Trusted Bond Read Online Free PDF Page B

he croaked out before heaving again.
    I tried not to smile, but he reminded me of my best friend. How
    many times over the years had Crane said the same thing to me as I nursed
    him through alcohol poisoning?
    Half an hour later, sitting on a chair beside Rocco‘s bed, I passed
    him another small bottle of water and waited.
    ―I can‘t drink any more water, my reah.‖
    I pulled my hair back from my face and looked at him.
    ―You‘re hurt,‖ he said softly. ―What happened?‖
    ―Drink the water or I‘ll have your sheseru come here and pour it
    down your throat.‖
    The threat of seeing Yuri Kosa worked. Rocco drank down the
    bottle, chugging it down as I watched.
    ―Reah?‖
    Looking up, I found Artem‘s mother standing in the doorway with a
    tray of food in her hands.
    ―You look pale, reah,‖ she said, coming into the room, putting the
    tray with a hamburger, salad, and large glass of iced tea down beside me
    on the nightstand. ―You should eat.‖
    ―Thank you,‖ I said, releasing a deep breath. ―What‘s your name?‖
    ―Alex,‖ she said, smiling at me. ―Well, Alexandra, but Alex is best.‖
    I smiled at her. ―Thank you again, Alex. I‘m starved.‖
    She checked on her son, sat beside him, and stared into his face as
    she talked to him. It was nice to watch the parent-child interaction, see
    how worried she had been, and have it transformed right in front of me
    into overflowing love.
    26

    Mary Calmes

    The conversation slowly broadened to include me, and I was told
    what an honor it was to have me in their home. In fact, there was an entire
    houseful of panthers who wanted to come in and see me, if I would allow
    it. There was no way to say no.
    I left Alexandra in the room with her son, as he had to be watched,
    had to be reminded to keep drinking water until his body regulated itself
    and he could shift. Until he could, he had more water to drink.
    ―It has to be just plain old water?‖ he whined, looking up at me.
    ―Yep,‖ I told him, rising up out of my chair, slightly unsteady
    myself.
    Rocco reached up and clutched my hand, and Artem was suddenly
    there to grasp my arm. I had not heard the large man come in.
    ―Maybe I should take you home, my reah.‖
    ―No, I‘m fine,‖ I assured him, turning to look down at Rocco and
    squeeze his hand gently. ―You can drink whatever you want whenever you
    want, but you must always make sure that with any alcohol you drink, you
    drink the same amount of water. If you throw off the balance, you run the
    risk of a coma. And if your brother or your Mom has to take you to the
    doctor to put an IV in you… that sucks, believe me. I watched them do it
    to my best friend a couple of times and you sit for hours with this big-ass
    needle in you.‖
    He nodded, his bottom lip trembling. ―Thank you, my reah, for being
    there to help me.‖
    I bent over and hugged him, and his skinny arms went around my
    neck, holding tight. He inhaled my scent and shivered hard.
    ―Come, my reah,‖ Artem said when I straightened up. ―Let me walk
    you to the living room.‖
    I followed him back down the stairs that I had climbed earlier to
    Rocco‘s room and realized that not only were there only panthers at the
    party, but they were all members of my tribe.
    Normally city tribes were much smaller than the more remote
    locations or country ones. The size of a werepanther tribe was dependant
    on the semel. If the semel owned a lot of open, undeveloped land that
    could be hunted on, then the tribe was usually larger, because the land
    could support it. If there was no land, but the semel was wealthy, like
    Logan‘s friend Justin Cho, then the semel could afford to take the tribe
    Trusted Bond

    27

    someplace to shift and hunt on a monthly basis. As he was in San
    Francisco, Justin didn‘t have open land at his disposal, but there were a lot
    of preserves in California and private ranches that he paid handsomely to
    have for his use. His monthly gatherings were