Page 83 of Damien’s Mate

Shit, that’s right. He wasn’t part of the human world anymore. But Brandon wasn’t done.

“Two. Shifter laws are different from human laws. And as of last night, you’re under shifter law. Do not reveal the existence of shifters to any humans. There are judgement call situations, but right now we’re keeping it simple. Just don’t. Also, stay away from cops and human law enforcement as much as possible.”

“Always do.”

“I’m sure. Also doctors. We don’t want our blood or tissue samples getting into any labs.”

Damien nodded. He’d already figured that one out.

“If anything ever happens to you, like getting arrested or getting hurt and ending up in a hospital, call me. I don’t care if you’re better friends with one of these other yahoos or you want to talk to your mate or whatever the fuck your excuse is—as long as you’re in my crew, you call me. I’m responsible, and I’ll take care of it.”

That sounded fair. “Okay,” Damien said.

“Three. If it turns out you can’t control your animal, and it goes rogue, it’s my responsibility to put you down.”

It took a second for that to sink in. “You mean like—”

“Yes. I mean like eliminating you as a threat to shifters and humans by killing you.”

Whoa.

Brandon’s face softened a bit. “Look, this is not a thing I ever want to do. But you need to understand how our world works.”

It wasn’t that Damien wasn’t used to being in crews where you could get killed if you didn’t toe the line. But somehow, knowing how Brandon felt about his crew, this hit him hard.

“Understood.”

“Okay.” Brandon’s tone lightened a little. Not much. “Because of that, whether you ultimately pledge to this crew or not, while you’re here and learning control you need to submit to my authority as alpha and do what I say.”

His lion stirred inside him. We do not wish to submit. Damien sighed. “I’ll try.”

Brandon bared his teeth. “Don’t worry. If your lion can’t manage it, I’ll make him.”

Super. He could see a lot of beat-downs in his future. “Thanks?” Damien said.

Brandon let the front legs of his chair hit the floor and punched him on the shoulder in a friendly yet dominant way. “You don’t have to fall in love with me or be my best friend. But you do have to be loyal to my crew, because they are my family and by god I will fucking rip you to shreds if you hurt them.”

“Got it.”

“Good. Let’s go get some steaks on the grill.”

Damien ended up having a good time after all, although his uneasiness about Lila never quite went away, and he’d often find himself fingering the portal key and hoping she was okay.

And also, trying not to picture his empty room and the empty bed where he’d have to sleep tonight.

As if they knew that, the crew kept him up most of the night. After dinner—and a lot of beer—they all Changed and went for a run in the woods.

Damien—hater of nature—had never imagined how awesome it would be to run in the woods at night as an animal. He didn’t even notice the cold—hell, he’d barely noticed it earlier that night in human form—and the sounds and scents were amazing. It was like entering a whole new world.

Best of all, his bad knee had completely healed in the twenty-four hours since he’d been Turned. He felt better than he had in months—years. Stronger, faster, more powerful.

Although, he was still getting used to his lion body. So every now and then he tripped over his own paws or forgot about his tail and got surprised by it, which the others thought was hilarious. And his lion had a regrettable tendency to want to bite Brandon in the butt when he wasn’t looking.

He found out that panther claw gouges healed quickly too. Which was good, because he had a feeling he was going to pick up a lot more of them from here on out.

Even better, he finally had a home. A family. People who accepted him. Even cared about him.

It was everything he’d ever wanted—except Lila.