she said. “Powerful. Dominant. Sexy.”

He turned to her. “Really? My lion is hot?”

“Totally hot.”

She picked up his hand, running her fingers over the back of it, her lip between her teeth as if she were thinking. He waited, feeling the chills that small touch sent all through his body.

It was like every sensation was doubled. Every scent was more intense, every sound. And he was hyperaware of Lila beside him—the beating of her heart, the pulse of her blood.

The way she felt. He could feel it inside him.

Desire, love, pain, confusion. She said, “I can’t just leave you with a new lion. I didn’t realize—”

He pulled her over until she was straddling his lap, facing him. “You have to go.” He was sure of that now. “You’ll never be happy until you face them, and do what you need to do.”

He pulled her head down and kissed her—once, twice, three times. “Deliver the artifacts, and finish it. Then we can start fresh—together.”

She returned his kisses, growling deep in her chest in the way that his lion loved. He took his shirt back off her, determined to spend the rest of the night showing her all the reasons why they belonged together.

Chapter 32

The following afternoon, Lila set out for the place where the Lion Guard would create a portal between worlds.

It was not the place she’d chosen.

And she wasn’t alone.

Brandon had offered—more like insisted—that she do it at the very top of the high, steep hill where the Wild Blood territory lay.