“Shit, ten minutes,” she snorts, and we laugh. “I’m happy for you. You can’t look away from her.”
“You see her. How could I?” I track her progress through the room. She stops by the lions, and I have to control my reaction. “It’s not just her appearance. Everything about her makes me want to be better.”
“You’re already the best,” she says softly.
“You are biased,” I say, leaning toward her.
“I have good reason to be.” She hugs me briefly. “She watches you, too.”
“Yeah?” Warmth rushes through me.
“Yuck…love,” she says, wrinkling her nose.
“Just wait until your turn.”
“Shut your mouth,” she hisses.
“I’m going to give you so much shit when it happens,” I promise.
“Hey,” she says, smacking my arm. “I’ve been very nice.”
“You have. Thanks, Sis.”
“Let’s go in before you sprain your neck keeping her in your line of sight.”
“Fuck off,” I laugh.
My laughter trails off as we return to the group, and Rylee is still with the lions. Issy slaps my back and heads straight to Sally. I want to be beside my mate, so I have to confront my issue.
“Your sister is talented,” Breeane says as I join them.
“I’ve been hearing that a lot lately,” I say, and shake off the tension. Sliding my arm around Rylee’s waist, pulling her close.
“I heard what you did at the club,” Logan says.
“It was nothing.” I meet his gaze.
“Not true,” he replies, tilting his head. “Have we met?”
“No.” I don’t sense anything malicious, and I have to explain. “I had a bad experience with a lion shifter. I apologize for the tense greeting. It has nothing to do with you.”
“I think we can understand that,” Las says.
“We’ve all had bad experiences,” Lucas adds, glancing toward Heath. “I used to fight for Heath. I thought he was a bad guy.”
“He kidnapped me,” Breeane says lightly. “He had a good reason and didn’t want to hurt me.
“We had to move past that,” Las says dryly.
“He meant something to Quinn and Micah, so we tried to understand,” Logan says.
“Heath would never hurt someone who didn’t deserve it,” Rylee says firmly.
“We didn’t know that at the time,” Las says.
“Our point is, everyone has something in their past that affects them,” Logan grumbles, grabbing Breeane's hand. “We didn’t take it personally. As long as it wasn’t directed toward our mate, we can move on.”
“I admire what you’ve built here.” I look around, noticing a group of black panthers I hadn’t noticed before. “It’s unusual, but I respect it.” I focus on Logan. “I realize I haven’t dealt with my experience yet. I’ve avoided interacting with lions.”
