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"More than that Many things e in the next months and announcements will not all be met with joy" His voice went steely "There should be no repeat of the events of our last soiree"

My lips tightened involuntarily, and I knew Leo saw the s I worked Werewolves had gotten in by leaping frolass s in the ballroootten in and placed more security carounds, and while no one could faultthat olves could leap forty feet, my securitya bit as I had as a kid being repri principal

"We have arranged for enough human warriors to keep my people peaceful and safe," Leo said "Derek Lee has been infor hi of the full security tea, Derek will place himself and his men under your command"

Leo always meant more than just as said, andhiotten the impression that he’d rather eat dirt than take orders froain It would undoubtedly tick off the for popcorn Wisely, I didn’t say that

Leo turned his Frenchy black eyes to ht and the leashed power in hi as -cat form, my pelt would have spiked up Leo had tried to make me his true Enforcer once before It hadn’t been a pleasant experience But he had said, You will be acting as lanced at Bruiser, who had polite interest on his face It wasn’t the expression of a guy who had just been fired in favor of the new girl in town But so in a "Jane is about to be hoodwinked" kinda way And Beast didn’t like it, which was odd, because she was bound to the MOC and should be happy about anything that brought her closer to hiht he was saying, I said, "I won’t perrowl, and my upper lip curled to showher displeasure at the memory of pure predatory doainstthat part, since Leo didn’t know "I’ll stake you or die trying"

Leo looked away and back up quickly In a huht have been a tell, a physical tic that indicated stress or a lie or-- "Prilanced fro nod that could have been a modified bow, and silently left the room When the door shut behind him, Leo said, "I wounded you I am sorry"

I sat up in my chair and put my feet on the floor "Say what?" I felt Beast pa into the forefront ofin the MOC’s scent He wasn’t lying There were no stress horht have been called meekness, if such emotions had a scent at all Inside me, Beast chuffed with confusion and flicked her ear tabs

"Ahis hands on the desk, "does not force his will upon others to feed or to bind A master does not use violence on those under his care without need A master, by definition of the word, should never have to resort to suchhimself down, and his eyes went unfocused As if memories carried him to places he’d rather not revisit

"I was close to reentering devoveo when you saved s of my enemies I had been drained, Jane Tortured And you freed me To save ht drink They brought me both hu the cattle, in order to keep h My body healed, but ile Myinstabilitywas not an excuse for what I did, as Americans say, but this does offer so words and I had to fight to breathe slowly, but calm was far from me I knew Leo could hear my increased heartbeat, and sh my pores, because his pupils dilated It was a vamp predator reaction

His control held and he went on "Perhaps ifput to earth Perhaps if my primo had not been recently risen as Onorio Perhaps if endas of his own, and perhaps if the priestess had not kept inforain, and this one was far less graceful "Perhaps s I was powerful, full of the blood of my people, but I was not in control when I forced you, when I drank froainst your will and attempted to bind you I was not myself"

Leo raised his eyes fro slowly, the way one predator ive cause for attack "Your eyes glow golden," he said, his voice like a caress "There is nothing in the few histories of skinwalkers that speak of such a bright glow Yellow eyes, yes But not this glow"

I struggled withto keep it steady as Leo said aloud so that been my secret,But ht mean by the histories of skinwalkers and I had to wonder what he had discovered What his priestess ht have told him

Leo went on "You are different from others of your kind, I think"

Beast’s hackles rose and I shoved down on her, feeling her slink away, her surprise as intense as my own that Leo would talk to me about all this, about any of this But like any cat, she was also ahted at the power play and at Leo’stentativeness, was the only word I could find She sat in the back ofthem into my mind It hurt She intended it to

When I didn’t respond, Leo lifted the fingers of one hand, as if throwing so to the side "But that is of no ht I forced a feeding I hurt you"