Change of Heart 05 - Forging the Future by Mary Calmes Read Free Book Online

anything. I longed to sit and talk to him and hear everything he had to say. I wanted—I craved, I yearned for… him.
    My skin felt hot and I was anxious. I couldn’t sit still, so I got up, pacing, and was there, verging on my shift, when the door opened, and Wick and Dov walked in with Luther, Alaine Boucher, and two other men I didn’t know who guarded the open door.
    “I’ve taken the phone from you on the advice of my counselors,” Alaine announced. “You will not be permitted to have dealings with any who is not your mate. Once he arrives, he may grant any permission he sees fit, but until then, you are to remain sequestered in the garden house of my home.”
    I could barely breathe; talking was out of the question.
    “I have taken the liberty of resigning your position, and any and all things that you need will be provided for by—”
    “I will not have you pay for anything for—”
    “The akhen-aten,” he said sharply, striding forward with Nazar, who immediately grabbed my shoulder and shoved me to the ground. On my knees, staring up at both men, I saw Alaine’s fury. “I am a semel and you are in my territory, and reah or not, nekhene cat or not, you will respect my position!”
    I wanted to hit him. I wanted to somehow hurl him across the room, and for whatever reason, I had the oddest feeling that I could, which was ridiculous. Perhaps, as a reah, there was another form besides panther that I could shift into, but I had no clue how to go about that.
    “Did you hear me?”
    I wondered about what Wick and Dov had said earlier in the day about me being a nekhene. They’d said I could be twice my regular size, and even though that made zero sense, at least the thoughts in my head seemed not as crazy.
    Alaine grabbed my face, hard, and his hand shifted so there were claws on my cheeks cutting into my skin. “Did you… hear me?”
    If I yanked away, he’d rip into my face. From where his ring finger was positioned, he could take out my left eye. It would be foolish, so I concentrated on not moving. “Yes,” I answered in a whisper.
    He let me go and Nazar eased me to my feet. I stepped away, and I saw the hurt expression on the sheseru’s face. Logically I knew he was only doing his duty to his semel, but still, he’d put me on my knees, and in that instant, I knew where his loyalty was. And again, truly, I’d known that he belonged to his semel and not to me, but to have it illustrated for me was difficult. I had no advocate. All these men could hurt me if they wanted, and that realization made me want to run. I could make it to Nevada on my own. I could call Delphine back and let her know I was on my way, and I wouldn’t have to listen to any of these men.
    “Jin,” Wick spoke, directing my attention to him. “Dov and I will also be staying in the semel’s home with you.”
    I had nothing to say to him.
    “We’ve moved all your possessions from your apartment to the garden house of the semel, and we’ve paid off your lease as well.”
    They had gone ahead and treated me as though I was a kept man with whom they could do as they saw fit.
    “I’m sorry that we had to do that without your knowledge, but the decision was made earlier today.”
    I nodded.
    “The issue is that the semel is, in fact, responsible for your safety, and any circumstances out of his control are not fair to him.”
    I cleared my throat. “His yareah will not be pleased.”
    “His yareah understands protocol as well as he and has moved any but you from the courtyard and gardens of her home.”
    Basically, I would be a prisoner until my semel arrived.
    “This is for the best.”
    It was for them, not me. “And am I able to come and go as I like?”
    “You may go wherever you please as long as you have an escort.”
    Translation, no .
    “You will tell us when you want to go out, and one of us and some of the khatyu will accompany you.”
    There was nothing to be done. “I’d like to go to the semel’s home